The Second Coming of Christ (Part 1)

Now, friends, if you want to see an example of a meaningless gesture, just keep watching.

When the preacher takes his watch off and puts it where he can see it, that's a meaningless gesture as often as not.

I hope that that keeps me from going on too long.

And uh, Pastor Michael, thank you for asking me to do this.

And uh I should say that there are some printed leaflets around if you want to uh help yourself to them, which give a little bit of an outline of what we're going to talk about.

There's a few there, oh there's a couple there, and there's a few more around, I think, somewhere.

If you look at the newsletter that comes out every month, you'll see that on the back page we usually put a statement of what Moss Park Baptist Church believes.

And if you've read that, the right the print is rather small, but if you've read that, you'll see that it says concerning Jesus Christ, that we believe in his ascension to the right hand of the Father, his heavenly intercession.

In other words, he's praying for us in glory, and then and his second coming to receive his church.

So, what we're going to be talking about over these few weeks is a basic and fundamental doctrine of this church, and something which I hope every one of you will come to understand is of vital importance.

A little group of disciples stood on a hillside outside Jerusalem about 2,000 years ago, and they gazed up into heaven, watching as their Lord and Savior disappeared from their sight into the clouds.

We call that the ascension.

Our Savior's return to glory after his life on earth and his redeeming death upon the cross and his glorious resurrection.

How did those disciples feel as they watched the figure of the Savior vanish into the clouds?

I think that a real sense of fear must have filled the heart of every one of them.

They had grown to depend upon him.

They had looked to him as their leader and guide in all things for a period of over three years.

They had been there when he died, and they thought they'd lost him then.

But he rose from the dead, and after his resurrection, had been with them for a period of about forty days.

And I'm sure that they were confident at that point that he had come back to them from the dead forever.

But that wasn't to be.

I think unexpectedly to them, he was caught up in the clouds to be with God the Father in heaven.

And I'm sure they felt sad and anxious.

Remember, he had given them what we call the Great Commission.

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

How on earth could they do that without the Savior's immediate presence with them?

The task was unimaginably daunting.

And they were being left, so they felt on their own.

How would they cope?

We're told that as the figure of Jesus vanished into the clouds, two angels appeared on that mountain side, and they said to them this same Jesus shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.

In other words, don't worry, don't be afraid, he's coming back again.

And we're told that they returned to Jerusalem rejoicing.

They didn't go back to Jerusalem sad and worried and despairing, as they might well have done.

With the news that Jesus was coming again, they returned to Jerusalem overflowing with joy.

Yes, he's gone, but he's coming back again.

And that message of hope that thrilled their hearts then has been thrilling the hearts of Christian believers down the centuries, especially in times of persecution and trouble.

How wonderful it has been for God's people to know Jesus is coming back again.

Now, friends, it's my feeling, sadly, that the return of the Savior is not talked about in churches today as much as it used to be.

When I was a boy and a teenager, I seemed to think that I heard people preaching sermons on the second coming of Jesus almost every week.

It was a major topic among Christians.

Now, not every Christian agreed on every detail of the program.

But I tell you this, there was plenty of debate going on as to exactly how these things would take place.

It was a major topic of consideration.

And that seems to have faded away a little bit.

Is it because people say we prefer to have sermons that help us with the problems of everyday life rather than sermons that talk about something that's going to happen at some undefined time in the future?

Or is it perhaps that some people feel the whole subject is a bit scary, a bit frightening?

So let's stick with something more warm and cuddly and friendly, and let's leave all that stuff to one side.

Friends, the truth is this that the message of the return of Jesus will help us to live for him in the here and now almost better than anything else.

To know that the Savior, who died upon the cross to bear up our sin, who rose again and is alive forevermore, is going to come back again one day, should thrill and excite our hearts.

In fact, the scripture says that we are exhorted to comfort one another with this message.

Now, the word comfort as it appears in some Bible translations doesn't just mean, oh, there, there, you poor thing.

I want to comfort you, pat you on the back and make you feel good.

The word comfort actually means to strengthen, to fortify.

And Christians are fortified in their faith, strengthened in their faith by the glorious truth that their Lord and Savior is coming again.

And when He comes, when He comes, a glorious panoply of future events await the child of God.

Did you think when you got saved that your sin was forgiven, and one day you'd get into heaven, and that was about it?

