The Last Days — Luke 21

0:00 Good morning, everyone. Just reflecting on the past few weeks and maybe even months, I think it's been a trying time for the body with the different people going home to be with the Lord. Maybe you're taking care of loved ones through them being in the hospital or and I I was also thinking just how hard of a time that can be around the holidays and so just before we begin this morning, I like to open up in prayer and just continue to pray for the body during this time. Dear lord, we just come before you this morning and we know that you're the god of all comfort. Just as we have been experiencing some pain as the local body, the church with the the death of a few saints Lord and, we know that, they're with you and we can have that hope, but, still it hurts Lord and, we know that, you're gonna make all things right in the end and there's going to be no more pain and suffering and you're going to recreate the world anew and we do look forward to that day.

1:18 And in the meantime, Lord, just challenge us and give us a word this morning. We thank you for this study in Luke that we can do that we can learn what it means to be a disciple of Christ, that we can follow you and that we can believe and have faith in you. We just pray and commit this time to you. We pray this in Jesus name, amen. Open your Bibles up to the gospel of Luke chapter 21.

1:49 Just like to give a book recommendation. I actually found this in the back but I'm doing the one online by Emmaus Worldwide. It's called Biblical Prophecy or Bible Prophecy. I'm in the middle so I can only recommend the chapters that I've read but I I with with confidence I could say that probably the rest of it is going to be a good informative read and and and challenging to just continue to know more about what the Bible says. Just by way of review also, in the book of Luke, we've been going through it and in these last chapters, Christ is in his passion week.

2:32 So, Christ has entered into Jerusalem and he's doing some final teaching. You might remember that there is kind of a turning point in Luke around chapter 11 and it said that he was focusing his eyes toward Jerusalem and we went through this whole section of parables and lessons and times of healing where he was just giving so much instruction on how to be a disciple and here he is in his final week and he's giving some more instruction before he goes to the cross to die and I believe that he he definitely gave this just to give some more understanding about the things to come. There's a few things to note about this section in particular. This pops up in the Gospel of Mark and in the Gospel of Matthew. Some people call it the Olivet Discourse.

3:33 Okay, if you take a look at Luke's account, I would say that in particular, it's non Jewish. Okay, you are not gonna see a whole bunch of Old Testament quotes in it. If you look at Matthew Moore and and Mark Moore, they're going to quote things in the Old Testament more but in Luke's account, he doesn't have that as much. He kind of leaves that out. I do think that this kind of fits into what Luke is trying to teach and show in these last sections of what Christ is teaching that he is he's rejecting his people, Israel, and he's setting them aside because they are rejecting him as Messiah in this time and he's going in favor of of the Gentiles and also another note, just on the fulfillment of prophecy.

4:32 We're going to see here that there's going to be some partial fulfillment that's going to happen but there's going to be some end, some ultimate fulfillment that's going to happen. So, when we read biblical prophecy whether it's in the Old Testament or here in the New Testament, there can be times when it's fulfilled only partially and then it's finally filled, fulfilled in the future. Just also some lessons to pay attention to as we go through this section. The first one is that when Christ says something, it's going to happen. So even if it's prophetic and it hasn't happened yet, we can have confidence that it's going to happen.

5:19 Time and time again when Christ is instructing His disciples, he's telling them that he's going to go to the cross and he did. He proved and and he did what he was going to say and so even for that reason, we see that he prophesied that he was going to go when he was here on earth to the cross and then we can read all of this other biblical prophecy and be sure that this is also going to happen. The next is that we are going to see a warning. Christ is going to say, take heed, pay attention, something is going to happen towards the end. The next thing is that persecution is going to come.

6:02 But I think he is going to reiterate the fact that even in persecution, we live it by faith. We live it by faith in the lord Jesus Christ and we go through that by faith. Next is that greater responsive with greater responsibility as we see with the Israelite people, they had a lot of responsibility and a lot of privilege in terms of receiving the word of god, in terms of being the reception receiving the Messiah, the fact that Christ would come in Israelite people line. So, with this great responsibility also comes greater judgement and so we're going to talk about that and then finally, we are going to look and even as we go about our daily lives, we look for our redemption. We look for our redeemer from heaven when he comes.

