FBC Daily Devotional – August 13, 2021

Well a good Friday to you. Hope your week has gone well, and you're looking forward to the weekend and speaking of the weekend Sunday is coming and hope that you can join us at Our church building on the Lord's Day for our worship services together.

If not, I hope you can join us on live stream at 1030 Sunday morning also do the adult Bible study at 930 and Then we have an evening service at 6 o 'clock. So join in at any of those times. Via live stream if you can't join us in person.

The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Signs of the Son of Man

But anyway in today's reading. We're in Luke chapter 21 and Jesus is He's presented with a question about the future. They're coming out. Jesus and disciples are coming out of the temple complex. There are Jerusalem beautiful structure undoubtedly and Some of the disciples are commenting on how beautiful these buildings are and so forth and Jesus says.

You know, there's a time coming when all these stones are gonna be a pile of rubble and. The disciples are curious about this and of course. Concerned they said well, when's this gonna happen? What's what's this gonna happen?

They're perplexed and Jesus gives them Somewhat obscure answers. He gives them answers about about the coming destruction of Jerusalem and that happened in AD 70 the very things that Jesus talked about.

They were invaded and and the temple complex was destroyed and it's never been rebuilt. The Jewish come got temple complex never been rebuilt and Lay in rubble for years and years and years and years.

So that very thing happened, but in the course of that Description of the perilous time that was coming. He kind of fast forward to the time of the second coming his Jesus returned and this is what he says.

He says there will be signs in the Sun in the moon and in the stars on the earth distress of nations with perplexity the sea and the waves roaring men's hearts. Failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth.

For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. It says then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Says now when these things begin to happen look up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near now.

The Unknown Timing of Christ's Return

When is this gonna happen? I don't know. We don't know. Jesus never tells us. He never gives a specific time never even gives us a general enough time to be able to say Oh, we know it's gonna be in the next 12 months and throughout the last couple thousand years.

There have been cycles in our Nate on our world history that have led believers to think. You know, Jesus is coming. He's coming. Look this is what's happening. And this is what's happening. And I think we're in one of those cycles right now.

When there's a lot of fear and anxiety and there's a lot of stuff going on.

Globally.

With the with, you know climactic event a climatic events and and so forth and so on. It's leading a pot a lot of people to think, you know, Jesus could be coming at any moment. Well, the fact is Jesus could come at any time and It's really not our place to determine the specific time that he does.

Faithfulness Under Opposition Until Jesus Comes

But what we can say from what Jesus says earlier in this dialogue with his with his disciples is that the time until he comes is going to be a time of difficulty for God's people for the followers of Jesus.

I mean, I remember as a kid a song I think was Lynn Anderson country singer. He's saying I never promised you a rose garden. I beg your pardon. I never promised you a rose garden there's gonna be a little rain sometime or something like that and Pardon the pardon the illustration there, but this is what it reminds me of Jesus never promised us a bed of roses.

He never promised us a rose garden. He did promise us that there gonna be plenty of thorns along the way and that God's people would know and experience some opposition as we as we journey through this life of faithfulness in following Jesus and That's the point that he's trying to make you need we need to be faithful.

Even if it's painful, even if it costs us our life, we need to be loyal to him. He's given us his life. He's given his life for us and May he help us to be true. May he help us to be faithful to him even to the very end.

Courage and Loyalty in Different Levels of Christian Pressure

So, I don't know where you are in your walk with Christ, and I don't know what kind of angst you might be feeling. I don't even know what part of the world you're in right now. This is going out on the internet.

There could be people watching this in Countries where they have to cower in fear lest it be found out. They're watching a Christian podcast. And in on the other hand, you know here we are in the United States and we are in Relative peace in this regard don't particularly fear.

I don't really fear that all of a sudden the authorities are going to come in break down the door and arrest me for Issuing forth this broadcast. I don't have to fear that but whatever state we're in whatever level of opposition or feeling a Constraint for our Christian faith.

May we be resolved to be faithful? May we be determined to be loyal? Followers of Jesus he is worthy of it and he is coming soon. He is coming soon Soon, maybe a hundred years from now. Maybe a millennium from now it may be a hundred days from now.

I don't know but until that time Let's be faithful Our father in our God while we don't know with any degree of certainty the timing of the Lord's return. We can be faithful until he comes help us by your grace to be just that and we ask in Jesus name.

Amen.

All right. Hey, have a good rest your Friday and a wonderful weekend. I trust the Lord will bless you in all of it.

Good day.