Latest / HBCWestminster / 1.30.22 Luke 21:5-24 Pastor Danny Gardner

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1.30.22 Luke 21:5-24 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  We're going to jump straight into the text this morning. If you have your Bibles, open to Luke 21, Luke 21, verses 5 to 24. Luke 21, verse 5. When you've found it in your Bible, if you don't mind standing in honor of God's Word as I read our text, we'll pray and begin. Luke 21 and 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.
• 0:57
  Then he said to them, nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
• 1:02
  There will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and pestilences. 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. 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.
• 1:31
  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 days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written.
• 2:03
  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. Heavenly Father, forgive us for the times we have stolen your glory, the glory that is rightfully yours. Enrich our lives, we pray, by the hearing of your word. May it be taught with accuracy.
• 2:34
  and conviction may we be submissive to its truths in jesus name amen amen thank you church do your kids ever freak out about things that aren't that big a deal how many times in your parenting or grandparenting or maybe just babysitting have you had to tell your kids the repeated phrase it's not the end of the world when my oldest son pearson was little i mean real little two three years old he was just a toddler he
• 3:08
  hated getting his hair cut. I mean, we tried bribing him. We said, you know what, instead of just going to the normal haircut place, the barber shop or whatever, we'll go to one of those kids ones. Instead of sitting in a chair, you get to sit in a race car. You can sit in a race car, you can drive your race car, all the while the lady is cutting your hair. That did not work. We tried giving him a sucker. We said, if you do a good job, you'll get a sucker at the end.
• 3:35
  That didn't work. So the next time we tried giving him the sucker, maybe at the beginning, maybe it will preoccupy him. Just sit in the chair. Here's a sucker. You use the sucker, right? And she'll cut your hair. That was even worse because the sucker ends up covered in hair. You end up sucking on this furry thing, you know, nasty.
• 3:58
  We even had to leave in the middle of one of his haircuts. He was freaking out so bad. Honestly, the lady cutting his hair was like, Danny, I think I'm going to cut him. I'm like, this isn't safe. You know, he is just flailing around. He would not hold still. They said, fine. In the middle of the haircut, we just picked him up. We're going to take him home. Half of his hair was cut. The other half wasn't. At one point after that, I just told Hallie, from now on, I'm cutting his hair.
• 4:21
  And I would just start pinning that kid to the ground like I'm shaving it. If you're not going to hold still, that's with no cute little faux hawk anymore, right? Daddy is shaving that thing. There were times when I would set up a movie for him and I thought I'll just distract him. He's watching the movie, you know, and I'll just walk by with a pair of scissors, clip, you know, and I just, and I would, I just do these, I always laugh because I would do these, you know, drive-by cuttings, you know, we're just cutting off chunks, little pieces of hair would fall.
• 4:48
  You know, Pearson, it's just a haircut. It's not the end of the world. In our text this morning, Jesus tells his disciples that the temple, the bastion and bulwark of the Jewish faith, was about to be demolished. They were staggered. And then he went on to tell them that it wouldn't be the end of the world?
• 5:10
  Yes, it would be. I mean, what else is left if the temple goes? I mean, it's the center of our religion, our culture, our country, our faith. If that is gone, what's left? Now, this text is a controversy. Many see it as having already been fulfilled. Many believe it awaits a future fulfillment. Many more believe it's kind of both. There's some that's already happened, some that still awaits, but the principle that can be drawn from the text.
• 5:40
  despite your convictions about its fulfillment, is quite simple and quite clear. All human establishments, all human organizations, all earthly governments will fail. Despite their strength, despite their longevity, and only those who place their trust on that which will never fail have a future filled with hope. Church, if your life seems hopeless,
• 6:11
  then you may be putting your confidence on a foundation which will eventually drop out. Things like governments and economies, even things like education and marriage, even loyal friendships. I mean, these are all great things, but they are not the foundation for our hope. They do not provide hope the way we often feel like they should. We've already stated that the entire Passion Week could be summarized as teaching, plotting, and hanging.
