Untitled Sermon

Well, we're plotting through 2 Thessalonians. We will finish it before summer, I think, and be ready to go on into another book. I have been receiving some good suggestions. You're letting me know you're praying as far as direction is concerned for where we go next. And so continue to pray, if you would, where the Lord will lead us. And again, just pray that he'll come

and we won't have to worry about it. We'll just be able to sit at his feet and talk to him about all these things. But otherwise, if he's not coming that soon, then he'll just give direction as far as what book we go into next. But we are in the last chapter of 2 Thessalonians. And where we are, I think, ties right in with where we are on the calendar, with the day being Palm Sunday

and the church worldwide celebrating this day. And I want to tie us into that, but I want us to just kind of refresh for a minute on this section. So look with me at the first five verses here in chapter three as we look at this together and just consider it. Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored just as it was with you.

And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance. We're looking at this under the heading of confidence in the Lord and seeing that Paul declares there in verse four that he has confidence in the Lord, that God's going to accomplish the things that he has set out, that God will accomplish his purposes.

And as we begin this morning, I want to again, hopefully encourage you that God has a purpose for your life and that he will accomplish that purpose. He has plans for you. He has your best at heart, believe me, and he is doing and allowing the things that he is doing to bring you to that place that he has purposed for you to be. And so Paul has confidence in the Lord to that effect.

And so do we that, and I pray we do, that God will indeed accomplish his purpose where that's concerned. But as we saw last time, Paul is asking them to pray for him concerning this. Again, as we started this morning, sharing about how it's so easy for the circumstances to rob us of our confidence in God. It's easy to be confident when things are going right, but when the dishwasher fails or the car bills or you have sick kids or a daughter who's dying, it's real easy to come to that point where you don't see the confidence of God or in God as readily as you'd like to because the circumstances seem to dictate what you feel.

And Paul understood that. And so Paul asked that the Thessalonians would pray for him and pray for him three things specifically. Verse one, that the word of God would spread rapidly. And he's implying there through him that the word of God would spread rapidly. As we saw last time, that means to have free course as a river, just plowing along, that the word of God would just plow along through Paul,

that it would move rapidly and spread rapidly as a result of Paul's ministry. And I asked last time that you all would pray this for me and that I would pray it for you. And I have heard several accounts of how God has answered that, that you several have shared different testimonies about how as you have been praying that God has been answered. And so continue, and the same thing here.

So continue praying that, please. And I will continue praying that for you, that God's word would spread rapidly through you, that you will be in those situations and those circumstances where you will be aware that he's wanting to do that and that you would be sensitive to his leading and let him do that as he places you in those circumstances. Then secondly, the second half of verse one, he says, not only that the word of God would spread rapidly, but that it would be honored, that it would be, to be honored in us. To be honored in us means that we are simply obedient to it.

So may God make us obedient to his word as he gives it to us. May we realize that it is a sacred trust and that we seek to be obedient to it and not shirk any area of it, not just be obedient to the things we like to be obedient to, but boy, where I'm having a problem with my habits or my own fleshly desires or my own desires, areas of problem, I don't know, you know, I'm going to pass on that. If it's overeating or alcohol or drug abuse or whatever it is, I'm going to pass on that. Don't do that.

Let the word of God flow through you rapidly, have free course through you and also be honored in you as you are obedient to it, as you are obedient to him in it. And then thirdly, verse two, that not only would God's word spread rapidly through us and that it'd be honored in us, God would deliver us from wicked and evil men for there are those who do not have or hold to the faith. There are those who do not hold to the faith and there are wicked and evil men out there that Satan is using to try and hinder you and trying to stop your confidence in the Lord, trying to muzzle your faith so that you will not be spreaders of the gospel, so that the gospel will not flow through you quickly, but that you just keep your faith and keep it personal

and keep it to yourself and everybody can have their own faith. Faith is a private thing. If you've heard that before, it's between you and God. Well, God says in his word, take it out there and tell the world about it. And so that God would keep you and protect you and strengthen you from the wicked and evil men because not everyone out there has the faith.

Then verse three, and this is where I want us to really look at this morning. He says, but the Lord is faithful. And I encourage you to write in your Bible. I really do. If you have a Bible, but you can't write in because it's so pretty and it was a gift from your husband or wife and get another Bible, take one out of the pew and take it with you and mark that puppy up, would you?

Just really, but mark, somehow mark that or make a reference in there. But the Lord is faithful. Underline it, circle it, box it in, highlight it, whatever you have to do so that when you leave here today and you go and you run into somebody else and they say, oh, what have you been doing today? Well, we went to, I had fellowship at church and well, was it good?

Oh, it was a good time. You know, what was the message on? What did they talk about? You know, well, golly, I don't remember, but I can go to my Bible here and it's, oh yeah, we're talking about God is faithful. The Lord is faithful, Paul says, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. And we looked at it last time and it's like Paul is, he's getting to the point

and Paul, I love Paul because he gets to the point where he's ready to close the letter and it's like he remembers a zillion other things he wants to say. Finally, brothers, then he writes another three. Three chapters or whatever. He says, finally, brothers, you know, and then he writes in here and it's like he's wanting to encourage them and yet he's needing strength.

