We have a copy of the scriptures this afternoon. I invite you to turn to the Gospel of Luke and to the 21st chapter, Luke chapter 21. And we're continuing or rejoining the series that we've been doing this year on Lord's Day Afternoons on eschatology, the doctrine of last things. And our text before us today is our Lord's teaching In Luke 21, I'm gonna be looking at a good part of what's in Luke 21, but we're gonna read aloud for the present just verses 25 through 28. And so let me invite you as you're able, let's stand in honor of the reading and the hearing of God's Word. Again, I'm reading from Luke chapter 21 and from verse 25. wherein Luke faithfully recorded these words of our Lord Himself. And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. For the powers of heaven shall be shaken, And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. May God bless again today the reading and the hearing of His Word and let us join in prayer. Gracious and loving God, we thank Thee for this preservation of Christ's teaching. And as he exhorted his disciples to lift up their heads and to look for the redemption that draweth nigh, help us not to be faint of heart and weak in the knees as we live in these days, but help us to look with anticipation to Christ's glorious coming. Help us to be sober, help us to be watchful. We ask this in Christ's name, amen. And you may be seated. So as I noted, we're returning to this series we've been doing on Lord's Day Afternoons on the doctrine of last things. And we looked initially at personal eschatology, what happens to a person when he dies. And we shifted sometime back to looking at cosmic eschatology, What does the Bible say happens at the end of the ages? And so we've been looking at that topic. And we've been especially looking here in a preliminary way at what Christ taught about this. And I suggested that there are two kinds of teaching where Christ addresses what happens at the end of the ages. First of all, there are figurative or parabolic teachings like in Matthew 13 when he talks about the kingdom of heaven and he talks about the wheat and the tares and how the reapers will go at the end of the ages and he says the reapers are the angels and they will divide the elect from the wicked and so forth. That's parabolic teaching about last things. But in addition to that kind of teaching, there is also propositional or didactic teaching, straightforward teaching where Christ gives prophecies and instructions about things that will happen in the last days. One of the clearest examples of Christ's didactic teaching is that that is recorded that he gave in a teaching that we sometimes refer to as the Olivet Discourse. Because he gave this teaching on the Mount of Olives. And the first three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all have a record of this teaching. And Christ gave this teaching on the eve of his arrest and his crucifixion and resurrection. So it was during the Passover week. He's in Jerusalem for the last time in his first Advent ministry. And it's recorded there for us in Matthew chapters 24 and 25, in Mark chapter 13, and here in Luke 21. And we already looked at Matthew chapters 24 and 25. And today we're going to look at how Luke recorded this in Luke 21. And as in Matthew's teaching and also in Mark's, there are two types of prophecies that Christ gives in this teaching. One is a prophecy of things that would be fulfilled in the near time. as he predicted the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. And that's happened. It's a historical fact. It happened in 70 AD. It was the second temple. The first temple had been the temple that Solomon had built. That was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Then it was rebuilt by the exiles who returned. We can read about this in Ezra and Nehemiah. And that temple was rebuilt about the year 515 BC, 515 years before the coming of Christ in the flesh at Bethlehem. And that was the temple that Christ visited. It's the temple he cleansed when he was there in the Passover week. It's the temple where, according to Acts, many of the disciples gathered, especially in a place called Solomon's Porch after Christ had ascended. But historically, we know that temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, and it's never been restored. It's never been rebuilt. There have only been two temples in the history of Israel. And Christ predicted the destruction of the temple during his ministry. So that's the first thing he predicts. The second thing that he prophetically speaks about is his glorious second coming. And that's something that has not yet taken place. It's something that we are still anticipating, the time when Christ will return again with power and great glory. Now, let's look at the fact that this teaching of Christ and the Olivet Discourse is recorded, as I said, in three different Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And each one of the Gospel writers, they were driven along by the Holy Spirit, and they were led by the Spirit to record particular things. And if you've ever read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, They report many of the same events. A lot of times they use the same language, sometimes the exact same language. But on the other hand, each one of them also is unique. And the Spirit would lead one gospel writer to record some things that weren't recorded in the other gospels. And so we have a fullness of witness to the life and ministry of Christ. That's why even though we already looked at this teaching in Matthew 24, there are things that are said in Luke 21 that Matthew didn't record and only Luke recorded for us. There's a great passage in John's gospel, John 14 and verse 26. That's a key really for understanding how these gospel writers were able to remember and record the things that Christ said. In John 14, verse 26, Christ Himself said to the disciples, but the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. So, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit brought to the remembrance of these gospel writers, the things that Christ had said. Now, they don't record everything that Christ said. Remember, John, at the end of his gospel, he said, if everything Christ done was written down, there wouldn't be enough books in the entire world to record everything. And so they're not exhaustive, but they are selective. Holy Spirit selected writings that tell us everything that is sufficient for us to know everything we need to know. And so we talk about the sufficiency of scripture tells us everything we need to know for life and for godliness. So let's go back and let's look now at Luke's record of Christ teaching on the Mount of Olives. And so the context here is, again, the Passover crisis in Jerusalem. This is the week before he's about to go to the cross. And in the beginning of this chapter, verses 1 through 4, we have the account of the widow's offering, the poor godly widow. And only Mark and Luke record this. Matthew does not record it. It says in verse 1, And he looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. This is in the temple. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all. For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God. But she of her punery, or poverty, hath cast in all the living that she had. And so there's a commendation of this poor widow and a condemnation of the religious establishment. This poor godly woman was giving all that she had, whereas those who had much wealth were holding back. And so she's put forward as an example of godliness. And then this places Christ in the temple. It's the temple treasury. He's watching people put the money in. The disciples are with him. And then in verse five, we transition and Luke is not as explicit. Matthew explicitly says it was on the Mount of Olives, as does Mark. Luke simply gives us a transition in verse five. And he says, and as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said. And so as they're at that place on the Mount of Olives, they're looking at the temple. It was apparently a beautiful sight to behold. I think I spoke of this earlier. It was, Josephus describes it as gleaming with white and gold. And it was a spectacular thing to see. And some of the disciples were pointing to it and pointing out how lovely and how beautiful it was. And then here's Christ's prophecy in verse 6. As for these things which ye behold, the days will come in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And so Christ speaks here as our prophet, priest, and king, and as our prophet, He accurately predicts what will happen in the future. And this is striking because it is an outstanding proof of the truthfulness of Christ's word. When this was written down and this was circulated among Christians, there was no sure knowledge that the temple was going to be destroyed. But in the year 70 AD, just as Christ said, The temple was destroyed. It was torn down by the Romans. They built a temple to Zeus on the site because they wanted to quash the Jewish religion. And then in later generations, when Islam arose, they built a mosque on that same site, and there has never been a third temple. There is not, today, one stone left upon another. And so this prediction is just as Christ said. Now, the disciples are listening to this. They haven't yet seen the fulfillment of it. And it's recorded here in verse 7 that they posed two questions unto Christ. Verse 7, and they asked Him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? And what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? And again, if we compare with the other Gospels, we find that each one of them also says that disciples ask two questions. Matthew puts it like this. This is in Matthew 24, verse 3. It says, As He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world? Matthew makes it a little more explicit Something that Luke makes less explicit and that is the two questions involved. First of all, when is the temple going to be destroyed? And then secondly, when will you come again with power and glory? And so those are the two questions that Luke is going to answer. And what can become confusing for us as we read passages like this, and this is why these passages are sometimes disputed in the interpretation of them, is it's sometimes difficult to distinguish the prophecies that Christ was giving about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. And the temple, the prophecies he was giving about his coming again in glory at the end of the ages. And over the years, there's been a tendency to confuse these things. And sometimes people will seize upon things Christ said about the destruction of the temple, and they'll project that into something that's going to happen in the future. A third temple being rebuilt. and a battle in Jerusalem at Armageddon or something like that. But I think if you read this carefully and you also look at what really transpired in history, you see that Christ was predicting the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the destruction of the temple, near fulfillment of that prediction. And then later, he's also talking about his second coming. So let's look at how Christ responded to these two questions. And he begins, I think, in verses 8 and following to teach about life in this present age. And eventually he'll talk about the coming destruction of the temple. This is in verses 8 through 24. And so let's just read through some of this together. Starting out in verse 8, He predicts there will be false Christs who will appear. People who claim to be the Messiah. Verse 8, Take heed that ye be not deceived, for many shall come in My name saying, I am Christ, and the time draweth near. Go ye not therefore after them. And so he's talking about we're living now in this present world. Paul calls it in Galatians, this present evil world between Christ's first coming and his second coming. And indeed, there have been people periodically who have popped up saying, I am the Christ, whether that's Sun Yon Moon in South Korea, whether it's David Koresh in Waco, Texas. I am the Messiah. You can look to me. And of course, this was happening in Christ's own day. There would be a rabbi who would pop up, and he would claim to be the Messiah. And many followers would go after him, but then he would fail. And so Christ warns against those who would claim to have to be the Messiah, to have his