Welcome back to the Line of Fire. If you were watching me, you would see a big smile on my face. I am so delighted to have this time with you. The mercy of God is so amazing. What the Lord is doing around the world today is so amazing. Friends, I've had the joy of ministering outside of the United States, oh, well over 210 different trips.
29 times to India, 28 times to Italy. I've seen God moving around the world. The gospel is being proclaimed, friends.
Things may be very dark in America. Church buildings may be closing in America, but I'm telling you, God is moving even in America, but around the world. The Holy Spirit is being poured out.
There is a wonderful harvest. People being saved from Muslim background, Hindu background, Buddhist background, Jewish background, like myself, around the world. Jesus, Yeshua is being exalted.
Rejoice, friends. And then he is coming again. He will return and set up his kingdom on the earth and we will be with him forever and ever. And there will be a new heavens and a new earth. And as we're with him forever, it'll be without sin and without sickness and without pain. And every tear will be wiped for our eyes forever.
That's the God we serve. And if you know him, if your sins have been forgiven, if your life has been transformed through the cross, through the blood of Jesus, through his death and resurrection, through coming into a new life and a new relationship with God through him, you can look forward to eternal blessing. What a joy.
What a joy. When he returns though, scriptures playing, he will take vengeance on those who don't know God. There will be judgment. He is coming with the sword of judgment. If you don't know him, don't play games with your soul. Don't play games with eternal life.
Today, call on him. Today, say, God, have mercy. I've sinned.
I've fallen short. I deserve judgment. But I believe Jesus died for me.
I believe he rose from the dead. God, I want a new life. I want to serve you. Have mercy on me. Cleanse me. Wash me.
Give me a new life. I'm yours forever. If you do it, friend, he will hear you. He will hear you just like he heard me. So the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. It was in process when the temple was destroyed in the year 70, but it remains in process to this day. This is part of the layered nature of Matthew 24, that it spoke to the disciples then, but its ultimate fulfillment will be at the end of the age. So, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand that those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, that the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and that the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak, and alas for the women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days.
Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath, for then there will be great tribulations such as not been from the beginning of the world until now and never will be, and if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved, but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. Now, I'm going to pause there for a moment and dig into the Scriptures here with you. Daniel spoke of the abomination of desolation, and its first reference is to events that took place about 160 years before the birth of Jesus. We're talking about when Antiochus Epiphanes, Antiochus IV defiled the temple in Jerusalem, offered pig in the temple in Jerusalem, and defiled it. That is the first application of the abomination of desolation to an event that would take place in the days of Hellenization and Greek rule over Judea. Now, Jesus is applying it to something still to happen.
There's insight. Yes, this happened in the past, but there's going to be another defiling of the temple. Some would argue that this was the Roman soldiers bringing their idolatrous images into the temple and their idolatrous flags into the temple. But certainly, there was a defiling of the temple, and then the destruction of the temple, and then terrible war in Jerusalem that took place. According to Josephus, a million Jews were killed at that time.
That may be an inflated number, but it was a time of tremendous calamity. And we know from ancient accounts that there were Jewish believers in Jerusalem who fled. They fled into what would be Ammon Jordan today, among other places. They fled there because they had been forewarned by Jesus. You say, right, so this is all for the past and nothing for the future.
No, no. Is it a coincidence, friends, that the Jewish people are back in the land today? No people in history has been exiled from their land over a period of centuries without a homeland. Exiled from their land over a period of centuries who did not completely assimilate in the nations over the centuries.
Go back through world history. Look at every people who was dispersed from their homeland, lost their homeland, which then became dominated by foreigners. They're scattered around the world. They have all ceased to exist as peoples. They became fully assimilated in the nations where they were scattered, especially when it's almost two millennia that this took place. It is only the Jewish people that have been preserved as a people.
Why? Because God said he would do it. He said through the prophetic scriptures, though I scatter you among all nations, I will not totally destroy you. Read Jeremiah 30 to 33 for explicit promises to that effect. So even when we have come under divine judgment and been disciplined and been scattered, God said he would preserve us. That's why we're still here, and I say this as a Jewish believer in Jesus. We're not saved without him. We're still lost back in the land without Messiah.
We're lost like anyone else. We need Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, to be saved. It's the same for Jew and for Gentile.
There's no favoritism. There's only one way to God, and that's through the blood of the Son. Please hear me, friends. God himself preserved us.
Don't let anyone tell you anything to the contrary. He said he would do it in his word. He said in Jeremiah 31 verses 35 to 37 that no matter what we did, he would still preserve us as a distinct people, and he has done it. And then, as he said through numerous prophets, he would bring us back to the land.
So here we are back in the land. Who did that, friends? You say, well, that was the UN.