Now it's like he's been writing to correct some error and now pray for us because we're exhausted, you know, and pray that God's word will flow through us and that we'll honor it and then he'll deliver us from wicked, evil men. And it's like in the midst of that, he realizes, well, they're going through the same thing and they need this too. And so it's like he says, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you. And it's like he's wanting to encourage the Thessalonians and encourage the reader that God is faithful and he's seeking to comfort them according to God's faithfulness.

Paul's confidence in the Lord is affected through prayer because it says he takes time to pray and has people pray for him that he's lifted above the circumstances that would rob him of his focus on the Lord, but also of remembering God's faithfulness. His confidence in the Lord comes from remembering God's faithfulness. When I was talking to Connie on the phone yesterday, she was talking about how it's easy for her daughter, Michelle, to really have heavy problems with anxiety and despair. And, you know, she said it's like the enemy is playing games with her mind, remembering some of the circumstances of being in the emergency room and the things that even though she was just, you know, she was just, you know,

semi-conscious that she was hearing the, you know, things that are going on. And it's real easy to become anxious with that. And I'm thinking, it'd be real easy to become anxious just with the situation itself. And I said, get some, get some, she said she really loves contemporary Christian music. And I said, well, get some praise music, get some Maranatha or Integrity or Vineyard praise

and just play that. And she said, well, it's exciting because when I do play the tape, it's like she just relaxes. And I said, just get some praise, get some praise, get some praise tapes and play that. And just let the praise refresh her. Because as you hear God's word, it reminds you of how faithful he was to his people. And if you stop and focus on that,

and as we praise him, that's what we're seeking to do is to remember his faithfulness to us. We can all complain. We can all bemoan our circumstances this week and the different situations that we've been in and how things have just been really horrid. You know, they've been really, really despicable this week. But if we take time to just remember God's faithfulness,

all of a sudden, the intensity of those situations is lessened and lessened. And we realize then that God is bigger than that. He's bigger than the situation and he is in control. And so Paul is telling them about God's faithfulness. The Lord is faithful. Now we talked about the time change that's coming up this week. And, you know, we say it many times and maybe we'll all remember to change our clocks.

So remember, to change your clocks this Saturday night. But it's also appropriate dealing with this study that we're looking at in God's faithfulness and remembering God's faithfulness. Because man functions according to time schedules. I mean, I don't know. I don't know. You may not even work outside of the home. You work. If you, ladies, if you're at home,

you work. I know that. Praise God. But maybe you don't work outside of your home, but you still function according to time schedules. At X o'clock, we always do this. And we have to take baths by Z o'clock. And then, and as I mentioned at first service, even if we're going to have fun, you know, fun starts at seven o'clock and we're going to go have fun at seven.

So even our fun times, our play times are built around time. We are function according to time. Now, God, God is eternal. And we've talked about this before too. I don't know how your concept of eternity is, but we are finite. And so our lives seemingly, they run along a timeline. We are in our physical person. We're finite. We're created in the image of God.

So really you're an eternal or an everlasting creature. You have been, you have been made in the image of God. You yourself will never die. This physical plant that God has given you to exist on the earth, unless he comes back for us before it wears out, it's going to quit, but you will not die. But we live in a physical world that's bounded by time. And so we see our lives along a timeline.

And you were born over here on this particular part of the line. And you get to be 30 and you're here on this time of the line. And then you get to be old at 40. And you're over here at this time of the line. And then death is over here somewhere along that timeline. And from birth to old age at 40 and death, you're in that sphere of time. But God is eternal.

God is not. Sometimes we have an idea of eternity as way out there on the timeline. Or the time of death. Or the time of death. Or the time of death. Or the time of death. Or that God is from way back there on the timeline. But eternity, God is eternal. And his eternalness is outside of the time domain. He is outside of time constraints. He was not way back there or is not going to be way out there.

He's outside of that. He exists in what's called the eternal now. There is nothing future with God. There is nothing really that he is waiting to happen because he knows what's going to happen. It's already happened as far as he's concerned. And that's a hard concept for us to understand. Because we are bound. Bound by time. But even though God is outside of time,

God chooses in order to demonstrate his faithfulness, he chooses to use time. God chooses to use time in order to demonstrate his faithfulness. Let me show you a few of these. You can mark your place here in 2 Thessalonians. We're going to go through a couple of the gospels. Go with me back to Matthew chapter 26. And we will... You'll be numb by the time we get through this,

but hopefully not bored. But it will be by no means exhaustive either. These are just some few references in scripture that we can show regarding this area of God using time to demonstrate his faithfulness. Matthew chapter 26. And the time of the Lord's Supper. This final week that we celebrate by beginning today with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Verse 17, Matthew 26.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover? And he replied, go into the city to a certain man and tell him, the teacher says, my appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house. Jesus is giving us this to show us that he's in control of circumstances.

