Signs Of The End

Luke 21 and the Question of the Temple’s Destruction

Let's turn to Luke chapter 21 from which will come the preaching text today. Luke chapter 21. We'll be looking particularly at verses 9 through 12, but I will read 5 through 19 for context when you have that go ahead and stand 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 would 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 hands on you and persecute you. Delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons and you'll 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'll be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends and some of you they will put to death.

You'll 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. Amen. You may be seated Dear Heavenly Father. We ask that you would open our eyes today to understand your word.

We know this is a difficult passage, but Nothing is impossible for you and by the Spirit we might understand so we pray that by him we would and Jesus name Amen. The subject of the end times is something that fascinates many people something that people write a lot about and many make a quite the name for themselves by Interpreting the times to try to tell us where we are in relation to the end times.

But many of those who do so Fail in that they treat the signs very differently than they have been given to us. Signs that have been given us to signal a Continuing of things they interpret to mean the final thing and signs that should mean the final thing.

Are not regarded as such. So from this passage, there's one very simple truth or perhaps two very simple truths put together that I would have you remember and that.

Is.

Extraordinary.

Cataclysms are Signs that the end is coming.

Extraordinary.

Persecution is assigned that the end is a sign that the end is here. Okay. Extraordinary cataclysms are a sign that the end is coming.

Extraordinary.

Persecutions are a sign that the end is here. We are not to be deceived and think that the end is here simply because there are great great cataclysms. We should be preparing ourselves Particularly for persecution and be ready particularly for persecution in this passage says that they will hear of wars and tumults and That nation will rise against nation in kingdom against kingdom.

There will be all various sorts of conflicts. Well, perhaps these are just synonyms used to reinforce the idea and emphasize it. But nation rising against nation kingdom against kingdom perhaps you can think of that as as all different kinds of conflicts so Conflicts that are primarily ethnic and then conflicts that are primarily political kingdom against kingdom These will take place.

There will also be signs Disturbances in the earth itself. So not just society and people but signs of disturbances in the earth earthquakes famines Pestilence pestilence being various kinds of plagues plagues of grain plagues of animals plagues on humans.

And also signs in heaven there will be terrors and great signs from heaven you can think of meteor showers and comets the moon turning red all sorts of different signs that the Bible describes of Heavenly distress.

Then he goes on to speak of persecution 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 namesake.

Persecution the word for persecution literally means to pursue when someone is pursued and they are afflicted that is what persecution is and This will be the highest form of persecution people delivered up to Kings and to governors, this is not just small persecution.

Every disciple will face Persecution. Jesus said blessed are those who are persecuted. The implication being as is explained in Luke early on in Luke the Beatitudes are given there to woe to those. When all speak well of you, so it's not just that some will be persecuted but all All disciples are persecuted what this is describing and is an even greater sort of persecution that goes to the highest levels it involves Political authorities it also involves religious authorities.

It's a pervasive kind of persecution. What event does this speak of. I mentioned last time that? When the disciples asked this question, they asked two questions together and Jesus gives them an answer.

That.

Answers one and answers the other and sometimes is answering both when they speak to him. They ask him about The temple being torn down because he has said not one stone will be on the other. And they ask him what is the sign of this and what is the sign of your return?

Now to them those very well may be the same thing. They may think of Jesus's return as being the same thing as the temple being destroyed. But the temple being destroyed is something that would happen not too long after them within a generation and Christ's return.

Something that happens much later something that we have not even experienced yet. So sometimes Jesus is answering what will happen before the temple. Sometimes he's answering what will happen before his return.

Sometimes he's speaking of both of these. Well here I believe he is speaking particularly about The temple and that can be seen as he Says in verse 20, but when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies armies, then you will know that his desolation has come near.

Here he's speaking particularly about what comes in those days in 70 AD when the temple is destroyed and at the end of this Paragraph here in 24 It says that that this will continue on that Jerusalem will continue to be trampled until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled time of the Gentiles referring to the Time of the gospel going out to all the nations.

