You turn again in your Bibles then to Luke's Gospel and to chapter 21, and looking from verse 5 to the end of the chapter, this large discourse as our Lord spoke to the disciples. He spoke in response to a comment which was made about the temple. He'd been teaching in a temple and there he drew attention to this poor widow. The financial contribution she made was minuscule, financially it was irrelevant, and yet the Lord saw that she'd given all her living, she'd given herself, and there's a dramatic display there of her faith and her freedom before the Lord. But others are taken up with the greatness of the temple itself. It was a hugely impressive structure. It was there in the center of Jerusalem. It was there on top of the mountain. The top of the mountain had been leveled. And there was this building which was surrounded by these great courts and precincts. It was an architectural wonder. It was a place of splendor and of gold. They said that some of the stones which made up the temple were so vast perhaps 46 foot long stones, 10 foot by 10 foot and 46 foot long. Of course, these had all been done by hand and transported to that site. And so they spoke about the goodly stones and the gifts, the great gifts that others had brought, Herod the Great. A godless man seeking to make a name for himself had been responsible for the reconstruction of the temple and the restyling of it, and these great wealthy gifts which, to his mind, would speak of his own greatness, and others impressed by the gold and the architecture. And you can understand the disciples in the presence of our Lord. as they ascend up to Jerusalem. Not only with the heart of the pilgrim, but the heart of the pilgrim in His presence with the One who is the fulfillment of all these things as they hear His teaching. And they anticipate the fulfillment of everything. That this glorious structure will now be filled with the glory of the Lord. Remember, He has cleansed the temple. He's driven out those who are making a mockery. He's rebuked the scribes and the Pharisees. And so now, with a sense of anticipation, they speak of the wonder of the place. And the Lord says, look beyond this. These great stones, these stones shall be thrown down. There shan't be one left upon another. As we look at this passage, we see that Jesus is speaking of the end of the Levitical system. The priestly system. The temple will be dismantled. It will be broken down. And that will be typical of the end of the whole Old Testament period. There will no more be priests offering sacrifice. This is what the Lord had appointed, but only for a time. Because it was looking forward to the time when the Lamb of God would be offered. And because He is the Lamb and His death is imminent, the time of the temple and all these things will be no more. But following that, we're told there will be a time called the time of the Gentiles. That is to commence and that is to be fulfilled. And then he speaks of a further time, the end of the Old Testament time, and then the time of the Gentiles. But that further time, which is when the Son of Man, which is His own, with His way of referring to Himself, it's an Old Testament term, and it speaks of Him in His glory and His majesty. He's referring back to what's promised by Daniel the prophet. The Son of Man shall come upon a cloud with power and glory. And so as the disciples and those with them look at the greatness of the temple, our Lord is saying, lift up your heads, look further, look beyond. This is not the fulfillment. But rather the purpose of God will extend to the ends of the earth and shall embrace all the nations. As our Lord speaks to His people about these things, He brings solemn warning. It's a glorious prospect, isn't it? The gospel going to the ends of the earth, the nations being brought in, the Son of Man coming upon the clouds. And yet the words that we have here are words which leave you trembling, because He speaks of distress and trouble. He speaks about the distress in the very earth itself. He speaks about earthquakes and famines and pestilences, fearful things. But he also speaks about distress between and within nations, wars and rumors of wars. And if you look at the news today, what is it you hear? You hear about distress in the earth itself, the climate emergency, and there's panic, and there's pessimism, and there's fear. And then you also hear about war and the escalation of war. Wars and rumors of wars. And it spills over into other nations. Other nations find themselves embroiled, or other nations choose to get involved. And so the streets of our own city, there are protests, and there's a sense of violence, and anger, and frustration. What does our Lord have to say to us when we're confronted with these things? What He says in verse 8, He says, do not be deceived. Don't be deceived. He says in verse 9, do not be terrified. He says, these are not signs of the end. These are rather signs which will occur again and again and again in every generation. Do not be deceived. Do not be terrified. So often people will say there's rumors of wars. The end must be soon. But the Lord is saying this is not a sign of the end. This is rather a sign that this world is broken and there's a raging in this world. A raging against Christ and against His people. No civilization, no society is able to rule over the earth and to subdue it. We cannot prevent earthquakes. We cannot prevent these great signs in the heavens. And no civilization is able to rule over itself. Never mind other nations. And so there's wars and rumors of wars and there's strife and there's hatred. The Lord is saying this world is broken. And yet, in the midst of this broken world and all its distress and confusion, there is something that is certain. Do you know what that is? It is that God's great purpose and providence is being worked out. It's apparently chaotic, isn't it? You never know what's going to happen next. You can't make sense of it. It seems to all have gone wrong, and yet, everything for a purpose. And it's a glorious purpose. Because ultimately, the Son of