His appointed time is near. His death was not accidental. His life was not cut short. He was not... He was not cut short in the prime of life and he had much that he could have done, but it was cut short. He came specifically to die on the cross. That's why he came. He did not come specifically just to teach us. He came to die. And while he was on his way to the cross,

he exampled a life and relationship with the Father that we can have. And he did give us the word of God that we can trust and cling to as he did that shows us the example of how to walk with God. But he came to die. And Jesus affirms that all the way through Scripture. And he affirms that God is proving his faithfulness by using time to this extent. Now go to John chapter 2

and all the rest of these will be in John's gospel so they'll be easy to follow. John chapter 2. John chapter 2 and this is the wedding feast at Cana. Verse 1. On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee and Jesus' mother was there and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. And many believe it's probably a family kind of thing.

It was possibly a cousin or something of Jesus that was involved in this wedding. And the wine runs out. And Jesus' mother, verse 3, he said to Jesus, they have no more wine. And Jesus answers her in what many would feel is a very snippy kind of way. Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come. Well, what he's implying there is what she's implying.

First of all, she's implying that the wine's run out. And I know. I know you're not just an ordinary man. I know that you are called the son of God. And I know because of how, you know, you were raised. There's probably some very extraordinary things. Not that I go along with all the apocryphal account of Jesus' childhood, but some very extraordinary things that happened

while Jesus was growing up. And so she comes and in essence, she says, we're out of wine, you know, make some. It's not like run down to Quick Trip and get me a couple of bottles. It's like put some together, you know, do a miracle. So this is a deep need that we have here. And Jesus is saying, what have I to do with you? Or woman, why are you bringing this to me now?

My time has not yet come. The time for me to use that area of the miraculous, which demonstrates the fact of his Messiah ship. He says, it's not ready yet. It's not that time is not yet. And yet he goes ahead and provides the wine, which is an interesting thing. It's a whole nother study. We consider that. But the emphasis is on the fact that he's moving along

according to a miracle. A time schedule that God is faithful and his faithfulness is being demonstrated in time. And go to chapter six, John chapter six. And Jesus in John chapter six has fed the 5,000. Verse 13, the disciples gather the baskets and they're overwhelmed because they have all of the baskets left over even after everybody's eaten. And verse 14, after the people saw the miraculous sign

that Jesus did, they began to say, surely this is the prophet, the one that Moses talked. Who is to come into the world. And Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, he withdrew again to a mountain by himself. And we see this throughout, that either the throngs are coming and they want to literally physically take Jesus and take him in and set him up as king.

And they'll go against the Roman empire and fight and die if necessary to do that. Or they want to come and take him because they believe he's blasphemous and he's saying things that are not true. And they want to throw him off a cliff or they want to stone him. And in both instances, you see over and over where he withdraws himself or he goes out through the midst of them.

Now, these are thousands of people and they came to him and yet he somehow withdrew himself. And that's because his time to be revealed, his time was not yet. It had not yet come. Go to chapter seven. Let's flip over a page or so. Chapter seven, the Feast of Tabernacles is happening. It's a feast that requires every Jewish male over the age of 20 to come to Jerusalem.

And attend. It's one of the three main feasts that require that. And Jesus' brothers in the first three verses are trying to get him to go down there. He's up around the Galilee with his family and there his brothers, of course, down in verse five, it says, for even his own brothers did not believe in him. So they're trying to tell him, well, go down there.

And Jesus didn't want to go right then because he knew the Jews, the leaders of the church, the leaders of the synagogue, the temple down there, they're ready to kill him. They wanted to kill him. His brothers knew that too. And they kind of wanted to bring it to a head. So they're trying to urge him to go down there. And Jesus says to them, verse six, the right time for me has not yet come.

For you, any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast because for me, what? The right time has not yet come. Look over in verse 30, same chapter. Verse 30. Back in verse 28, Jesus is still teaching in the temple courts. And he cried out, yes, you know me

and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me. And at this, they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. Why? Because his time had not yet come. Down in verse 40, it says, on hearing the words of Christ, some of the people said, surely this man is the prophet.

And others said, he is the Christ. And still others asked, how can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived? And thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. Why? Because it wasn't time yet. They couldn't do it because it wasn't time.

And go to chapter eight, chapter eight. Hang with me. The famous confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees and the confrontation as far as the children of Abraham is concerned. And they claim to be sons of Abraham. And he nails them and tells them that if they were, they wouldn't want to kill him. They're really demonstrating by that fact that they're sons of their father, the devil.

And he says that Abraham knew him. And they say, verse 57, you are not yet 50 years old. And you've seen Abraham. And Jesus said, I tell you, verse 58, I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am. And that famous statement used by God in identifying himself to Moses. I am. The existing one, the eternal existing one. People say Jesus never claimed to be God.