8:01 Now, being any student of history, you know that the temple was eventually destroyed by the commander Titus, the Roman commander in AD seventy and what is interesting to me that I was just reading in the works of Josephus. He's actually he's not a believer but it's just his comments on the the time of when that happened in 8070 was that he didn't want the temple to be destroyed. So, the Romans were actually laying siege in Jerusalem and they started burning the gate down because the to to eventually conquer it but it was against Titus, the commander's wishes that the temple was destroyed and if you're curious, go and read that section of the works of Josephus about how it was just a such a confusing time in in the circumstances that they were in laying siege of the temple. There is so many people that were being killed and slaughtered and it was just very confusing. The commands of Titus were not getting to his troops and so they were not able to hear that he didn't want the the temple to be destroyed.

9:25 But it says also, I can't remember where I heard this or read this that the temple ended up being burned that it was so hot that it actually melted the gold that was made for the temple or that was constructed on the temple and all the gold melted down into the stones and to go plunder all of that gold, they went and turned all of those stones there and so you see in 8070 that that is a literal fulfillment of what Christ said. It happened. Now, why did this happen? You might remember a few weeks ago about when Ray talked about the parable or the vine of the vine dressers and how the the vineyard was in in care of these vine dressers and the master went away and he and he sent people, he sent prophets, people that represented the prophets and they rejected him, them, and and finally, he sent his son and they rejected him. As a representation that the the Jewish people ended up rejecting Christ the Messiah and so here you have this prophecy that the the temple was destroyed.

10:42 You see this destruction because of the Israelite people rejecting Christ as the Messiah. Luke chapter 13 verses 34 and verse 35 say, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings but you were not willing. You see, Christ's heart for his people here. He said, I wanted to gather you as my people and that you would be my people, a holy nation but you would not come.

11:25 You were not willing. Luke thirteen thirty five, see, your house has left you desolate and assuredly I say to you, you shall not see me until the time comes when you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord. Now, if you remember back when Andy was preaching, they did say this. They said, blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord but again, that's just a partial partial fulfillment. During this time, the lord is set aside, setting aside the Israelite people soon in the future when the end ending things happen, they're going to say as a people and they're going to actually say and accept Christ as their Messiah and they're going to say in the future, blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord and so here we have this prophecy by Christ himself.

13:03 Therefore, do not go after them. And so Christ is saying here to take heed, warning, people are going to come and they're either going to be claiming that they are Christ or they're going to claim that they know when these events are going to happen. There's so many different people and I'm not going to list them but there's just so many different people that have tried to predict the ending events of either when the rapture is going to happen, when the tribulation happens, when the end of days is going to come and it hasn't come yet. We have not seen Christ yet. And so, he's saying warning, there's going to be people that are going to come and they're going to try and deceive you.

13:50 If you take a look at Matthew and Mark, it actually says that there's going to be a whole bunch of people that are deceived but here in Luke, he says, don't be deceived. He's telling his disciples, don't be deceived. There's going to be a great deception that's going to happen. And you know there's other times in the Bible where it says to not be deceived and it talks about these end times and the things that are going to happen and specifically, I'd like to call to remembrance second Timothy three. Second Timothy three and chapter or excuse me, verse one.

14:28 It says, know this that in the last days, perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, and it goes on. In verse five, having a form of godliness but denying its power and from such people turn away and so there's just another example of god's word telling us to take heed, to pay attention that we would not be deceived, that there's going to be a great deception that's going to come. There's another one in Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20 and in verse 28.

15:20 It says, Paul speaking to the Ephesian elders. He's saying, therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of god which he purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Now, if you take a look at this deception back in Luke, it says, people are going to come and they're going to say that I am the Messiah and so, now today and even recent history, we have a partial fulfillment of that.

16:13 As I had already mentioned, we have people coming that are either claiming to be the Messiah or claiming that the end is going to come near but the final fulfillment is when the antichrist comes. He's going to be revealed. He's called the abomination of desolation and he's going to be the one that is going to say, I am Christ and he's going to do a whole bunch of other things regarding that and he's going to even go into the temple and defame the temple and so there's just another depiction of of a partial fulfillment now and a final fulfillment in the very last times during the tribulation. When the antichrist is revealed and a great deception is going to take place. Next, look at verse verse nine in Luke chapter 21.

17:41 You know, we see so many different wars and commotions today. We see many people or many people groups, many nations rising against other nations, kingdoms rising against other kingdoms and so we see this happen. I want to specifically mention two different places that I've been learning about recently. One is in Africa where I have a good friend that's going to go. His name is Edgadi.