That was political statecraft. That was just a modern Zionist movement birthed by atheists and communists. None of this had anything to do with God. Oh, I beg to differ, because if God scattered us in his wrath, then we can't regather ourselves, and the UN can't regather us. Please, let's think biblically for a moment, all right?
I urge you, put aside any other ideas, teachings you've heard, put aside the demonizing of Israel that you often hear in the secular media and social media, and just think biblically with me for a minute. If God opens a door, he says I'm set before you an open door that no one can shut. If he opens a door, no one can shut it.
Would you agree? If he shuts a door, no one can open it. When he poured out sicknesses on Israel as curses in Deuteronomy 28, he says these are incurable.
Why? Because if God smites, no one can heal. Conversely, if he heals, no one can smite. Look at it more broadly. If God says you are blessed, here, Balaam is hired by Balak in Numbers 22 to 24 to curse Israel, but he cannot.
Why? Because God says they're blessed. You cannot curse them because they're blessed. If God blesses, no one can curse. If he curses, no one can bless. If he scatters, no one can regather.
If he regathers, no one can scatter. Do we agree that our Jewish people were scattered in judgment for rejecting Moses, the prophets, and the Messiah? That we were scattered in judgment, the temple was destroyed.
Would we agree these were acts of divine judgment? You say yes. And some of you say when the temple was destroyed, that was the end. It was finished.
No more. No more promises for Israel. God's finished with Israel's nation. Then who preserved us?
And who brought us back to the land? How is it there are more than six million Jews living in the land today? That's more than we lost during the Holocaust. There are more Jews living in Israel right now than anywhere else in the world. Just surpassed even the Jewish population of America now.
Okay? So, who brought us back? Only God.
Only God. And the Sabbath is being observed in Jerusalem again. And there are Jewish believers in Jerusalem again. And there's even talk about rebuilding the temple, how it would actually happen.
I can't give you an explanation because you have the Al-Aqsa Mosque there. But there's even talk about that again. Did it just happen?
Is this just coincidence? Or did God's word tell us all these things would happen? And why, pray tell, is Jesus coming back to Jerusalem? Why is he coming back to Jerusalem if God is finished with Israel? And why are the Jewish people still here? And why are we back in the land? And why are more Jews coming to Jesus now in the land than at any time since the first century?
Because it's all unfolding according to the Scriptures. Alright, we will be right back on the other side of this break. I'm Dr. Paul Burnett, a board certified doctor of holistic health, and I've got some exciting news for you today about an amino acid formula scientifically shown to build lean muscle, improve strength and reduce recovery time at any age. Dr. Robert Wolf was a researcher of muscle health who raised 20 million dollars to fund 30 years of research. And now this formula is available in TriVita's MyoHealth.
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So call now 1-800-771-5584, 1-800-771-5584 or online at trivita.com. Welcome back to the Line of Fire. Remember we've got thousands of hours of free resources waiting for you at thelineoffire.org. Check it out for yourself. I am not a dispensationalist. I am not a pre-trib rapture believer. I believe that Jesus will be coming at the end of whatever tribulation period there is, that God will protect us from His wrath that is being poured out on the earth, but that we'll be in the midst of this world, in the midst of all kinds of upheaval and shaking and that He will be with us and His grace will be enough.
We've been getting into that through this month. The book that Craig Keener and I wrote, Not Afraid of the Antichrist, will really encourage you with faith and strength to endure in the midst of hardship and persecution and suffering, just as our brothers and sisters are around the world to this day. But when we look at Matthew 24, we see that just as things were in the first century, they're becoming very, very similar again today in the land. You've got Jewish religious leadership with a lot of authority. You've got Sabbath observance strictly enforced in Jerusalem.
Your stores are shut, transportation's shut down, and a lot of the things spoken of here would make sense again. And we've got Zechariah 14, which has not happened yet. The Lord has not yet put His feet down in the Mount of Olives with a massive earthquake and the city being divided. That has not happened yet with the final assault on Jerusalem that Zechariah tells us is coming.
That has not happened yet. But here, just as it was in the days of the first century, that's how it's going to be at the end. Remember, the disciples are asking a two-fold question.
They think it's one. When is the temple going to be destroyed? What's the sign of your coming at the end of the age? Jesus answers the two questions together. So, He says this, verse 23, Then if anyone says to you, Matthew 24, 23, Look, here is the Messiah.
Well, there He is. Do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Well, you could say this did happen to some extent before the temple was destroyed. But you really do not have great signs and wonders being performed so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect, before the destruction of the temple.
You simply don't have anything on that level. So, while there were warnings for the disciples back then and certain things happened, the ultimate fulfillment of this remains future. I'm just giving you historical truth. And what's written in 2 Thessalonians, the second chapter, is relevant about the man of sin, the Antichrist, that we will not be caught up to meet the Lord until the final rebellion comes, until the Antichrist is revealed, and he will come with all types of counterfeit signs, wonders, and miracles, and the Lord will destroy him with the fire of his coming.
