R632 Signs of His Coming, Pt1

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton and a message called The Signs of His Coming. Today Dr. Wilton begins his message talking about one of the most misunderstood passages of Scripture. Let's gain insight together and let's connect. We're meeting on our website right now at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org. And now, Dr. Don Wilton. There is so much that the Lord has to teach us in His Word, and I believe Matthew 24, amongst many other passages, is one of the most misunderstood, misinterpreted of all the passages in God's Word. Until He comes, I have no idea how old I'm going to be when my time comes to be with the Lord. Have you ever wondered how long you're going to live? You know, we take our retirement plans and we think about what we're going to do and make sure our social security is right, but none of us know. None of us know about tomorrow. None of us know how old we're going to be or how young we're going to be. You know, the more I think about it, when I think about the future, perhaps I don't want to think about it.

I wonder what would happen if God showed me how I was going to die one day. Is it possible? Is it possible that I could die in the midst of much pain? Is that possible? Is it possible that I may die in a car crash? Is that possible? Is it possible I may be killed at war?

Is it possible that something that I really wouldn't like to think about waits for me down there? See, that's what faith is all about. Faith means that I'm not there, I don't necessarily understand, but I just entrust myself to God. You see, God is who He says He is. And here in Matthew chapter 24, Jesus, who is God, is speaking from the heart of God.

He's speaking at the present time when He was speaking, but He's talking about tomorrow. God in Christ Jesus is talking about a time that you and I know nothing about. We haven't gone there.

We know nothing about it. But Jesus Christ is giving to us an insight into how this world is going to relate to Himself. Everything about eschatology has to do with Jesus Christ.

It doesn't have to do with us. Everything in the world revolves around the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. His life and death, He's finished work upon the cross.

His intercessory ministry seated at the right hand of the Father. His literal bodily return to this earth and our anticipated reunion with Him where we are going to be forever. And so Jesus Christ, here in Matthew 24, amongst many other passages, is telling us about the world events until He comes. And for the next couple of weeks, my message is simply entitled, The Signs of His Coming.

There are seven future signs or events right here in Matthew 24 that I believe that we need to take particular note of. And when we study them, we come to a fresh understanding of how we relate as a world and as a people to this one who is the most high. God gives us a glimpse into His heart. God prepares us.

God allows us by the dispensation of His grace to understand His royal decree. God in His majesty looks out across this world and we who are His subjects and He says, Let me tell you where you're going and let me warn you what to look out for and let me notify you that my son Jesus Christ is going to come back and He's going to receive you unto Himself. I want you to know about this gospel. And here in Matthew chapter 24, there are amongst many other dynamics, seven major signs that Jesus points out somewhat dramatically and most truthfully here from His own mouth. I want to read to you this again, Matthew 24 and verse 1. Bible says that Jesus left the temple and was walking away when His disciples came to Him to call His attention to its buildings. Jesus said, Do you see all of these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left upon another. Every one will be thrown down.

As Jesus was sitting later on on the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him privately. Tell us, they said, number one, when will this happen? Number two, what will be the sign of your coming? Number three, when will be the end of the age?

And so Jesus answered their questions. Watch out that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name, claiming I am the Christ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

All of these things are the beginning of birth pains. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death. You will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time, many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And here it is, this is where we're going to focus today. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

What a dramatic statement. By the way, if you get into the syntactical arrangement in the Greek text, something that's rather significant here, that last phrase, and then the end will come, what Jesus is saying here is that a definitive sign of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will be the fact that before I come back, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all people of every language and every tribe. Well, folks, I'm going to tell you something.

I have a real problem with that. I don't have a problem with what Jesus says. I have a problem as a human being in the year 2002 because I know that there are many people in the world who have never heard the gospel. What was Jesus talking about when he said this gospel of the kingdom?