18:09 Some of you met him. Edgadi Diaz and Rahel. They're going to Africa and they're going to The Congo and The Congo is right in the middle of Africa and in Africa, you have not only a war regarding different things like natural resources and food and water but you also have a religious war. In the Northern part of Africa, there is majority Muslim people and in the southern part, there is majority Christian people and so where they're going is right in the middle where you have this great tension in many different countries of Muslim people trying to get down into the Southern part of Africa. And so there we just see an example of different wars and different commotions that are going to happen and and we see that happening today but again, this is just a partial fulfillment.

19:06 I believe beginning here in in verse eight and all the way down and even to the end, you can take a look at Revelation six. I encourage you to do that in your own time to compare the different things that happen in Revelation six at the beginning of the tribulation. It talks about different wars and there's not going to be peace. There's going to be famine and so even though we see it today, it's just a partial fulfillment of what's going to happen in the future. Next, you have in verse 12, it's going to talk about some persecution.

19:48 Verse 12, before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore, settle it in your hearts. Do not meditate beforehand on what you will answer.

20:16 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives, and friends and they will put some of you to death and you will be hated by all for my name's sake but not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience, possess your souls. And so, here you see this great persecution that's going to take place. Now, if you take a look at Revelation six, there is specifically in the order of the different things that happen in Revelation six, there's a great persecution that goes out against god's people.

21:06 But think about all of the things that you might know about church history. What happened in the book of Acts? What happened during when Paul wrote his letters? I mean, we have even this today, the epistles that are called the prison epistles. So, so we have persecution that has happened and so, you take a look at this section and you can kind of see a dual fulfillment that we've seen the different persecutions happen today but it's nothing compared to the persecution that is going to happen in the last days, in the last times during the tribulation.

21:48 Luke twelve four says, and I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that, have no more that they can do to you. Just kind of a highlight of what Christ had already said to the disciples as an encouragement when you do face persecution. Don't be afraid of those who who persecute you and can just kill the body but have fear in the lord and have reverence and have faith in the lord and see, you see right in the middle there that he tells them, now when this is going to happen, when when you're going to be persecuted and you're going to have to give an account and come before different authorities and different rulers that it's gonna turn out for an occasion for testimony. And so he says to them, don't settle in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.

22:59 And and we have record of those different times that Paul was was brought before different leaders. He was brought before different councils whether Roman or Jewish and the lord gave him word to respond and to defend the faith and to give a testimony and we see here that even today, we can learn from the exact same thing that even though it isn't part of that great persecution that's going to happen in the last days, we can learn from this today that any opportunity that we would be given, it could be given a time for testimony. Any persecution that we might receive or any persecution that a Christian and believer in this world receives, it's an opportunity to testify of who Christ is. I just wanted to highlight another country today where we see different persecution happening. I've been reading about it in the voice of the martyrs.

24:03 It's in Columbia. There's a great persecution happening specifically in what they call the Red Districts or the red sections of Columbia. And what it is is the Colombian government has actually taken their forces out of these different sections and the the communist and the guerrilla gangs or they're not even gangs. They they take the almost like the military group and and the attitudes that they teach just to a higher level than even a gang and they have they carry around rifles and they're really it's guerrilla warfare and they're the ones that are in control over these different districts and there's different stories about these different people from god who are going in there, different pastors and families and they're being persecuted because what they're doing is some of them are hearing the gospel and they're being saved out of these different gorilla groups and when they are saved out of these different gorilla groups, the gorilla groups are are they're experiencing a lack of numbers and so they don't like that when people are saved and they're turn they turn to Christ and so they persecute these Christian people and they they throw them out of different churches.

25:29 They're not allowed to meet in different churches and and they have to do different home bible studies and it was just very interesting to me to read about the read about that and just how close it's getting in the world. It's right over here in South America. And so you just have these great examples of these persecution happening. And it says in verse 16, you will be betrayed even by parents and friends, relatives and friends And they will put some of you to death and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. I mentioned this before, but my wife, Shelly, reminded me of what's happening in her family right now.

26:18 She has a cousin. Her name is Chella and she came to Christ and just totally left the whole Catholic religion. Time after time and year after year before she came to Christ, she was inside of Catholicism and she would set up all the different idols and make all these different offerings and put up all the different lights about all the different holidays and when she came to Christ, she left all of it and now, she's in and amongst Christians. She's going to meetings, worshiping, and learning about the lord and is just so grateful for what the lord has done to her but she's receiving just the verbal abuse from her family because of because of the fact that she is naming the name of Christ. And so you see this persecution that's happening today.