Man shall come upon the clouds. He shall come upon the clouds with power and great glory. aspects to the coming destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem itself, to the end of the Levitical system. And one is that it's God's judgment. We consider this already back in chapter 19. Remember, as our Lord came from the Mount of Olives and He's beheld the city of Jerusalem, And others, no doubt, would come that way, and with joy and anticipation of having reached the end of the pilgrimage, they would thrill. But our Lord, when He saw Jerusalem, do you remember what He did? He wept. He wept and He cried out, if only you had known, if only you had understood, but now trouble is coming in the end for you. So one aspect is judgment. judgment upon a nation, a people who have refused and rejected Christ. But the second aspect is that there is a removal of what will soon be a redundant system. It was not redundant. It was given by God, and it was given by God to teach, to show the need for and the greatness of the Christ who would come. But as Christ has come, It is now a shell. It has served its purpose. It is to be laid aside. And so our Lord is speaking. In the destruction of the temple, in the end of that system, He's saying, turn from the shadow to the glorious reality. We had a birthday this past week. And every time there's a birthday, there's gifts. And every time there's gifts, they're always wrapped nicely. But you never tear open the wrapping paper and hold on to the wrapping paper. You lay it aside. Of course, little children play with the boxes. But that's just a box. And we all know that the box, the wrapping, has significance, but its significance is done, it's what's inside. And our Lord is speaking of the coming aimed to the temple worship, the priestly service. And he's saying, turn from the shadow to the glorious reality. Then we can see three aspects to this time of the Gentiles. One is it's a judgment on the Jews. Those who've rejected Christ, those who refuse to have Him, who've been taken up with the wrappings, who've been taken up with the container and have never understood the substance and actually have rejected the substance because they're fearful of losing their place in society, the priests and the Pharisees and the Levites. They'd rather have the esteem of men than the esteem of God. They would destroy the Messiah. And therefore, the Gospel is taken from them to the nations, to the Gentiles, to the ends of the earth. There is judgment then, solemn judgment in this. Those who have refused to see have a veil pulled over their eyes that they cannot see. Isn't that solemn? If you refuse to see Christ, you refuse to acknowledge Christ, the day will come that maybe you will not be able to see Him. You resist. And you refuse and you turn away. Perhaps with the assumption that on your own time, in your own terms, later you'll be able to seek Him and find Him. But there's no promise of that, friends. If you will not seek Him today, if you will not draw near to Him today, there's no promise of tomorrow. We see judgment, but we also see in this the extension of His grace, of His gospel kingdom, that He will embrace the nations of the earth. His church shall be established. The nation shall come under His dominion. The whole earth shall be filled with His praise. But there's a third aspect. There's judgment. There's the extension of the kingdom. The third aspect is he will provoke Israel to envy through the advance of the gospel to the Gentiles. We read of this in Romans 11 and 11. Paul says, have they stumbled that they should fall? Speaking about his own people. He says, God forbid. But rather, through their fall is salvation come unto the Gentiles. For, to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness. And Paul was describing a day there. When the Jewish people shall come back. When they shall be brought to see that indeed Messiah has come. That the veil shall be taken from their eyes and their hearts. Where do we stand in the timeline of redemption? We stand in the days of the Gentiles, the time of the Gentiles. The gospel has gone out to the nations. And we await the ingathering of the Jews, and as a consequence of their coming to Christ, the outflowing of the gospel then to the nations in an even greater way. That's not the focus of this passage. Rather, the focus of this passage is upon our responsibility now. So, our Lord is speaking about what is to come. But He speaks about our responsibility as we wait. You know, the question, when, is the wrong question. Many people are taken up with that, and they want to predict That final day, they want to put a clear sequence and a timeline, and they want to be able to... Our Lord says these things are hidden. And that's not a question you ought to ask, because it's certainly not a question that the Scripture answers. The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. But the correct question is, what must I now do? That day is certain, and He shall come upon the clouds, and it shall be a day of glory and a day of joy for those who anticipate Him, but yet also a day of fear and terror for those who have resisted Him and rejected Him. And so the question for you is this, what should I now do? As your Lord speaks here, not to perplex, but rather to challenge. As he says in verse 34, lest that day come upon you unawares. What a fearful thing to be found, unprepared, not ready. What a fearful thing it is to have good intentions, but never to have followed through. No words aren't enough. You must be doers. You must perform. You must fulfill while this is the day of gospel opportunity. What does our Lord say in all of His teaching here? He says you are to wait upon the Lord. Verse 19, In your patience possess ye your soul, This word patience, it speaks of perseverance. It speaks of an enduring. It means not surrendering, not compromising, not going any other way, but waiting upon the Lord. Waiting isn't passive. Sleeping is passive. When you sleep, you close your eyes and everything's taken from you, as it were. But waiting isn't