So Later on here in this passage. It confirms that Jesus has in mind Particularly those signs leading up to the destruction of the temple yet at the same time as we look forward In the next verse in verse 25 it says and there will be signs and sun and moon and stars and on the earth distress of nations and Perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves people fainting with fear with foreboding of what is coming on the world.

For the powers of the heavens will be shaken and then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great Glory, and so we have similar sorts of signs Described for Christ's return. So that means that even though in this passage we are looking at today.

Jesus is primary Intention and explaining the signs to them is what will come at the at the temple. Ultimately that is a microcosm of what will happen for his return both of these are judgment there is this microcosm of judgment as the Nations surround as enemies surround Jerusalem, but there will be a final judgment where Enemies surround the heavenly Zion as it describes in Revelation 20 verse 9.

That is the final thing. So as we read this passage we can remember that this is talking about The temple and yet at the same time it prepares us ultimately for the end. When it talks about all these signs happening before the destruction of the temple, there may be several things in mind.

First of all, there are the heavenly signs that happened at the cross. Remember that has not happened yet in the course of Luke. There was an earthquake the Sun turned dark. It may be happening of some of the signs that happen at Pentecost.

Acts 2 describes heavenly signs happening at Pentecost Joel being fulfilled. The Joel's prophecies of heavenly signs being fulfilled at that time it also has a great famine that comes in acts and.

Then.

It may also be talking about signs that are not particularly recorded in Scripture that happen afterward.

Josephus.

Chronicle Historian chronicling the history that led up to the Destruction of the temple record seven different signs that happened before the temple now some of these might be Legends that are not true.

In fact, one of them is of a cow giving birth to a lamb but some of these we know to be true one of them we now know and Advances in astronomy that it's Halley's Comet that was overhead at that time and that's what he was describing.

So various signs earthly and heavenly that Preceded the temple, but ultimately is a microcosm of what we should be Experiencing and looking for now. Beyond talking about which event is at the temple or is it talking about Christ's return?

We should ask about the order in which these two different kinds of signs come. There are two signs kinds of signs. There are these extraordinary cataclysms, right? That's wars. So societal cataclysm earthly signs earthquakes, etc.

Heavenly signs things in the sky. All right, all these different cataclysms. And then there's persecution. What is the ordering of these if you were to read this on its own? You might be under the impression that.

The.

Persecution comes first and then the other cataclysms. So for example, it says here nation will rise against nation, etc. But before all this they will lay their hands on you. Okay before all this. So the people are persecuted before the great cataclysms.

That's what it's saying. Consider the parallel passages in Matthew and in and in Mark in Matthew 24 7. It says for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

All these are but the beginning of birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death. So Matthew describes The reverse order that first there are great cataclysms then there are then there's persecution.

Mark speaks similarly mark 13 verses 8. Verse 8 for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. These are but the beginning of birth pains pains, but be on your guard for they will deliver you over to councils.

Etc.

What this lets us know that when Luke speaks this way Luke is not saying that Persecution will happen before any of the other signs have begin. But persecution will happen before those other signs are completed.

So great cataclysms are going to happen and they're going to signify that the end is coming. But it is extraordinary persecution that signifies that the end is here that is what really demonstrates the height of it all.

Look at verse 9 in Luke 21 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 so even here in Luke It's explained that extraordinary war etc Does not mean that the end will be at once.

This is a sign that the end is coming, but it is not a sign that the end is immediate. These are two truths that we should keep in mind. Extraordinary cataclysms signifies that the end is coming. Extraordinary persecution beyond that which has been experienced before signify that the end is here.

Signs as Sacramental Symbols of Judgment

First thinking about cataclysm. How is it a sign? Okay, signs are not arbitrary. They have some relation to the thing signified right when we Have the sign of the Lord's Supper. There is a relationship between the bread and wine in Christ's body and blood.

