I T is A wonderful thing to be able to take some of the great pro phetic chapters of the Bible and to go through them verse by verse. There are a number of such portions in both the Old and the New Testaments. Con sider John 14, Matthew 24 and 25, Luke 21, as well as complete books such as Jude. In the Old Testament there is Daniel, Ezekiel, Joel, and the many others. Of course, there is the “capstone,” the last great book of the Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ. In this series of studies we are going to be looking at the beautiful Olivet Discourse of our Lord Jesus taken from Matthew 24. This great book actually introduces us to two im portant sermons of the Saviour. One at the beginning of His ministry and the other at the close. Both of them were given on a mountain. We speak of the first as “The Sermon on the Mount,” and the last as “The Olivet Discourse.” The first was given in the province of Galilee where our Lord unfolded the law of the kingdom. The last was given on a little hill, spoken of as a mount, outside the city of Jeru salem. With a breaking heart the Lord looked over the city which had rejected the truth and He wept. In a certain sense the main people to whom He addressed these messages were
His own disciples. Yet He speaks to them in three different categories. In the Sermon on the Mount He speaks to His followers as disciples. They were those under discipline and train ing. When He spoke to His disciples in His farewell message, as recorded in John 14, He spoke to them as His own; those whom He dearly loved. In the Olivet Discourse He spoke to them as Jews. They were interested in the promises which were to be ful filled according to Old Testament prophecies. They wanted .to be de livered from Rome and government oppression. They yearned to be free. The Sermon on the Mount is a fit ting introduction to the Olivet Dis course which we will study in more detail later on. We find this in Mat thew 5:1-7 with Luke 6 giving us the parallel message, and Mark merely touching upon it, discussing the sub ject of marriage and divorce as re corded in the 10th chapter. At the very outset of the message our Lord declares the authority of the Word of God. In the 17th and 18th verses we read, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.” The word “destroy” really means “to loos- 7
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