Matthew 24:1-14

¹ “Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. ² But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

³ As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

⁹ “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. ¹² And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

You and I are living in uncertain and fearful times. We who live in the United States (and the Midwest in particular) have been pretty much exempt from the direct effects of these events going on around the world. Many of us do have family or friends who are either serving in missions or in the military for whom these events are indeed very worrisome.

With the rise of militant Islam and the endless and outrageous attacks by these people upon everyone around them who will not submit to them, more and more people are asking questions about how these events relate to Bible prophecies about the return of Jesus Christ; especially since many of them are taking place in or near the Middle East.

The Bible is clear about “what” is going to happen; but, it is not clear at all about “when” these things are going to happen. However, there is a basic (and easily discernible) guideline of the “order of prophetic events” that God has decreed to take place before Jesus returns.

While there are many competing ideas and positions on how God’s plan for the future will unfold, humans make all of this much more complicated God makes it in His Word.

Basically, there are 8 specific events that God has decreed to take place that have not yet taken place. Because God cannot lie and His plans cannot be thwarted, they absolutely will take place!

This series of sermons that I begin here today is a (hopefully) simple road map to help you understand the events which will take place prior to and after the return of Jesus Christ!