Update

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood Seraphim; each one had six wings. With two, he covered his face; with two, he covered his feet; and with two, he flew. And one cried to another and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." The posts of the door were shaken by the voice of Him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

So I said, "Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."

Father, we thank You for visions like these. We thank You that You, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the God of gods, the One who created all things seen and unseen, that You speak. You are not silent. You have made Yourself known, even as we have been considering in the book of Romans, that You have made Yourself known through creation and then through the conscience that You've given to us.

But then, even beyond that, Lord, You have given us special revelation; You have spoken into this world. Even though You're outside of Your creation, You've spoken to Your creation, to us. We pray, God, that You would continue to speak to us. Give us ears to hear what You would be saying to us, that we would know what is true, right, and good, and what honors You and exalts You. We recognize that our chief end is to glorify You. So, God, glorify Yourself in us. Transform us by the renewing of our minds.

As Pastor Josh shared earlier, there is an anticipation of God doing great things in and through us, His people. For we ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, "Amen." You can be seated.

2012 has been a momentous year in many ways. In fact, it was supposed to be the final year, but we're still here. Praise God! I don't know about you, but I'm glad to be here. I wouldn't mind being with the Lord in heaven, but I'm glad to be here, to be about the Lord's work. According to some, this was to be the last year, the end. We've made it past December 21, 2012, and we're ready to go on into 2013. The Mayans did not predict the end of the world, apparently, so they were wrong. Those who looked at their calendar expecting that would be the end of the world were mistaken.

Now, of course, there were some who seemed to think that the Mayan calendar was actually pointing not to the end, but rather to a new beginning. So, we're now standing at the dawn of a new age. Did you know that? We're at the dawn of a new age. I don't know what that means, but it sounds good to some, so I'm sure it's selling some sort of product somewhere. Someone is using it to their advantage, no doubt.

So here we are at the dawn of a new age. We'll see what comes of it and what happens. Last year, in 2011, it was Harold Camping, and then this year it was the Mayan calendar. Now, we're about to fall off the fiscal cliff, so that's got to mean something. Just hours away, don't you feel the impending doom? It's terrible. Oh, I can taste it. It's almost so bad; it's just unbelievable. The fiscal cliff is coming, and it will pass. It won't be long before we'll be talking about something else.

I mean, 2013, lucky number 13! It's a good thing that there's not a 13th month, because then you'd have 13, 13, 13, and that would be really bad. I'm sure it would have fallen on a Friday, so then it would have been Friday the 13th, 13, 13, 13. That would be really, really, really bad. So it's good we don't have that. But you know, there are two Friday the 13ths next year, in September and December, so just get ready.

I'm sure those will be really unlucky in some bad way. Just advance warning.

Now, being that we just passed another end-of-the-world scenario and event, and there will be more that will come, we are less than 48 hours away from the beginning of a new year. I thought it would be good to remember that the Bible, which we study week in and week out here at Cross Connection, is a prophetic work. It would be beneficial to consider that it contains some very interesting and important words regarding what are sometimes referred to as the end times or the end of days.

Since this is the last Sunday of 2012, many evangelical churches in America today are looking at some of the prophetic events of the Bible and considering them. If you look around, especially if you're standing in line at the grocery store down at Vaughan's, you'll see that every year at this time, the tabloids have headlines like "The 12 Bible Prophecies the Government Doesn't Want You to Know." Nostradamus predicts this, and there are all kinds of crazy stuff. There seems to be an anticipation, especially as we end one year and step into a new year, of thinking about what that might mean.

How many of you remember Y2K? We all almost died; we barely escaped. It was phenomenal that we made it through that, and I'm glad we did. But it's good to remember that more than a third of the Bible is what is called predictive Bible prophecy. A third of the Bible deals with events that some have already come to pass, predicted before they occurred, while others are yet to come. There are still things in the Bible that have not come to pass—prophetic events that have not happened yet.

