“Can I really know the Future?”
Matthew 24
In 1898 Morgan Robertson wrote a book titled the wreck of the Titan. In the book Robertson tells the story of a hug ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank in the middle of the ocean. Now you may be thinking already that this sounds a lot like the real story of the Titanic. In fact they are very similar.
In the story the wreck of the Titan In the story of the Titanic
The ship was 800 feet long the ship was 882 feet long
Named the Titan named the Titanic
Displaced 66,000 tons of water displaced 70,000 tons of water
Traveled up to 25 knots per hr. traveled up to 25 knots per hr.
Could transport 3000 passengers could transport 3000 pass.
Now you might wonder why Robertson would bother to write a work of fiction that was so close to the real life event. The reason is simple. The Titanic sank on April 14, 1912. The novel, the wreck of the Titan was published in 1898---14 years before the Titanic set sail.
It’s amazing to think that a book written more than a decade earlier could so accurately predict a historical event like the sinking of the Titanic. But it is even more fascinating to realize that the Bible is able to predict with accuracy, events that will occur hundreds and even thousands of years after it was written.
Prophecy matters. We can hardly turn a page in the scripture without finding some reference to a future event. Tim Lahaye, writer of the Left Behind series has done a study if the entire Bible….
• For instance the book of Genesis contains 14% prophecy
• Daniel is 45% prophecy
• Books like Zephaniah (89%) Nahum (74%) Micah 70%
• Revelation weighs in at 95%
If you are a student of the scripture you cannot ignore the study of prophecy. Billy Graham has said that the most neglected teaching in the church today is the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. There are several reasons for the absence of this teaching…
1. Pastors and church members alike often say that the subject of prophecy is too confusing to understand.
People think you must have a seminary degree or at least some knowledge of how to read tea leaves to understand the 2nd coming. Actually you only need to be able to pray and be willing to study to understand.
In our scripture this morning Jesus and His disciples were leaving the temple Jesus told them that “one day this magnificent place of worship would be torn down.” The temple would be completely destroyed. Now was Jesus talking about His own body…..as the temple that would be destroyed (crucified) or was he talking about the actual temple being destroyed? The answer is yes…He is speaking of both.
Now this would obviously shake them up. How would you respond if someone told you that your home or your place of worship would be completely leveled one day? So the disciples asked the obvious question, “tell us, when will these things happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Chpt. 24. 3.
We know from history that about 40 years after the disciples asked this question that Titus entered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. But this was not the only event they were concerned with. They also wanted to know when Christ would return and what signs would precede His return.
Jesus could have said…
• Looks guys, I’m not telling you, especially you Peter and Thomas you’re such a doubter
• Look guys it’s all gonna pan out in the end, don’t worry about it
• It’s too deep to understand
Instead Jesus answers this question with a very lengthy explanation of end time events. He did however refuse to answer the question of when. He would not give a specific date but he did clearly answer the “what” question.
Look at Matthew 24:4-6, 15-16 and 29-30.
A 2nd objection we hear to teaching on this topic is this. No one can know when Christ will return so why study it. This is a basic fact that all of us need to remember when we tackle the subject of the 2nd coming. Listen. We are never to set dates concerning the 2nd coming of Christ. This is clear. Let me show you.
In Daniel 12:9…………………. Daniel did not know the date
1st Thessalonians 5:2…………….. Paul did not know the date
Matthew 24:36…………………… Jesus did not know the date
Now you would think that of Daniel, Paul and Jesus did not know, that it would keep man from making predictions about a date and time. But it hasn’t. Look at this.
• Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) thought the world would end by 1656
• Martin Luther (1483-1546) thought it would end within 300 years
• Harold Camping predicted Sept 6, 1994, Sept 29, 1994, October 4, 1994, March 31, 1995 and May 21, 2011.
Then in March 2012 he said you know what? I was wrong.
At the end of 2013 the world focused on the Mayan calendar which was ending on December 31, 2012. People actually panicked around the world. To respond, NASA released a video to assure everyone we were safe.
Now this endless parade of dates has created a lot of confusion. It has caused many to no longer trust any prophecy that is made. We all too well remember the story of the boy who cried wolf. The boy was warned but he still kept crying wolf; then a real wolf came along and he began to cry out again. But this time instead of running to the hill where the boy was---this time they didn’t come. And as a result the sheep were left in danger.
