The Model Life: Anticipation, Part 2

Over the past 30 years, every year at Christmas, I have said the same thing to you. You'll recognize it once I say it again. But it's something we say every year at Christmastime. It goes like this. How you celebrate the first coming will determine how you anticipate the second coming.

In other words, as you celebrate the incarnation, it determines how you anticipate the revelation, the apocalypsis, the unveiling of the Messiah. So you gotta get the first coming right in order to anticipate the second coming.

But all Christians live in anticipation. That's what the model life is all about. We live expectantly, knowing that the Lord could come at any moment. The Jewish nation has a creed. It's made up of 13 individual creeds. Every morning, for those Jews who go to the synagogue after their morning prayers, they recite the Jewish creed. The 12th article of the Jewish creed reads as follows. I believe with a perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah. And though he tarries, I will wait daily for his coming.

It was a number of years ago in one of our trips to Israel that I went down to meet one of my Jewish friends that I had met for the first time in the year 2000.

And over the course of our time of going to Israel, we had developed a very good friendship with both he and his wife, Olna. His name is Ezekiel. Those of you who have been to Israel with me probably know Ezekiel. And so one morning, I went down early when he opened his shop at the Crown Plaza, the hotel downtown Jerusalem, just to talk with him about the events of the day. So on that morning in particular, I met he and his wife and there was no one else in the store. And I said, hey, Ezekiel, did you go to the synagogue this morning?

He goes, yes, every morning I go. I said, great. Did you recite the Jewish creed after your morning prayers? He goes, absolutely. Every morning we do. He goes, do you know about the Jewish creed? I said, yes, I do. I know a little bit about the Jewish faith. I said, there's one in particular that interests me and that is the 12th article of the Jewish faith. Oh, the one about the coming of the Messiah. Yes, that's the one. He said, I would just add one word to your article. And that is, I would wait daily for his coming again.

Because I believe he's already been here and it's going to return. And he said, yes, I know what you believe. I said, listen, today we're going to the Mount of Olives and I'm gonna talk about the coming of the Messiah. I said, you can tag along with me if you want to, but this is what I'm gonna tell them. I'm gonna tell them that the Messiah is going to come again. And he said, well, yeah, you're gonna use your New Testament to prove that. I said, no, I'm not. I'm only gonna use the Old Testament to prove it.

In fact, I don't even need to use the New Testament to prove that Jesus is coming again, the Messiah. He goes, how are you gonna do that? I said, well, you take your Hebrew Bible and you open up with me to the book of Zechariah because I have my English Bible with me. So you open up to the book of Zechariah to the 12th chapter and let me show you that the Messiah has already been here and is coming again.

So you can go to your rabbi tomorrow and tell him that you need to add a word to your 12th creed. So I said, look at verse number 10.

And I said, it reads as follows. I will pour out on the house of David. And I asked him, I said, who is the I in Zechariah 12.10? He said, it's Hashem, which is the name because they don't name the name of God because that would be too irreverent. So he says, I is Hashem. I said, you're right. I would say it's Yahweh, Jehovah God, but you would say Hashem. And I understand that. So let's go with that. Hashem will pour out on the house of David, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication so they will look on me, Hashem, whom they have, and I asked him, what's the next word?

Pierced. Interesting. Hashem is a spirit. How can a spirit be pierced? He said, good question. I said, read on. It says, and they will mourn for him who's the him? The one they pierced. Who's the one they pierced? Hashem. I said, Ezekiel, do you believe that the Messiah is divine? He goes, I do. He goes, a lot of us don't, but I do believe in the divinity of the Messiah. I said, good, that's a good start. So do I. The Messiah would be God. So the only way Hashem could be pierced is if Hashem, Yahweh, the God of the universe, becomes a man.

And then in his incarnation, he then is pierced. Because it says, they will look on me, the one they had pierced, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over him like the bitter weeping over the firstborn. Then verse number one of chapter 13.

In that day, what day? The day they look upon the one whom they pierced, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity. I said, but you gotta read on. Could you go down to read verse number seven? It says, awake, O sword, against my shepherd. And of course, that again is Hashem. And speaking about the shepherd that he will send because all of Israel's shepherds had led them in the wrong direction. And so it says, and against the man, my associate.