Yes, he did. By that statement, he's claiming his self-existence, that he is God. And at that, it says they picked up stones to stone him. But Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple guards. Why? Because it wasn't time yet for that to happen. I really believe and firmly convinced that you won't die before your time. If you really look at scripture the way scripture is laid out,

God has a time. God's written down the days of your life. Psalm 139, before there was yet one of them, they were recorded in his book. Every single one of them was recorded in his book. So can I cut my life short? No, not according to what God's word says. What if I commit suicide? Well, it just so happens that in Psalm 139, God said, well, on this day, you're stupid enough to take your own life, I guess.

So that's when it's going to happen. Nothing will just happen by accident or by chance. You will not die one day sooner than God intends for you to. And that's a wonderful release when you can come to that understanding. When it's time, there ain't nothing going to stop it. But until that time, ain't nothing going to cause it to happen. How does a plane crash

and 180 some people are killed and three survive? It wasn't where they sat on the plane. It's amazing. I want to sit over the wing and you got 300 people want to sit over the wing because that's the safest section of the plane. You're in the hands of the Lord and he has his times appointed. Chapter 10 here in John. Down in verse 37, Jesus said, Do not believe in me unless I do what my father does.

But if I do it, even though you do, do not believe me, believe the miracles that you may know and understand that the father is in me and I am the father. And again, they tried to seize him, but he escaped out of their grasp. Just a couple more. Chapter 12, chapter 12. Jesus has already come into Jerusalem back in verse 12 of chapter 12, verse 20. There were some Greeks, it says,

among those who went up to worship at the feast and they came to Philip and they asked if they could see Jesus. And Philip tells Andrew and they go and tell Jesus in verse 23, Jesus replied, the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. It's time. It's time now that who I am is going to be revealed and it's going to be outside of Judaism. It's going to encompass the Gentiles as well.

The Greeks and the Scythians and the barbarians, everybody's going to be given opportunity because now his time has come. Go down to chapter 13, verse 1. Chapter 13, verse 1. It was just before the Passover feast and Jesus said, knew what? That the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the father. Go to chapter 17, chapter 17, chapter 17, verse 1.

After Jesus had said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed, father, the time has come. Glorify your son that your son may glorify you. God chooses to use time to demonstrate his faithfulness because he says, this is going to, and this is going to happen here. And if it doesn't happen, you can chuck the whole thing. But if it does, you better give heed because somebody's in control.

And as we see that and we can know that God is faithful and has been faithful with his people, Israel, and that's why he's given us this, 1 Corinthians chapter 10. He shows us that these things happen to the nation of Israel as examples to us who believe so that we may know that God is faithful. God has demonstrated, his faithfulness by choosing to use time. And he did so 2000 years ago today when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey.

And I want you to see that. And maybe you know it, maybe you know where I'm going with this, but still you're sitting there and you're wrestling with something in your life. You're wrestling with some circumstance and you're overcome and overwhelmed by that circumstance. And you really wish that I'd quit and this would be over so you can go out and worry some more about your circumstance, how you're going to handle your circumstance.

And I want you to wake up and I want you to listen to this because today is not just some holiday. Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, when I was growing up, used to be the time where we'd put on the dog. You know, we'd dress up. I have pictures of me in my little short pants and little coat and little hat on, you know, and Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday and all those times.

And that was, you know, and that's what they meant. And maybe to some of you sitting here, it's another family time or it's another, you're going to go see relatives or you're going to have, you're going to have dinner with, with a family and then Easter and Palm Sunday or times like that. Are you going to go out or, or maybe, you know, it's really not that significant to you. It's just another Sunday and you just happened to come because somebody dragged you here.

But on this day, 2000 years ago, God demonstrated his faithfulness by choosing to use time. And I want you to see that. So go back to Luke's gospel, chapter 19 with me. Luke chapter 19, Luke chapter 19, beginning with verse 28. And we'll just look at this triumphal entry. Luke 19, 28. Just listen as you're turning and pick up with us. We're beginning at verse 28.

After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem. And as he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples saying to them, go to the village ahead of you. And as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, why are you untying it?

Tell him. And those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners asked him, why are you untying the colt? And they replied, the Lord needs it. And they brought it to Jesus and threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. Now, even that right there. I mean, why did, I mean, I don't know.

Maybe you've never stopped to consider things like that, but I do. And it just is amazing to me. You know, that very thing right there. Of course, we know John and some of the other writers tell us that those things happened to fulfill the prophecy in Zechariah. Saying, behold, your king comes to you lowly and riding upon a donkey, upon the foal of a donkey.

And it was a sign and evidence of the fulfilling of prophecy. The timing again of God's faithfulness and the demonstrating of God's faithfulness. But I think of little things like going when he, okay, you two go on up over the hill here and you're going to come to a place and there's going to be a donkey and a little donkey. And when you see him, untie him.