In fact, the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, is almost fully predictive in nature. That said, the Book of Revelation is also very poetic. As a result of it being a poetic, apocalyptic, prophetic book, it takes some work to interpret what is there. There are many different fanciful ideas and predictions about what is said and what is taking place in the Book of Revelation. However, I believe there are ways to rightly divide and interpret the Book of Revelation.

We should recognize that the Bible has its share of difficulties, as do many prophetic passages. Any time you begin to talk about Bible prophecy, people often ask the question, "Are we living in the last days?" Are we living in those events or that time when those things are going to come to pass? The Bible does say that we are living in a time called the last days. In Hebrews chapter 1, verse 2, the author of the book of Hebrews expressly states that these last days are the days in which we are living.

When you look at the scriptures, I believe you can build a good case that ever since Jesus ascended into heaven, we have been living in a period of time classified as the last days. For the last 2,000 years, we have been living during a time that could be considered the last days. This might not be the answer that some people are looking for when they ask if we are living in the last days, but from a biblical standpoint, yes, we are.

The follow-up question that often arises is whether the Bible really predicts that the world will one day come to an end. The answer is yes; the Bible does say that. In fact, Jesus himself taught this. In Matthew chapter 28, during the Great Commission, Jesus said, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age." Here, he spoke about the end of the age.

Additionally, in Matthew chapter 13, there are several passages where Jesus interprets or explains his parables. Most of the time, he taught in stories and parables. In Matthew chapter 13, he tells his disciples that there will come an end of the age, an end of days.

While the Bible does teach that certain events will come to pass in the end of days, there are many false teachings that surround the end times or the last days. Here at Cross Connection, we believe and hold to what is called a futurist position on Bible prophecy. This means that we view biblical prophetic events as being literal in their fulfillment, and we believe that there are some events that have yet to be fulfilled that will indeed come to pass.

At yet a future time, the most awesome event is what we would call the second coming of Jesus Christ. We look forward to the second coming of Jesus Christ with great expectation. Just as Jesus came, and we recently celebrated this with Christmas, we celebrate the Advent, the coming of the Messiah. He came the first time in a way that fulfilled Bible prophecy. There are hundreds of Bible prophecies that dealt with Jesus's first coming, and there are many Bible prophecies that deal with Jesus's second coming.

In the book of Acts, specifically Acts chapter one, as Jesus ascended into heaven while speaking his final words to his disciples, he began to be caught up into heaven. As he was ascending, his disciples stood there, looking up in amazement, thinking, "This is far out." They were standing on the Mount of Olives, just gazing into heaven. Then, two men appeared to them, clothed in white, whom we believe to be angels. They said to the disciples, "You men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into heaven? Don't you know that this same Jesus is going to return in like manner, in the same way that he ascended into heaven? He is going to come back once again."

That's an awesome reality that these angels announced to the disciples of Jesus, the followers who were watching the risen Jesus ascend into heaven. They said, "Hey, guys, don't you know he's coming again? Don't you realize this?" This message was not just announced by angels; it was also taught and promised by Jesus himself. In John chapter 14, verse three, Jesus said, "If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again." This is a great promise: "I will come again."

Then, in Matthew chapter 16, verse twenty-seven, he prophetically promises his disciples, "The Son of Man," which is a title that Jesus carried, "will come in the glory of his Father with his angels." There is an event coming. Jesus says, "I will come again." Angelic beings tell his disciples that he is going to return just as he ascended into heaven. Jesus says, "I'm going to come with the glory of my Father and with the angels."

In Matthew chapter twenty-four, verse thirty, Jesus said they, speaking of all humanity...

We will see the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven and the power and great glory with Him. The book of Revelation promises in Revelation, chapter one, verse seven, "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. The nation of Israel, all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him." Even so, Amen.