Well, that's wonderful in itself, of course.

But friends, what God has in store for us is more wonderful and more exciting and more thrilling than that.

And over these next two or three weeks, we're going to try and unpack some of that.

Not to tell you something that will frighten you or worry you.

Though there are some frightening things in the future, but above all to let you know that the devil is not in control.

God is in control of human history.

His purposes are being worked out, and there are some wonderful things awaiting those of us who are children of God.

Now, I think it's important before we go any further to say that the basis of our belief in the return of Jesus Christ is the Bible.

The inspired and infallible Word of God.

Everything we know about the second coming of Jesus we learn from this book.

There are over three hundred distinct references to Christ's return in the New Testament alone, and there are significant passages in the Old Testament that also refer to this event.

It is a major theme of the Bible.

And for that reason, I would say ignore it at your peril.

If you want to feel comforted and encouraged and strengthened in your faith, recognize that your Lord and Savior is coming again one day to take you to be with him, and you will be in his presence for all eternity.

Isn't that exciting?

We can proclaim the fact that Jesus is coming with confidence because our beliefs are based on the firm foundation of Scripture.

In 2 Peter chapter 1, we read this.

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Peter says we have a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the day star arise in your hearts.

What is Peter saying?

He says, in the scriptures we have something that is sure and clear and able to be understood, to be our blessing and our help in days to come.

He emphasized light and clarity and certainty.

We're not saying maybe he'll come back.

Maybe, possibly.

No.

We're basing our thinking on certainty.

He has promised to come and he will come.

Now perhaps the first um little uh slide thing can go up.

I want to talk, not not not all of this tonight, friends.

I hasten to say in case you begin to panic.

I want to talk about these subjects over these next few weeks.

The promise of his return, preludes to his return.

In other words, things that will happen before and leading up to his return, the pattern of his return, what will actually happen when he comes again?

The primary acts of his return.

We'll look at the major events that surround that and preparation for his return.

What should we be doing?

How should we be thinking?

How should we be living in the fact that Jesus is coming again?

So we'll start with the first of these.

We could put the next little slide up, I think.

There's only three of them, so it's not going to tax your eyesight too much.

The promise of his return.

We know that Jesus is coming.

Why?

Because he's promised to do so.

And that promise is found, first of all, in his parables.

I don't know how familiar you are with the parables of Jesus.

But if you read through them in the Gospels, you'll see that many of them carry a similar theme.

The theme of presence, absence, and return.

There's the parable of the ten virgins.

In verse 5 of Matthew 25, Jesus says, the bridegroom tarried.

Ten girls going to a wedding.

But the bridegroom doesn't turn up when he's expected.

The bridegroom's arrival seems to be delayed.

And then in verse 10 we read, the bridegroom came or the bridegroom arrived.

And the concluding little word of teaching from Jesus is this: watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour, but in the Son of Man cometh.

Jesus is talking about his return, liking himself to the bridegroom, and we are his bride, and he's coming back for us one day.

In Matthew 25, we also read the parable of the Lord and the talents.

It's about a man going into a far country and being away for a long time.

And what his servants do in his absence.

And then the Lord, the master, comes back again.

The same principle: absence, return.

Jesus has gone away.

He's returning one day.

In Luke 19, there's a very similar parable about a nobleman who gives pounds to his servants to spend wisely in his absence.

And again, there's the picture of the nobleman going away to a far country, leaving his servants to do his work in his absence, and then returning.

And it doesn't take us too much thinking to see how that might relate to us.

Jesus is absent now.

We are his servants, serving him in the knowledge that one day he will return.

What about the Good Samaritan?

Probably the most well-known of the parables.

What does the Good Samaritan say after he has taken the injured man to a place of refuge and paid for him to be looked after?

He finishes by saying this when I come again, I will repay thee.

So the parable of the Good Samaritan also ends with this thought of return.

In these parables, and there are others that have the same theme, in these parables, Jesus is speaking of himself.

He is the bridegroom in Matthew 25, the master of the house in Mark 13, the nobleman in Luke 19, and the good Samaritan in Luke 10.

Jesus is teaching his followers through these stories that he's gone, going away, but he will not be gone forever.

One day he will return.

So we see the message, the promise of his coming again in the parables.