active. It is with open eyes and a sense of anticipation. It is with a realization of the imminence of what is to be fulfilled. It's a key characteristic of a Christian. Or sometimes we call a Christian a believer. It's someone who has faith, and faith comprises of trust and confidence. And that is translated into a faithfulness. The person with faith will have a faithful life. They shall live. It will shape their living. Paul says in Philippians 2 and 12, he says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. He doesn't mean invent your own way to come before God, but as a consequence of being saved, may it shape everything that you do. Live with fear and trembling, with a sense of the enormity of your responsibility, and yet the greatness of your opportunity. And because God has given you His Spirit, let it shape all of your doings. And your life would adorn a gospel. It'd be a compelling testimony and witness to the world around you that God would be glorified. There's a tremendous danger, friends, that we're distracted. He speaks about that in verse 34. Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your heart be overcharged with surfeiting, with drunkenness, and cares of this life." You think of drunkenness, and well, drunkenness is sinful, but cares of this life? You think, well, surely I have all these responsibilities. And the Lord is saying, but don't allow these responsibilities to so overwhelm and to cloud your thinking that you cannot see this glorious reality. You're to wait upon the Lord. For the Lord is in heaven, glorious in his majesty, and he's coming again. He knows all that is happening. He has a purpose in the midst of all. Do you know something of that? As it were, trying to bear all the burdens of the world. The weight of the world is on your shoulders. You fear you have to fix this and you have to fix that. We're not to be indifferent. Not to be indifferent to all the troubles in the world around us. Not to be indifferent to the horror of the situations that so many people face. But it doesn't depend upon you. Your responsibility is not to fix it, not to do it all, but to wait upon the Lord, to seek the Lord, to honor the Lord. Remember the parable of the ten virgins? Five were told were wise. And they had oil in their lamps in anticipation of the coming of the Bridegroom. It was a wedding feast. The five were foolish. They had no spare oil. But you remember what happened to them all? They all slept. Even the wise ones slept. They were to be waiting the coming of the Bridegroom. And yet, weariness overwhelmed them. Friends, we are not to fall asleep, lest that day take us unawares, but rather we're to wait upon the Lord, our eyes to be open, we're to study His word, we're to recognize the reality. In the midst of all the chaos, to live with expectation, with purpose. Our Lord forewarns us here, But there is trouble, and there shall be trouble, and there always shall be trouble out there and in here. And he forewarns us so that we're not discouraged when that's our experience. It's a temptation to doubt, isn't it? Everything's gone wrong. The Lord has forsaken me. Everything's gone wrong. The Lord's forgotten me. Everything's gone wrong. The Lord's not in control. That's a temptation to think that way. But as you read this passage, our Lord is saying, all these things will go wrong, and I am in control because I have a mighty sovereign hand. And we can't put it together, but in the brokenness of the world and the brokenness of the nations, and even the violence of those who are against the church, His purposes are being worked out. The gospel will go to the ends of the earth, and then Christ shall come. The earth shall yield its fruit. The nation shall rejoice in the Messiah. How does Isaiah put it? He says, those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. Verse 13 and 14, the Savior says, it shall turn, all this trouble shall turn to you for a testimony. Verse 14, he says, settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what you shall answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gain, say, nor resist. You know, we like to Plan our steps, don't we, so we can make sure that it's a safe way. We want to feel ready, we want to feel confident. And Savior says, no, that's wrong. You're not to plan all your steps in that way. It's not your own resources, your own wit and your own wisdom. Wait upon me. For I will give you as you need it. I shall uphold you. I shall strengthen you. I shall sustain you. And it will be for My glory. And it shall be for your good. And your life shall be full of purpose." He speaks of fearful things. Verse 16, and you shall be betrayed both by parents and brethren and kinsfolk and friends. And some of you shall the cause to be put to death. And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. And yet, apparently contradictory in verse 18, he says, but there shall not a hair of your head perish. And you think, how can it be that some will be put to death and yet not a hair of their head perish? What do you think the answer to that is? How is it possible that you can suffer all this violence and yet not a hair perish? And the answer is that the Lord is speaking of the well-being of your soul. He's speaking in a bigger context. Yes, there is suffering and there's trials and troubles now, but ultimately it's under my hand and I shall sustain you in it and through it and beyond it. You will not suffer loss. And that's hard to believe, isn't it? It's hard to believe you will not suffer loss when you see all the threatening. It's hard to believe you'll not suffer loss when you hear of the trials that others go through. It's hard to believe you'll not suffer loss when there's all the sound of violence. But so it is. You remember the account of Stephen, how he was taken and they stoned him to death. And yet, even as they did that, we're told that he was given grace to see the Lord, the Lord to whom he was going. It's as though all the noise and the violence was somehow in the distance from him. And what he was conscious of was the greatness