• 6:40
  Jesus on a daily basis was teaching in the temple. His enemies who hated him and wanted him removed were plotting how they might get rid of him. The people surrounding Jesus, many of whom were genuine followers, were hanging on his every word. In fact, if you have your Bibles, go to the left just a page. Look at Luke 19 and verse 47. It says this very succinctly. Luke 19 and verse 47, it says, and he was teaching daily in the temple. There he is.
• 7:05
  The chief priests, the scribes, the principal men of the city were seeking to destroy him. They're plotting, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words. Our text in chapter 21 is Luke's version of Matthew's Olivet Discourse, where Jesus went up on the Mount of Olives and began to preach about the destruction of Israel, about the destruction of Jerusalem.
• 7:33
  Although Luke's focus is more on the destruction specifically of the temple in Jerusalem rather than on the eschatological movements which would accompany his return. Now this provides, I believe, a nice relief. Since there may be some disagreement even among our beloved members here regarding end times prophecy, I've spoken with many of you, had lunches with many of you, and I know that there are some points of the end times of eschatology that we may disagree on.
• 8:00
  And although I have my own opinions on the issue, I prefer this morning and next Sunday to stick to what is revealed in Luke's gospel. We are going to stick to the text. Which means that our focus will be the destruction of the temple and the return of Christ. Rather than a timeline of end time events. Now this morning's text becomes the third prophecy of Jerusalem's fall in Luke's gospel.
• 8:29
  Jesus talked about it in Luke 13. He talked about it again in Luke 19. And it appears that it was a remark about the grandeur of Herod's temple that launches Christ's discussion regarding its imminent destruction. If you guys were here last Sunday, you'll recall that the rich were parading themselves. Do you remember this? Even in their offerings.
• 8:51
  As they were giving their tithes, they were making sure that everybody could see how much money they were. They were bragging about their offerings. And while that was going on, this poor widow comes forward and offers her two mites, her two leptas, the two coins. We would say her two cents. In fact, we have a phrase used in English that we often use. It's a coined phrase, if you'll excuse the pun, right? A coined phrase of somebody putting in their two cents.
• 9:19
  That's where this comes from. It comes from that widow offering these two copper coins. And you can almost hear it. Something happens between verse 4 and verse 5. Scripture apparently doesn't record it. But this widow comes and gives her two cents. And then somebody among his apostles or disciples gives their two cents. Somebody makes some comment.
• 9:44
  That causes Jesus then to launch into this entire sermon about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Now, Scripture does not provide who that is. I think that we can speculate. There was an apostle who didn't necessarily agree with Jesus' use of money. He was obsessed with money. Which apostle was that? Had to be Judas. It had to be Judas. We don't know. The Lord will reveal that to us one day if we're still curious in a hundred years.
• 10:15
  Somebody makes some comment and Jesus launches a discussion about the temple's imminent destruction. As Christ pointed out, the nation was headed for disaster. Reflected in the destruction of the presence of God on earth in the man Jesus would be the destruction of the physical symbol of God's presence on earth in the temple. Let me say that another way. Many of his hearers, his enemies,
• 10:45
  refused to recognize God's presence in the man Jesus. They would not receive his deity. And so God took away their symbol of his presence in the temple. As Christ describes the temple's demise in the short term, he launches at times into prophecy about a similar destruction which will come when he returns at the conclusion of the church age.
• 11:16
  And there is a possibility, as Daryl Bach notes in his commentary on Luke's gospel, that in his words, I quote, a prophet could speak about the short-term fulfillment or the long-term or both at the same time in different portions of the same speech, since the events mirror one another. And it could be that that's what's going on here. Much, I believe, if not all, of what describes in our text this morning was fulfilled in the short-term destruction of the temple by the Romans in A.D. 70.
• 11:47
  But these events seem to mirror what is described in other places in the New Testament as end-time events, which will take place when he returns. Again, Daryl Bach has said Matthew focuses on the long-term realization. If you were to read the same sermon, the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and 25, it seems to be that he focuses on the long-term, while Luke highlights the short-term event. And because of this mirror nature of the events described,
• 12:16
  perspective is a good summation of jesus's teaching what i'm asking is this could this sermon be referring to both the initial destruction and the great tribulation i think the answer is yes it could be however what luke focuses on focuses on on in on is the first the destruction of the temple and so we will focus on that as well you pick up in verse five
• 12:47
  It says, and while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings. The NIV says beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, right? One of those apostles had chipped in his two cents and said something along the lines maybe of, yeah, I know that you're commending this widow for putting in her buck 50, but Jesus, it wasn't her dollar 50 that built all of this.
