The Cosmic Constant | Dr. Conrad Vine

By /

Scripture and Quote Extraction

Sermon: “The Cosmic Constant” by Dr. Conrad Vine

I. BIBLE VERSES CITED

Matthew (Primary Text)

  • Matthew 24:1 – “As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.”

  • Matthew 24:2 – “Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

  • Matthew 24:3 – “When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, ‘Tell us, when will this be? and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?'”

  • Matthew 24:4-8 – “Beware that no one leads you astray, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will lead many astray. 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. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”

  • Matthew 24:9-14 – “Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

  • Matthew 24:15-20 – “So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. The one on the housetop must not go down to take what is in the house; the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath day.”

  • Matthew 24:21-28 – “For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Take note, I have told you beforehand. 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. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

  • Matthew 24:29-31 – “Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 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. 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.”

  • Matthew 28:20 – “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Revelation

  • Revelation 6:12-14 – “When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and there came a great earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree drops its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll rolling itself up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.”

  • Revelation 21:1-4 – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.'”

2 Peter

  • 2 Peter 3:10 – “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.”

Luke (Parallel Passage)

  • Luke 21:25-28 – “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Psalms

  • Psalm 136:3-9 – “O give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever. Who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; who spread out the earth on the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

Jeremiah

  • Jeremiah 31:3 – “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”

Exodus

  • Exodus 34:6 – “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious.” (Reference to the word hesed)

Isaiah

  • Isaiah 49:15-16 – “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.” (Paraphrased/Referenced)

Daniel

  • Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 – References to “the desolating sacrilege” (alluded to in Matthew 24:15)

II. KEY QUOTES FROM THE SERMON

Opening Illustrations

  1. “When my wife talks to me at night, all I hear is wow, wow, wow. And then in the morning, she can legitimately say, ‘But I told you.’ And I can legitimately say, ‘But I didn’t hear you.’ And we’re both right—which is a rarity in marriage.”

  2. “I thought, ‘Lord, maybe Satan doesn’t want us to come here to Sandpoint tonight.’ But by the grace of God, we’re here tonight. We’re in one piece.”

  3. “The theme tune for Azal was ‘Nearer My God to Thee’—because it was a faith-building exercise to fly on that airline.”

The Disciples’ Question

  1. “The disciples, they assume that the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world as we know it and the second coming of Christ are one and the same thing. They conflate all three ideas in their question.”

  2. “Jesus’ last words to them are these: ‘And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ They’re worried about all the events, the wars, the destructions, the chaos. And Jesus says, ‘No matter what else happens in this world, I’m going to be with you to the end of the age. As long as you keep your eye focused on that, you’re going to get through.'”

The Sleeping Child Illustration

  1. “My little boy always was in a peaceful sleep. Now why was that? Because he was with his dad. And he instinctively knew that if he was with his dad, he was going to get through. Things were going to be okay.”

  2. “Jesus responds to them in summary by saying, ‘I’m going to be with you. And if your eyes are focused on me, you don’t really need to worry about much else. You can have peace in the storm when you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ.'”

The Church at the End of Time

  1. “In a world that is divided, the one thing that’s going to unite this world is their hatred of you because you bear the name of Christ.”

  2. “The church at the end of time will be filled with apostasy… people you think you can trust will one day hand you in.”

  3. “Hate in the body of Christ. I can tell you, living through cancel culture, this is pretty accurate.”

  4. “We’re not going to be united when the mark of the beast comes. Be ready to stand on your own and be finding people now who you can stand with.”

  5. “We’re going to be sitting in loveless churches where there is just coldness from the cold shoulders.”

  6. “The one who endures to the end will be saved. This doesn’t say the one who glides to the end. Nobody’s getting it easy through the final time of crisis.”

  7. “Desmond Doss on that mountain with the Japanese firing at him continually: ‘Lord, just help me get one more. Help me save one more.'”

The World’s Hatred

  1. “If you bear the name of Christ, you are a standing rebuke to the evil of this world, and you are a rejection of Satan’s claim to be the prince of this world. For as long as you publicly bear the name of Christ, you are refuting Satan’s claim.”

  2. “Satan may walk to and fro upon the face of the earth as in the time of Job. But God says, ‘Did you consider my servant Job?’ And God is going to say today, ‘Do you consider my servant…? He still bears my name.'”

The Fall of Jerusalem

  1. “The Christians in Jerusalem remembered this teaching of Jesus and they said, ‘It’s time to get out of Dodge.'”

  2. “Not one single Christian is believed to have died in the fall of Jerusalem because everybody knew this teaching of Jesus.”

False Prophets and Deception

  1. “In 1844, you get Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, and Karl Marx all publishing their theories in the same year… false secular prophets rising… that have diverted millions and millions of people over the last 180 years into paths of destruction.”

  2. “Satan is going to, if possible, deceive or lead astray the elect. It doesn’t say he’s going to coerce the elect. It says he’s going to deceive.”

  3. “If you don’t know whether what you’re seeing is true or false, that means you’re not going to want to commit to anything. And if nobody’s going to commit to anything, who’s going to give their life to the Lord Jesus Christ?”

  4. “Only those who love the truth in their heart and mind will survive the final deceptions.”

The Unmistakable Coming

  1. “As lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. When Jesus comes again, it’s going to be unmistakable in every part of the world.”