Now the man is not a normal man, it's an extraordinary man, because he is the associate with Hashem. And this word associate means equal in nature to. So now you have proof that there is someone who's a shepherd who's equal in nature to Hashem, which would add credence to the fact that whoever he is would have been pierced because it goes on and says this, declares the Lord of hosts, strike the shepherd that the sheep may be scattered and I will turn my hand against the little ones. It will come about in all the land, declares the Lord, that two parts in it will be cut off and perish and the third will be left in it.

And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silvers refined and test them as gold is tested.

They will call on my name. I will answer them. I will say they are my people and they will say the Lord is my God. So there you have in Ezekiel chapter 12, the proof that there is a God who was pierced, who's called the shepherd of Israel, who as you read through the book of Isaiah, the shepherd of Israel is the coming Messiah. And if you strike the shepherd, the sheep was scattered. That's exactly what happened with Jesus, the Messiah. But there's coming a day where Israel will be saved. He said, that's really interesting.

I said, take that back to your rabbi and ask him what he says. Just get an audience with him and ask him if he agrees or what does he think? I said, because if you read Isaiah 53 properly, then you know that by his stripes we are healed and he was pierced through for our transgressions. I said, now I know your rabbi will tell you that that's the nation itself, but it really has personal pronouns so it only deals with an individual. And that would equal to what is said in Zechariah chapter 12, verse number 10.

I said, and I asked him, I said, do you know where the Lord will return to? He says, yes, he will come and he will be on the Mount of Olives. I said, yep, that's what it says in verse number four of chapter 14. It says, in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley so that half of the mountains will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.

So yes, the Messiah will split the Mount of Olives. Now you need to understand that the Mount of Olives is called the Mount of Separation for two reasons. One is geographical and the other is prophetical. It's called the Mount of Separation geographical because the Mount of Olives is that which separates the city of Jerusalem from the Judean wilderness. Once you ascend up the Mount of Olives and then descend the backside of the Mount of Olives, you begin your descent down to Jericho, the Dead Sea, the Judean wilderness.

So geographically it separates the Judean wilderness from the city of Jerusalem. But there's another reason. And that's because the Messiah will come, he will split the mountain and he will separate the mountain. And that's why in the second century, Rabbi Hachiva determined that the Jews should pray at the Western Wall.

And the Western Wall is a retaining wall. You've seen pictures of Jewish people praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. But the Western Wall is a retaining wall. It's a retaining wall for the Mount Moriah itself. It's not a wall that was part of the temple of Solomon's temple, it's not. All those stones were destroyed and not one stone was left upon another. The Western Wall is a retaining wall. And if you're standing in front of the retaining wall and you are looking, looking in that direction, okay?

If you're looking eastward, you don't have the old temple. The old temple would be further northward up the mountains. But if you look straight at the Western Wall, you're looking directly at the Mount of Olives, which is the Mount of Separation. So the reason the Jews come and they wail at the wailing wall or the Western Wall is because it's really called the waiting wall. They are living in anticipation as they wait for the coming of their Messiah. They know that when the Messiah comes, he will stand on the Mount of Olives and he will split the Mount of Olives.

So they pray wailing because of 2 Chronicles 36 as to the destruction of the temple on the Temple Mount and the sins of their forefathers Israel. And they sit there and pray waiting for the arrival of the Messiah. Not recognizing that he's already been here the first time.

Now, all this is very important. Why? Because notice it says that in that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.

There are many people who would tell you that when Jesus comes again, he's going to come and descend on the Mount of Olives. That is not a true statement. You must always keep your finger in the text. What does the Bible actually say? We took you to Acts chapter one last week to show you what Jesus said to his men after 40 days being with them and talking to them about things pertaining to the kingdom of God, right? And as he ascended up into glory and they stood there looking at him as he ascended up into glory.