Jesus was talking about himself. The gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ. It's the good news about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the good news about the ministry of Jesus Christ. It's the good news about the death of Jesus on a cruel Roman cross. It's the good news about his triumphant resurrection and his conquering of sin and death. It's the good news about his ascension to be seated at the right hand of the Father. It's the good news about his intercessory ministry in our lives. It's the good news about the deposit guaranteeing us by the power and ministry of his spirit.

It's the good news about the fact that Jesus Christ is going to come back again and he is going to take all of those of us who believe in him to be with him forever. That's what Jesus was talking about. He said this gospel of the kingdom, it does us well to define what Jesus had in mind, but we have a problem.

You know that in 1940, I could never say the things that I'm about to say to you right now. I wonder what Jesus had in mind when he was talking about this. You might say to me today, well, pastor, when is Jesus coming back?

Well, as soon as I ask that question, I have to go to verse 36 of chapter 24 because the Bible says that Jesus tells us no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. I don't know, but I do know this, that Jesus said that something dramatic is going to happen. What were these signs? The first one we've looked at, birth pains.

That was the first sign. That was the first future event. The second one was the matter of enduring believers. I'm going to come back to this because Jesus pointed out, he told us about this right there in verse 13. He said those who stand firm to the end will be saved. You know what the Lord was telling us? He was telling us that increasingly prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ that there would be more persecution, more hatred, more antagonism, but the more there is persecution of the church, the more you're going to be able to identify those who belong to Jesus Christ. You can go from campus to campus in the United States of America today, whether they have the name Baptist or Methodist or Presbyterian or nothing in between. It is becoming increasingly difficult to be a practicing born-again believer on the campuses of these United States of America. Jesus said, I'm going to tell you that as you look into the future, it is going to become increasingly difficult because of persecution, but those who endure are going to be easily identifiable.

You can just pick them out just like that. They're the salt of the earth. They're the light of the world. You can go onto our school campuses today and it doesn't take you long until you discover those young people who not only love the Lord Jesus Christ but who stand for him. Jesus Christ was saying through the chronological unfolding of time that will culminate in his second coming, endurance of believers is going to become a hallmark sign of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But there's a third one, worldwide proclamation. See, this is what Jesus is talking about here. Friends, I'm going to submit to you that if I was Charles Haddon Spurgeon preaching in the latter century, I could not have had a clear understanding of this excepting by the faith that God gave to me.

There could have been very little practical insight. I'm going to submit to you that in years gone by it must have been a very difficult thing for Bible expositors to come to a finite understanding of what God was talking about but I'll guarantee you that today things are becoming more and more apparent and clear. But I still have a problem because there are nations and people in the world who have not heard the gospel.

Let's understand something here today. When Jesus was talking about the gospel will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, he was not putting a timeline on it. He wasn't talking about stopping over here at the rapture of the church. Jesus was going way into the tribulation. He was going all the way to his second coming which is going to come at the end of the great tribulation. So I've got another question. Well, if the gospel is going to be preached all the way to his second coming, how in the world is that going to happen after the rapture of the church?

Just think about it. Bible teaches us that the church will be taken out of this world. All believers will be taken out of this world.

The Spirit of God will be taken out of this world. How are people going to come to know Jesus Christ according to what Jesus is teaching here if indeed there is no church and no witness and no Holy Spirit to draw them unto himself? I gave you four ways in which tribulation saints would come to know Christ.

I'm now up to six. Let me give them to you again. You want to know how people are going to come to know Jesus after the rapture?

Let me give them to you again. Number one, by what they heard prior to the rapture. By what they heard prior to the rapture.

Number two, by the events of the rapture themselves. I want you to think about it. My wife is sitting right over there this morning and we love each other. We've known one another for 30 years. Let's just assume just for a moment that my wife loves the Lord Jesus Christ and I don't.

She has been a living testimony for Jesus all her life. I haven't. I've resisted it. I've played a game. I've been one of these false believers. I've led a life of pretense and deception.

I'm just up here masquerading this morning. And the rapture of the church happens. The Bible says that one or two will be in a field. One will be left.