But we see it also in his plain teaching.

Parables need to be interpreted to be understood.

So that there is no misunderstanding.

Jesus makes quite a number of clear, plain, unmistakable statements about the fact that he will come again.

For example, in Matthew 16, verse 27, he says, For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Matthew 16:27

In Matthew 26, verse 64, Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said, Nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Matthew 26:64

In conversation with an individual, Jesus said, One day you will see me, not as I am now, but you'll see me coming in power and glory from heaven.

Mark 8, verse 38, Jesus says, Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Mark 8:38

Friends, there are other verses I have written down here which time will not allow me to quote, but there are plenty of them in the scriptures.

Some of them are listed there in the notes that you have.

The fact is this if you say that Jesus is not coming again, you are calling him a liar.

Or, alternatively, you are suggesting that he himself was deceived about the matter.

Either he's a deceiver, or he himself was deceived, or he is coming again one day.

And of those three options, I know which one I'm opting for.

I believe that Jesus promised that he would come and he will keep that promise.

But it's not only Jesus Himself who speaks about his return.

The angels proclaim this message.

The angels announced his birth in Bethlehem when he came the first time.

And angels will announce his coming again.

Two of them, as we saw earlier, encouraged the disciples on the Mount of Olives not to be sad, because Jesus was coming again.

And when he does come, his arrival will be announced by the greatest of all the angels, the Archangel Michael.

The voice of the archangel will sound, announcing to the universe that the Lord of creation is on his way.

The parables of Jesus speak of his second coming.

His plain teaching contains the same clear message.

The angels have proclaimed and will proclaim Jesus is coming again.

And then what about the preaching of the early church?

You can easily see what mattered to early Christians, those first Christians, by seeing what the apostles and other disciples of Jesus preached about in those early days.

And the theme of the Savior's return runs through all the teaching and preaching of the early Christians.

It is a major part of their message.

For example, Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 7 to 8 says this see that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who should also confirm you unto the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:7–8

What's Paul saying?

Jesus is coming again.

Be ready.

In Titus, in the epistle to Titus, he says something similar.

Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ is called the blessed hope of the church.

James in his epistle says, Be you also patient.

Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draws near.

Peter says, When the chief shepherd, that's Jesus, of course, shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Jesus is coming, and he brings rewards with him for his people.

John says in his first epistle, chapter 2, and now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

And there are so many other passages.

Did I say?

Over 300 distinct references to the return of Christ in the New Testament.

He's coming.

And when he comes, he comes to bless, he comes to reward, he comes to transform his people.

Are you quite happy the way you are?

Happy with yourself?

Happy with your life?

I suspect that most of us are only too aware that there are a few things about us that could do with being improved.

A few things that we would like to be different.

Well, friends, the good news is this: when Jesus comes, not only do we see him, but we are changed into his likeness.

There were two very famous Scottish preachers of the 19th century, the Boner brothers, Andrew and Horatius Boner, were very, very well-known preachers in Scotland in the mid-19th century.

One of them, I can't remember which, one of them, went to Edinburgh with his children to stand on Princess Street to watch as Queen Victoria drove past in her carriage on a state visit to Scotland.

And this was a big, big, big event.

And whichever of the brothers it was, he wanted his kids to see the Queen.

He wanted them to be part of this very special occasion.

And afterwards a friend wrote to him and said, So you went to see the Queen.

What was it like?

And in his reply, he said, We saw her, but we were not changed by the sight.

But when we see him, that's Jesus, we will be changed into his likeness.

That's what the Bible tells us.

When we see Jesus, we'll be transformed to be like him.

Now, I don't know who you would want to spend time and money going to see, but I can tell you, friends, whether they be a famous sportsman or a famous politician or a famous musician, whoever you go to see, no matter how much you're impressed by them when you see them, you won't be changed by that encounter.

You'll see them, you'll admire them perhaps, you'll wish you were like them.

But you won't be changed.

But friends, when Jesus comes and we see him, the Bible says we will be transformed into his likeness.

Now, we talked about the preaching of the early church and its emphasis upon the return of Christ.

And I don't want you to think that the Old Testament has nothing to say about this.

I think there's a greater emphasis in the New Testament upon the return of Christ than there is in the Old Testament.

But nevertheless, there is plenty of stuff in the Old Testament that refers not to the first coming of Jesus, there's not about that, but to his second coming.