So we have lots of scriptural evidence that supports this reality: that the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, Jesus, the Messiah, the one who died for our sins and rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven, will in like manner one day return. I’m here to tell you this morning, He hasn't come yet. He hasn't returned. He did not return in secret in 1913 in Brooklyn, New York. The Jehovah's Witness Church teaches that He has not come yet because the Scriptures say every eye will see it. It's not going to be a secret coming when He comes with power and great glory, attended by angels and by His church. The Scriptures reveal this.

Here at Cross Connection, we hold to a futurist position on Bible prophecy, which means we believe that these things will one day literally come to pass, just as Jesus literally fulfilled the prophecies surrounding His first coming. We believe that He will come again. I realize that for some people, that seems completely far out. For the modern mind in America, that is often viewed by a secular perspective as absolute fantasy. People might think you are just nuts if you believe this. But listen, Jesus came the first time. History attests that He came.

When we look at the prophecies surrounding His first coming and consider what has happened since that time, we say, "Hey, we believe these things are going to come to pass one day." There is an anticipation and expectation, even as the Apostle Paul wrote 20 centuries ago, that they were looking for and hoping for the glorious appearing of the Lord. They were hopeful 2,000 years ago, and we should also be hopeful and looking forward with expectation to the coming of the Lord.

For many evangelical churches, and we would be classified as an evangelical church, words such as these from the Scriptures are both interesting and exciting. Over the last 35 or 40 years, especially, these things have been of great interest.

To the American church, particularly the evangelical church in America, best-selling books have been written about eschatology. Conferences have been held, and documentaries and feature-length films have been produced. Eschatology is a theological term that means the study of the last things, or the last days, often referred to as the end times. This topic is a significant focus in the American church, and it has also become big business.

We should recognize that many people try to profit from what the Scriptures have to say. Even the Inquirer attempts to make money off the Bible, although they often present some wacky interpretations. Many others do the same. Eschatology is a big deal in evangelical churches, and the reality is that, in America, it captures people's interest. It causes them to be on the edge of their seats because some of it can be a little unsettling, especially with certain books that have been written, which are loosely related to the Bible. You read these things and find them to be page-turners, filled with unsettling content.

As a result, it is commonly believed that discussing Bible prophecy in a church is a surefire way to attract people. Topics like eschatology, the last days, or even sex tend to draw large crowds. I’m sure if someone organized a series about sex in the last days, it would be incredibly popular. However, we won’t be doing that, at least not this week.

Cross Connection Escondido is part of the Calvary Chapel movement of churches, the Calvary Chapel family. As I previously mentioned, we hold to a futurist position on Bible prophecy. This does not mean that the other positions lack value. There are four primary positions on Bible prophecy: the futurist position, the preterist position, the idealist position, and the historical position. I won’t delve into those today, to be honest. I don’t have a problem with the other views on Bible prophecy; I believe they have legitimate points and good value. However, we do believe in a future, literal fulfillment of Bible prophecy, and we look forward to those things being fulfilled.

In our lifetime, we may have various ideas, opinions, educated guesses, and beliefs about Bible prophecy. It is really important to preface a conversation about this topic with humility. Although we hold a position that we believe is a good explanation of what we see in the Scriptures, we should acknowledge that we do not have the corner market on biblical interpretation as it relates to eschatology.

The church in town that teaches a different position is not necessarily heretical or wrong. I have some great friends who hold a preterist position, which believes that all the Bible prophecy has already been fulfilled, specifically in the first century. They have some solid biblical support for that view. We simply disagree, and we agree to disagree, which is perfectly fine. I know that eventually, they will be convinced that we are right, and that’s okay. In time, they will figure it out. When we see the Lord in His great and glorious appearance, I won’t say, "I told you so," but they will see that it was just true.

I don’t think we should be overly dogmatic about our position. I hold to what I call a humble eschatology. This means I have certain beliefs that I believe can be built from the Scriptures as we rightly divide the word of truth. However, that does not mean I am dogmatically the right one. When there are areas of biblical interpretation where there is considerable disagreement among Bible teachers and students of the Scriptures—who are all Christians—I think we should at least be humble enough to acknowledge that we could be wrong. This is the position we hold to.