That has not happened yet. And you know what's really interesting? I am not one who says whatever the Church Fathers said on every point you have to hold to. And of course there's divergence of opinion among the Church Fathers, notably between Eastern Fathers and Western Fathers, etc. And what they wrote was not inspired Scripture.
It's of great value. But it's not inspired Scripture, all right? But when you read the Church Fathers, they were expecting a future Antichrist. They were expecting a final period of upheaval. They were still looking forward to the return of Jesus. They didn't think he had already come. And many of them clearly understood Matthew 24 to speak of future events. This is not some later idea I'm importing.
In fact, it's what the earliest followers of Jesus held to after the New Testament. So, we continue reading. See, I have told you beforehand. So if they said to you, look, he's in the wilderness, do not go out.
If they say, look, he's in the inner rooms, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. And we have the word there, parousia. We got into the vocabulary early on. In the second week, we broke down the terminology for the second coming.
Parousia, epiphania, apocalypsis, the principal words that are used. And so the parousia is the glorious arrival of the Lord. Not a second coming that comes near the earth secretly and departs the alleged rapture. And I don't say that to be insulting to those who hold to it.
It's just not my position. But rather, it is his visible return to the earth, the parousia, the glorious coming. Now 1 Thessalonians 4 tells us that when that happens, we'll be caught up to meet him. Contrary to my pre-trip friends, I believe we're caught up to meet him and escort him back to the earth as opposed to caught up to meet him as he returns to heaven.
We are caught up to meet him and escort him back. Has that happened yet? Have we met the Lord in the clouds yet? No. Have we been transformed from this earthly body into the heavenly body that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 15?
No. And when will this happen? According to 1 Corinthians 15, according to 1 Thessalonians 4, that we'll be caught up to meet him, that we'll be changed in a moment of time, that the dead and Messiah will rise first. When will this happen? It will happen with the last trumpet.
Now let's keep reading, alright? For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather, which is either saying there's going to be judgment or just saying, hey, these are inevitabilities.
When you see the one, you're going to see the other. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. It doesn't just say the tribes of Israel. All the tribes of the earth will mourn. Revelation 1.7.
When he comes, every eye will see him and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. That did not happen in the year 70. There was not mourning all around the world for the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Many people never knew it happened. And outside of Israel, for the pagan nations, this may have been a great celebration.
This did not happen. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call. And they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the earth. Now, I know that some of you have been taught that this already happened. That this is the spiritual coming of the Lord in power.
That it uses language of the Old Testament like the stars falling from heaven. This is what happened when judgment would come on a city. And that the sending out of the angels, that's not angels, that's messengers. And that's the apostles gathering the saints.
Friends, you really got to kind of stand on your head to make these things work. First, I repeat, the gospel of the kingdom had not been preached throughout the entire world at that point. Number one. Number two, the world did not see the coming of the Son of Man at that time. And the early church did not think it had already happened then. They were looking forward to this coming described here in Matthew 24.
When you read the writings of the church fathers in the early centuries, this is the clearest consistent teaching you'll see. That they're still waiting for this coming that's spoken of. Number three, all the tribes of the earth will not mourning over the destruction of Jerusalem. Again, if it said all the tribes of Israel, it would be one thing, it doesn't.
All the tribes of the earth, that's an expansive statement. That did not happen. And then number four, the seeing the Son of Man coming in the clouds, that's Daniel 7. That's the language of the second coming in power, not just the destruction of the temple.
That did not happen. And number five, coming with the trumpet call, we're told what happens with the trumpet call. That's when we are transformed. That's when the dead in Christ are resurrected and we who are alive are transformed and meet him in the air. That did not happen in the year 70.
And obviously we're still in these bodies, it hasn't happened to this day. And number six, there's no way that you can just say that this applies to the apostles going out with the trumpet call of the gospel. No, the trumpet call is the return of Jesus.
It's consistent. In 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 11, it's a consistent theme, the last trumpet, the seventh of seven trumpets. The kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God. This has not yet happened, my friend. And the apostles did not gather all the elect from the four winds. It didn't happen.
We haven't been gathered to this day. So maybe you've been taught to read Matthew 24 this way, but it's not what Scripture is saying. These verses remain future. This is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks so much for tuning in. Just a reminder that we are listener supported. If we have been a blessing to you, if you're being enriched in the word, in prayer, in your own walk with God through this broadcast, then stand with us so that we can reach many, many more and bless many, many more. Together, friends, we're making a difference. So go to TheLineOfFire.org, TheLineOfFire.org, and click donate.