And the angel said to them, or the two men in white apparel said to them, why stands ye gazing into heaven? Do you not know that this same Jesus will come again in the same way in which he left? Not to the same spot, but the same way. Very important to understanding the interpretation of the text. Because we know from the Bible where Jesus will actually descend when he comes again. Well, how do we know that? Prophets Isaiah, very clear. Isaiah chapter 63, it says, who is this that who comes from Edom?

That's Isaiah 63 verse number one. Who is this who comes from Edom? Isaiah has a vision of the coming Messiah. With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah. Bozrah is the ancient capital of Edom. Bozrah was known for the dying of garments. And so Isaiah sees the Messiah coming from Bozrah, the ancient capital of Edom. The one who is majestic in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength. It is I who speak in righteousness. Mighty to save, says the Lord. Why is your apparel red? And your garments like the one who treads in the winepress?

I have trodden the winepress alone, says the Messiah. And from the peoples there was no man with me. I also trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath. And their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments. And I stained all my raiment, for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption has come. Isaiah sees the arrival of the Messiah. He sees him coming with his garments already stained in blood, because he said he's already tread the winepress alone. Words directly taken from, or prophesied in Revelation chapter 14, when the Lord puts in the sickle and treads the winepress alone.

When you tread a winepress and you tread on the grapes, everything splatters up and everything around you is stained. So Isaiah says, I see the one coming from Bozrah in Edom, with his garments already stained. That means the battle has already started. It has already begun. The battle has happened. In other words, you hear people say, well, there's gonna be a battle of Armageddon. No, no, there's not. Well, how do we know that? Again, you gotta keep your finger in the text. Because Revelation 16 says that the kings of the east will gather together in a valley called Megiddo.

It doesn't say they fight in the valley of Megiddo. It says they gather together in the valley of Megiddo for the great day of the war against God. They gather there. That's important. Why is that important? Because Bozrah is 198 miles away from Mount Megiddo. That if you take in the valley itself, you have 200 miles. Why is that important? Revelation 14 says that when the Lord treads the winepress alone, the blood is splattered at the horse's bridles for the length of 200 miles. So the length from Bozrah, the ancient capital of Edom to the valley of Megiddo is 200 miles.

Because the Lord descends, but why would he descend there? Why, I thought he was gonna come to the Mount of Olives. He is. He's gonna make his way up to Jordan Valley. He will stand on the Mount of Olives, but he descends in Bozrah. It says over in Isaiah chapter 34, these words. Verse 15, for my sword, God says, is satiated in heaven.

Behold, it will ascend for judgment upon Edom and upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood. It is sated with fat, the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Verse eight, for the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion, for the cause of Israel. Remember when Jesus was in the synagogue in Luke chapter four and he stood up and he read from Isaiah chapter 61.

He talked about how he came to release the prisoners and to preach the gospel to the poor, right? Because it was the year of Jubilee and he closed the book and sets it down. The next phrase he doesn't read. Why? The next phrase says, and the day of the vengeance of our Lord. It wasn't the day of vengeance when he came the first time, but he comes the second time, it's the day of vengeance.

So both in Isaiah 34, Isaiah 63, he says, this is the day of vengeance. I've come for the salvation of Israel. But again, we asked the question, well, why would he come from Bozrah in the land of Edom? Well, that's because of Revelation chapter 12, which is very important to the whole prophecy of the coming Messiah. Revelation chapter 12, the Lord says these words in verse number six. Then the woman who was Israel fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God so that there she would be nourished for 1,260 days.

In other words, three and a half years during the middle of tribulation after the abomination of desolation, when the Antichrist desecrates the temple, Israel flees into the wilderness for 1260 days or three and a half years. She goes to the wilderness for there the Lord has a place prepared for her, it says. And then down in verse number 13, it says, and when the dragon, it was Satan, saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who was Israel who gave birth to the male child who's the Messiah, but the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent.

Time and times and half a time is another way of saying three and a half years or 1260 days. So there, Israel flees to the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God. Do we know where that place is? Not necessarily. A lot of people believe it's the rose red city in the rock called Petra. It could be, it's 25 square miles on the inside and it could be that place where you just, there's one way in and one way out. It could be that place, we don't know for certain, but what do we do know? We know that Bozrah, the ancient capital of Edom, is 25 miles southeast of Petra.