There is a similarity between bread in Christ's body. There's a similarity between his blood and his wine. This goes beyond just the redness of the color has to do with the joy that wine brings represent the joy that Christ Life brings etc.

Right? There's a relationship between these. Likewise, there's a relationship between the sign of baptism and what it signifies. It represents a union with Christ and his death burial and resurrection.

This is why as a Baptist Church We practice immersion and do not consider sprinkling a valid form of baptism. It's because while the Bible may talk about washing as Being one of the things signified the primary thing that is signified is union with Christ.

It is death burial and resurrection so the sign Needs to signify that sprinkling does not signify that kind of burial that kind of submersion into death and new life. Well, how is it that these various signs are?

Signs of Christ's coming they are reminders of judgment. They are reminders that we live in a fallen world that is under the wrath of God. You have various wars going about sure reminders that That man is at hostility with man because man is at hostility with God.

You have the various signs on the earth that shows that God's wrath is upon the earth. Whether it be famine plague whether it be earthquakes and then you have heavenly signs now. We understand heavenly signs a lot more than they did back then and so they do not seem as outstanding to us but Consider the nature of those signs.

Darkness that happens during an eclipse or at other times does not darkness represent a cutting off from the light of God. You have stars falling from heaven either meteor showers or or Different kinds of signs like that does not not represent a distress a heavenly battle that is going on.

The moon turning red like blood does not not represent a kind of judgment. These are all things that even if we are able to predict them very well Represent judgment. The fact that we are able to predict them should not keep us from recognizing them as signs.

When it's talking about heavenly signs, a lot of people are expecting things that are not expected. But they can be expected and still be signs for example The sign of the Noahic Covenant is the rainbow that predictably happens after every single rain if you're standing at the right angle and the Sun is out and That being predictable does not keep it from being a sign it is still a sign of the Noahic Covenant.

So it is that even though we can predict Haley's Comet much better than they could in 66 AD as it was Leading up to the destruction of the temple. So it is still the case that these signs in heaven are Reminders to us that there is a heavenly battle that is being waged that has not been completed.

There are signs of. There are signs of judgment. Many people think that there's some kind of utopia that could be accomplished as mankind continues on and progresses in his. In his understanding, but there will always be war man against man that will continue on.

For.

Forever until the end because it is the nature of kingdoms that the Lord sets them up. The Lord tears them down and Only his kingdom lasts forever. Now on one hand his kingdom is one that Transcends other kingdoms.

His kingdom is not of this world. So other kingdoms May coexist for a season, but ultimately as his kingdom becomes manifest It must go to war against the other kingdoms.

Now.

This this.

Predictability, etc. Demonstrates that these are continuing signs that are happening all the time. Okay, they are just regular Reminders that the end is coming. It can be very easy to get excited about those great cataclysms as you see them happening.

I don't know if you remember everything that happened in 2020 in 2020 when there was of course the the pandemic. After the pandemic everybody kind of forgot about the things that happened earlier in that year.

Do you remember that half of Australia was on fire? Do you remember that there was just an incredible famine that in drought that was? Pretty it was very significant and there were also plagues of locusts in Africa that were of what some people were identifying as biblical proportions, right?

These were all very significant things and some people were getting very excited and you add all to all of that the pandemic and It can get very it can be very easy to get excited about that and think Oh Jesus said that there would be plagues and wars etc.

And the end is here. But great cataclysms extraordinary cloud because in cataclysms are not signs that the end is here. They are signs that the end is coming and they continue on. There have been greater wars there have been greater plagues in the 14th century the The black death Killed 30 to 60 percent of Europe.

There was a famine that was so bad that roughly 80 of cattle died and it was so bad. There were reports of cannibalism and infanticide people trying to defend their own lives in that way and There was a hundred years war this things are far worse than a lot of the things we experience.

Now I know that there are ways that the man-made atrocities have grown. They didn't have nuclear weapons back then but all the same Jesus is telling us That the end is not at once just because there are extraordinary cataclysms right the Look at all the people who got really excited after World War one and World War two thinking This is certainly the sign of the end.

