THE BOOK OF REVELATION

INTRODUCTION - In Matthew 23 we have seen the Lord Jesus condemn the Jews for their rejection of Him as the Messiah. As a result, He tells them that they will lose the kingdom and that they will be judged for their rebellion. As Matthew 24 opens, we see that Christ predicts the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The disciples question Him concerning the timing of this event, and Christ answers them in this chapter. In Matthew 24:34 the Lord has given to us the time frame of these events, "this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place," thus, all the events which Christ is speaking of from verses 1 through 34 must take place in the first century, to the first century generation. Over the past weeks we have been noting the signs which will precede the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple. So far we have proven that during the first century false messiahs abounded, there were wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes, and Christians were martyred while others denied the faith. This morning we shall continue with another sign of the fall of Jerusalem, but before we do, we must deal with a phrase which we did not have opportunity to look at last week under section C.

C) CHRISTIANS WILL BE MARTYRED, OTHERS WILL DENY THE FAITH (CONTINUED) - The phrase is stated in Matthew 24:13, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved," and is paralleled in different forms in Mark 13:13 and Luke 21:18,19. What is Christ referring to? Usually, when taken out of context, this statement is made to refer to the perseverance of the saints, the truth which states that when we come to Christ we are kept in Christ by the faithfulness of God. A true Christian is one who does not fall away but "endures to the end" because the Spirit of God keeps him, thus, he will be saved. Yet the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, though supported elsewhere, is not supported by these passages in the Olivet Discourse. The context of Christ's statement is that the Christians of the first century will be martyred while others will deny the Lord. It will be a time of great persecution and turmoil for the church. The question would be whether anyone would survive this tumultuous period. Then, when Jerusalem is destroyed, the Christians would wonder about the church within that city. Would they escape? Would they survive this destruction? It is in this context that Jesus says, "He who endures to the end shall be saved; not a hair of your head shall be lost; by patience possess your souls." Though many lives would be lost before Jerusalem's fall in 70 AD, those who made it to the end would be spared. History certainly affirms the fact that the Christians living in Jerusalem were spared before the city fell. All those who made it to the end of this time period would be spared. This is the meaning of Christ's statement.

D) THE GOSPEL SHALL BE PREACHED TO ALL THE WORLD - Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10 - You'll note that Luke does not contain a reference to this sign. This is what we will always find when the Gospels are paralleled. The writers choose to bring in, leave out, or report things in their own words, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and according to their own preferences. This is why we can also parallel Revelation to the Olivet Discourse, for the events are very similar, even though not every event is repeated. John in Revelation is giving us a more spiritual picture than the straightforward words of the Olivet Discourse. Yet if we were looking for absolute unity, and if we demanded this in our interpretation, then we could never parallel any of the books of the Bible, nor could we say that they were related to each other.

The next sign which the disciples were to look for before Jerusalem fell was the preaching of the Gospel to all the world. Christ says that it is this sign which will signify the "end". Which "end" is Christ speaking of? Again, in context, the "end" is the end of the Temple, the end of the Old Testament dispensation, and the end of the Jews as the people of God. He is not referring to the end of the world and to imply this here would be to pull the text out of context. There is nothing in the passage to suggest that He has changed subjects from the "end" of Jerusalem to the "end" of the world. We should also note that the previous signs were not the ultimate signs of the end of Jerusalem, but were just "the beginning of sorrows" (Matthew 24:6,8). Now, with the preaching of the Gospel to all the nations, the disciples were to realize that the end of Jerusalem was at hand. Therefore, can we prove that a worldwide Gospel witness took place in the first century, before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD? Jesus says in Matthew 24:14 that the Gospel will be preached "as a witness to all the nations." Note that He is not saying that all the nations will turn to Him, or that all the nations will become Christian, or that every single human being in the universe will hear the Gospel. Instead, He is saying that the Gospel must be preached only as a witness to all the nations before Jerusalem's fall. There are two reasons why this witness to the nations was imperative before the fall of Jerusalem.

1. THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO ALL THE NATIONS WAS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE AS A WITNESS TO THE JEWS OF THE FIRST CENTURY - We need to realize that the majority of Jews were not living in Israel during the first century, but had been scattered throughout the known world, taking on the languages and customs of the nations they lived in. There were more Jews dispersed throughout the world than Jews actually living in Israel during the first century. On the Day of Pentecost we see this fascinating picture of the Jewish life, as Jews "from every nation under heaven" came to worship in Jerusalem (Acts 2:5). When the disciples preached at Pentecost, the gift of tongues was poured forth by Christ, and these "international" Jews heard the Gospel spoken in their own languages (Acts 2:7-11 - this, by the way, is the true gift of tongues, and not the jibberish which we hear so often presented today as "biblical tongues"). Note, "every nation under heaven" was represented in Jerusalem on that day. We could say that this is the complete fulfillment of Matthew 24:14, but there are additional passages which further its support. At Pentecost, three thousands souls came to Christ, and so we see the grace of God to the Jews, even after they had rejected Christ as Messiah! Yet we also see here the great need for the Gospel to be preached "to all the nations" before Jerusalem's fall. There were so many foreign Jews living all over the world and it was necessary for them to know that Messiah had come. This is why we see the Paul's custom of entering the Jewish synagogue first whenever he entered a foreign city (Acts 17:1-3). He went to the Jew first because the foreign Jew had to know about the Messiah before Jerusalem's fall. It would be an opportunity for them to repent and believe before the judgment came. Yet at the same time, we know from the New Testament records, that many of these foreign Jews rejected Christ, as did their brothers living in Israel. It was not only essential that the Gospel be preached in the nations so that the foreign Jews had an opportunity to believe, but it had to be preached as a witness against those who rejected Christ. When Jerusalem fell, these foreign Jews would hear of it, and they would know that it came because of the rejection of Christ (Acts 13:46). As they rejected Christ, so Christ rejected them and destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem. The believing Jews would also know why Jerusalem fell, and those who had repented would be spared this terrible judgment.

2. THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO ALL THE NATIONS WAS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE AS A WITNESS TO THE GENTILES OF THE FIRST CENTURY - When the foreign Jews rejected the Gospel, the disciples turned to the Gentiles. Thus, Christianity became a well-known religion in the pagan world. It would even reach the very household of emperor Nero. When Jerusalem fell, certainly the Gentile world would be astonished. They would wonder about the Jewish God and how He could allow His Temple to be destroyed. If they had heard the Gospel, they would have had the answers to this event. God has rejected His people because they rejected His Son. Yet more importantly, think of all the Gentile pagans who believed on Christ. When they saw Jerusalem fall, they would know that the kingdom had come to them as Christ had promised. They would see that Jerusalem was no longer the Holy City, and the Temple was no longer the place of worship. The grace of God had been poured out on the Gentiles and Jerusalem's destruction was the sign that Christ's church was the New Jerusalem.

We see why it was so essential for the Gospel to be preached to all the nations. It was a witness for both Jew and Gentile living in foreign lands. Through the preaching of the Gospel, Jerusalem's fall would be seen as a judgment against those who rejected Christ and a confirmation for those who believed in Him. Therefore, were the disciples successful in this worldwide witness? The New Testament confirms their success as Paul tells us that before 70 AD the faith of Christians was "spoken of throughout the whole world," that the Gospel had gone forth "into all the world" and that it had been "preached to every creature under heaven" (Romans 1:8; Colossians 1:3-6, 23). Coupled with the national preaching on the Day of Pentecost, Christ's prediction of Matthew 24:14 absolutely came true in the first century before Jerusalem fell.