Parsousia

??????s?? : PAROUSIA

Text: Matthew 24:1-31
"what will be the sign of your coming (parousia)” 24:3 (Olivet Discourse. Mt. Olives.)
Parousia: Term arrival of king, emperor. Lit: “The being beside.” “The personal pesence.”

I. Signs: (2 questions: When will this hapen, what will be the sign?
Transportation officials in Texas said they have a problem with their digital road signs. One in Austin was hacked into and read: “Zombies Ahead.”

1. Religious Forgeries: "Watch out that no one deceives you.” 24:4
“For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.” 24:5
“false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” 24:11 (J.Jones, L.Hubbard, Smith, C.Russel)

2. National crises. Wars/rumors. Nation/Nation, Kingdom/Kingdom. 24:6-7
Darfur/ Bosnia/ Iraq/ Afganastan/ Bahrain/ West african Ivory Coast conflict Yemen /

3. Natural disasters.
*Famines, (2003: Darfur) (2008: Myanmar/Burma: Cyclone wiped out rice crop, famine.)
*earthquakes. (Jan.1: Argentina 7.0) (Jan.2: Chile 7.1) (Jan.18: Pakistan 7.2) (March10: China 5.4) (March11: Japan 9 – Plus a Tsunami. April 8, Japan) *Birth pains. Darwin wrong: Ends w/ Bang!

4. Persecution.
Handed to death. (Apostles be murdered). Hated by all nations. Entire nations will rise that hate Christians. (Rome would try and kill every Christian. Feed lions. Crucify. Cover in tar, light fires)

The idea: God won’t allow Christians to endure great suffering – tribulation – American.
More myrters 20th century than 19 previous. Health, wealth, prosperity preached America. What is normal: church to be mocked, ridiculed, insulted, persecuted.
*BP: Shahbaz Bhatti, ony Christian in Pakistan’s gov., murdered March 2. Advocated reform of laws that mandated death for people who leave Islam. Memorial service, teen stood up asked: “Had anyone in the world heard of Shahbaz Bhatti before the murder? No. But this week, everybody with a television could hear him testify about Jesus Christ.”

(Voice M.) “200 million Christians in at least 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith. International Bulletin of Missionary Research report: “Approx. 176k Christians have been martyred from mid 08-09. Compare to 34k at beginning of 20th cent. If current trends continue, estimate that by 2025 an average of 210k Christians will be martyred annually.”

5. Apostasy. “many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other” 24:10
“the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” 24:12-13

Conversion: Defined by: Change of life, repentance and faith that perseveres to the end.
There is another kind of conversion has some changes, some transformation, does not continue to the end.
“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” 1 John 2:19 They had been baptized, were members of the church, participated with us. Leaving us, they proved they were not of us. Apostasy: Turning away from a profession you adopted. Public commitment. You once made it, in so turning away you identify you cannot possibly be real. The real perseveres.

F. Witness.
“this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” 24:14 Suffering goes hand in hand with preaching the Gospel.
Our suffering is to be a witness of Jesus, and a different way of life. Light in darkness.

II. Evidence: How can I know Jesus knew?
They were very impressed with their temple: Do you see these buildings? Stones of the temple: 12 feet long, 60 feet long. Finely crafted. The stones were overlaid with gold, those that were not were PURE WHITE. King Herod had made massive renovations. People from around the world came to see this temple. 1 Person not impressed: God!

"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." 24:2 (Daniel: Abomination causes desolation) Jews: It was Antiochus IV, slayed a pig on the altar. Jesus: Let reader understand. That has a greater fulfillment. This generation will not pass away 24:24 (Gen. 40 years. 30 + 40 = 70) The short term prophecy would take place within the generation alive at that time. It happened within 38 years.

March A.D. 70 Jews rebelled against Rome. Romans came to Jerusalem, surrounded the city. Titus surrounded city wit three legions on the Mount of Olives. 70k Romans! Jesus: When you see the Romans coming, get out and go to the mountains! The Christians fled by roof top!

1. Romans allowed people in to the city to celebrate Passover, but they wouldn’t let them out. Dwindle food resources. May, Titus broke down the wall with a ram.

2. Temple destroyed in August. When they burned the temple, the overlaid gold melted away, dripped into the rocks, and the soldiers dug up the rocks to get to the gold.

3. 1,100,000 people killed in the siege, 97k captured, enslaved.

4. The entire city was destroyed. Jewish Historian Josephus: “Men and women, old and young, insurgents and priests, those who fought and those who entreated mercy, were hewn down in indiscriminate carnage. The number of the slain exceeded that of the slayers. The legionaries had to clamber over heaps of dead to carry on the work of extermination.”

DESOLATIN: Brought an end to Israel as a state, ended Judaism as a practiced religion in Jerusalem. Exiled the Jews all over the earth. Once more Jews in Brooklyn than in Jerusalem!

God uses short term prophecy to give confidence in long range prophecy. (Small proves big)
Small: The temple will be destroyed within the period of 1 Generation. Big: I’ll come back.

III. How will he come?

A. His coming will be Visible.
Anyone tells you: Here he is! Out in the desert! Don’t go. In these inner rooms, don’t believe it.
You won’t have to go out to a field to see it. Up to mountains.

"For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.” 24:27-28

Lightning: When I come again, it will be so obvious, the world will know.
The throne is surrounded by lightning. At Sinai. Jesus’ clothes at transfig. At His Coming.

Vultures: cannot miss a dead body! You will be unable to miss this!

B. His coming will be Destructive.
"Immediately after the distress of those days "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'” 24:29

NIV brackets that as a quote. That is not a quote. Jesus is citing about 5 Scriptures.
“The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.” Isa. 13:10

”All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.” Isa. 34:4

“When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.” Ez. 32:7

“The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” Joel. 2:31

C. His coming will be AWESOME!
(All good words are taken by mediocre things. “I went to the mall.” “Awesome.” REALLY?
It will be: Awesome glorious, Sensational, Dazzling, Incredible, stunning

1. The nations will mourn:
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.” 24:30
Zechariah: (They will look upon me, the one the have pierced, they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son.)
Revelation 6:15-17: Kings of the earth, princes, generals, rich, mighty, slaves, hide in the rocks and called mountains: Call on mountains to fall on them to hide from face of God.

2. They will see the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky.
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky” 24:30 (Nations mourn)

*The word sign (Semeion) can mean: banner, standard. It is a war banner.
ILLU: Here is no meek and lowly Jesus: He is the conquering triumphant one. He flashes the war banner. The Lord returns, flurrying banner, hordes of angels sent out to reap in the elect.

*Isaiah 11, Pictures new heaven;earth, “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.” Isa. 11:10

*“He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.” Isa. 11:12

*“All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it.” isa. 18:3

A final banner, a trumpet call that gathers the elect of the earth. Jesus returns with triumphant glory. Angels are sent to gather the elect. Meanwhile, nations of the earth mourn. The sign is Jesus! Messiah stands on the mountains and they split in two.

Parousia: His personal presence has come down!
“They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” 24:30-31

HHIS I suhlod have thought of that!

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