authority. He also predicts in this age we're going to experience political upset. There will be political turmoil. And so in verse nine, he says, but when you shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified for these things must first come to pass. But the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And I'm wondering, since the time when Christ said this up to this present moment, how many wars have been fought in world history? How many nations have risen and fallen? It's probably incalculable from a human perspective. In this present evil world, there will always be wars and there will be nations rising up against nations. You know, I think sometimes living in contemporary America, our nation has been involved in wars, but we have lived probably in a more peaceful and placid existence than maybe anybody else in human history. We haven't worried about marauders coming in and just burning our houses down and killing our children or something like that. And we're lulled into an idea that we've always had this kind of peacefulness, but this is a very unusual circumstance that we're living in. Many places in the world today are still wracked by war. Again, we've seen wars. And many, even within our congregation, have been affected by it. People have had to go to places like Afghanistan or Iraq and so forth. But Christ predicted this. He said, in this present evil world, in this sinsick world, there will be wars. He also predicts in verse 11 that there will be natural disturbances. Paul talks in Romans about the earth groaning that part of the disruptions that we see in the natural order are because of man's sin. And so Christ says in verse 11, And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines and pestilences, and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. And so we can see the turmoil of the natural world. And then most especially, Christ predicts that in this present evil world, there will be persecution of believers. And again, living in contemporary United States with a great deal of religious freedom that we've been afforded, we have had security that many Christians before us have not experienced, where many Christians in the world today are not experiencing. And Christ predicted, particularly those original disciples that Christ was speaking to, many of them would suffer direct persecution. Stephen is going to be stoned to death. The Apostle James will be beheaded. It's recorded in Acts 12. And so there will be terrible suffering. Paul will be imprisoned. And he will go to his death. But we read in verse 12, But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you and persecute you, deliver you up to the synagogues and into prisons. being brought before kings and rulers for nine names sake. That was fulfilled when Paul stood before the Roman authorities, before Felix and Festus. And before, again, the unrolling of world history and all the wars and all the natural disasters, Paul was standing before governors and kings, giving a defense for faith in Christ. And verse 13 says, and it shall turn to you for a testimony. God has set this up so that you might bear witness to him. Then he says, settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate before what you shall answer. This is a promise that Christ gave to the apostles also that they are not to worry. about what kind of apologetic they will give to these authorities, these unjust authorities, but that God will take care of them and God will give them utterance when they stand before such men to be able to answer. He says in verse 15, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist. Nevertheless, He talks about the fact that they will suffer, including from their own family members. And you shall be betrayed, both by parents and brethren and kinsfolk and friends. And some of you shall they cause to be put to death. Verse 17, And you shall be hated of all men for My name's sake. And again, We know that this would come about. It would begin in the very first century, again, with men like Stephen and James and Paul. And it would continue, and it continues even unto this day. There are Christians who are being put to death for their faith. I was reading a post just this weekend on X or Twitter about a brother in Nigeria named Peter Emmanuel. who was murdered last week by a group of Muslims because he had been helping a man who had converted to Christianity from Islam. These persecutions are happening, friends, every day and every week. If you follow some of the ministries like Voices of the Martyrs, you can read constantly about Christians who are going to their deaths, especially in places like Nigeria, where Islam is intruding into those areas. And there are people who are dying on a regular basis for their faith. And yet Christ can also say to the believers, giving them assurance, look at verse 18, but there shall not an hair of your head perish. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ said, the very hairs on our head are numbered by the Lord. Now, I think this is not, again, to be taken on a literal level. God will allow His saints to suffer. He will even allow the martyrdom of His saints. But in an ultimate sense, He will not allow them to be hurt in any final way because they will overcome in the end through the resurrection. Even the very hairs on their head will be raised. They will not perish ultimately. And then he says in verse 19, in your patience possess ye your souls. What a great verse 19 is for those who are going through tribulations and sufferings. May God give us the grace to possess our souls, to rightly hold on to our spiritual standing in Christ. Perhaps some of the things we talked about this morning. that we are fellow citizens with the saints, that we are God's family, his household, we are his building, we are his temple, and to possess our souls in the face of threats and sufferings. And then, in verse 20, Christ specifically predicts the destruction of the temple. And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." This is an on-the-mark, specific prophecy of the fact that Jerusalem will be surrounded by the armies of the Romans. And Luke records this, this specific prediction is not recorded