27:54 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations and Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And so, here you see this great tribulation happening. In verse 20, it talks about the desolation of Jerusalem and again, just a partial fulfillment of that is we know the fact that Jerusalem was destroyed and it even is is that way today even though we have this recent of history of the nation of Israel coming back and forming as a nation, you still see Israel surrounded by its different enemies.

28:57 You see that it's still a time of the Gentiles that the lord has taken aside or he has set aside the Israelite people and even in the Middle East, even on the land that the lord has promised the Jewish people. Today, we see that it's controlled by Gentiles. And specifically, take a look at these two words in these in this section. In verse 22, the days of vengeance. It's a day of vengeance and in verse 23, it says, wrath upon this people.

29:35 So, there's going to be coming a day where there's going to be a tribulation that's going to take place. It's a seven year tribulation. You can take a look at other sections of the bible specifically in Revelation where this tribulation takes place. But it's a time of wrath and it's still a time of judgment on God's people for rejecting him, for rejecting Christ as the Messiah. Luke chapter 10 and verse thirteen and fourteen says, woe to you Terazin, woe to you Bethsaida, For if the mighty works which were done in you have been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

30:23 What Christ is saying here is saying, he's saying, if these miracles that I'm doing to prove that I'm Messiah, if they were done in these Gentile cities like Tyre and Sidon, they would have believed me. And so he says in verse 14, but it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And so we hear, we see here the judgment that's coming in Luke 21. This great time of judgement, this time of tribulation, this time of wrath and vengeance against god's people specifically. Other place that places in the scriptures call it the time of Jacob's trouble.

31:12 Jacob, another word for expressing Israel. Another way to represent Israel. And so, here you see that that instance of where the Israelite people, they had such a responsibility and they had this great privilege of having the Messiah come through their line, through the tribe of Judah, through the line of David. They had the word of God with them and thus they received a greater judgment because they ended up rejecting the Messiah. And so we see here now until the very end of the age, in this very end of the age that that Israel is going to be scattered and they are scattered today throughout all the different nations.

32:01 Israel is scattered and until the very end, they're they're going to be scattered and then they're going to come together and they're going to be a nation when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. The times of Gentiles are going to be fulfilled when the Antichrist comes in during the seven year tribulation. And that's gonna be a time where the last kingdom is going to happen. If you look at even the prophecies in Daniel and in Revelation, it talks about this kingdom of Babylon that's going to come again and even when you look at the prophecies in Daniel when it talks about the the last 10 kingdoms that you're going to be here, They're going to be this last kingdom that's going to come up. There's going to be like these 10 horns but this last little horn is going to come up and that's going to be the last Gentile rule and the times of the Gentiles are going to be fulfilled then.

33:03 And so we see that Jerusalem was trampled that it's going to be that way until this last time that we see that Christ is going to come back and he's going to make things right. He's gonna come back and they're going to accept him. They meaning Israel. They're gonna accept him as Messiah. He's saying, I'm gonna come back and you are gonna accept me and you're gonna say, behold he who comes in the name of the Lord.

34:08 So, all of this tribulation that we even see now, different wars and the persecution that we see. The very end of the age, this seven year tribulation, it's a culmination of all of what this whole age has been characterized by. A time of persecution and tribulation and it's just going to be so bad at the very end. In fact, if you take a look during the seven year tribulation, there's different things that are going to happen right at the first three and a half years and then at the three and a half year mark, it says that a great tribulation is going to happen and all of these different judgments that that Christ describes that are going to happen are almost nothing compared like the the ones that are going to happen there are just so much more worse than the ones that happen in the first three and a half years and even in the ones that we see today. And last of all, we come to verses 25 through 28.

35:20 We see the culmination or the consummation. What's going to happen at the end? And there's going to be signs in the sun and the moon and in the stars and on the earth distress of nations With perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring. Men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectations expectation of those things which are coming on the earth. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

35:55 Then they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and with great glory. Verse 28, now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near. If you take a look at Revelation chapter six, it has these different signs that are going to happen. It talks about how the sun's going to be blotted out. It talks about how there's going to be stars falling from heaven and there's just going to be this great distress of nations and people are going to be just so in in trouble or they're going to be so in distress in their hearts that they're going to want to die and that their hearts are going to fail them and they're just going to be so depressed and distressed because of all these different things that are going to happen but at the very end, it says that the son of man is going to come in a cloud with power and with great glory.