The books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Joel and Amos and Zechariah and Daniel are full of prophecies about the glorious return of our Lord and Savior.

Now I can't remember when I started, that's the problem.

Anyway, a little bit longer.

Let's move on to the prelude to his coming.

Can you yes, there we are.

By this I mean simply things that happen before Jesus comes back.

And lead us up to that event.

Now let's be clear, we do not know the exact time of Christ's return.

Anyone who claims to do so is teaching error.

For Jesus himself said in Mark 13 that no one knows when he will return.

Obviously, not the disciples, because they asked the question, when are you coming back?

Not the disciples, not Peter or John or any of them.

Not the angels.

Jesus said, the angels don't know.

And even more astounding, he said, I don't know.

The only one who knows is God the Father.

That nugget of information is in the hands of God, the eternal Heavenly Father.

He's the only one who knows.

And yet, the clear statement to that effect in the scriptures has not stopped loads and loads of people thinking they could work out the date and tell us.

In 1835, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion, said that Jesus would return before 1891.

Did he?

Well, of course he didn't.

William Miller, one of the early founders of the Seventh-day Adventists, said that Jesus would come between March the 21st, 1843 and March the 21st, 1844.

Did he come?

No, he didn't.

And when the terminal date came and passed and Jesus had not returned, Mr.

Miller did a few more calculations and said, Well, I was slightly wrong.

He's actually coming on October the 22nd, 1844.

And loads of his followers sat on hilltops wearing white robes, waiting for liftoff.

Nothing happened.

And to this day, Seventh-day Adventists describe that as the great disappointment.

But friends, they weren't disappointed in Jesus.

They were disappointed in the false teaching of a foolish man who refused to accept the plain statements of Scripture and thought that he could determine when Jesus Christ would return.

Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, said things would happen in 1914.

Jesus didn't come.

Then they put forward another date, and I used to have a little book.

Somebody gave it to me in the 1960s, some Jehovah's Witness.

And it clearly stated that Jesus would return in 1970.

And I had that book right up until December the 31st, 1970.

And friends, I can tell you the book said Jesus should have come that year, but he didn't.

I threw the book away after that.

It had nothing to say to me.

Again, there's this desire to fix a date.

Do people think that somehow listeners will be impressed?

Well, they might be initially if they're foolish enough to listen.

But they're soon waking up when the date comes and passes.

Herbert Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God said the date was 1975.

And various other people have come up with dates.

The most recent I could find was a man called Martin Blitz in America, who said that Jesus was returning on September the 28th, 2015.

Well, he came then.

He must have come so quietly I didn't even notice.

Friends, these people are deceivers.

They are liars.

Sad to say, a few evangelical Christians have jumped on the bandwagon too, and foolishly have predicted dates for the return of Christ, including above others John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, who said he would return before 1836.

I expect that Wesley had occasion to regret making that statement, but we need to be careful not to say more than the Bible says.

But friends, although we dare not attach a date to this event, the Bible does tell us that there are signs that indicate that the return of the Lord is drawing near.

In Matthew 16 we read this The Pharisees and Sadducees came and tempted Jesus, desiring him that he would show them a sign from heaven.

He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, you say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red.

And in the morning you say, It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and lowering.

You know, red sky at night, red sky in the morning.

Jesus said to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, he said, You can talk about these things about the color of the sky and whether it will presage good or bad weather.

Then he adds this, Oh you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

These Jewish leaders were blind, blind to what really mattered.

But Jesus is indicating that for those with eyes to see, those who love him and look forward to his return, there are signs that his return is drawing nearer.

And I've made a list of some of these.

Among the signs, and Matthew chapter 24 is a key chapter in this respect.

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

Among the signs in Matthew 24, there are natural disasters.

Now, it seems as if we've been living with the threat of natural disaster hanging over our heads for months.

It's too hot.

People are dying because of the heat.

Then it will be too wet, and people will be drowning in the floods.

Natural disasters seem to be happening all around us.

But let's be clear.

Jesus is not saying that none of these things happened before.

Throughout the whole of human history, there have been natural disasters and other things happening.

But the point is not, these things never happened before.

The point is, the significant thing is that as the return of the Savior draws nearer, these things which have always been part of human life on this fallen earth will get worse and worse and worse and stronger and more powerful and more dangerous.