So we do have an idea of what the Lord is doing because he descends, where? To protect Israel, to save Israel from the armies of the Antichrist because they have gathered together in the Valley of Megiddo, they've made their way down the Jordan Valley, they're coming to destroy Israel and the Messiah descends and saves them. That's why his garments are stained with blood. That's why he has a sword of vengeance that has transpired already and Isaiah sees the Messiah coming. He makes his way at the Jordan Valley.

He stands on the Mount of Olives like every conquering king in the history of Israel always stood on the Mount of Olives and raised their sword in victory over Jerusalem. The Messiah comes, stands on the Mount of Olives and splits it. So he does stand on the Mount of Olives, he does split it, but he does not descend upon the Mount of Olives. All that's very important to understand. Why? Because we wait in anticipation of the arrival of the Messiah. We are waiting for his coming. But all that that I just read to you is all precluded by a series of signs and wonders and events that will take place.

But for the translation of the church into heaven, Isaiah chapter, I mean, 1 Thessalonians 4, 13, 18, that is the next event on the prophetic calendar. Nothing has to happen for that event to take place. But once that event takes place, then you have the rise of Antichrist. Then you have the signing of the peace covenant with Israel. That's when the tribulation begins, according to Daniel 9, 24 to 27. The seven-year tribulation doesn't begin when the church is translated into glory, it begins when the Antichrist confirms his covenant with Israel.

That's very important to realize that. And that's when the seven-year tribulation begins. And there are a myriad of signs, according to Matthew 24, Revelation 6 and 19, that will take place that will lead up to the day of vengeance when Christ comes. You see, the day of Christ is before the day of the Lord, and the day of the Lord is before the day of God. If you were with us last week, the day of Christ is a blessing for the believer when they're taken into glory. The day of the Lord is the judgment upon earth where our Lord enacts his judgment upon this earth.

And the day of God, 2 Peter 3, is what happens in the eternal state when the new heavens and the new earth are created. It's very important to understand the difference between those three aspects, the day of Christ, the day of the Lord, and the day of God. All that's important. Now, I know some of you are thinking, wow, man, this is just too much. I got less, I got an hour less to sleep last night, and you're throwing all this on me, and I just can't follow all this stuff through. Listen, we all know that Genesis 1 is one of the most pivotal texts in all the scripture.

How the Bible begins is a literal interpretation of a 24-hour period. We believe that. We don't believe that a morning and a day is anything other than 24 hours. There are some theologians who believe that it's in the day-age theory, that the day is equal to an age, and so there were many generations that took place during the creation event. We don't believe that. We believe in a literal 24-hour day. So if you believe in a literal Genesis 1, in the beginning, you must be literal all the way through to the very end.

You can't become symbolic and figurative at the end and literal at the beginning. That would mean you're a double-minded man. You see, you must be literal all through the entire scriptures, from Genesis 1 to Revelation 21. We take it all literally. And if you do, then you begin to understand very clearly the end of the world. We don't worry about that. We're not anxious about it. We know the end because the Lord has given it to us. He wants us to be clear about the end because everything that we do is centered on the anticipation of the coming of the Messiah.

And that's exactly what was happening with those in Thessalonica. They were living in anticipation of the coming Messiah. That's what makes the model life a model life, not just because it's abstinence from sexual immorality, not just because it's aspiration to loving abundantly and living appropriately. No, it's about, number three, anticipation, living in anticipation of the coming Messiah and all of His glory.

We have available to you this chart. It's called the plan of the end, okay? It's a chart that describes the church age to the new heaven and new earth. On the back, it delineates between the translation of the church into glory and the revelation of Christ to earth, and why they're different. And so we give you 16 reasons why the rapture of the church is different than the revelation of Christ when He comes to the earth. And we had the Bible references there for you. So that's available up here or in the back after our service is over.

