Author: John
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The Second Coming of the Lord
(Matthew 24:29-31) At the very end of these days those left on the earth will witness the second coming of the Lord. There will be signs in the sun and the moon for they will both be darkened and will not give their light upon the earth. This is sometimes attributed to pollution or the…
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The Return of the Lord
(Matthew 24:15-28) – Part 2 The last days will be difficult times and a time of tribulation such as has not ever been seen before. Jesus says that when we see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place that those in Judea should flee to the mountains. I believe this is a warning for…
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Wherever the Body is there the Eagles will be Gathered
(Matthew 24:15-28) – Part 1 In speaking of the last days Jesus gives many warnings and indications of what must happen. Amongst the many signs of the end times there will be great desolation and opposition in the Church. Satan will have his messengers attack the Church from without and within. There will be many…
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Trouble for the End Times Church
(Matthew 24:9-14) There will be trouble for the end times church as Jesus tells us in this next section. The church will have trouble and individual Christians will suffer for it. There will be a sifting of the wheat from the chaff in the end times and there will be no fence sitting, as these…
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Signs of the Close of the Age
(Matthew 24:1-8) As Jesus left the temple his disciples asked him about his second coming and the signs of the close of the age. His response is particularly of interest to us today for we are living in the age when these prophecies are beginning to be fulfilled. These and other prophecies in the Bible…
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Killing the Prophets
(Matthew 23:29-39) The greatest hypocrisy Jesus condemned the Pharisees and scribes over concerned killing the prophets. They said that had they lived in the days of their fathers they would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. However Jesus condemns them out of their own mouths. He shows that…
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You Are like Whitewashed Tombs
(Matthew 23:27-28) Jesus continues his analogies of the hypocrisy of the religious people of his day by comparing the Pharisees and scribes to whitewashed tombs. There are some today who also fit this description and we have seen the fall of some of the supposed leaders of the church where they too were like whitewashed…
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Cleanse the Inside of the Cup First
(Matthew 23:25-26) The Pharisees were very concerned about position. They wanted to look good to men. They wanted the praise of men rather than the praise of God. But Jesus taught that it is not what is on the outside that matters but what is on the inside. That is the essence of this teaching…
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Straining Out a Gnat and Swallowing a Camel
(Matthew 23:23-24 – Straining out a Gnat and Swallowing a Camel) Jesus calls the Pharisees to account for their hypocrisy using the analogy of straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. What is interesting in this teaching is what he is referring to, for he is speaking of the comparison between tithing in the…
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Woe to You Blind Guides
(Matthew 23:16-22) Jesus condemns the priests, Pharisees and scribes for being blind guides saying, “Woe to you blind guides.” He calls them this because their focus is wrong. The things they consider important are not what God considers important. Jesus said elsewhere, “Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads…
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You Shut the Kingdom of Heaven Against Men
(Matthew 23:13-15) Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in.” (Verse 13) What does he mean by this saying? How do you shut the kingdom of heaven? To understand this…
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The Greatest Among You Shall be the Least
(Matthew 23:5-12) The hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the scribes extended to their desire to be considered as persons of importance. As Jesus showed in this section, they desired and looked for the adulation and praise of men rather than the praise of God. They took their roles to be positions of power so they…