Good morning, BCF. So glad to be with you this morning. I wish I could be there in person, but out of an abundance of caution, we decided to go ahead and record this passage. Another elder could have preached, but we decided we wanted to dig into this passage together. So open your Bible to Luke chapter 21, starting in verse 5. And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, as for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. And they asked him, teacher, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place? And he said, see that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name saying, I am he, and the time is at hand. Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once. Then he said to them, Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and pestilence, and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. And you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it, therefore, in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake, but not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it. For these are the days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant, and for those who are nursing infants in those days, for there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Father, we ask that you would teach us this morning from your word. It's difficult passage to read and comprehend, and yet it's your word. And so help us to know it, but more importantly, to know how to respond in light of everything that Jesus taught. We pray this in his name, amen. I bet you in high school, like my senior year, my senior class, we made lists of favorites and memories we wanted to take with us from our time in high school, put them in the yearbook. Well, the only thing I remember from that list was our class song, and it was by R.E.M. And the song was, it's the end of the world and we know it, and I feel fine. No, I didn't vote for that song, and my guess is it might have been voted as somewhat of a joke, but it was still listed. There's this song, it's the end of the world and we know it, and what's most fascinating to me is that last line that, in the parentheses, it says, and I feel fine. I wonder, when you think about the end of the world, do you feel fine? Are you okay with that? Or does it instead cause you some worry, some fear, some confusion? What does it do in you? Well, this morning our passage touches on the things of the end of the world. The focus is not on the end of the world, but on what Darrell Bott called the down payment for the end of the world. That down payment is the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and the persecution of the apostles. All of that prophesied, predicted by Jesus. So while we believers may not feel fine about the end of the world and what has happened and what will come. We don't live based on our feelings. We live on faith, and we live at peace in Jesus, because He is our peace. So the purpose of this passage, as we read it, and we will not get every detail into it for time's sake, it's not to get lost in those details. It's not to try to nail down every specific and figure it all out, connect it to current events. No. In the end, it's to learn how do we respond to these kinds of prophecies and how do we stay faithful to Christ in light of trials and tribulations and persecutions. So let's dig in. When you first read this passage, it does sound very apocalyptic. It sounds like Jesus is describing the end times. And here's the challenge with prophecy, that it's often called mountain peak or mountaintop or telescoping prophecy, is that the prophets are, they're looking at a mountain, and when you look at the side of a mountain, you can tell one peak is higher than the other. You can tell that one is further away, let's say, than the other. But when the prophets are often speaking, they're looking more along the ridgeline. It's kind of hard to tell which peak is where. You don't always necessarily figure it out. It kind of looks like one just peak ahead of you. So when the prophets speak, it's hard to always figure out, is this happening soon or way at the end? One of the ways to help us figure that out is to go back and look at history. When we see what has happened, Then we have an easier time saying, oh, this was prophesied, this was predicted in the scriptures to happen. And we have this here this morning in two ways. First is starting in verse 6. As people are looking at the temple, Jesus says, when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. And then in verse 12, Before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my sake. And then in verse 20, But when you see Jerusalem surrounded, by armies, then know that its desolation has come." So with the benefit of history, we look back, we see what happened in Israel. We know that in AD 70, Jerusalem and the Temple were overrun and destroyed completely. The Jewish historian Josephus actually writes about this, that connects to our passage at the end, that over a million Jews were killed in this time, and almost 100,000 were taken into captivity, and the Temple was destroyed. So why did Jesus say this was going to happen, and then we know it did happen in 70 AD? Well, it's because Israel had rejected the Messiah, had rejected Jesus. He had come to save them from their sins, to lead them to salvation and relationship, eternal life with God. And they rejected Him. We saw that even last week, when the religious leaders rejected Jesus, the one who had authority, they rejected Him. And then we'll see even with the triumphal entry as Jesus comes in, there's these hints of the judgment of God coming upon the nation of Israel, calling them to repent and believe in Jesus. So when Jesus prophesies that Jerusalem and the temple are going to be destroyed, this is done because of God. God brings about judgment on the nation of Israel, and it's a warning to us. It's a warning that the only hope to be rescued out from under God's judgment and His wrath is to trust in Christ, is to believe that Jesus went to the cross and He took upon Himself all of God's wrath. He took my sin and He suffered God's wrath upon Himself so that I could be forgiven and made right with God. That's the only hope. It's a warning. It's a warning. It happened and it's a warning to us. Trust in Christ. Trust in Him. Trust in Him. But there's another warning in this, and it's if you have trusted in Him, life is not gonna be peachy keen. It's not