I find it challenging when there is considerable disagreement within the church about mysterious issues like these, and some insist that their way is the only way, labeling others as wrong or heretical. I do not see that approach well supported in the Scriptures.

What I am about to say may be completely foreign to some, so please bear with me. I understand that I may have lost some of you at the mention of preterism, and that’s okay. Hopefully, we can bring you back to where we are at. The Calvary Chapel family of churches is traditionally premillennial.

Pre-tribulational. Many of you may know exactly what that is. Some of you are probably going pre-millennial and pre-tribulation in your eschatology. The futurist position, the idea that there are Bible prophecies yet to be fulfilled and will literally be fulfilled one day, leads us within the Calvary Chapel family of churches to believe and teach that end times prophecy will come to pass in the future.

Essentially, Calvary Chapel holds that one day Jesus will return to the earth in what is called His second coming. He will establish His kingdom here upon the earth and will rule and reign for a thousand years in what is commonly referred to as the millennial reign of Christ. We hold a premillennial position, meaning that we don't think that has happened yet. We don't believe that Jesus has come and established His earthly kingdom here upon the earth.

Now, there are some people within the church, within the body of Christ as a whole—good Christians who love the Lord and will be in heaven with us—who believe that Jesus has returned spiritually and that He has established His rule and reign within His church, ruling and reigning right now. There are people who hold that position; we just don't necessarily see that with everything happening in the world. When the Bible talks about Him having a rule of righteousness, it means that there will be righteousness upon the earth. I don't know if you've noticed, but there is not righteousness upon the earth.

Other churches interpret these things differently, saying that the righteousness spoken of is the righteousness that God brings within His church. I completely understand that view; I just don't agree with it. Therefore, we hold a premillennial position. We believe that it has not happened yet, that Jesus has come to establish His kingdom.

Why? In the book of Isaiah, specifically Isaiah chapter 11, Isaiah describes a little bit about what that will look like. What will it look like when Jesus is ruling and reigning in His kingdom? I want to read to you from Isaiah chapter 11, beginning with verse one: "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, a branch shall grow out of his roots." This is speaking about the Messiah coming from the line of David. "The spirit of the Lord is going to rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord."

He shall make him quick of understanding and the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge after the sight of the eyes, nor reprove after the hearing of the ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove with equity the meek of the earth. He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips. He shall slay the wicked, and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness, the girdle of his reins.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the goat, and the calf. The young lion and the fatling shall be together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed together; their young ones shall lie down together. The lion shall eat straw like an ox, and the suckling child shall play by the hole of a venomous snake. The weaned child shall put his hand in the venomous snake's den, and they shall not hurt nor destroy on all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

This is a description of the millennial reign of Christ. I don't know if we're seeing that quite yet; I haven't seen too many lions eating straw. We think that this will come to pass at a future time, so we hold a premillennial position. We believe that one day Jesus is going to return, establish his kingdom, and rule with righteousness. That hasn't happened yet.

Calvary Chapel is also traditionally pre-tribulational. The belief within the Calvary Chapel family of churches is that seven years prior to the second coming of Jesus, there will be the start of what is called the tribulation, a seven-year period of great tribulation upon the earth. The belief within Calvary Chapel is that before that seven-year tribulation, Jesus is going to take his church away from the earth in an event called the rapture.

That sounds far out, doesn't it? He's going to rapture his church. Now, let me confuse you even more. There are several views on the rapture of the church. Within Calvary Chapel, we traditionally hold a pre-tribulation rapture view, but there are others who hold a mid-tribulation rapture view, meaning that Jesus isn't coming at the beginning of the seven-year tribulation; he's going to come in the middle of the tribulation and take his church out.

Then there are some people who say, "You guys are crazy. That's not going to happen." They believe it will happen at the end of the tribulation in what is called the post-tribulational view. Others say, "You guys are all off your rocker." They hold a pre-wrath position, believing that before he pours out his wrath in the second half of the tribulation, he will come.