And you don't need to ask Christian preachers, is this happening?

You can go to the ecologist, you can go to the climate scientist, and they're only too eager to tell us the trouble our world is in naturally.

They say it's because of human activity.

Whether they're right or wrong, I really don't know.

But all of us understand there are ecological, natural disasters happening and getting worse all the time.

And then there are religious deserters, people leaving the church.

Friends, churches are emptying all over the place.

Not every church.

There are some where God is moving in power and blessing and revival.

There are some parts of the world where God is moving in revival, even when things seem dark and difficult in our land.

But across the world as a whole, people are deserting the churches.

It's a tragedy, I think, to realize that there are more Muslims in the United Kingdom than there are members of most Christian denominations.

Churches are empty.

People are deserting them.

Apostasy turning back upon God.

Yes, there's a revival in places.

There's a kind of a division taking place between and those who are what I might call nominal Christians are forsaking the church while others are realizing the desperate situation our world is in and are turning to Jesus.

So there's not there are natural disasters, there are religious deserters, there's moral declension, gross immorality.

Again, I don't think I need to spend ages trying to prove that point to you.

You know only too well that things are accepted in our society today that even unbelievers would have found horrible a few years ago.

The world is getting worse and worse.

And as we move on, we then we then come in Matthew chapter 24 to the introduction to a great dictator.

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

Somebody once said, the world is looking forward to the appearance of two men.

The worst of men and the best of men.

And the worst of men is the Antichrist.

The devil's substitute for Jesus.

The devil copies what God does.

Martin Luther said the devil was God's ape.

He apes what God does.

He gives us something alternative to what God puts on offer.

And the devil's substitute for Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Savior, is the Antichrist.

A human figure who will be the stooge of Satan in leading this world into the darkest period it has ever known.

A great dictator and worldwide distress.

It's called in the scriptures the Great Tribulation.

A time of trouble and sorrow and anguish upon this world, and especially upon those who reject the Saviour.

So there are some signs.

I've only mentioned them briefly.

We may look at some of them in more detail another night.

But then I want us to see the greatest sign of all, I believe.

And it's the regathering of a Jewish people to their national homeland.

This is something unique in human history.

And it's actually happened in the lifetime of a few of us here.

Sheelah and I, anyway, I think we I think at least we two share uh share this that that thing.

That it's within our lifetime that Israel has become again a sovereign, independent nation in its own land for the first time since the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, of whom we read in the book of Daniel.

Many nations have been scattered over the centuries and have lost their identity.

Many of the tribes and nations that we read of in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, some of which were mighty empires in their day, have vanished and left so little trace of themselves behind.

Think of the Jebuzites and the Hivites and the Philistines and the Assyrians and the Hittites.

These and many other races have vanished without a trace.

But one nation has been scattered across the world but has retained its national.

Identity and been regathered to its traditional homeland.

And that nation is Israel.

God has done it.

And the regathering of Israel is the greatest sign of God's hand upon human history.

And of the fact that the return of Jesus is drawing near.

There are three similar passages in the Gospels.

Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.

They're similar, but they're not the same.

A careful reading of them will show that Matthew and Mark focus upon certain things that Luke largely bypasses.

And Luke focuses upon some things that Matthew and Mark only mention in passing.

The setting is a private conversation between Jesus and his disciples near the temple in Jerusalem.

And the disciples draw the attention of Jesus to the magnificent buildings of the temple.

We usually say that Jesus was a carpenter.

The Greek word is technology, which literally means a builder.

So I think it's fair to say he didn't work exclusively with wood.

His work with his hands was wider than that.

He was a builder.

I wonder if perhaps the disciples drew the attention of Jesus to the magnificence of the temple, thinking that as a professional builder he might be impressed by what he was looking at.

But to their amazement, Jesus says something which must have shocked them to the core.

He says, all of it is going to be knocked down very soon.

Really?

The greatest building in their nation.

And Jesus said, it's all going.

There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.

And then Jesus walks to the nearby Mount of Olives and he sits down with the disciples.

And they're buzzing with this news of what Jesus has just said.

They can hardly believe it.

And they come to him with questions.

And they ask him three questions.

Somehow or other, in their minds, the idea that the temple will be destroyed is so momentous that they think it can only happen at the end of the world.

