Kingdom Principle: What might we expect from the future? Will it always be easy for the church? Is it easy now for the church? Jesus foretells of a time when the church will suffer persecution. And in those days, our encouragement ought to be the imminent coming of our Redeemer.
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The ________________________ of All Earthly Things
Luke 21:6 (ESV) — 6 “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.”
The whole of the outer works of the temple was in the highest degree worthy of admiration; for it was completely covered with gold plates, which, when the sun was shining on them, glittered so dazzlingly that they blinded the eyes of the beholders not less than when one gazed at the sun’s rays themselves. And on the other sides, where there was no gold, the blocks of marble were of such a pure white that to strangers who had never previously seen them (from a distance) they looked like a mountain of snow.
The Destruction of the temple is a sign of the impermanence of this world, but it is not the final event. One day everything as we know it will be swept away, but one thing will remain.
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The ________________________ Return of Christ
Luke 21:9 (ESV) —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.” [immediately]
Matthew 24:1–3 (ESV) — 1 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus describes the destruction of the temple and then moves to the time of the end and then back to the destruction of the temple and then back to the time of the end.
Luke 21:9–10 (ESV) — 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.
Luke 21:24–25 (ESV) — 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,
We can also tell these two events apart by the localized language of Jesus when he describes the destruction of the temple, but the globalized language when he describes the events at his second coming.
Acts 1:11 (ESV) — 11 and said, “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.” (that is on a cloud)
There will be a time beloved when the church will suffer an onslaught of persecution that was merely portended by the persecution of the early church.
Mark 13:9–13
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The ________________________ of Not Losing Heart
Luke 21:34–36 (ESV) — 34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Don’t fall asleep as if you don’t have hope in the life to come.
