Our Lord teaches on the events that will lead up to His return to the earth and the gathering in of His people.
Matthew 23: Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat,
3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you---but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
6 and they love the place of honour at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues
7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.
9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.
11 The greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
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15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'
17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?
18 And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.'
19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it.
22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.
28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
30 saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,
35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem
37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
38 See, your house is left to you desolate.
39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
Matthew 24: Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple
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."
Signs of the Close of the Age
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 rumours 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.
The Abomination of Desolation
15 "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house,
18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.
19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!
20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
23 Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it.
24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 So, if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.
27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
The Coming of the Son of Man
29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
32 "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.
33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
No One Knows That Day and Hour
36 "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.
41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.
42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.
44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45 "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?
46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,'
49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,
50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know
51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Things to think about…
1. Jesus’ admonition regarding the Pharisees in Mt 23 is very difficult to do. The hardest thing to do is to follow the teachings of a hypocrite and yet that’s exactly what Jesus says to the people regarding the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees. Do what they say, not what they do, Mt 23:3. Ever had a boss, a father – God forbid a pastor or church leadership like that? Be Christ’s example to them all. Your calling and obedience to Christ doesn’t change even when those in authority have dropped the ball.
2. Some have said that tithing is an Old Testament requirement. But Jesus when rebuking the Pharisees tells them that as they tithe they should also have done the weightier matters of the law such as justice and mercy and faithfulness; as well as tithe, Mt 23:23. Tithes and offerings do not finish in the OT. The Lord still challenges us to put Him to the test, as was said in Mal 3:10. He says will I “not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need”, Mal 3:10. My advice would be to get Him to prove it to you. We have certainly found it to be the case within our family. You can’t out give the Lord.
3. What more can be said other than the seven woes Jesus pronounces in His tirade against the Pharisees in Mt 23? Only this, their judgement is coming. Jesus says to them “how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”, Mt 23:33. In our day we have seen an incredible abuse of power and moral corruption even within what is called the church, to our shame. May God have mercy on Australia and make His church, especially its leaders, see the essence and requirement of holiness, the Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Look at the heart Jesus has for Jerusalem in Mt 23:37-39? May we have the same heart. Pray for its peace of Jerusalem and Israel that they turn away from their rejection of the Saviour. Chuwar supports the One for Israel ministry. Check it out.
5. The disciples ask two questions in Mt 24:3. When will these things happen? I.E. the stones being turned over and secondly, the close of the age. The first part of the prophesy happened in AD70. The second is drawing ever closer. Two things need to occur before Jesus returns. 1. The gospel needs to be preached in every nation, Mt 24:14 and the man of sin spoken by Daniel will stand in the holy of holies, vs15. This did not happen in AD70 with Titus. But one day it will. Hence another temple needs to be built (not the Millennial temple. The one before it). After the death of Jesus all could come into the holy of holies as the veil was torn. But here Jesus is referring to a time when the High Priesthood is restabilised with a carnal intent via a religious/political leader. This man, the antichrist, will claim to be the Christ after many false Christs have been exposed.
6. I believe in the rapture, but I also believe it will be during the tribulation as suggested in Mt 24:29-31. There will be a tribulation that the elect will go through, Mt 24:32, but for their sake it will be cut short and they are taken. If the first Disciples of Christ did not avoid tribulation by following Jesus and we are called to suffer even unto blood, what biblical basis is there for us not going through the tribulation period? Some see verse 31 as a post tribulation rapture, they may be right, depending on whether the events on the earth in Revelation continue beyond this point.
7. We may not know the day or hour of Christ’s return, but we will know the season, Mt 24:32,33. I believe we are seeing birth pains even now in the present conflict in Israel. This has been growing in intensity since the start of WW2 and just after with Israel becoming a nation again.
8. We are called to be faithful servants of the Master when He returns, Mt 24:42-51. Keep a heart of faith and hands that are active in the service of Christ. This is achieved by loving accountability through our love of each other and a love for our Lord.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Life groups Wednesdays. 6:30pm every Wednesday. 5:30pm prayer. Next week we consider Psalm 10.
Prayer Points
1. Conversions and more visitors this time of year.
2. Prayer for Israel, Gaza and Lebanon for peace to descend over the region.
3. Pray for the work we have going on with site development and TMR and the development of a project team.
4. Keep praying for PlayPatch on Fridays, pray for more families to be reached.
5. Pray for Chaplaincy and Kids Hope at Karalee State School.
6. Pray for Kids@Church, Life groups. Young Adults.
7. Mathys has a prayer time at church on Wednesday afternoons, 5:30pm at church. He would be happy for you to join him and to send prayer requests.
8. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you to be saved. Pray for the blessing over the new pastoral care and hosting program.
9. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to increase.
Praise Points
1. Admin person sorted. Thanks Maddie
2. Looks like we have a new Treasurer. Mathys - Praise God
3. Great meeting with Pr Fred and Christine Muys and our elders. Pray for our future witness/projects
4. 2 more baptisms in the new year.
5. More new visitors on Sunday. Pray they feel welcomed in the church
6. Café, music, sound and technical team every week
7. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. PlayPatch Friday mornings – 9:30am. Contact Anna for details
2. Prayer meeting 5:30pm and Life Group Wednesday 6:30pm at church.
3. Carols Sunday 22nd Dec starting from 3pm.
4. Christmas Day service 9:00am Wed 25th Dec.
5. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
6. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for December...
Q. 27. What happened to our first parents when they had sinned? A. Instead of being holy and happy, they became sinful and miserable.
Bible References – Gen.3:14-24; James 1:14&15.
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” Jer 33:3