You can pick that up. Try to give you some clarification because we're in 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 to 18. Then we're going to 1 Thessalonians 5. That's all about the day of the Lord. So a lot of what we're gonna be talking about is the end. Why? Because the end of the matter is better than the beginning of the matter. That's what Solomon said, and we agree with that. Right? The end is better than the beginning. And so we wanna know about the end. Why? Because that's where our comfort comes from. That's where our anticipation comes from.

That's where our expectation comes from. It's all about the arrival of the Messiah. And so there is this anticipation that's exemplified in what Paul says in 2 Timothy 4, verse number eight, when he says, in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. We love the appearing of the Messiah. Not only do we love it, but we are looking for it. And that is, Titus chapter two, verse number 13, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.

Not only are we loving his appearing, we are looking for his appearing. And not only are we looking for his appearing, we are longing for his appearing. Hebrews nine, verse number 28, the writer of Hebrews says, so Christ also having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who longingly, eagerly await him.

So not only are we loving his coming, we are looking for his coming, we are longing for his coming, and now we are living in light of his coming. That's Romans chapter 13, verse number 11. When Paul says these words, do this, knowing the time that is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep, for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone and the day is near. What's the day? The day is near. It's the coming of the Messiah. Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to his lusts. So we live this way, loving, looking, and longing for the coming of the Messiah. Anticipation marks the Christian. That's what sets us apart from other people because there's always something we're looking forward to, and that's the coming of Jesus Christ, our Lord, to take us home to be with him.

Now, if you got your Bible, we have a few minutes left. We should at least embark on 1 Thessalonians because that's where we're at, but I want you to notice the motivation, why we're motivated to anticipate his coming.

This is very important because each chapter ends with something about the second coming. Now, we know that the chapter breakdowns are man-made, not God-made. The letter was written as one letter with no numbers for verses and no numbers for chapters, but when broken down, you begin to see that at the end of each chapter, there's something about the coming of the Messiah, and in chapter one, verse number 10, it says these words, verse number nine, we'll pick it up there, for they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for a son from heaven whom he raised from the dead.

That is Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come. They lived expectantly. They waited expectantly. For what? A rescue. Ruamai is the word. It means to forcibly take away, to save, and that's what they were looking forward to. So they lived expectantly, and that was their motivation because Christ was coming again, but if you move to the second chapter, notice this, it says in verse number 19 of chapter two.

It says, for who is our hope or joy or crown of exaltation? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? So not only did they live expectantly, listen, they lived euphorically, and they lived evangelistically. In other words, there was a great euphoria about the coming of the Messiah because the joy was this. The joy was those who had come to Christ, and that was Paul's joy in heaven. That would be their joy and glory, the crown of exaltation, the crown of jubilation comes because you live in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah.

So they lived expectantly, they lived euphorically, they lived evangelistically, but we're not done. Go to chapter three. So that he may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Because he established their hearts in holiness to be separate, they lived exclusively. And not only that, they lived exceptionally because they lived a blameless life. That's what motivated them to live in anticipation that might live expectantly, euphorically, evangelistically, that they might live exceptionally, they might live exclusively unto God for his purposes.

This was their motivation. But read on, chapter four, verses 13 to 18, our present text, all about the coming of Christ where he catches away the church, we're translated into glory, and those who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Then he says, comfort one another with these words. It caused them to live encouragingly and empathetically. They lived empathetically because they would have empathy for those who had already died and their friends who were left behind.

And they were concerned about that. That's why Paul would even address this issue. They were concerned about those who had already died, that they'd missed this great event. So they lived empathetically and they lived encouragingly because now you comfort one another with these words. This is the ultimate comfort, that Jesus is coming again. This is how you encourage others during times of grief. Then you have chapter five. Chapter five closes this way, in verse 23. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

They lived excellently without blame because of what God had done. But if you read 1 Corinthians 15, 58, you also live enthusiastically and energetically because he says, after talking about the translation of the church and the glory, in verse 58, he says, be ye steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. The great motivation is that you live an enthusiastic life and you live with great energy. Why? Because your labor is not in vain in the Lord because he's coming again.

