Video DTBM
Jesus Warned Us Most about End Times Deception - Dr. John Barnett
"The Day the Real King Explains the Future: Jesus takes time to explain the future plans God has for the world. Jesus here teaches what we call Biblical Eschatology, or prophecy. What was the message Jesus taught His disciples there on that side of the Mt. of Olives? What message did He want to leave with them? Jesus spends the last part of the Wednesday of Passion Week teaching the disciples, and by virtue of inspiration, us, about the False King who was coming and who would be received by the world. The coming False King, or the Antichrist, is central to the long and final message Jesus gave that afternoon. The same message we see here in Matthew 24, is also in Mark 13, Luke 21, and Revelation 6-19. It is amazing that at the end of His teaching ministry, Jesus devoted so much time to giving His disciples a picture of history to come. To us 2,000 years later, it sounds quite familiar. Jesus told them what we know as the history of the past 20 centuries: the world would have wars, famines, troubles, and persecutions for the Jews and for believers. That’s just what has happened. The Long Hard Scope of Painful Human History To the disciples waiting for Christ to march to power, take the Throne back, rout the Romans, and bring Israel into the Kingdom, it was troubling to hear Christ's world. For all the things Jesus spoke about to take place meant a long time was going to pass between His first coming and His second. As the disciples listened to Christ's explanation of things to come for their city Jerusalem, and their people the Jews: they must have been stunned. Jesus described a long, tortuous history for Jerusalem and the Jews. Filled with wars, conquests, persecutions, and globally felt disasters. Note it was ongoing. Not “a war” but wars. Not “a rumor” but rumors. Jesus painted the picture for a long time. Then in v. 8, He said this is only the beginning. Basically, Jesus was a pessimist. He did not see things getting better and better. In other words, Jesus was not a post-millennialist. Jesus did not tell us things were going to get better and better, rather He said worse and worse. Jesus was a Pessimist About the Future." from the video introduction.