The other one will be taken. The other one will be left behind. There's going to be massive destruction. Planes are going to crash, I believe.

I believe buses are going to ride into walls because bus drivers will be gone. I believe that there will be two people in a bed, a husband and a wife, and one will be taken and the other one will be left behind. You say to me, how will people come to know Jesus Christ after the rapture?

By the events of the rapture. If I was the one left behind, folks, let me tell you something. If suddenly my wife was taken and this world was plunged as it's going to be an absolute chaos, I think that I'm probably going to want to believe.

Are you listening? The events of the rapture itself. Number three, tribulation saints will be saved by the witness of the two witnesses. Well, if you want to know about it, let's go over to Revelation. Everybody needs to turn to Revelation. We're going to be there for a while, so you might as well get out your Bibles and turn to Revelation chapter 11 with me. I want to show you something remarkable. Revelation chapter 11.

Here's what the Word says. God says in chapter 11 verse 3, I will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophesy for 1260 days clothed in sackcloth. Now, I'm not going to get into all these things now, but the tribulation is going to be seven years divided into two equal halves, three and a half years each.

You can do your math on 1260 days. God gives to us an accurate account of all the things that he is giving to us, but suffice to say that God, God has decreed that during the tribulation after the rapture, when the church is gone, Christians are gone, the Spirit is gone, that one of the ways in which people are going to come to know him is through the witness of these two witnesses. Well, God's going to protect them for a number of days, and then the crowd is going to turn against them just like they did against Jesus.

They're going to kill them. So the fourth way in which people are going to come to know Jesus Christ is by the resurrection of the two witnesses. If you want to read about it, verse 11, but after three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them. Where did this come from? God.

Only God can do this, folks. Someone said to me one time, oh, this is just symbolism. Friend, listen to me. This isn't symbolism. God doesn't talk about symbolism.

God doesn't need to talk in symbols and all kinds of weird things to try and pretend that he's getting God as God. Let me tell you something. If you say to me, pastor, what does that mean? Let me tell you what it means. It means that after three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them.

Any questions? What happened? They stood on their feet. They were dead. Everybody saw them dead, and terror struck those who saw them.

I can understand that. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, come up here, and they went up to heaven in a cloud while their enemies looked on. How are these tribulation saints going to come to know Jesus Christ? Well, perhaps by the resurrection of the two witnesses, but there's a fifth way that they are going to come to know Jesus Christ, and that is through the 144,000 Jewish evangelists.

Now, friends, I don't have enough time to do a thorough study of this right now. I will come back to it, but turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 7, the witness of the 144,000. God has a special relationship with the Jewish nation. That's why it behooves us to pay careful attention to what is going on in Israel.

Listen, God has a special relationship with the nation of Israel. One of these days, I'm going to preach through Paul's letter to the Romans, and we're going to understand that even more clearly, but listen. Revelation chapter 7 and verse 4, Then I heard the number of those who were sealed. By the way, that word, they're sealed, is the same word that we get when we talk about the blood of Jesus Christ, which is the only means by which we can be completely packaged, delivered as holy and righteous into the presence of God.

There is no other means by which this is God's ultimate UPS system. We are sealed. We are washed and redeemed by the blood of the lamb, and the spirit of God seals us, and we are delivered unto him for righteousness' sake. God in Christ Jesus, what a Savior.

Yes, what a Savior. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton here on The Encouraging Word, and we're ready to encourage you. We'd love to pray with you anytime. Our phone number is 866-899-9673, and right now there's some exciting resources you'll find on our website that will encourage you for sure. Our website is www.tewonline.org. That's T-E-W online dot O-R-G. We would love to be a part of your daily life. As a matter of fact, be sure and sign up for The Daily Encouraging Word email from Dr. Don that's on our website, www.tewonline.org.

Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don. The Word says here that during the tribulation time, I heard the number of those that were sealed. There were 144,000 from these tribes of Israel. Go down to verse 9. After I looked and there before me was a great multitude.

