Part 1
“7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” 8 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. 9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name's sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives. 20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 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, 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 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. 24 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. 25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:7-28 (ESV)
For nearly 2,000 years we have been proclaiming the return of Jesus Christ. From the moment in Acts 1:11 when the angels proclaimed: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” up to this very day, we have publicly and boldly proclaimed that Jesus will return.
However, as the years have passed since His ascension into Heaven, the Body of Christ has become lackadaisical regarding His return. Each successive generation losing more and more of the urgency of His soon return as is witnessed by each generation’s lack of commitment to evangelizing the lost.
It has become in the minds of many a spiritual fairytale or conspiracy theory. I was recently watching a History Channel program about Doomsday Scenarios. On this particular program they discussed multiple scenarios: asteroids, plague, solar flare, and nuclear destruction; curiously, however, the return of Christ was not among their possibilities of how things might play out at the end of the age. I worry that is the case, as well, with many people who claim to believe the Word of God.
As a body of believers we have become disengaged regarding His coming and while we are limping towards towards Christ’s return, it is racing towards us.
Perhaps you have thought, if we just knew when He was coming then we would know when to start living for Him. If we just knew when He was coming we could get serious about evangelism. His disciples, too, wanted to know when it was all going to take place. They wanted to know what specific sign to look for that would point to His soon return. Yet, rather than give a date and time or point to a specific sign, Jesus describe the conditions to be watching for that would accompany His coming. He told them in Luke 21:28:
“Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
This would be the turning point. When those things we see here in Luke 21 begin to take place we will be racing towards the return of Christ.
Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
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