And if somebody says, what are you doing? Say, the Lord needs it. And they, now who would you, I mean, you read that and you go, that's great. That's good Bible stuff. Okay, well, you're up for church this morning, six o'clock and you're getting ready. And two guys come out to your driveway and they start getting in your car. And why did they do that? How did they do?

Now, we can speculate all over the place because there's nothing really that tells us what really happened. But I want you to think. Some people say, well, you know, it's probably something real simple like these. This was either Lazarus and Mary and Martha or other friends or people that had been to their house that Jesus knew and Jesus had said, I'm coming back here in a couple of weeks and I want to borrow your donkey, you know, and that's okay, you know.

But just what if, what if they knew the word and what if they knew Zechariah's prophecy before John wrote it down in his gospel? And what if they'd been watching Jesus and they'd been thinking, this guy's really fulfilling the prophecy. You know, he's doing the things that the word of God said because they were up on what was going on. And they said, well, we got a donkey and a colt and let's tie him up out there.

And if he really is, he's going to maybe want them, you know. And they come and, boy, he wants them. This really could be him. You ever think about things like that? Maybe I'm just alone out in left field playing right field. I don't know. I just see God over and over demonstrating his faithfulness by things like that. And see, he wants to do that with you and me.

He wants to demonstrate his faithfulness to you and I in the midst of the circumstance using situations that he's already told us about in his word. And he just wants us to say, okay, you've done it before. You'll do it again. I really trust you, Lord. I know you can handle it because you've done it before. Jesus gets the, they put their coats on it. When he comes near the place, verse 37,

where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. That's peace in heaven and glory in the highest. That's from a section of scripture in the Psalms called the Great Hallel, the Great Songs of Praise that was reserved for the temple.

It was reserved as prophetically praising God in anticipation of the coming of Meshach, Meshach Nagid, the Messiah, the king. And they would sing that. They would praise God with that at the time of Passover in anticipation of Messiah coming. So as Jesus is coming down the hill at the Mount of Olives, the people begin to sing that. And by their singing that, they're saying,

he's the one, he is Meshach, he is the Nagid, the king who comes in the name of the Lord. And so the Pharisees, verse 39, told Jesus to rebuke the disciples because of doing that. And Jesus said, I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones themselves will cry out. And as he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, if you, even you had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes.

The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you. You will be thrown to the ground. You and the children within your walls, they will not leave one stone on another because you did not recognize, notice, the time of God's coming to you. Now here's, we've been, Ann and I have been on that road

coming down the Mount of Olives, it's paved now. Thank God, they put some asphalt on it, but it's a steep thing. And it was wise to ride a donkey down that because it's one of those, you know, you can start down and if you get, you kind of lean back to go down it. And if you get a little leaning forward, you'll be rolling down it before you. And so there was wisdom there to ride the donkey down it.

They're sure-footed. But it says as Jesus got to that point, and when you get there, you're standing there and you look down across the Kidron Valley and Jerusalem sits up on the mountain there, up on Moriah. And it's a gorgeous, I mean, it's just wonderful to see it. You may see it and think, boy, it's bland. It's all stone-colored. You know, it's all sand,

except for the Dome of the Rock sitting up there with gold. It's all the same color. There's TV antennas all over the place too. But it's cool to see it and realize that Jesus was there. And to see, you know, you can just kind of imagine what Jesus felt as he came over that hill, and there it is, and it says that he wept over it. And, you know, I mentioned first service,

and maybe this is something you don't think of either, but I think of the disciples. You know, here they are, and the people are yelling, behold, the King of the Jews, or the Mashiach Nagi, the Messiah, the King. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And they look up at Jesus, and he's weeping and crying, and they're thinking, what's going on, you know?

And Jesus is there. And Jesus tells them why he's crying. Because Jerusalem did not recognize on this day. And if you're reading King James, verse 42 says, on this thy day. And in that he is being specific, and he is referring to something that they should have known, but they didn't. It's something that they should have known, and as a result of their not being aware of it

and not knowing it, judgment was coming upon that city. And he even says it again down in verse 42. Because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you. They had neglected God's faithfulness. God had given them all the signs, but they had neglected it. Jesus here is referring specifically to the prophecy given to Daniel concerning his coming. And I want to look at that just briefly.

So go, hold your finger here, go back to Daniel chapter 9. You probably got your finger in 40 places. Let them all go, and go back to Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter 9. Daniel was taken by God. Daniel was taken by the Babylonians. He lived in Israel. He was evidently an affluent, from an affluent family. He was taken captive as a teenager.

And he's been in Babylon now. He's an old man. The Medes and Persians have conquered Babylon. And Daniel has been serving in their courts. And somehow he's gotten a hold of the scroll of Jeremiah. Somehow he's gotten a hold of Jeremiah's scroll. Now, in one of those well-read sections of our Word, one that you like to read all the time, back in the book of Leviticus,

you read it daily for inspiration, I know. You know, take the cow and kill it and spread its entrails on here and burn the carcass outside the camp. All those things that you read that give you the inspiration for the rest of the week. I know. Those are tough chapters to read in Leviticus. But if you take the time to go through it, God can really show you some exciting things.