gonna be all roses. In fact, it'll be difficult. Verse 12 again. But before all this, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. The apostles are going to suffer persecution. But why? Notice in verse 12, He says, for my name's sake. And then in verse 17, you will be hated by all for my name's sake. That's Jesus talking. It's for Jesus' name, their proclamation of his name, they're gonna suffer persecution. This is so important for us to understand. The reason the disciples, the apostles, will be persecuted is not because they're going against the cultural narrative of the day. They are, but that's not what is ultimately leading to persecution. It's not because they're being politically incorrect. That might be, but that's not why they suffer persecution. It's not that they're working overtime to help Israel come out from the political and military oppression of Rome. That's not their focus and not why they get persecuted. It's not because they hold to Christian values and Christian sexual ethics. They do, and that certainly would cause some problems for them in culture, but it's not ultimately why they're persecuted. The reason they're persecuted is because they're proclaiming the name of Jesus. We see this happen in the book of Acts, which is Luke's second book. He writes in Acts 4.1, that as Peter and John are preaching, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed at them, because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. And so they arrested them. Persecution for proclaiming the gospel. Then in verse 18, as they tell them, don't ever say the name of Jesus again, Peter and John say, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. See, they were willing to suffer. Why were they willing to suffer persecution and continue to proclaim the name of Jesus? They knew that it was the only hope for anybody to have life with God forever. The only hope was to proclaim the Gospel and have people hear the Gospel and then believe the Gospel, be forgiven and be saved. It was the only hope. And so that was their message. Now, it's important for us to stand for righteousness and to stand for biblical sexual values and ethics and to pursue justice in the land. Those are all things that flow from the Scriptures as part of our life in Christ. They are important, they are vital, but in the end, persecution only comes as we proclaim the name of Jesus. Seventeen times in the book of Acts, some version of the phrase, for the sake of Jesus' name, is used. Luke is trying to drive home to us, this is what was characteristic of the apostles, And for us, as believers, it should be characteristic of our life. See, the only way to be made right with God, the only way to find meaning and purpose, to remove guilt and shame, and to find your true identity made by God in the image of God, is to trust in Christ. But when we proclaim that glorious good news of the message, we are ambassadors, proclaiming that when we proclaim it, persecution will come. But Jesus and his gospel, they're both worth, he is worth any kind of persecution we may face. So the two thrusts of this passage are about Jerusalem and the temple, and then persecution that will happen to the apostles. But there are hints of the end to come, verses 10 and 11. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilence. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But notice, these are not very specific. We've seen all of these before, it seems. And yet, we're still here. The end hasn't come. But the end is coming. These are signs. But again, the goal is not to try and figure out what this event means in light of this prediction or prophecy in Scripture. This language is very similar to Matthew 24, when Jesus restates some of these same signs that Matthew recounts. But what's important in Matthew 24 is that Jesus said no one is going to know when Jesus is going to come back. The only one who knows is God the Father. He knows when He will send Christ back. But nobody else knows. but we know the end will come and Jesus will return. I can imagine how difficult this teaching was for the apostles and it's difficult for us to grasp what happened in Jerusalem and in the temple and what happened to the apostles and what continues even to happen today to believers. So what are we supposed to do with this? How do we respond rightly to this information, this teaching? Well, Jesus gives us four don'ts. First, don't be led astray. Verse 8. See that you are not led astray, for many will come in My name, saying, I am He, and the time is at hand. Do not go after them. Do not go after them. Back in the day when I was in high school, maybe college, late at night there'd be crazy shows on TV, late at night, infomercials, all kinds of crazy stuff. But one show I remember seeing on occasion was with Jack and Rexella Van Impey. And they would sit for about 30 minutes and they would read newspaper headlines and then they would try to connect the dots to scripture and say, see this scripture said this very event would happen. The problem is the Scriptures aren't that specific. And so they were trying to convince us to follow them because they knew when the end was coming. It was coming, and they had things figured out that we should listen to them. But see, Jesus told us, don't be led astray. Don't be led astray. Many want to know the details, even those with Jesus at that time, they want to know when is it going to happen. And Jesus doesn't really give them that answer because no one knows. all those details. So don't be led astray. Don't go down the rabbit hole of second coming predictions. Now you should read the scriptures. Come to understand what you think about the millennial kingdom and the second coming of Christ. Grapple with that. But here is ultimately what you and I need to know. Jesus is going to return. And when He returns, Everybody's going to know it's Him. So don't be led astray. You'll know when the end is here. Second, don't. Don't be terrified. Verse 9. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once. Now, we know about wars, but what is tumult? Tumult is rebellion. It's opposition to established authority. We've seen some of that recently, haven't we? With riots over the summer, the storming of the Capitol in January, we've seen this uprising of people trying to rebel and overturn established authority structures before them. Flip the script. And it's a bit unnerving. It's a bit scary to even see these kinds of things happen. Put that with the prophecies that we're going to be persecuted for Jesus' namesake, and this can be very fearful. Now, what's important is America is not the center of the Scriptures. And so when Jesus says this, He's not just thinking of only America. He's thinking of the world. And you know wars and tumults, rebellions, happen all over the world at various times, and they will probably continue to happen until Jesus returns. But in light of that, in light of the fact that we will be hated by all for proclaiming the name of Jesus, Christ has told us to not be terrified. not be terrified. Chris Faith just even told me a story about a brother in Christ in India who was killed by his village because he was proclaiming the name of Christ. But we don't need to be terrified. Why? Look in verse 18. But not a hair of your head will perish. Not a hair of your head will perish. Now Jesus is using metaphorical language in this. We know it's not literal, because in verse 16, Jesus said, some of you will be killed. Our brother in India was just killed for his faith. So the point is not literally your hair will be saved, but perish is the key. You may be killed, but you won't perish. That means you won't be taken from God's presence. You will continually, because you're in Christ, you will live with Him forever. Jesus told us in Matthew 10, 28, And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body and hell. Fear not, therefore. You are of more value than many sparrows. God takes care of the sparrows. He's going to take care of you. Some of the apostles, the apostles by tradition, were killed. Believers are still killed today. But we don't need to be terrified. because not a hair on our head will perish. That's good news. Third don't, don't prepare your defense. Verse 14, settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. Now this is not saying don't know your faith. But what he's saying, Jesus is saying is if persecution comes, don't write out your speech ahead of time and be ready to recite it. Why not? Well look at the promise of God. He said in that moment, That He will give you wisdom and words to say. It's what He did for the apostles and He will do again for us. Here's why you don't need to prepare your defense. God doesn't need us to defend Him. He will defend Himself through us. Speaking through us. He promised He'd show up. And so if the time comes for you to be persecuted, or me, I don't need to prepare my defense. God is gonna show up. Again, I said the apostles, they were normal, common, uneducated men, and read their speeches, read their responses. It is of God. And when they speak, no one can withstand it or contradict it. The way I've thought about the scriptures is from this illustration somebody shared. Every time we read the scriptures, it's like we put a log in the fireplace. We just keep filling it with logs. And when the time comes, when a trial comes, when a difficulty comes, when persecution comes, God then lights the fire and all of a sudden scripture flows out of us, directed by God. It's His word through our mouth. His word is used to encourage us, but it's used to proclaim the good news of the gospel, to bring defense to who God is, but it's all His word. So don't prepare a defense, but do keep putting logs in the fire. Keep studying the scriptures, and God will bring it out when the time is right. Fourth don't, the final one, don't quit. Don't give up. Don't throw in the towel. No matter how hard things may get, don't give up. Now for those of you that have suffered, Many of you are suffering even right now. It's difficult. And you may be, like most of us, wanna just quit, wanna just give up. Can we just stop this? But Jesus says, don't give up. Why? Verse 19. It's by your endurance that you will gain your lives. What is this endurance? It is not enduring the apocalypse. It's not staying physically strong, gathering enough food and resources to outlast everybody else. No, that's not the endurance. The endurance that Jesus is saying is to stay faithful to Him. That when the time comes, you won't deny Him, but you'll proclaim His name no matter what may come your way. See, by remaining faithful to Jesus, by enduring, it's the proof that you're really His. That you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit. That He has saved you from your sin. That you're now His child. You're safe and secure in His hands. And you endure till the end. He's going to take care of you. So don't quit. Don't quit. Now how can we not be led astray, not be terrified, not prepare our defense, or not quit? We remind ourselves of what has happened to us and who we are now in Christ, that we were lost and dead in our sin and now we are alive and our hope is in Christ, that He has saved us and redeemed us and forgiven us and adopted us in, we're safe in His arms, we're safe in the Father's hands. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. We need to remind ourselves of what God has done for us in Christ and that we are His. that we're His, no matter what happens in this world, no matter what happens to us, we know not one hair of our head will perish. That is the good news of the Gospel. For any who believe, you can embrace that truth, too. Believe in Christ and live forever with the Heavenly Father. So we need to be reminded of the good news of the gospel. And I think there is no greater way than together, as the body of Christ, partake in the Lord's Supper. Kent Hughes called the Lord's Supper a visible sermon, the gospel in tangible form. And so we're going to remind ourselves of what Christ has done for us by taking the Lord's Supper together. Before we do, let me pray. Father, we thank you for your word. Encourage us. Challenge us. But most of all, help us to be a people that aren't led astray, that aren't living in fear and terror, that trust you to show up and speak through us. We don't need to prepare a fence. a defense, and Father, that we would be a people that endure, that we wouldn't give up, we wouldn't quit, we'd stay faithful to you because you've been so faithful to us. Remind us of who we are in Christ and what is true, that not one hair of our head will ever perish because of Christ. Thank you for this visceral reminder we're about to have in the Lord's Supper. We pray in the end that you would receive all the glory and the praise and the honor. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.