• 13:14
  It wasn't the widow's offering that built this. Look at this. Beautiful stones and gold dedicated to God. The temple in Jerusalem was one of the marvels of the ancient world. There were few, if any, structures like it on earth. As vast, as lavish, as expansive. Now, today, that same geographic location looks like this. Here's a picture you guys are probably familiar with.
• 13:44
  Here is, the photographer is standing on the Mount of Olives. He's looking across the Kidron Valley. There is the Temple Mount, the massive patio upon which that new structure, now that new structure is 1300 years old, okay? But the new structure called the Dome of the Rock, the big gold dome. Here's that same Dome of the Rock from the other side, okay? Looking across at the Mount of Olives. You see, you guys see there that kind of tower in the distance. You guys all see that?
• 14:12
  Looks just like the bell tower from Westminster City Hall. Right? I always think that. In fact, if you look really, really, really closely at the base of that tower, you can see Highland Baptist Church. There we are. All right, there's our little church. But the photographer now is looking the other direction. That big gold dome is called the Dome of the Rock. It's one of the most holy sites in Islam. It commemorates for Muslims that location where God created mankind.
• 14:41
  Where Abraham almost sacrificed his favorite son. Remember his name? It wasn't Isaac. For the Muslims, it was Ishmael. One of the big diverging points, in fact, between Christians and Jews and the Muslims is that they believe the favorite, the promised son was not Isaac, but Ishmael. And so in their minds, that's where Abraham almost sacrificed his son of promise, Ishmael. And they think where the prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven.
• 15:13
  Now at the time of Christ, that same spot looked more like this. This is a model. And in fact, if you see kind of beyond it, you can see some steps and a tree. You get a little bit of idea for the scale. It's a massive model just outside of Jerusalem. You can go and visit this. In fact, when we sent about a dozen Highlanders went to Israel on a study trip in May of 2019, almost three years ago. My wife happened to be on that trip. You can go and visit this model. They went and saw this. It is a fantastic,
• 15:43
  It is a fantastic model of the ancient city, kind of the city of Jerusalem during the time of Christ. Mount Ophel, kind of the walled city, the Temple Mount as it stood when Herod was alive, the Antonia Fortress where Herod would have had his palaces. You can walk around this model. If we ever get to go to Israel again, it would be my goal at some point to get every one of you to Israel. That would be my goal. You got to go and see it for yourselves. We will go and see that model. But obviously the world has changed since 2019.
• 16:12
  And so when the world opens back up, and we say that in faith, we will get to go and do that again. But you see there, the largest structure, that was the temple and the Temple Mount. Here's the same little structure from another perspective. You can see there the temple right in the center of the Temple Mount. That is that same huge patio with the big gold dome sitting on it now. The temple itself was 150 feet tall.
• 16:40
  150 feet. You imagine a 15-story building in ancient times? Maybe to help put that in perspective, our biggest building in Westminster is a hotel. It's the Westin right down there, right next to the promenade, right there on 104th or Church Ranch or whatever. The Westin in Westminster is 13 stories tall. So it'd be taller even than that building, which is huge even by our standards.
• 17:11
  The temple stood on top of the Temple Mount, on top of Mount Zion. It was deliberately made to be approached from either the south through the Hinnom Valley or from the east through the Kidron Valley. So by the time as you, a traveling pilgrim,
• 17:31
  worked your way down to the valley floor. Let's say you were coming from the Mount of Olives. You work your way down the Kidron Valley. You jump over the Kidron Creek. You begin to work your way back up the other side. Now you're looking up the Kidron Mount there, right? The other side of the valley. On top of that is the Temple Mount. And on top of that is a 150 foot tall temple. The pinnacle of the temple would have towered hundreds of feet.