Someday Adventist said these are the four winds of Revelation 7 being unleashed. Jehovah's Witnesses said that this is Satan being cast out of heaven from Revelation 12 the Christadelphians. So that this is the Euphrates being dried up of Revelation 16, right?

All these different groups saw World War and they said this is the end. But it is incredibly ironic given that Jesus is telling us Directly the Great War is not a sign that the end is here. Great War is just a sign that the end is coming.

So do not be over excited about such things his whole point is to produce within us an Endurance and a prudence that we not be shaken by such things. He says in verse 9 Do not be terrified for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.

Do not be terrified and yet so many people prop themselves up as being interpreters of God's Word that are that are reading the times and they're saying ah The end is here because this when Jesus is saying the exact opposite thing.

The end is not at once because of great wars. Do not. Do not be deceived. Jesus point in is to produce Endurance in you but so many people get something different. I Don't mean to belittle it but the closest thing I can think of is senioritis.

You know that final year of college where you just don't want to do any work because you're pretty much done. Okay, this is what most people get out of reading these signs. They get something like senioritis.

We're at the end. We can kind of check out a little now you might say well You know, I know people who get excited about the end and they're not doing that. I would say the degree to which they are excited about the end of coming by wars and not by persecution is The degree to which they get excited the degree to which they check out and are not primarily concerned about leaving a Legacy and building up the kingdom in the way that is supposed to be built up now.

You can go all the way on the extreme like these cults. Right and leave your family behind and go make a home in the mountains or whatever the case may be. Or you can be on a lesser extreme where you're just a little less concerned about your grandchildren Etc because you don't think it's gonna last that long because the end is here.

We've seen great wars. We've seen great signs. Do not be deceived. Jesus his whole point is to produce endurance and prudence. Do not take the opposite away from these signs. So while extraordinary cataclysm is a sign that the end is coming Extraordinary and I mean extraordinary Persecution is a sign that the end is here.

This is the actual sign that one is to be looking for. Now why is that the case once again, we should ask ourselves, how does the sign represent the thing signified? Well think about What they are asking about when they're asking about the destruction of the kingdom in the return of Christ.

You know the notion of Christ's return. They're not thinking about him dying going away and coming back. He has to explain all that to him when they're talking about his return. They're talking about his his Ascent to a manifest throne.

Okay, right. They are thinking about his kingdom becoming fully manifest. How does this signify that kingdom becoming manifest it is when the Kingdoms of the earth feel the most threatened. That is the sign that Christ's kingdom is becoming the most manifest.

Okay, that is how this is a signal of that end and you can see this that well, let's let's let's piece together the parts of this the Subject in the object right the the subject the one who is doing the persecution.

This is the highest levels of government. Okay, this is not Just the kind of persecution that you might experience among your friends etc being mocked. All that is very legitimate persecution. I don't mean to belittle it at all, but it is not the extraordinary sort of persecution.

It's talking about here. It is the highest levels of government kings and governors. It is stuff that may go even to death as it says in Verse 9 Excuse me Says later on in this passage in verse 16 and some of you they will put to death.

It will be something that will be widespread. It will not just be localized. I know that there are some countries where there is a lot of death for Christ's namesake. I know that right now there's a lot of persecutions.

Going on in Nigeria, for example, but we are talking about something that's more than just a localized phenomenon. Revelation 20 that we'll look at in a moment speaks of. Speaks of the city being surrounded.

Okay, Zion being surrounded not part of Zion being affected but Zion being surrounded. And who is the object the object of that persecution is of course God's people it The great cataclysms who's the object of that everybody's involved believer unbeliever alike.

They all are affected by extraordinary Cataclysms, but this persecution is something experienced particularly by believers. Let me go ahead and Demonstrate to you a couple of things from Revelation first just so that we don't miss it and Revelation 6 verse 12.

It says when he opened the sixth seal I looked and behold there was a great earthquake and the Sun became black as sackcloth the moon became like blood and the stars of the sky fell to earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by A gale was it described later.