And then how about this? Hebrews 10, 24 and 25, where he says, forsake not the summing of yourselves together. Why? Because as you see the day drawing near, you can begin now to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. You live edifyingly, that is building one another up, encouraging one another, stimulating one another, motivating one another. That's what you do. That's why you live in anticipation because all those things begin to well up within you. And all of a sudden you live a life of high energy, great enthusiasm.

You've become very empathetic to those who have lost loved ones. Now you wanna encourage them. You wanna live evangelistically because you wanna live euphorically, knowing that there's a great joy, a kind of joy that awaits you. You wanna make sure that you live expectantly every single day, anticipating the coming of Christ. Your whole life changes. Your whole perspective on life changes. You change. Why? Because everything is focused upward, not outward, downward or backward. It's all upward. It's all looking for the coming of the Messiah.

And that was the church at Thessalonica. That's how they lived. They had some questions, yeah. Questions about what the Lord was gonna do when he comes again. And so Paul's gonna go make all that clear for them and erase the doubts that they might have or any confusion that they might have. And over the next several weeks, as we go through verses 13 to 18, then embark on chapter five, we'll begin to clear up all that confusion for you so you begin to understand what is the day of Christ? What is the day of the Lord?

What is the day of God? How do we know that one has signs before it and how do we know that others don't have signs before them? The next event on the prophetic calendar is the translation of the church into glory. We live in a day where something happens in the Middle East and everybody's like, oh, man, must be wars and rumors of wars, must be Matthew 24. I'm like, relax, people, it's not. Just relax. Sit down, take a deep breath, it's not. Guarantee it's not. Why? Because the rapture of the church hasn't happened.

The catching away of the church hasn't happened yet. When that happens, then you can read Matthew 24 and begin to understand all that's taken place with all the signs of the times that lead to the arrival of the Messiah when he comes on the day of vengeance. But there's always been wars and rumors of wars. There's always been false Christs. They've been around from the very beginning, right? So when something happens in the Middle East, don't get too excited. Be sober-minded. Keep your finger in the text.

Know what the Bible says. The next event on the prophetic calendar is the catching away of the bride of Christ into glory. And then, and then you'll have everything else begin to unfold very simply, very logically, very easily in Scripture. Told you last week, I'll tell you again this week, the end of the matter is better than the beginning of the matter. I didn't come up with that, Solomon did, okay? Really, the Lord did because it's inspired by God, right? So we need to understand that. Are you looking toward the end?

Are you living in anticipation? It changes your whole perception of life. It changes how you deal with things in life. And so it was with the church at Thessalonica. So too, it's true with you and me. In my prayer for us over the next several weeks, I mean, there's no doubt that this is one of my dearest passions. Prophetic literature is my passion. And I love to teach on it. I love to explain it. I love to walk people through the text to help them understand exactly what's going on. I take everything literally, not symbolically, not figuratively.

I take every number in the book of Revelation literally. It's not a symbol for anything. It is a literal number given by a literal God so we understand end times literally, not symbolically or figuratively. I do not believe that Matthew 24 was fulfilled in 70 AD. That is an historic impossibility. It's also a biblical impossibility. Why? Because all the events of Matthew 24 did not take place in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus Flavius. So I take everything literally is what it says.

And over the next several weeks, we'll begin to have all these things unfold for you. We've made this available to you so that you can look at it in one picture frame and then in the back to be able to look at it so you understand the difference between the rapture of the church and the revelation of Christ.

So I believe the second coming is in two phases. It's the coming Christ for his church where we meet him in the air and then we coming with him at the end of the tribulation to earth as he enacts the day of vengeance. As you go through the scriptures, we'll show that to you. You say, well, is there any verse of scripture? Is there just one verse that proves that? Yes, just one. And all I need is one. And that's next week. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for today. And thank you, Lord, for all that you do.

Lord, you've given us your word. You don't want us to be confused about the end. You want us to be clear about it. It's not confusing. It's extremely motivating. And my prayer for all of us, Lord, is that we would continue to look up, anticipating the coming of the Messiah. Knowing that, Lord, you're gonna take us home to be with you. We'll be in your presence with all of our loved ones, with all of these saints. And Lord, what a glorious day that will be. Until then, may we always live in anticipation of the coming of the king.

In Jesus' name, amen.