The Cosmic Constants

  1. “The universe is a mathematical machine. There are dozens and dozens of mathematical formulas which are so finely tuned that if there were any change in any of these formulas, this universe could not exist in the form that we have it today.”

  2. “Basically what the physicists are arguing is that our universe exists for one reason and that is to support life.”

The Sky Vanishing

  1. “Imagine looking up tomorrow and you see the sky just being torn apart in front of your eyes. It’s unmistakable. Satan may try and counterfeit the coming of Christ… but when Jesus comes again, the sky above our head is going to vanish like a scroll rolling itself up.”

  2. “It means all of the mathematical constants that hold this universe together are being done away with when Jesus comes again. That is the very fabric of the universe is disappearing in front of our eyes.”

  3. “I’m not so worried these days so much about global warming. I’m worried about a global meltdown.”

  4. “When Jesus comes again, the elements are melting around you. You understand why people are burrowing into the ground to escape from what’s happening—because it’s cooler down underground.”

Two Responses

  1. “When Jesus comes again, there are two groups of people. It’s not Republicans and Democrats. It’s not black and white. It’s not rich or poor. It’s not male or female. It’s those whose hearts are failing them for fear for what is coming upon the world, and those who realize that this is the beginning of all things being made new again.”

  2. “We can choose today which group we want to be a part of. We can either be overwhelmed with fear or we can be standing high and say, ‘This is our God whom we have waited for.'”

  3. “Lo, it will be said on that day, ‘Lo, this is our God, and we have waited for him so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.'”

The True Cosmic Constant

  1. “The one thing in this psalm that endures more than the heavens, more than the earth on the waters, more than the great lights of the universe, more than the sun, the moon, and the stars—the thing that’s going to endure beyond all of these things, the one thing we can put our trust in—is his steadfast love.”

  2. “That word hesed means merciful, compassionate, kind or kindness, grace or gracious, long-suffering love, steadfast love, covenant faithfulness.”

  3. “God is faithful to that covenant regardless of whether you are faithful to that covenant yourself. God is faithful to us regardless of our faithfulness to him.”

  4. “There’s nothing we can do to make him love us more. There’s nothing we can do to stop him from loving us.”

  5. “Even if the sun, the moon, and the stars and all the universe is torn apart by the coming of Christ… the one thing that’s going to stand, the one thing we can trust in, is the character of our heavenly Father.”

  6. “Can a mother forget the child of her womb? No. But yet, even though she may forget you, says God, I will never forget you. See, I’ve engraved you in the palms of my hands.”

The New Creation

  1. “God doesn’t just insert a new planet earth into an old heavens. He’s going to create a new heavens and a new earth.”

  2. “You think of the power of God just to speak galaxies into existence by the billions of stars. The power of God—and yet he condescends to us that he will wipe those tears from your cheeks. He is an almighty God, but he is a personal God.”

  3. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Not till after the end of the millennium… God himself having created a new heavens and a new earth will wipe away every tear from my eyes and from yours. And death will be no more. And all the causes of suffering, mourning and crying and pain will be no more.”

Final Exhortation

  1. “Rather than looking at social media and Facebook and YouTube and Instagram and Snapchat—most of which is turning into a pack of lies these days—turn your eyes upon Jesus in the Gospels and know your Savior for yourself and learn to recognize his voice when he speaks to you.”

  2. “Our job as preachers, our job as elders in churches is to train the ears of the flock so they recognize the voice of the good shepherd and they follow the good shepherd, so that the congregation doesn’t follow the pastor or the elders, but the congregation has learned to follow the good shepherd.”

  3. “Know the truth. Love the truth. This is the best antidote to deception.”

  4. “When Jesus comes again, you’ll not be found among those who are calling upon the rocks to fall upon them and hide them from the face of the one who sits upon the throne. No, we’ll be standing tall and saying, ‘This is our God whom we’ve waited for, and he’s come back to save us.'”

  5. “I’m looking forward to the coming of Jesus. Aren’t you?”

III. SUMMARY OF KEY GREEK/HEBREW WORDS

Word Language Meaning
Apostasia Greek Apostasy; falling away (from apo = away from, stasis = stand)
Anomia Greek Lawlessness; literally “without law”
Eschaton Greek The end; end of the age
Agape Greek Self-sacrificing love
Hesed Hebrew Steadfast love, mercy, compassion, kindness, grace, covenant faithfulness
Uranos Greek Heaven; the sky
Mashiach Hebrew Messiah; literally “birth pains of the Messiah” (referring to end-time troubles)

IV. HISTORICAL REFERENCES MENTIONED

  • AD 70 – Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans

  • AD 66 – Cestius Gallus surrounds Jerusalem, then withdraws

  • 538–1798 – Period of papal supremacy; estimated 50 million martyrs

  • May 19, 1780 – The Dark Day (sun darkened)

  • November 13, 1833 – Great meteor storm (stars fell)

  • 1844 – Darwin, Freud, Marx publish their theories; Advent movement

  • Bloody Mary – Queen Mary I of England (1553-1558), persecutor of Protestants

  • Foxe’s Book of Martyrs – Documenting Christian persecution

  • Desmond Doss – WWII conscientious objector who saved 75 men at Hacksaw Ridge