• 18:01
  above you. The temple mount itself, here's another picture of today. There's that dome of the rock. You can see there kind of the footprint of the temple mount. That temple mount is huge. That covers 37 acres. 37 acres. It's massive. So by the time you get up to the temple mount and you begin to see the temple, your eyes have already been drawn heavenward. There's no way you're not already
• 18:31
  feeling small. Josephus, who was an ancient Jewish historian, described gold and silver adorning the temple anywhere, any direction one looked. In fact, he describes doors within the temple precinct, doors made of solid silver. Maimonides, another historian, Jewish Mishnah, described an elaborate grapevine inside the temple building itself.
• 18:56
  An elaborate grapevine, a massive grapevine made of solid gold, which worshipers were encouraged to adorn with golden gifts like leaves on a tree. And so if you were a wealthy worshiper, you would come into the temple building and you would have brought with you some extremely expensive object, something made of gold yourself that you would go and hang on that golden grapevine. The temple stones and pillars were impressive. They were even intimidating.
• 19:23
  The temple mount's foundation stones were enormous. If you are ever able to get over to Israel, you'll undoubtedly come here. This is the western wall or the wailing wall. That's that major wall there with the plants growing out of it. The wailing wall is the only portion of the temple mount of Herod's temple mount that still remains. That's the only portion of the original temple mount wall. Very possibly, Jesus could have looked at those same stones, could have walked along it.
• 19:50
  It's been excavated and kind of undugged and unearthed, and now it's a place for worshipers to gather, mostly Jewish people, who will come to the wailing wall. They will write their prayers down on little pieces of paper. They'll roll those up. They'll stick them into the cracks while they're crying, oftentimes weeping, which is why it's called the wailing wall. If you're ever able to go, go up to the wailing wall and look to your left. If you look to your left, right there where that wall meets the other wall, you guys see the corner?
• 20:17
  At the bottom of that, there's a small arch called Wilson's Arch. The archaeologist who discovered it, his last name was Wilson, named it after himself. Wilson's Arch. I was there for about six months in the spring of 1997. I was a college student taking classes in Jerusalem. And 1997, what was significant about that year was that it was pre-9-11. Everything changed on 9-11. Access to things changed.
• 20:46
  in 2001 and so my class actually got to go into wilson's arch i don't think they let people in there anymore you can go into wilson's arch you can walk down several flights of steps down to the original stones the foundation stones for the temple mount not the stones of the temple the temple's gone all right but the original stones for the temple mount and these things are immense
• 21:13
  You can imagine a single stone that is seven and a half feet high, right? So somewhere in there. That stone being nine feet deep and then 67 feet long. They are huge. Some of them, they estimate, right? They estimate somewhere 600 tons. 600 tons is how much those things weigh. And modern engineers are even baffled by that because they're like, modern equipment would have trouble moving that thing.
• 21:42
  How'd they do it 2,000 years ago? I mean, these guys were geniuses, the engineers that Herod must have hired in order to construct that temple mount. With all of that in mind, let's return to our text. Jesus had just castigated the wealthy religious elite for parading themselves and their clothes and their titles, their recognition, even their giving, as the rich are making these impressive offerings at the same time that widow walks up with her buck fifty.
• 22:13
  Jesus' disciples point out how amazed they were at the temple building. The disciples were no doubt remarking that it was not the contributions of the little old ladies that paid for the construction of that magnificent temple. And notice Jesus' response in verse 6. As for those things, 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. In other words, Jesus says it's all coming down.
• 22:42
  Now this referred to a fixed and unarguable historical event. When the Romans finally invaded Jerusalem with a mind to destroy it, they left nothing but a smoldering wasteland in their wake. In AD 63, the Romans captured Jerusalem. They'd already occupied it, but in 63, they determined to control it. In 66, three years later, the Jews began a successful revolt, which expelled the Romans initially, but was met with a disastrous force.