by Matthew, but the Spirit drove Luke along specifically to record this prediction. And if you probably turn your Bible just over one page to chapter 19, there's a parallel prophecy that's also only in Luke's gospel. And this is when Christ was drawing near to Jerusalem. And as he looks at the city, he weeps over it. That's also recorded in Matthew. But Luke tells us something that Matthew doesn't record, and it's Christ's prophetic prediction of the fall of Jerusalem. So look at Luke 19, beginning at verse 41. And when He was come near, He beheld the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at last, in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the day shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou knowest not the time of thy visitation. Christ said it was because they did not recognize Christ as the Messiah that they would have temporal punishment. The Romans would come. And the things he describes here are very specific. They'll build a trench around you. And in the ancient world, when there was an army that was besieging a city, a walled city like this, they would have their engineers build a mound of dirt by those walls and they would build that mound up so that it got even with the walls and they would run over the mound and into the city. And we can look at ancient accounts of how Jerusalem fell from just Josephus and others. And this was done to Jerusalem. And so Christ with great specificity predicts what would happen to Jerusalem. So We have this prediction of this thing that will happen in the near time. And then Christ has very specific instructions to those Christians who would be caught in the warfare with the Romans. And I think I mentioned this when I spoke about on Matthew 24. We know from other historical accounts, like a man named Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote a church history, that many Christians fled to a place called Pella at the time the Romans came. And Christ gives these instructions. Verse 21, Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let them which are in the midst of it depart out. And let not them that are in the countries enter thereunto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that gave suck in those days. For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people, And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles, meaning the Romans, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And then, that's his teaching about the near fulfillment. Then, verses 25 through 28, which we read, is Christ's prediction of His second coming. that which is yet to be. And he describes, first of all, what we saw in Matthew, what we saw also that was written about by the prophet Isaiah, that at the day of the Lord there would be cosmic upheaval Verse 25, there shall be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. For the powers of heaven shall be shaken. The heavens will be undone. Because there's a new heaven and a new earth that's coming. And most importantly, then, we see in verse 27, They shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud." What did Christ say in Acts 1 when He ascended? What did the angels tell the men who were looking? They saw Christ ascend in a cloud. They said, you will see Him come again in the same way you saw Him depart. He will come in a cloud with power and great glory. And then verse 28 is something that is a statement of our Lord that the Spirit directed only Luke to record. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. Usually we think of the term redemption with a relationship to salvation. But here redemption is used not specifically talking about the salvation of the cross that will be achieved, has been achieved for those of us who are believers. But he's talking about the ultimate victory that comes at the end of the ages, when Christ comes with power and great glory. And that is what we call the blessed hope, the second coming of Christ. So when we look back on this passage today, we need to look at it from three perspectives. First of all, we need to look back And we need to see what God has already been pleased to accomplish. The destruction of Jerusalem, everything Christ said here happened exactly as He said. Secondly, we need to look at this present moment we're living in right now. We're living between the first advent of Christ and the second coming of Christ. And we need to walk away from this with the understanding that God will be faithful. He will provide for us. He will protect us. Even if we have to suffer, ultimately speaking, He will not allow one hair on our head to perish. And we have sustaining grace for living in this moment, whatever we have to face. And thirdly, having looked back, having looked at the present moment, we need to look forward. We need to look to the future. to the time when Christ will come again with power and great glory, and we need to understand that for us this will not be a day of dread, but we will, if it be the Lord's will that we are living at that time, or for that generation of believers who will be here, maybe our grandchildren, great-grandchildren on down the line, it's all in God's timing, that they would heed that instruction to lift up their heads, and see the day of his coming, not as a day of doom, but as a day of redemption, a day of Christ coming to make things right. And so for us, it's not a day of fear, but it's a day of salvation, a day of redemption. May the Lord make it to be so. Amen. Let me invite you, as you're able, let's stand together. And let's join in prayer. Gracious God, we think about the end of the world, the end of the ages. That can be frightening. But we give Thee thanks that as believers that we have nothing to fear. That perfect love casts out all fear. We see that You have been faithful to keep Your Word. The things that Christ predicted that have already taken place. And we know that we can trust the things that He has predicted that are yet to take place. That He will be just as faithful to keep His Word in those things as He was in the things that have already been fulfilled. Help us to trust Thy Word. Help us to trust the prophecies of Christ. We ask this in Christ's name and for His sake. Amen.