I want you to remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 24. There was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, from every tribe, from every people, from every language standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. Verse 13, one of the elders asked me, these in white robes, who are they?

Where did they come from? I answered, so you know, and he said, these are they who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Let's give God a hand this morning, folks. Let's give God a hand. Amen.

This is shouting time. This is hallelujah time. This is the guarantee of Almighty God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus was speaking and he was looking into the future, he was trying to put something upon us that we couldn't bear.

Why do you think the apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, he closes his entire diatribe on these words so encourage one another with these words. How are these people going to come to know Christ? One way is because of the witness of the 144,000 who are going to be sent out. And by the way, if you don't believe for one moment that Jewish people have already scattered to every corner of this earth, you haven't been around.

You will find people of the nation of Israel in every segment of society. God already has his evangelists in place. But there's a sixth way by which these people would come to know Christ, and that is through his angels. I commend you for studying the word of God. Here we have a sixth means by which these people would come to know Christ, the angels.

You say, how's that? Well, turn with me to Revelation chapter 14 very quickly. Listen to all those pages. Love to hear the word of God turning in God's house. Revelation and chapter 14, verse 6. By the way, the first five verses have to do with 144,000, but I'm going to move on from there for just a moment because evidently God is telling us that the final means by which he will share the gospel with every person is by virtue of his angels. And by the way, there are three of them. We don't know whether they are all the same one, but there are three distinct references to three angels writing these passages.

Let me read it to you. Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim. Remember what I told you about the gospel? This angel, by the authority of God, had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth, to every nation, to every tribe, to every language, and to every people. Now, what was it that Jesus said in Matthew 24? Jesus, in Matthew 24, looking all the way to the imminence of his return, said something. He said, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all nations, and then the end will come. The word of God here is confirming the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And look at this, he doesn't stop there. Verse seven, he said in a loud voice, fear God and give him glory. Here it is, because the hour of his judgment has come. What did Jesus say in Matthew 24? Jesus said, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all people, and then the end will come. Here's the angel at the end of the great tribulation, going to all the peoples of the world, calling upon them to repent, to turn their hearts to God, because the hour of his judgment has come.

What does he say? Worship him who made the heavens, of the earth, the sea, and the springs of water. Here's the second angel, verse nine. Verse eight, the second angel followed and said, fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great. By the way, what is Babylon? Babylon is the center of the government of the Antichrist, but it is also Babylon, the center of the sphere of the evil antithesis of all that God is. Babylon is juxtaposed against God's holy city, the city of Jerusalem, and here the angel says, this one, Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.

Here comes the third angel. Follow them and say in a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast in his image and receives his mark on the forehead or in the hand. By the way, what is the mark of the beast?

Anyone know? Say it, six, six, six, why the number six? Where do we get that from, by the way? Turn with me back, don't lose chapter 14, go to verse 13, the good verse, chapter 13. Last verse, verse 18, the Bible says, if anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. The number is six, six, six, why six, six, six? You see, the number seven is God's number. Seven is perfect, that is why God created the heavens and earth in seven days and we could go on and on.

Six means that man is imperfect outside and is short of the glorious perfectness of Jesus Christ and God, our heavenly Father, who is a seven. What a powerful message from God's word today with Dr. Wilton. You've heard him preach and teach from the pulpit now as he steps into the studio.

Open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today, I repent of my sin and by faith, I receive you into my heart, in Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you just prayed along with Dr. Wilton moments ago to give your life to Christ or rededicate your life to Jesus, Dr. Don has wonderful resources he wants you to have, but more than that, he wants to pray with you and for you. If you'll call our number, 866-899-WORD and share with us your address and let us send this information to you and just let us know who you are. We would love to join in praying for what God's gonna do in the next in your life. The number again is 866-899-9673 or meet us online at TEWOnline.org. We would love to encourage you again with these free resources and more. You'll discover all of that on our website at TEWOnline.org. And tomorrow, we continue with the signs of his coming by Dr. Don Wilton.