And in chapters 25 and 26 of Leviticus, you look at that and you have some time. God talks about what are called the sabbatical years, the Sabbath years. He's telling the nation of Israel, you guys are coming into this land and here's what I want you to do. I want you to take and you can work the ground for six years. You can plant and harvest and plow and plant and harvest and plow.

And you can do that for six years. But on the seventh year, I want you to dedicate that year to me. And I want you to not plant anything. Don't plow it. Just let it go. Let volunteer crops come up. And what's God asking them to do? Trust Him. Trust me. Trust my faithfulness. I will provide for you. How? Just like I did when you were in the wilderness, when your forefathers were in the wilderness.

Trust me. I'll provide. If you do that, I'll make provision for you and the land will always bring forth a harvest. You'll always have plenty. You'll be giving away. People will be buying from you. You will have an abundance of crops. But if you don't, if you're not obedient to me in that, then be sure that I'll bring judgment upon you seven times that you have sinned against me where this is concerned.

He even blessed them so much as after seven Sabbath weeks of years, or after forty-nine years, the fiftieth year was called the year of Jubilee. And that was exciting because at that particular time, everything goes back to square one. I mean, if you had sold yourself into slavery and, you know, things got so bad and so tight, you had to sell your land and still couldn't pay off your debts, and you just had to sell everything, sell your donkey and sell your cows and sell yourself into slavery, and you hit the year of Jubilee, after the seven Sabbath weeks of years, the fiftieth year, it's all back to square one. You're free as a slave.

You're no longer a slave anymore. And you even get back the land that you sold years ago to get rid of your debt. I mean, it all goes back to nothing and start over. You want to heal the economy in America? Let's pick a few things from Scripture. Everything goes back to zero every now and then. Boy, would some people be excited, and boy, would others not be excited.

But, of course, they were just like their forefathers. You know, the forefathers were told when they were in the wilderness, you gather manna for six days. On the sixth day, you gather enough for the next day. Don't go out the next day. There won't be any. What did they do? They went out the next day. They didn't obey God. God said, just take enough for you and your family for that day.

Don't take any more. What did they do? They took more. Greed. And it turned to maggots and rotted in the jars that they stored it in. So God tells them when you go in, don't do this. What did they do? They're just like us. They thought, well, if I work this for six years, and the seventh year is volunteer, it's going to come up anyhow. If I work at the seventh year secretly,

then I can make more for me, and sell more, and those that are just letting it go, you know, I'll outdo them. I'll be a year ahead of them. And they did that, and they went after it. And so God spoke to Jeremiah, and he said because the children of Israel, was he judging them simply because of the Sabbath weeks? No, but that was the easiest way to show them

how they violated his word. The whole nation had done it. They'd been disobedient in everything, but that was one way that God could demonstrate using time is faithfulness. And so he spoke through Jeremiah, and he says because they haven't done that, because they've been unfaithful, because they've been disobedient, I'm sending them off into a foreign land, and they shall serve there as captives for 70 years, for 10 weeks of years, for 70 years, 10 Sabbath weeks, judgment.

Daniel is there, and he realizes he's gotten a scroll from Jeremiah, Jeremiah's scroll, and he's reading that prophecy, and he's figuring up, and he's realized that they've been there now in captivity for about that 70 years, and so he's thinking God, you're faithful, you're a faithful God, and I know you're not just going to leave us here today, are we there? Are we? What about us? What about your people Israel?

What about your holy city Jerusalem? You aren't just going to neglect it, are you God? You just haven't forgotten it. You're faithful, aren't you God? You've come to that end of this 70 years of judgment. Is this it? Is our punishment over? Are we through with the punishment? And he prays, and he fasts, and he ends up fasting for three weeks and praying and seeking God,

and that's a whole study in itself. How much do we really seek the Lord? What are you facing right now that you've prayed about? Oh God, help me out of this. Amen. And then I'll go off until next Sunday, you know, and then I come back again and I'm really in despair and I take three seconds to say, oh God, help me out of this. Amen. Daniel had been fasting and praying for 21 days,

and finally, the angel Gabriel comes to him and says, Daniel, verse 20, verse 21, while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in an earlier vision, came to me in swift flight from about the time of the evening sacrifice, and he instructed me and said to me, Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, and for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision. Now, he says this again, down to verse 25, know and understand this.

So, is he telling Daniel something that's completely oblique to him, completely outside of his realm of understanding, that he has no idea what he's talking about? No. He tells him, know this and understand it. Consider this. Take some time and gain insight and understanding. You're highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision.

Seventy sevens or 70 weeks of years, 70 Sabbath weeks. Daniel's praying, God, we've served these weeks of years to make up for the Sabbaths that we've neglected your faithfulness and obedience to you. Have we served our time as a judgment against us complete? And God says, no, there are seventy sevens determined against you. Seventy weeks of years determined against you

in order, verse 24, to accomplish these things, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. Who's that direction? It's directed towards, first part of verse 24, decreed for your people and your holy city. It's dealing with Israel.