Of the tribulation, Jesus is going to rapture His church out. He's going to catch them out, like medivac them out. Then there's another group that says, "Listen, you guys are confusing me. I hold to a pan-tribulational view. It's all just going to pan out." Crazy, huh? Now you can see why people get confused by these things. Pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, pre-wrath, pan-trib—there are all kinds of views.

You meet some Christians, and you start talking. So, you're a Christian; you go to church? Yeah, I go to church. So, you believe in pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib? What do you believe? Well, I'm a pre-millennial, post-tribber. It's like, what? The non-Christian in the room is going, "What in the world are you talking about?" It's just freaking people out.

As I said, I hold what I call a humble eschatology. I recognize that in this room, at this moment, in this church, there are people who do not hold a pre-tribulational position on the rapture of the church. I'm perfectly fine with that. Why? Because it's not essential for salvation. There are some people in this church right now who hold a post-trib view. I'm perfectly fine with that. I don't have an issue with it, and they're welcome to fellowship here.

Why? Because we believe in Jesus. We believe that He is the only atoning sacrifice for our sins. We believe that we're going to be together with the Lord in heaven for eternity. We look forward to that. These are not essential to our salvation; they are secondary issues. They should not divide the church. Unfortunately, these have been hot-button issues that have divided the church in America. People lead with eschatology instead of leading with the fact that they're saved by Jesus Christ.

We need to recognize that our salvation in Christ is more important than our eschatological position. So, recognize that we're just not pushy about these things here at this church. I hope and pray that you're still tracking with me.

The issue at hand is the end of the world. When is it going to happen? Some people look at the world and say, "Oh, it's got to happen soon because it's getting pretty bad here." It may get a whole lot worse. So, when's the end of the world? When is it going to come? How will we know when it's going to happen?

Well, do you realize that Jesus's disciples, 2,000 years ago, asked Him the same questions, and He answered them? In Matthew, chapter 24, turn your Bibles to Matthew, chapter 24. In this passage, there is some great instruction about the last days. Matthew, chapter 24, is called the Olivet Discourse.

Now, that may sound like, "What in the world is the Olivet Discourse?" The Olivet Discourse is a teaching, a discourse that Jesus had with His disciples on the Mount of Olives. That's why it's called the Olivet Discourse. You can really boggle the minds of your friends now when you use the term "Olivet Discourse." They will go, "Wow, what's that?" It's this teaching in Matthew 24 and 25. It's just Jesus teaching on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

You can go to the Mount of Olives today; it's just east of the Temple Mount in the city of Jerusalem. When we go to the land of Israel, to the city of Jerusalem, we stand on the Mount of Olives. We look at the Temple Mount, and you get a real idea of where this took place.

So, in Matthew 24, verse one, it says, "Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple." He had been in the temple, and now He is leaving, going east in the city of Jerusalem. His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.

Here’s the picture: Jesus is walking out of this wonder of the world, this awesome building that man had created, which existed 2,000 years ago in the city of Jerusalem until the year 70 A.D., when the Roman general Titus destroyed it. Jesus had just given a teaching in Matthew chapter 23 that really disturbed some people because He called out the religious establishment in Jerusalem and nailed them as hypocrites.

You just kind of don’t do that in the city of Jerusalem—calling out the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and so forth—because their next plan is, "Well, we’re just going to kill you." That’s what they do. They say, "We don’t like it when you show that we’re hypocrites, so we’ll just take you out."

So, Jesus's disciples are a little concerned. He just made the religious establishment look like a bunch of fools. As they are walking out, they say, "Look at this great temple! Look how awesome this is! Look how wonderful this is!" But Jesus says something to His disciples that completely disturbed them.

In verse two, Jesus answered and said, "Do you not see all these things?" They replied, "Yeah, we see them." Then He continued, "Truly, I say to you, not one stone will be left upon another..."