• 23:14
  in ad 69 and 70 when the roman military forced the rebels all the way back into the city of jerusalem eventually even into the temple itself the romans left nothing to chance they sieged the city they completely annihilated the temple now almost all buildings in and around judea are made from stone because stone is so prevalent in israel and more specifically almost every building even today if you were to go to jerusalem today almost all of the stones are made out of almost all the buildings are made out of the same
• 23:43
  type of stone it's a whitish pinkish very specific stone called dolomite or dolomitic limestone this dolomitic limestone can be harvested and cut fairly easily when it's first quarried when that stone is first exposed to air it's relatively soft and don't get me wrong it's not like it's butter i mean it's still a rock okay
• 24:06
  But you can cut it relatively easily. You can shape it. You can cut it into the sections that you need when it's first exposed. Over the course of time, it becomes extremely hard. One unique feature of this type of limestone is that if it's exposed to intense heat, it becomes brittle. It will even crumble under its own weight. It can't even support its own weight. It just kind of disintegrates. And the Romans used that geologic property.
• 24:36
  to destroy the temple. They set fires around the foundation of the building. Eventually, the entire structure collapsed in on itself. Not one stone left on another. And so Jesus breaks this news to his apostles. They must have been left speechless. They were staggered, completely inconceivable for the Lord's followers. It would have been the destruction of the temple because contained within that structure was everything they held dear.
• 25:05
  The end of the temple would have equated to the end of the world. You can imagine yourself that fateful morning, if you're old enough to recall, September 11, 2001, as reports and video came in, and you saw for the very first time those massive towers coming down. And those towers held but a fraction of the significance for us that the temple would have held to the Jews. And yet, when we watched those news reports,
• 25:36
  Did it not cause you to ponder the end of the world? Pick up in verse 7. And they asked him, Teacher, when will these things be? What will be the sign when these things are about to take place? Jesus here is going to give him a reminder that it will not be the end of the world. And equally undeniable will be during that time the attempt of the enemy to deceive God's people to question both his sovereignty and his goodness.
• 26:07
  In fact, it's the same strategy that our enemy employs today when things go wrong. When your life throws you a curveball, when your life does not end up the way you thought, do you not question those same two things? Do you not cry out in prayer and ask the Lord, are you really in control? And if you are, do you really love me? We question the same things, his sovereignty and his goodness. And so the Lord issues two commands to those who would find themselves alive.
• 26:37
  during that impending tumult in verse 8 he says don't be deceived look at verse 8 and he said see 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 be deceived and then he says in verse 9 do not be dismayed look in verse 9 and when i'm sorry yeah yeah verse 9 and when you hear of wars and tumults he says do not be terrified
• 27:06
  For these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once. Do not be deceived. Do not be dismayed. Even in the most trying times, even when it feels like your world is falling down around you. Several weeks ago, during the interment for our friend and beloved member here, Richard Devis, I began to meander the hallways of what they call the Tower of Memories at Olinger Crown Hill. Olinger Crown Hill Cemetery there in Arvada has this big tower right in the middle of it.
• 27:37
  It's a beautiful building. It's constructed of almost entirely concrete and marble. It's beautiful. It's like a mausoleum. Instead of being buried under the ground, you're kind of buried above the ground in one of these large family crypts. It's actually quite an honor to be buried inside the Tower of Memories. And as we were concluding his interment, I was just walking through the hallways and noting the things that people determined to take with them in their little display cases.
• 28:06
  So many of those people have been cremated. They're put in an urn. They're put in this little box, kind of a cabinet. It's got a glass front. And they could put in there some of the things that were most important to them. I saw trophies. I saw passports. I thought, that's kind of funny. Just in case, you know, you don't know. I guess you're traveling. Bring your passport. There were a lot of pictures of dogs. In fact, I noticed there were more pictures of dogs than pictures of grandkids. And I thought that was kind of funny.
• 28:31
  One of them contained a baseball in a case, and so that obviously caught my eye. I'm a baseball fan. I walked over and looked at it. It was signed by a guy named Don Larson. Underneath it, it said, the perfect game ball. Okay, Don Larson was a major league pitcher from a bygone era. He is the only major league pitcher who has ever thrown a perfect game in a World Series. And I thought, that's got to be one of the balls that was used. It was signed by him, perfect game ball. I thought, that's...