It's dealing with the people of Israel. It's dealing with Jerusalem. It's dealing with the Jews. It's nothing to do with the church. It's all dealing specifically with the nation of Israel. What God has intended for His nation of Israel, to put an end to sin, to deal, to anoint the most holy, to put aside the transgression, to seal up prophecy, to take care of these things,

it is for specifically the nation of Israel. God is not finished with Israel. Seventy weeks were determined against her. Seventy weeks of years, 490 years, 70 times seven, 490 years, God says, I'm going to use to bring about these things, to put an end to your punishment, Israel. Verse 25, know this and understand it. From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem

until the anointed one, the ruler comes, Messiah. There will be seven sevens and 62 sevens. In other words, there will be 69 of those weeks, 483 years, is going to transpire from point A, when the command is given to go and restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until Messiah comes, will be 69 weeks of years, or 483 years, 69 times seven. Now, if you take the word of God and go back and see if there were decrees given at this particular time, you find a couple of them.

You find one in Ezra. But the one in Ezra was to go back and rebuild the temple. And here he says, rebuild Jerusalem, and he's specific in the prophecy that it's a specific decree for Jerusalem. It's Jerusalem only because he says, verse 25, the streets will be rebuilt and a trench, but in times of trouble. He's distinguishing it from a command to rebuild a temple,

a specific command to go back and rebuild the city of Jerusalem. You go back to Nehemiah chapter two, and you find that at the time of the reign of Artaxerxes, what's his name? I had it written down here. Artaxerxes, I have him here. Hang on just a second. His last name is Longimanus. Longimanus, who cares, right? The reason it's important is because it's in history.

At the time of the decree by Artaxerxes, Longimanus, it was recorded as being March 14th, 445 BC, where he commands that Nehemiah go and begin rebuilding the city. And he gives him finances, and he gives him letters of recommendation and letters for safe travel and all to go back and rebuild the city of Jerusalem. March 14th, 445 BC. Well then, if logically you could take and figure 483 years later, the Messiah should be there.

And Sir Robert Anderson, who was a scholar from the last century, did that. He was an architect and a mathematician and he sat down and he figured these things out and he realized that this was based on a Babylonian calendar. That's where Daniel was when he wrote. And so using the Babylonian calendar and adjusting for the leap years that would have been there, he figured out that it would have taken 173,880 days for these 69 weeks of years to be accomplished.

173,880 days, which if you project it ahead, would be April 6th, 32 AD. From March 14th, 445 BC, 173,880 days ahead, would be April 6th, 32 AD. Well, lo and behold, go back to Luke's Gospel, chapter 3. Luke's Gospel, chapter 3. Bring this to a conclusion, Mark, so we understand what in the world you're talking about here. Luke's Gospel, chapter 3, verse 1. In the fifteenth year

of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod the tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip the tetrarch of Etyria, and Trachonitus, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene. What in the world does that have to do with anything other than its names being pronounced? It establishes a timeframe because God is using time to demonstrate his faithfulness. In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, well, we can go to history and we know that Tiberius was appointed in 14 AD.

This is the fifteenth year of Tiberius, so we know that this is 29 AD. This section right here is dealing with John's baptism of Jesus. So we know that in 29 AD, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, and it's at that point that the Gospels tell us that he entered into his earthly ministry. Which spanned about three years. Really, if you look through the Gospels,

you'll find that he celebrated three complete Sabbaths. This was the fourth that he was preparing to celebrate. So he had, from the time of 29 AD here, celebrated three Sabbaths. So we're at 32 AD. If you figure up 173,880 days, it was roughly 2,000 years ago today, the very day that Jesus is sitting on that donkey on the Mount of Olives, weeping over the city

of Jerusalem because they did not comprehend this there day. Did Jesus expect him to? If you go back to Luke chapter 2, you find that when Jesus was eight days old, there are two very interesting people who make some very interesting statements when they see him. Jesus at eight days old is brought by his parents in to be circumcised and dedicated to the Lord.

And there's a man named Simeon there who many believe was the high priest at that time. And Simeon takes Jesus in his arms and he says that the Lord had told him that he would not die until his eyes had seen the promised Messiah. And Simeon praises God and declares, Lord, now I can die because my eyes have seen the fulfillment of your promise. Now, how did Simeon know that?

God to Simeon, God to Simeon, this prophecy alert, Simeon responding third, you know, couple's going to be coming in in a couple days, have a baby, that's the one. Yes, Lord, you know. Oh, looky there, wow, is that how it happened? Well, I'm going to take away from the miraculous way that God works, but if it happens that way, it's never happened that way with me, you know.

