Intro: When the disciples asked these questions they were not thinking in terms of the church, but they were saturated with the Old Testament Scriptures, which told them of a period of intense sorrow, which would precede the establishing of the Kingdom, called "the time of Jacob’s trouble.” Jeremiah 30:7, tells about this time, " Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."
    A. Moses also referred to this time of trouble before the children of Israel entered the promised land in (Deut. 4:30, 31).
        "When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy
        God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God:) he will not forsake thee, neither
        destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.”
    B. Do not attempt to read into this chapter the events of the past 2000 years.
    C. Do not try to insert the Church into this section.
    D. Jesus is positively not speaking about the Church, but He is answering the questions of His disciples who are thinking in
        terms of the establishing of the Kingdom of Heaven.
        1. The disciples were concerned and constantly inquiring about the establishing of the kingdom “ . . . Wilt thou at this
            time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6).
    E. Many verses declare plainly that this discourse belongs to Israel and the Gentiles, and not to the Church.
I. Coming Destruction of Jerusalem Announced
    A. After denouncing the religious rulers and telling them that their house (temple) is left desolate (Matt 23:38).
        1. Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple.
           And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon
           another, that shall not be thrown down (Mt. 24:1,2).
    B. Jesus strong words, concerning the Jewish temple “Behold your house is left unto you desolate” disturbed the disciples.
        1. They wanted to call His attention to the beauties of the temple, which was far from desolate.
    C. Then Jesus distressed them further with the statement concerning the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
        1. The disciples looked at Herod's temple, which after forty years was still not complete, and it did not look desolate.
        2. They didn’t "see" things like the Lord Jesus, who saw more than the here and now.
II.  As the Lord sat on the Mount of Olives (the reason this section is called the Olivet Discourse), His disciples came to Him with three questions, which had been raised about His statements concerning Jerusalem in verse
two.  Matthew 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell
us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
    A. The answer to the first question, "When shall these things be?"  When one stone would not be left upon another, is
         found in Luke's Gospel (Luke 21:20-24).
        1. This was fulfilled in A. D. 70, at the destruction of the temple
    B. The answer to the second question, "What shall be the signs of thy coming?" is found in verses 27-36.
    C. The answer to the third question, "What shall be the signs of the end of the world (or completion of the age?), is found
         in verses 9-26.
III. When our Lord answers the disciples questions He dealt with the last question first and the second last; but first He traces the characteristics of this age from verse 4 through 8.  Verse 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
    A. The phrase "take heed that no man deceive you" is characteristic of this entire age.
    B. The Lord gives this word of caution because He knew there would be much deception.
        1. Peter warns us in (2 Peter 2:1).  "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false
            teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring
            upon themselves swift destruction."
        2. There are many false teachers around and we are to be aware of them.
        3. We must test what they say by Scripture.
Verse 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
    A. There have been many antichrists (1 John 4:3), but at the end of the age there will come one Antichrist who will oppose
        Christ and set himself up as the only authority
Verse 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must
come to pass, but the end is not yet.
    A. Wars and rumors of wars are not the sign that we are at the end of the age.
        1. There have been many major wars in the past few thousand years.
        2. We have come a long way from World War II and the end of the age still has not come.
        3. We will hear about wars and rumors of wars, but we should not be troubled because all of these things will come to
            pass and still it will not be the end of the age.
        4. Men will never solve the problem of war.
        5. The League of Nations could not solve this problem and the United Nations will not be able to solve it.
        6. There will be no peace until the Prince of Peace comes.
Verses 7-8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
    A. These are characteristics of the entire age "but the end is not yet" (verse 6).
    B. False Christ, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes characterize the entire age, and apparently will be
        intensified as we draw near to the end of the age.
    C. Right now because of the population explosion people are starving to death by the thousands and the millions.
        1. This situation is going to increase.
        2. This is only the beginning of sorrows that we see today.
IV. Now as our Lord begins to Answer the Third Question He begins to speak concerning the time of tribulation verses 9-26.
    A. The Bible divides the world into three groups of people (I Cor. 10:32). " Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to
        the Gentiles, nor to the church of God"
        1. The Jews, the Gentiles and the Church are the three groups.
    B. Right now the Lord is calling out a people for His name from both the Jews and the Gentiles.
        1. One day soon the Church will be taken from the earth, leaving only Jews and Gentiles and then the Tribulation will
            begin.
Verse 9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for
my name's sake.
    A. The word "then" advances the chronology of events to the first part of the 70th week of Daniel.
    B. "They" refers to the remnant of the nation of Israel who will be God's witnesses during the Tribulation.
Verses 10-11.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
    A. The phrase "and then" advances the chronology once again and penetrates further into the Tribulation.
        1. This reveals the internal struggle in the nation Israel.
    B. The nation Israel was to beware of false prophets, while the church is to beware of false teachers (2 Peter 2:1). “But
        there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring
        in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."
Verse 12, And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
    A. The kind of attitude He is displaying is abounding today in the world and because of iniquity the love of many is waxing
         cold.
    B. This will be even more true toward the end of the age.
Verse 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
    A. This verse has particular reference to God's people, Israel, during the Great Tribulation, and it is an extremely brief
        period of time.