• 28:58
  That's pretty cool. You'd think it was something you'd leave to your kids, but you're like, nah, I'm taking it with me. You can come and look at it, I guess. And most remarkable to me, what I remarked at the most, was how differently believers and unbelievers feel about the afterlife. There was a very clear distinction, and I can't judge people's souls, but there was a very clear distinction between those who obviously knew the Lord and those who obviously did not.
• 29:23
  Because those who knew the Lord were much more concerned with the people on the other side of the glass. They left messages, scripture, letters, notes. I am with my Savior even now. They were letters as opposed to some of these other things. Because believers who know for certain that they will be with the Lord do not care in the slightest what goes with them in the cabinet. You say, why? Why?
• 29:51
  Because we as believers know that even when our world ends, we know it's not the end of the world. And what's interesting about Christ's statement in verses 7 and 9 is that he very clearly dispels any notion that the world is out of control. The end of the temple, Christ says, is not the end of the world. In fact, he even says in verse 9, he says these things must first take place.
• 30:22
  These events, Jesus says, would be perfectly within the will of God, and he therefore dispels immediately any argument that would warrant fear and anxiety. Christ reminds his hearers, and by extension he reminds us, that even if the world falls apart around us, we need not fear. Pick up in verse 10. Then he said to them, nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes in various places, famines, pestilences.
• 30:54
  There will be terrors, great signs from heaven. When one lives in a powerful nation, it's difficult to see how that nation could ever crumble. We may assume that certain countries and certain militaries and certain powerful companies even will never lose their power and stability, but things like war and natural disasters and famines will do just that. He describes this destruction that will come upon Jerusalem as catastrophic, as calamitous.
• 31:24
  Pick up in verse 12. But before all this, he says, they will lay their hands on you, the people of God, 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. Now, whether one interprets this text as being fulfilled early or late, or maybe early and late, regardless of your interpretation, the thing which will mark the beginning of the end, Jesus says, will be the persecution of...
• 31:54
  God's people and so he gives some advice to those who would be around during that tumultuous time in verse 13 this this will be your opportunity to bear witness like I don't care for that advice this is what you're going to tell me to do evangelize stand up for the truth stand up for the gospel even during a time of suffering you guys all right would God call us to do that
• 32:27
  Would God recall us to endure? Would God call us to remain faithful even in the midst of suffering? Would God call us to bear witness and testify to his goodness and grace and faithfulness? Would God call us to be gospel ministers even in a time of suffering? Yes. And maybe even especially in that time. The darker the world gets, the brighter our light must shine. And he says in verse 14, settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer. Now,
• 32:55
  I don't think he's saying there, don't be prepared. In fact, 1 Peter 3.15 says the exact opposite. Always be prepared to give an answer for the reason, for the hope that you have within you. And do this with gentleness and respect. He actually says, always be prepared to give an answer. But rather, I think what he's saying is, settle in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer. You don't know who you're going to end up in front of. Don't worry about it. Wherever you end up, whoever you end up in front of, just be a faithful,
• 33:27
  Verse 15, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. God, even in the midst of suffering, will fill our hearts, our minds, and our mouths with the truth. He says 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.
• 33:56
  your lives now i would caution us about being too quick to read onto this text an eschatological meaning some see in this phrase in verse 18 but not a hair of your head will perish some see in this phrase the rapture they will look at that and say see god's people will be spared from the great tribulation not a hair of your head will perish i don't think that's what jesus is talking about in fact verse 16 he even said some of you will be put to death
• 34:28
  But don't worry, your hair will survive. I don't think that's not what he's talking about clearly in there. I think what he's referring to in verses 18 and 19 is the afterlife, eternity. Even if your bodies are destroyed by your endurance, you will gain your lives eternal.
• 34:49
  It's the same thing that Jesus said in Luke 9. Whoever holds on to this life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel will find it for eternity. I think that's what he's talking about. By your endurance, you will live. Now, verses 20 to 24 are a little bit tricky. And what I believe can lead to confusion about these verses are the verses which follow it. Verses 25 to 28.