And so that means that God's dealing with people out there somewhere in a way that I can't deal with Him and that's not what His Word says, He does. He's made all the steps to where you and I can have koinonia with Him, we can have intimate fellowship with Him, we can see the same thing that Simeon saw if we're studying His Word. I believe Simeon, if he was a priest and if he was the high priest and there's many things that are interesting, that we could send studies on, like the tabernacle and the temple and the lights and the menorah in the temple, when he died, they couldn't get the middle light lit anymore, things that relate to the time of Christ, but let's just assume that he was, he had access to the Word of God and he studied the Word of God

and could somebody before Sir Robert Anderson figured it out, could they have figured it out? I think so and I think Simeon was probably anticipating just like Daniel was, God, it seems like it's about time, in some odd days, God, are we close? And God's Spirit speaking to his heart stirs that fire that says, yeah, we're close, yeah, we're close, yeah, and I believe I'm not gonna die until I see Him. Is that the same kind of fire that burns in my heart that says, I believe I'm not gonna die until the Lord takes us at the rapture?

You betcha, because we've got the same Word that gives us the same areas to look at and that section on that lady is that she was a widow for 60 years and she served in the temple those 60 years. Now, she couldn't get as far as the priests could. There was the court of the women, that's as far as they could go and then the court of the men and then the court of the priests where the priests could. So she was clear back here.

She could see the temple sticking up but she couldn't even get to the front door and yet for 60 years she ministered there at the temple and prayed and prayed as Mary and Joseph bring Jesus into the temple and she says, this child is destined to cause the rise and fall of many and a sword will pierce your heart because of Him. Now how did she know that? God to Anna. God to Anna.

Prophecy alert. You know. I don't think so. She hung around the things of the Lord. She couldn't get to the temple. She couldn't get in there to see the iyi but Simeon probably walked in and out of that same area day after day she ministers there, and you know, when you realize something's coming down, you don't keep it to yourself, and Simeon's coming out, and there's Anna, and Anna, you know, I've been reading the

scroll of Daniel, and Daniel said, and this is, could it be, and Anna starts praying, and getting excited right along, and you know, you work with people, you work with them for 20 years or so in your shop, you get to talk, you know, something goes on, you share it with people, and I just feel like that's, and Anna's praying, and God shows her his faithfulness, because she's been seeking his faith, see, Jesus is coming soon, brothers and sisters, he's coming real soon, I know that, because he's been faithful with everything else that he's shown, and he's shown us, he's laid out the situations that the world's going to be in at the time of his coming, and it's there, and it's never been like

this before ever in history, we're there, we're right there, be excited, be looking up, take your eyes off of your circumstances, has God brought you through circumstances like this before? Absolutely, will he again? Paul says, the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one, but Paul went to Rome and died, yeah, because it was his appointed time to, you won't go before your time, so quit worrying about it, get your eyes focused on the Lord, he is faithful, he will strengthen and protect you, you can trust him, if you trust him, if you're looking for him, he'll bless you like he blessed Anna and Cindy, and you'll see the glory, and the power, and the majesty of

God in ways that you never had, did the people around them see those things? Absolutely, did they understand? No, why? Because they were all caught up in their own circumstances, they were all caught up in their own crime, they were all caught up in their own anxiety, and in their own despair, and when Jesus showed himself to them, they wanted to kill him, he was rocking their routine, he was rocking their book, don't let that happen with you, don't get to the point where you're offering useless fire before their will, let's stand together, we're gonna have some brothers down front who will be available to pray with you, and if you want to pray with me, I'm going to

pray regarding anything, if you want prayer for a particular situation that you are in, if you need prayer for a healing, if you are hurting right now this morning with a physical ailment, or an emotional strain, and you need somebody just to pray with you, and you don't have to be specific about it, you just want somebody to pray, the brothers will be down here to pray, but this is an appointed time, you are here because God appointed you to be here, you didn't just kind of decide to come, God appointed you to be here, and if you've never asked Jesus into your heart, this is the appointed time to do it, don't leave here not doing that, if you're allowing a circumstance to overshadow

your fellowship with the Lord, the joy that the Lord has for you, don't allow that to go any further, this is the time to realize that God is faithful, Father help us this morning, it's so easy with as fast as things happen, and with all the things that can happen now in this age of technology, for circumstances to hit us at almost a machine gun pace, where it seems like we're not out of one circumstance before we're in another, and another, it's just like a machine gun, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and yet you've shown us over and over again, Lord, your faithfulness, and it's strength and

fall, and it gave him confidence in you that you were going to accomplish all that you had promised you would through the Thessalonians, Father we pray that we might know that same confidence this morning in you, your son is coming soon, and we want your word to be flowing through us, and we want to honor it, and we want you to deliver us from the wicked evil men that we might continue to speak it until you take us home, so. Do that, Lord, we pray, and if there's any here that need that strengthening, that need that prayer this morning, may they come forward and not feel inhibited, just to come forward, how wonderful it is to acknowledge our weaknesses before you and one another, that we might pray for and heal,

that we might see your power in healing and restoration, so do that this morning, we pray in Jesus.