Shall not be thrown down. Now, that prophecy of Jesus was literally fulfilled within 40 years after His death and resurrection. The city of Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, with not one stone left upon another. The Romans pushed the stones down into the Tyropoeon Valley, the valley below, and the Kidron Valley on the other side, trying to get to the gold that had been in the temple and melted down into the foundation. Not one stone was left upon another. So, Jesus's words were fulfilled.

In this passage, we have what's called an early and a latter fulfillment, which is seen throughout Bible prophecy in the Scriptures. There is an initial fulfillment that cements in the minds of the people that what was said has value, is substantial, and is true. Then, there is another part of the prophecy that does not come to pass until later. Jesus says here, "You see all this? Not one stone is going to be left upon another." In the context, as you study this passage, Jesus just walks away. He drops this massive bomb on His disciples. The temple, to the Jewish people, was the center of their world. It had been destroyed one time before this by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C., which completely decimated the Jewish people.

Now, this temple had been rebuilt, taking almost 50 years to complete. Jesus said, "You see this? It's all going to come down." His disciples were standing there in shock and awe. Jesus then beelines it for the Mount of Olives and starts hiking up.

As He sat on the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" There are three questions here. Jesus had just said that the temple was going to be destroyed, and His disciples came and asked, "Okay, when is this going to happen?" Wouldn't you want to know if someone said, "Hey, this is going to happen"?

Then they asked two more questions: "What will be the sign of Your coming, and what will be the sign of the end of the age?" It seems from their questions that they imagined the destruction of that building would also equal the coming of Jesus, the second coming event, and the end of the age. They kind of put all those things together. The reality is that all those things are not together.

There's an early fulfillment, the destruction of the temple in August of 70 AD, and there's a latter fulfillment, the second coming of Jesus and the end of the age.

So Jesus answered, in verse four, "Take heed that no one deceives you." Would you reach over and underline that in your neighbor's Bible? Why? Because there's a lot of deception surrounding these things. Take heed that no one deceives you. Be careful that you study the Scriptures and rightly divide the word of truth so that you're not easily deceived.

In verse five, Jesus continues, "For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of war. See that you are not troubled, for these things must come to pass." Now, look at this: the end is not yet.

They asked Jesus, "What's going to be the sign of your coming? What's going to be the sign of the end of the age?" Jesus begins to tell them about false signs. Don't be deceived by false Christs who are going to espouse false signs, like wars and rumors of wars.

Every time there's a rumor or a rumbling of a great war, there is this anticipation in the minds of people: "This is it. This is going to be the end. The end of the world has come because of this war." Jesus says, "Hey, don't be deceived. Wars and rumors of wars are not the sign of the end of the age or of His second coming."

In verse seven, He states, "Nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in various places." In verse eight, He adds, "All these things are the beginning of sorrows."

But go back a few verses: the end is not yet. This is just the beginning. Jesus says, "Listen, wars and rumors of wars are going to happen. Nations are going to rise up against nations, kingdoms are going to rise up against kingdoms. There are going to be battles, famines, pestilence, and earthquakes."

What happens when there's a great famine in the world? People say it's the end of the world. Or if there's a big earthquake, they declare it's the end of the world. And then another earthquake occurs, and again, it's the end of the world. He says, "No, those are not the signs of the end of the age or of my coming."

These are not the signs. This is normal reality in the world, in a fallen world in which we live: famines, pestilence, war, earthquakes. This is the reality of living in a fallen world. These are not the signs of the end times. These are not the signs of the second coming of Jesus.

In verse nine, it states that they will deliver you up to tribulation, they will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. Then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

So, the things that He lists here are even more false signs. These are not the signs of the end because the end is going to come. Many people are going to be saved until the end. What are not the signs here in verses nine through thirteen? Tribulation, persecution, hatred of the church, betrayal and hatred within the church, false prophets deceiving many in the church, and abounding lawlessness—this is abundant wickedness and evil in the world. These are not the signs of the coming of the Lord or the end of the age.