• 35:17
  I believe, are a clear reference to the second coming of Christ. I believe that is an event which has not yet happened. Especially if you look at verse 27. They will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. I think that's describing a future event, the second coming. Now because of this, some commentators choose to work backward. They start with the second coming of Christ, an event which has not happened.
• 35:46
  And then they will extrapolate backward a meaning onto the verses preceding, which have also not happened, is how they would word it. I think this could be a mistake, interpreting the former verses in light of the latter verses. And so let me address a few phrases that have caused some heartburn for people. See if we can shed some light. Verse 20. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that it's...
• 36:14
  desolation has come near and that word desolation causes a problem for some some see in that one word a reflection of the abomination that causes desolation found in daniel 9 and matthew 24 and i agree with them regarding their interpretation of the end times however i'm not as confident as they are on this text referring to that event
• 36:40
  It could be that Jesus was just saying that when the city of Jerusalem is surrounded by the Roman army, making reference to AD 70, then it will be assigned to the city that it will be left desolate, which is exactly what happened. Desolation is coming. That's all Jesus says. And that came true. I pick up in verse 21. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are inside the city depart.
• 37:06
  Let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are 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. Now these verses I think make perfect sense if they're interpreted historically. They've already happened. When Jerusalem was at war, its people would have been better off in the mountains.
• 37:28
  It would have been better for the inhabitants of the city to flee. It would not have been a good time for people living in the countryside to decide to vacation in the city. Now, there is never an easy time to be pregnant. One of you will say it. Amen. There it is. I was willing to wait. There's never an easy time to be pregnant. But this time would be particularly difficult. If you're pregnant, if you're nursing a baby, it's going to be particularly hard, is what he says.
• 38:07
  Pick up at the end of 23. 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. Again, some see in this text a reflection of the great tribulation described in the book of Revelation. Now, could it be that? Yes. I just don't know that understanding Luke's intention
• 38:36
  of describing that short-term fulfillment, 70 AD, that he would have been so ambiguous. I think the scriptures do teach a great tribulation in other places, but I think it's probably best to understand these verses to refer to that Roman destruction. We have one phrase left, right at the end of verse 24, until he says, the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Now,
• 39:04
  I believe the key to understanding when Christ makes that transition from the desolation of Jerusalem in AD 70, an event which has already happened, to his return to gather his people, an event which has not happened, when he transitions from the past to the future, when he transitions from the short-term event to the long-term fulfillment, I believe the key is bound up in that simple phrase. I believe the Bible teaches that a time of the Gentiles has come. Gentile.
• 39:34
  Dominance is even now. I believe that time is now. This is the time when the people of God are predominantly non-Jewish. The body of Christ, the church, is that people. We see clearly from Ephesians 2 this truth, that from the two men, Jew and Gentile, God has created one new man, the church, through whom he will bless the nations. I believe that the scriptures teach an eventual rapture of that church.
• 40:04
  The rapture, I think, will mark the end of the age of the Gentiles. It will be the clearest sign that Christ's return is imminent. And that is where we will pick up next Sunday. In verse 25, Jesus' hearers saw in the temple a formidable, even indestructible structure until it was destroyed. They saw in Rome a formidable, even invincible army.
• 40:32
  They were also eventually destroyed and nation after nation, kingdom after kingdom has fallen since, but that does not mean it's the end of the world. What should that teach us but that the kingdoms of this world will fall? Nations will fail. Christ clearly reminds his hearers and now us of that truth. We should not have our foundation of our lives and put our hope and trust in things that will fail. He issues a reminder that we are not citizens of this world.
• 41:01
  This reminder could instill fear and anxiety in his people, but I would call this to the same advice that Christ issues in verses 8 and 9. In trying times, even when the world is literally falling down around you, do not be deceived. Dwell on what's true and good and noble and trustworthy, and do not be dismayed. The believer has no reason to distrust the promises of God because he has fulfilled every promise he's ever made. Amen? And God, we hold that truth dearly.
• 41:33
  You are a promise-keeping God, and so we as your followers need not fear. Whatever may come, even when the world is falling down around us, Lord, we have a hope, a sure and steadfast hope and anchor for our souls, Jesus himself, and it's in his name we pray. Amen.