The great day of wrath has come. So in other words, the point is these these signs signify the thing. They they demonstrate the things signified right those heavenly signs demonstrate the wrath of God.

But then in Revelation when it's describing the final end it says in verse. See it says in verse Revelation 20 verse. Let's start at 7 and when the thousand years are ended. Okay right now Christ is reigning.

I Believe scripture is clear that he's been cast down. These are the thousand years that we are in not a literal thousand years. But this time where Christ is reigning Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth Gog and Magog to gather them for battle their number is like the sand of the sea and they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and Surrounded the camp of Saints and their beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them.

Okay, so God will Protect his people eventually, right? This is remember Jerusalem and the destruction temple is a microcosm of that final judgment. What is it describing? Galatians 4 speaks of the earthly Jerusalem in the heavenly Jerusalem, right?

The the earthly one being people of Israel, etc. The heavenly Jerusalem being the church. Okay, that's that's the distinction here this this Jerusalem it the earthly Jerusalem. It was surrounded in 70 AD and then the temple is destroyed.

Okay, that's a microcosm of judgment. What happens at the end is that God's people that heavenly Zion is Surrounded by enemies and then the end comes and they are saved. There's a difference between them and the one is destroyed and the other is saved.

But they mirror each other and the kind of persecution they experience with the enemy Surrounds them now, of course God's people being all over the earth. It won't be a geographic Surrounding but it will be a pervasive kind of persecution that is that is Widespread through most of the earth if not all the earth.

This is Ultimately what's being described now.

Can.

Consider that this is a pattern that always happens as God's kingdom advances. There's persecution as the immediate sign right before that kingdom advancing So for example the cross greatest persecution against the Son of God himself, and that is right before he Rises from the dead and is Declared to be the Son of God.

He is his throne is firmly established that he is as said on the cross king of the Jews. Then in Acts they experience a great persecution and they are scattered and that is what makes the gospel Go out to the nations then you have what I believe is prophesied in Scripture once again in Revelation the ending of that Roman Empire as it is persecuting Christians and the new Roman Empire after Diocletian with a Toleration of Christianity and what happens right before that the the worst persecution that Christians had faced during that era under Diocletian and Then the kind of persecution that happened right before the Reformation and all these things are Were great, but they were not Widespread throughout the whole earth because the gospel has not gone throughout the whole earth.

Well now as the gospel has gone much further and Continues to go further as Christ continues to tarry and permit his kingdom to grow more. There will be an even greater kind of persecution just before that final Manifestation of his kingdom just as there was before Christ Took the throne as he rose from the dead as there was just before the gospel went out to the Gentiles just as there was right before the Church was permitted to grow much more with the toleration that happened after Diocletian much more Than there was at the Reformation where there's great persecution that precedes it, but then The church advances with the greater gospel clarity that will happen again, and it will happen in greater measure.

This is the.

This is.

The pattern that is happening and it is something that demonstrates that the end is actually here. That is what you should be Looking for in terms of preparing yourself for the final end when Jesus is saying look for something.

That is what you should be looking for.

Preparing for Persecution with Endurance and Prudence

Now.

Think about the ways that this prepares you okay the Rather than focused on War and other things where you're kind of checking out focused on persecution Requires a checking in it requires a higher level of engagement because you were going to face such things.

You aren't going to just be you know. Like those who believe in the preacher of rapture, right? Just whisked away before any of it happens and you don't have to face any of the persecution etc and so you can just kind of.

Now I know not everybody practices this but what it implies is a level of coasting that you can do During the Sarah as the end comes because you're just going to be whisked out of it. But if you are facing Persecution then you need to prepare yourself for that persecution.

He is Giving you a confidence that you can face that fearlessly now. It is very ironic because you would think well, isn't that far more reason to fear if we're gonna face great? Persecution. Listen to what he had said here in Luke 21 He says that some of you they will put to death and then the next verse verse 18, but not a hair of your head.