Now, I recognize that what I'm saying here is divergent from some of the things you'll hear on the radio. People say wars and rumors of wars; it's the end of the age. No, that's not what Jesus taught. Jesus said this is normal reality in a fallen world.

So, what's the sign? Look at verse fourteen: the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then will the end come. In the midst of all the craziness, the work of the kingdom will continue, as Jesus says in verse fourteen. The work of the kingdom, the proclamation of the gospel, is going to continue until the end, amidst wars, rumors of wars, pestilence, famine, earthquakes—all the stuff. The gospel kingdom work will continue, and then will the end come.

Well, what's the sign? It's given to us in verse fifteen. Remember, Jesus's disciples asked Him, "What will be the sign of the end of the age and of Your coming?" Not what are the signs. The sign of the second coming of Jesus Christ is this: verse fifteen.

Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, whosoever reads, let him understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down or take anything out of his house. Let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant or nursing babies in those days. Pray that your flight, your escape, would not be in the middle of winter or on the Sabbath day, for then there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be.

Look at verse twenty-nine of Matthew twenty-four. Immediately after the tribulation—what tribulation? Verse twenty-one states that there will be great tribulation. Verse twenty-nine continues, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven. The powers of heaven shall be shaken." Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn. They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

So they will see Jesus coming after this period of great tribulation that is preceded by an event called the abomination of desolation. What in the world is the abomination of desolation? Well, it is described by Daniel the prophet. Daniel had something to say about this abomination of desolation that would one day come before the Lord. We find that passage in the book of Daniel, chapter nine.

Turning your Bibles to Daniel chapter nine, which is right after the book of Ezekiel, look at verse twenty-five. "Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after sixty-two weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself."

The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself, and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war, desolations are determined. Then He shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week. In the middle of the week, He shall bring an end to the sacrifice and the offering, and on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.

There’s a lot going on there. Daniel, the prophet, prophesies that from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed at an early point in Daniel's life by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in 586 BC. Daniel and many of his Jewish contemporaries, young men, were taken to Babylon as captives, and they served in the court of the king. Daniel was one of them.

This is many years later, near the end of Daniel's life, that he receives this prophetic vision from God. God says, "Listen, from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem." The city of Jerusalem, which is in shambles because of Nebuchadnezzar, is going to be rebuilt. From the time that the decree is given until the Messiah, the Prince Jesus, comes in His first coming, it will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.

There are many Bible scholars much smarter than I who have spent lifetimes looking into these things. I highly recommend a book by Sir Robert Anderson called The Coming Prince. He describes a lot of this in great detail. In his book, he talks about these weeks being seven-year periods. He describes the first part of it as sixty-nine seven-year periods, or 483 years.

What Daniel was being told is the exact day when Jesus would come into Jerusalem as the King—the day when people were raising palm branches and putting them down before Him, crying, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." This was the annunciation of the King of Kings coming into Jerusalem, His triumphal entry.

Which we celebrate on Palm Sunday, Daniel is given a prophetic word five centuries before that would come to pass about when that is going to happen. If you read Anderson's book, you can see he calculates it out to the day that those first 483 years, the 69 seven-week periods, were fulfilled to the day when Jesus came into Jerusalem. This is awesome. Bible prophecy like this is not ambiguous or hazy; this is clear Bible prophecy to the day that Jesus came into Jerusalem.

Sixty-nine seven-week periods, or 483 years, have been accounted for, but there is a missing seven-year period called the 70th week of Daniel, which he describes here in verse 27. He says in verse 26 that after those 483 years, the Messiah is going to come and he is going to be cut off, meaning he is going to be killed, but not for himself. So, the Messiah is going to die, but not for himself. Who did the Messiah die for?

Daniel has this prophecy five centuries before Jesus came, stating that he is going to be cut off, but not for himself. The people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The Romans are going to come and destroy Jerusalem, and the sanctuary, as Daniel is told, was destroyed in 70 AD after Jesus died for us. This prophecy was given five centuries before these events occurred.