of the grace of his God, with his arms open to receive him. So that Stephen, we're told, he fell asleep. Not a hair of his head would perish. Whosoever shall save his life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and for the gospel's, the same shall save it. And this great discourse then, our Lord is saying, first of all, that we are to wait. But secondly, but more briefly, he is saying that we are to watch. There are some specifics that are given here. He speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., some 35 years later. The Romans came with a mighty army. They encircled the city. They built a wall around the city walls. And then, in due course, the city fell. and they destroyed the city. They said they ran a plow through the city. Everything was gone. It says there was no history of Jerusalem for the next period of time. As a political unit, the Jewish nation ceased to be. It was devastating. And our Lord says in verse 20, that when they see Jerusalem compass surrounded by armies, then they should know that the day of trouble is near. Again, we spoke about this in chapter 19 when our Lord wept over Jerusalem, because he spoke at that point of this too. And our Lord says, you're to watch. And when you see that trouble coming, he says to his people there to leave. And church history tells us that's exactly what happened. The Roman army, it encircled Jerusalem. And then, strangely, it broke its siege for a time. And there was a little freedom. And many people fled, but particularly those who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. The church left Jerusalem. And then the armies came back and they enclosed that city. and destruction followed. And what we have here is not only a historical event with significance for the removing of the temple and the Levitical system, but we have a foreshadowing of final judgment. Our Lord gives this detail that His church would be delivered. But he also gives this detail so that we would see that his word is true. Just as certainly as that took place, so final judgment shall take place. And just as they were instructed to flee that trouble, so friends, you are warned that you might flee that final trouble that will come. Watch. You're to wait upon the Lord, but you're to wait with your eyes open, and you're to watch. Not trying to predict the exact day or the time when He shall come, but knowing that He shall come, and knowing that until He comes, these troubles shall take place. You're to watch. Verse 28 is not contradictory. It says, when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh. Remember he said that the wars and rumors of wars and the troubles in the world were not signs of his coming in particular, and yet he says here, when you see these things happen, you're to lift up your heads and you're to watch. Not for that precise date, but for the general reality that God's purposes are being fulfilled. His kingdom is coming, and He draws nigh. But His drawing nigh, what does it mean for you? His drawing nigh is your redemption. He draws near to save and to deliver, and He's here to watch then with His great anticipation. And he says in verse 32, this generation shall not pass away. That doesn't mean that all these things were fulfilled before the death of the last apostle or the death of the oldest person who was alive in these days. This generation, it could be understood in different ways. But it seems likely that our Lord is speaking pejoratively, this generation being those who stand against the church, those who resist and reject Him. He says, this generation shall not pass away, but you take heed to yourselves. All their noise and all their violence, as you'll continue, this type of people, What particularly to watch for today? You're to watch for Christ himself. Verse 36, watch ye therefore and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. To watch. because he shall come and we shall stand before him." Well, finally, we are to wait and we are to watch. But as we wait and as we watch, how are we to do so? With expectation, yes, but also with adoration. We are to worship. What is the greatest antidote to ignorance? Remember the Lord said, do not be deceived. What is the greatest antidote to terror? He says, do not be terrified. What is the greatest antidote to fear and to forgetfulness? It is to worship. To worship the Lord. What's the greatest antidote when you feel crushed with a sense of failure because everything is broken? It is to worship the Lord. It is to recognize His greatness and to rejoice in Him. Because as you worship the Lord, your eyes are opened. As you sing of His greatness, you're brought to meditate upon it and to consider it in a greater way. As you worship, you don't worship alone, but you worship together. As you worship, you're expressing the words of the Spirit of God Himself. We're told the Lord, the Spirit, shall take the things of Christ and make them known to you. And how does He do that? He does that in part through the act of worship. As His Word burns in your soul, Your affections are warm, but you're made wise. In the midst of this broken world, in the midst of the troubles, the crisis and the climate, in the midst of the crisis amongst the nations, in the midst of the persecution and the affliction against the church, friends, we are to wait and we are to watch as we worship the one who is Lord over all. The one who will come in that day of power and great glory. The one who says in Revelation, behold, I come quickly. And that's why we gather here today. And that's why we need to come back. And that's why we need to make use of every opportunity, not simply to worship alone, but particularly together. There's something particular about the gathering of the church, for the Lord is in the midst. Would you know him? Would you be with him? Would you feel his presence? Would you see him? Come to church, not as a spectator, but to participate in the worship of the greatness of the glory of our God. That's his word to you today. You're to wait and you're to watch and you're to worship. Amen, let's pray.