Will perish.

Wasn't that ironic or or surprising or paradoxical that? Some will die but not a head of their hair will perish. He's ensuring that they will have Eternal life that they will ultimately be raised again that they they will not suffer any real harm, even though they may die.

So he assures them of the ultimate life that they have. He tells them of the unknown so that it doesn't have to remain unknown. And Then also in assuring them that his disciples that they will face persecution He prepares them to go forward with it.

Resolve. If you have Difficulty that you don't have to face Then your primary anxiety is about not facing that difficulty. If you have a difficulty that you must face It takes away that anxiety of trying to avoid it.

You go into it with a level of resolve and this is something that others have recognized before the Stoics. Had a had a whole philosophy around this. I want to read a couple of quotes because I think it's it's helpful to think about how other people have thought about this even If they're not being led by scripture.

This is just kind of a natural truth that preparing for difficulty is helpful when the difficulty is coming. They called this pre meditatio malorum, right. The idea of pre meditating the evils that you will experience.

Seneca said that the unexpected blows of fortune Fall the heaviest. And is that not what Jesus says that he tells them about all the persecution so that they will endure. He says That repeatedly to them Marcus Aurelius.

Said.

Say to yourself first thing in the morning today. I shall meet people who are meddling ungrateful aggressive aggressive treacherous malicious unsocial.

Right, there's a.

There is something that's helpful about preparing yourself for the difficulties that you will face.

Now.

Christ is telling you that you will face persecution as the church as a whole corporately there will be this great persecution at the end. But even you and this life must face persecution and by telling you this He's doing several things.

One. He's committing himself to you in friendship. He has said that we're not just his servants, but we are his friends so that he tells us of what his plans are and he is preparing you for the difficulties that are to come that you may build may be able to face them with joy with resolve.

And while the Other aspects are coming right while the the wars etc. You can face that with endurance and prudence not being.

Overly.

Excited by any of that there is reason to look at all this and be encouraged in what is happening because ultimately it is a Communication of the gospel. Now consider this the What is the gospel the gospel is that?

God's wrath is upon all mankind because of sin. Okay. What is what do all these different signs represent? They represent the wrath of God. A few passages. I neglected to mention earlier. Consider these.

Jeremiah 14 12 Though they fast I will not hear their cry though. They offer burnt offering and grain offering. I will not accept them, but I will consume them my sword famine by pestilence. Right judgment wrath judgment.

Ezekiel 50. Ezekiel 14 21 for thus says the Lord God how much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment. Sword famine wild beast and pestilence to cut off from it man and beast.

Ezekiel 38 19 for in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare on that day There shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. Okay, all these things. Representing judgment. There's a wrath of God on all mankind now.

You could.

Experience those things as.

A.

Condemnation on yourself. And many people do they they ask questions like where is God and all his suffering, right? Etc. And what that implies is that they don't understand the nature of his wrath. It is particularly while it is on the world in general that his people are spared from that.

And so what he is communicating is that while the word is under judgment that his people Do not experience these things as wrath. They experience this knowing that they are going to be saved because it is by his wrath on the world that he saves his people.

His salvation happens through judgment. That is what you read repeatedly throughout the Old Testament is As the people await judgment on the nation so that they can be saved. So it is with us that that judgment that is coming on the whole world Ultimately saves his people.

It is a communication of the gospel itself that in Christ You are spared so that you can face all these things if you have trusted in Christ Jesus if you have If you have received his forgiveness Knowing that he is the only Savior.

You can experience all these Cataclysms that the world faces knowing that while they are difficulties for you. They're not wrath on you. Okay. Now the the one problem is that you experience them and you think of them as wrath.

The other False interpretation would be that you think you will avoid them altogether. Now, how would that be a problem? Well, that would be a problem because What the gospel describes is not just some kind of arbitrary Christless salvation where we're where we're spared difficulty and there's not a Benefit that's communicated in the person of Jesus Christ himself.