The end shall be with a flood until the end; war and desolations are determined. After that point, there will be war and desolations, famines, pestilence, and earthquakes until the end. From the time the temple is destroyed in 70 AD until the end, there will be tumultuous events happening in the world.

Then, in verse 27, he states that someone shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week. This refers to the missing seven-year period. In the middle of that seven-year period, whoever this "he" is shall bring an end to the sacrifice and the offering in the temple. On the wing of abominations, he shall be the one that makes desolate.

What is believed by many is that there remains this seven-year period of this prophecy that is yet to come. During that seven-year period, it is held by many that there is going to be...

A third Jewish temple in the city of Jerusalem will have sacrifices taking place. During the middle of that seven-year period, someone will come in and stop those sacrifices, desolating and desecrating the temple. We believe that this individual is the Antichrist, as described in other prophetic passages of the Bible.

What Jesus says in Matthew 24 is significant: when you see that event take place, know that my coming is really soon. There will be great tribulation for a period of time after that, and then I will come with power and great glory. I want to emphasize this morning that we are not there yet.

When I hear things about the Mayan calendar, I think, whatever. When I hear Harold Camping say the end is coming on May 21, 2011, and then he changes it to October 21, 2011, I respond with indifference. Why? Because based on what the Bible describes, it appears that there needs to be a temple in Jerusalem and sacrifices taking place in that temple for the abomination of desolation to occur. Unless we are completely misinterpreting it, and the abomination of desolation is something different, we have to consider that.

Some people believe we are in trouble with this abomination of desolation concept within the church, claiming we have a wrong interpretation. This is our best educated guess based on our study of the Scriptures. However, since that event has not happened in Israel yet, I think we are still a little ways away before Jesus comes. It is not the end of the world as we know it; it is just the end of 2012. Jesus has not come back yet.

Jesus had a word for those of us who get really hyped up about end times events. In the book of Acts, would you turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter one? How many of you recognize that someone's last words—the very last words they speak—carry significance? These are the last words that Jesus said to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. In Acts chapter one, beginning at verse six, look at what it says.

Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Is this it? Is this the time of Your establishing of Your kingdom? We're so excited about Your second coming and the establishing of Your millennial reign. We're so excited about You wrapping this all up."

And Jesus said to them, in verse seven, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put into His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth."

Matthew 24, verse 14, says, "This gospel shall be preached for a witness among all nations, and then shall the end come."

As we sit on December 30th, 2012, as the Church of God, the called-out ones of God, here's where we stand for my prophecy update: Jesus has not yet come. Therefore, we have work to do. Because this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached for a witness in all nations, and then shall the end come.

It's not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put into His care, but you receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you go be witnesses. So we have a job to do. Jesus will come; we believe that. He will come at just the right time, like He did the first time, and He will come in accordance with His timing and His will. Nothing that we do will force His coming.

You see, there were Jewish people 2,000 years ago, and even still today, who felt that if we just do this, then the Messiah will come. Some of them said things like, "If all of the Jewish people in the world celebrated the feast of Passover in Jerusalem, then the Messiah would come." There are people today in the Church who are saying, "If we would just be more righteous, then Jesus would come again."

Now, God has an appointed time, and He has an appointed work for us, His workers. Jesus hasn't come yet. There's much more work to be done.

Let's stand. Father, we need Your grace. We need the outpouring of Your Spirit, just as Your early disciples had there in Acts.

Chapter two. We need that you would equip and fill us and make us ready to be witnesses of you in our Jerusalem here in North County, throughout Southern California, throughout the United States, to the uttermost parts. Lord, enable us by your grace, by your power, and by your Spirit to be witnesses unto you.

Help us not to be all consumed or freaked out by the reality of your second coming, but to know that you will come because you promised it. Let us be about your work, knowing that there is coming a day when we will stand before you, and we want to hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Work this into our lives, we pray. As we step into 2013, may it be a great year for your glory through us, your people. We ask in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen.