Sermon Tone Analysis

The Signs of the End Times

Luke 21: 5 – 19 NIV

Introduction:

Good morning Church.

Well didn’t the youth do a great job leading us in worship today.

The youth actually held a youth service on Friday night and very willingly agreed to lead us today in worship.

I am so glad that they did.

Well done team and thanks Haley.

Now, I heard reports from a few (and I was there too and I’d agree) that Friday night was their best Youth church service ever!

I’ll just change that a little to “best so far!”

They just keep getting better and better.

Now in my rush to thank the youth for doing today’s worship, I didn’t welcome our online visitors, guests and family yet either.

Thankyou so much for joining with us today online, on-time or on demand.

Now for some, I know that there is very good reason to still be careful about staying away due to the covid outbreak here in Tassie, but if you are staying home just because it is easier or more convenient, church, can I please encourage you to not forsake the gathering together, especially as the end day approaches… Brother, Sister, Church is better when you’re here and you are you too.

The fire of our relationship with God stays hotter when it is in fireplace with the other embers, kept burning by the other coals and surrounded by the flame.

When we get isolated, well we grow cold and we actually become easy targets for the enemy of our souls.

I am glad that we have the online capability though – because, so many do get to join us and catch up when they might have been away on holiday, working shift work or in covid lockdown and isolation.

Well, today’s text and topic is one that many pastors prefer to avoid (I’d probably like to also ‘cause it can be a hot topic – but we need to know what we believe and why we believe what we believe about the end of days and Christs return.)

This is a big topic and I am going to have to return to this chapter after Easter for the second message in this mini-series.

I wonder if those of us who are able might stand as I read this passage today from Luke 21: 5 – 19.

When the reading is complete, I would ask you to close with the words “this is the word of the Lord” before we sit back down.

Let’s read it today

5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God.

But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen?

And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived.

For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’

Do not follow them.

9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened.

These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”

10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you.

They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.

13 And so you will bear testimony to me.

14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.

15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.

17 Everyone will hate you because of me.

18 But not a hair of your head will perish.

19 Stand firm, and you will win life.

Together - This is the Word of the Lord!

• I said before that many avoid end times teaching!

I don’t want to avoid it and neither do I want to camp around it.

It is an area that brings a lot of Christians to arguments about interpretations and about timelines and what has to happen first.

But the second problem, the one of ignoring it does nothing to help us be ready for the fact that Christ will return and that some signs are foretold to let us know that we are to prepare.

I mentioned before, and it comes from the book of Hebrews, the encouragement to keep meeting together is because of the danger of losing faith during the times of persecution, of tribulation and of the Antichrist.

Scripture does not say things because they are a suggestion or just a good idea so that it really doesn’t matter if we ignore it or not.

No, This is the word of the Lord.

It is to be heard, believed and obeyed.

I thank God for His grace whenever I fail to keep his perfect standard, but hopefully day by day I am being changed more and more into his likeness and become less and less of a sinner!

Yes – I, like so many of us still have a long way to go.

• End Times teaching has often been avoided because there had been an over emphasis on it and many errors were taught as fact in the past!

So many end times teachers had their charts and their slides and could tell you everything about who the antichrist was and some even dared to tell us when Jesus would return!

The Bible does not give us this information but it does give us signs to look out for.

By the way, Christians have been doing this throughout the centuries.

(There is nothing new under the sun).

I remember reading a book by Spurgeon where he tells people to ignore those who were calling Napoleon the Antichrist.

They did the same thing with Hitler, with Kissinger and many other leaders throughout the ages.

The truth is, they were often antichrists but they were not the Antichrist.

• So the first thing that I want us to see is that in Biblical prophecy, there is often Historical context and fulfillment!

This is certainly true with the temple and the stones that were thrown down off of one another in AD 70.

Yes, the building, that glorious temple built by Herod and only finally finished a few years before its destruction was torn down after the Roman soldiers had set it on fire and as they sought to recover any gold from between the stones.

This prophesy or fore-telling by Jesus was so accurately relayed in Luke’s Gospel.

And it was fulfilled about 40 years later.

Because of that, I think that it should make us pay attention to the remainder of what he said!

Don’t you?

This is the word of our Lord!

These are the words that he told us and to watch and pray so that we would be ready!

• Are we watching?

What should we be watching for?

8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived.

For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’

Do not follow them.

Number one, we need to watch so that we don’t get deceived.

Deceived by false doctrine?

Yes partly.

Deceived by false teachers?

Yes – that is true too.

And specifically by false Messiahs.

Since the time of Jesus – there have been many false messiahs come and say that they are he!

They clearly are not!

We can see by their lifestyle and by their strange teachings that this is not the case but many people do get deceived.

Let’s look at a bit of history.

Not long before the time of Jesus there had been a man named Theudas who claimed to be the messiah.

We hear about him and how the uprising had died out after his death in Acts 5:36.

Something similar had also happened in 160 – 167 BC with the Maccabean revolt.

Then another one happened after Jesus with a man called Bar Kokhbah around AD 132.

When he led a rebellion against Rome and was killed for it.

But even in the days of Jesus, Barabbas, the man released instead of Jesus was likely a pretender to the deliverer mantel.

The Kingly Messianic expectation that the Jewish people had, meant that the Jews were looking for a king, they were looking for a deliverer and there were plenty of people ready to follow almost anyone who looked even remotely like that vision of Messiah.

Later over the years, we’ve seen this morph into false religion – with many in the early centuries following false teachers and heretics.

Mystery religions and Gnosticism were proposing many different ideas that many people followed.

The Apostle John wrote in 1 John a way to identify who was truly a Christian teacher and who were spreading a certain type of heresy.

They must declare that Jesus had come in the flesh.

Yes, that Jesus was fully man as well as fully God.

This counteracted one of the early heresies that said that Jesus the Man died but the Christ Spirit which they said came on him at baptism, lifted off the physical person at death.

Such a teaching fits with the heretical beliefs of the gnostics that matter was evil and that the spiritual was perfect.

This is one reason why the bible makes such a big deal about Bodily resurrection.