Make no mistake about it, the end is coming but God as not told us when---and for good reason. Just as at this time of year every school teacher knows how unproductive and unfocused students are the week before school lets out, God knows how tempted we would be to neglect our own responsibilities—if we knew the actual date.
So if it is impossible to know when, these prophetic events will unfold, why bother to study Bible prophecy at all? Last year I was out of town for a few days and was flying back to this area on Saturday night so that I could preach here on Sunday morning. My flight required me to go to Charlotte---I don’t know why but it did. Everything was running on time until we were detained and my flight arrived and allowed only 5 minutes to get to the next gate which happened to be on the other end of the airport. I tried, believe me but there was not enough time to get there. They were kind enough to provide me with a hotel room, another flight early the next morning and a shuttle to that hotel. Now they could not tell me the exact time the shuttle would arrive but they did tell me what to look for. A large white shuttle bus with the name of the hotel on it.
During the next 30 minutes there were many buses that stopped in front of the loading zone. It was constant. And when each one pulled in I would look up, check the color of the bus and the name on it. If one pulled up and had a different hotel’s name on it than the one I was staying in that nite, I said nope that not it either. Had I boarded any of those buses I would not have arrived safely at my destination.
But eventually the right bus pulled up and I knew I needed to get on. Why? Even though I had not been told when the bus would arrive, I had been told what to look for. In the same way, none of us knows when the Lord will return. But God has given us a clear picture of what to look for so we will not be deceived by false prophets. In other words, God doesn’t want us to get on the wrong bus.
3. There are too many different interpretations of prophecy. Granted this is true. We have 3 different views of the millennium. Pre, post and A. We have the pretrib rapture and the postrib rapture. As one pastor said I’m a pan millennialist. I believe it’s all goning to pan out in the end.
Listen, the fact that there are a number of different interpretations about end time events does not mean there is not one that is correct. We even say at times---well I have the freedom to interpret the Bible as I choose. You can do that but that doesn’t mean that every interpretation is correct of course.
2nd Peter 1:20-21 says (NIV) 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
4. Bible prophecy has nothing to do with everyday life. I think that all of us would agree that we are not nearly as concerned about the mark of the beast in Revelation as we are the beast we work for 5 days a week. With all of the tribulations I face daily why do I want to know about the great tribulation described in the Bible. I’ve had enough.
Let me quickly give you 3 reasons why Bible prophecy matters.
1. Bible prophecy is a major theme in the Bible. In Bible study there is a principle referred to as the Law of Proportion. It simply means that you can tell the importance of a certain subject by how much space is devoted to it.
27% of the Bible is devoted to Bible prophecy. For every prophecy in scripture concerning the 1st coming of Christ, there are 8 on the 2nd coming.
2. You will never understand the Bible unless you understand prophecy. In the weeks to come I will give you many examples of this principle.
3. An understanding of Bible prophecy will motivate us to be more like Jesus.
2nd Peter 3:11-12 LB
Billy Graham tells of an incident where former President Eisenhower was on vacation in Denver. His attention was drawn to an open letter in a local paper. Six year old Paul Haley, dying of cancer had expressed a wish to meet the president of the United States.
At that moment, Eisenhower made a spontaneous decision to grant the little boys request. So one Sunday morning in August a big limousine pulled up outside the boy’s home and out stepped the President of the U.S. Eisenhower walked up to the door and knocked. Mr. Haley, the father, opened the door. He was wearing blue jeans, an old shirt and he hadn’t shaved.
Behind him was his little boy, Paul. Both of them stood there in amazement. The president said, Paul I understand you wanted to see me. The president shook his hand—they took a short walk together and talked. The Haleys and their neighbors talked about it for years after that. They were all so happy----all of them, except Mr. Haley. He could never forget how he was dressed when he opened the door. Old jeans, a faded shirt, unshaven. What a way to greet the president of the U.S.
But I can tell you something that will be much worse. One day the sky will part, the trumpet will sound and Jesus will suddenly appear. Unfortunately many of us will not be properly dressed for His return. We will be all wrapped up in materialism and personal ambition instead of the clothes of righteousness the scripture describes.
Let me ask you a personal question. If the Lord were to return today, would you be happy with your appearance. Or would you be embarrassed? Think about to right now as we pray.
Prayer.
Revelation 19:7-9 New International Version (NIV) 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”