37:07 We see him first come lowly and humble as a babe in a manger. But when he comes in that day, in the very end, he's going to come as a conqueror. He's going to come and he's going to destroy this kingdom of Babylon and he's going to reign as king, as the rightful Messiah, as the Messiah. And we're going to see final redemption take place. Now, what I see, what I might see and I could be proven wrong or I'm kind of up to debate in my own thinking on this on verse 28.

38:31 If I were someone in the tribulation going through the tribulation, I think that this text actually more so is is for them because they're going to look at this and they're going to look at all of this tribulation that's going on and what this is saying is saying, look, when all of these things are going to happen, lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near. And so we hear, we have this conclusion of the end of the ages that when Christ comes back at the seven year tribulation, he's going to come back and he's going to to come with power and great glory and he's going to set up his kingdom and he's going to reign as Messiah. So, just by way of review and then I just want to close with one little verse that when Christ says something, it's going to happen. We can be confident in this prophecy. We've seen this prophecy fulfilled.

40:09 How are we going to live in that time of persecution? Well, we're not going to live in a time or we're not going to live in anxiety by what we might say during those times when people give an a a they want an answer from us but we can live and have faith in the lord that his holy spirit is going to give us an answer during those times of persecution, those times of testimony when we're going to give an answer for Jesus Christ and we're going to be one that would testify on his behalf and I could say even in my personal life, when I've talked to different people, you know, some people might say, a fear of mine talking to people about Christ is that I don't know what I'm going to say. I don't I don't know if I'm going to have the answers but I I would say that of all the different times that I've talked to different people about Christ, the lord has always given me an answer according to his word that I could respond according to his word and say, this is what the Bible says and this is what I believe and he's brought that back to my mind.

41:28 It's just a reminder of what it says in Hebrews that the word of god is the sword of the spirit and so when we put the word of god into our hearts, the spirit uses that in those times and he brings that up for reference and I only I I I know that it's god recalling to memory and putting in my mind those scriptures and so I can just say with confidence that is indeed true that the lord gives the words that we need to say and and testify to others when we have this time that we are to answer for Christ. And finally, we have with greater responsibility and privilege comes a greater judgment. We see this pattern of the different responsibilities and privileges that the Israelite people had and I would say specifically in this section, they rejected Christ as the Messiah and so we see this judgment that happened because of that. And finally, we do look for our redeemer. When he comes from heaven, whether it's us looking now for that calling home of the lord when he's going to shout and when he's going to take the church to be with him or somebody reading this in the future, they're going to look for Christ the redeemer, Christ the Messiah coming and he's going to set up his kingdom.

43:03 I just like to close with one verse that we often read during the breaking of bread. First Corinthians eleven twenty six. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the lord's death until he comes. Every week, we come here and we proclaim the lord's death and I would say that it not only in this this time of remembrance of remembering the lord, it also recalls to The Us the fact that he's going to come again and it's just a reiteration of the fact that we do it and we look for him to come until he comes. We come we come and we remember the lord and just like he came first to pay for sin.

43:57 He said that he was gonna do that, that he was gonna go to the cross, that he was gonna pay for sin, that he was gonna rise three days later, we can be sure that he's gonna come again and that he's gonna redeem us. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we're just so grateful to be here this morning. We thank you for these scriptures. We pray that you would just apply it to our hearts.

44:22 We we look at these different sections and and we know they can be confusing but we know that your spirit can lead us into all truth that we can just continue to learn about what you have in store for us. And we we do see these teachings and and we are just appreciative of the fact that we know that you'll be with us. We know that you have sent your spirit into our hearts and that he's able to give us an answer to those that would persecute us, that would that would ask why we are a Christian and why we name the name of Christ and that we would be able to testify of you. And we're just so thankful that you're with us in those moments. We thank you for the care that you show to us during those times and so, just lord, as we even finish up this New Year, lord, or this this year and go into the New Year that we would look to you and and just continue to live this life in faith.

45:26 We know that we can believe your word and that what is in it, what you say will come to pass and we can just have that faith and belief in that. And so help us to just live by faith. We pray these things in Jesus Christ's name, amen.