If our temple's being destroyed, surely the whole world's going to be destroyed at the same time.

It's such a major thing.

So they ask Jesus three questions.

When will the temple be destroyed?

What will be the sign of your coming?

And when will be the end of the world?

Now Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record parts of this conversation.

But as I said a moment ago, Matthew and Mark focus upon certain aspects of it.

Luke looks at it slightly differently, and we get a different emphasis.

In Matthew 24 and Mark 13, we have a graphic description of that time that Jesus calls the Great Tribulation.

A period of terrible suffering in our world that immediately precedes his return.

That period lay a long way in the future for those disciples.

And it is still future for us.

Luke, however, concentrates on what Jesus had said about the destruction of the temple and the fall of the city of Jerusalem.

And we know as a historical fact that all that took place in the year AD 70, when the Jews rebelled against their Roman overlords, and Titus, the son of the Roman Emperor, and later to be emperor himself, arrived in the environs of Jerusalem at the head of a huge army and besieged the city.

Dreadful, dreadful things happened at that time.

And Luke focuses upon the destruction of Jerusalem.

Now the description of the Great Tribulation, still future, and the destruction of Jerusalem, long in the past for us, is similar.

Terrible things happened in both cases.

But there were differences.

Both are appalling times of trouble and sorrow.

But in Matthew and Mark, when the focus is on the great tribulation, we're told that this suffering would be of unparalleled intensity.

Nothing like it before or after.

Worse than anything that has ever happened before it, worse than anything that can ever happen after it.

But Luke doesn't say that.

He's talking about the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

And he doesn't say that will be worse than anything else.

Because as a matter of fact, it wasn't worse than anything else.

We only need to think about the suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust during World War II to realize that things have happened to that nation that were as bad as or worse than what happened in AD 70.

But nothing will be as bad as the Great Tribulation.

In short, the Jews will suffer two great periods of persecution, at the beginning and at the end of the church age in which we are now living.

At the beginning, the destruction of Jerusalem, and at the end, the Great Tribulation.

We read of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem.

As Jesus entered the city the last week before his crucifixion, probably coming down from the surrounding hills, he looks at the city spread below him and he begins to cry.

Why is Jesus weeping?

Because he knows what is coming, and he sees the disaster about to fall on a nation that had had unparalleled access to divine truth and yet had rejected their own Messiah.

In Luke 21, as told us by Luke, Jesus gives two distinct prophecies concerning Israel.

One prophecy concerns the people themselves.

He says they will be led away captive into all nations.

Has that happened?

Of course it has.

Jews are scattered throughout the world and have been for centuries, and often have faced tremendous persecution at the hands of other people.

They've been scattered.

They've had no homeland.

The other prophecy is about the land of Israel itself.

And Jesus said it will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

And again, that is true.

Israel has been controlled and dominated by a succession of Gentile powers over the centuries.

And Jesus says that this situation for the people and for the land, the people scattered and the land held by others, this will continue until the end of the times of the Gentiles, when Israel will be restored again to their own land.

Israel became an independent nation for the first time since the days of King Nebuchadnezzar on the 14th of May 1948.

The times of the Gentiles have ended.

Now why does this matter to us?

I don't know for sure, but I don't think there are any Jewish people amongst us.

Why should this matter to us particularly?

I tell you, friends, and this is where I'm going to finish for tonight.

I'll tell you why.

Because Jesus makes it clear that when the times of the Gentiles come to an end, it is a sign, a signifier that the return of the Savior is drawing near.

Now, what does drawing near mean?

Well, I'm not going to get into the business I've just condemned of trying to put dates on things.

Near in God's eyes can be different to near.

You're hungry and you say, when's my dinner going to be ready?

You're thinking in terms of ten minutes, five minutes, two minutes maybe.

If you're talking about planning a holiday, you're thinking in terms of a few weeks or a few months, maybe a year at the most.

What we regard as a short time or a long time depends upon the situation.

If it's toothache and the dentist can't see you for a week, that's an eternity.

If it's something wonderful happening, my goodness, time has a different dimension.

But friends, however God chooses to evaluate time, the truth is this that the return of Israel to their own land is an indicator that we are moving forward in God's prophetic program.

One step nearer, the return of the Savior.

Now I'll stop there.