23 Jan

11/25/18       LUKE 21:5-19       “I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT!”

When I first looked at today’s Scripture, I began to look for alternate readings right away.  I didn’t want to preach on the end times.  The first one I looked at was warnings against idleness and I didn’t want to preach on that either.  The second was another on the end times.  So I stopped and thought a little.  It took a while to get this slow old brain working, but I figured that Jesus wanted me to talk about the end times here in Luke.  So I was right back where I started.  Anyway, today I would like to take a look at what Jesus says about the end times and try to focus on what we should be doing.

Several years ago we sat down and watched a DVD of Chuck Swindoll leading a Bible study.  I just love this guy.  He is a renowned preacher on radio, the internet and television plus a teacher who is brilliant and very down to earth.  I would suggest you look him up and give him a listen.  He is very good.  Anyway, somewhere during the lesson he told the story of how he was on jury duty once.  He said that he had been called many times but that he had always been dismissed.

This time the case was about a young lady who had her 4^th drunk driving violation, had an accident and injured someone.  Her lawyer was some slick guy in a bright colored suit.  One would never think of him as a lawyer but maybe as a con man.

Anyway they are in the jury selection process and this lawyer addresses the pool of about 25 or 30 perspective jurists.  He asked, “Does anyone have a problem with what my client may have done?”  Swindoll’s hand went up immediately but he was all alone.  But Swindoll was undaunted and stood his ground because he did have a problem with someone injuring someone else while intoxicated.  There is a problem here.  As a matter of fact the problem extends into our everyday life but we won’t go there today.

Finally the slick lawyer let it go and moved on to the next question, “Does anyone here have a problem with the least penalty?”   Chuck’s hand went up again and he asked, “Just what is the least penalty?”

The lawyer replied $1.  Once again Chuck’s hand shot up and he was once again all by himself.  He said, “I have a problem if she is found guilty and her fine being only $1.  I have a problem with that.”  Needless to say he was then dismissed from duty.  I would have a problem with this also.  This is just plain wrong.

Anyway there are other two problems in this story.  The first problem is with a broken legal system that everyone knows is broke except the lawyers.  I apologize to any lawyers out there but you should know that most Americans know there is a problem in your profession.  And the second problem is with our broken society in which a man like Chuck Swindoll is the only person to raise his hand.  He is the only one who stood up for his principles.  And this is what Jesus is telling us today.  We have to stand up for Jesus and what is right.  People will hate us for this but this is our job.

As we look at today’s reading we find that this is the longest sermon that Jesus gives on the end times.  We will look at the 1^st half of this dialogue today.  This is what some call the ‘Olivet Discourse.’  It begins with the disciples telling about what a beautiful temple they have.  It was absolutely grand.  Even at this time it after it had been rebuilt, it was a grand structure.  If it was still standing today, it would have to be one of the seven man made wonders of the world.

But Jesus would have none of it.  He tells them that the time will come when not one stone will be left of this huge structure.  This is almost unbelievable because the stones of the Temple were enormous and weighed many, many tons each.  And this will happen at 70 A.D.  Jesus is not specific about the date.  He does this so that he can address us as well as the disciples.

Now the disciples ask, “When will these things happen?  And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”  Now I have to be careful here because we could talk about this for the rest of the day.  I will try to highlight a couple of things.  First Jesus says that we are too watch out that we are not deceived.  It is important to note that He is not just talking about non- believers but believers, also.  We can all be deceived.  You have to be careful.

According to Pastor Roy Fowler there have been about 420 people who have claimed to be the Messiah since Jesus.  This is not something new.  Every generation has had to deal with these false prophets.  It may be a bit more noticeable now due to the improved communications but this has always been with us.

We can also see the falseness in the United Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church and all the rest of them including the Catholic Church.  Many of these organizations have decided that we have to make the Bible fit our society.  Does anyone here have a problem with this?  You should.  Our job is to get the society to fit with the Bible.  It is our job to stand up to these false teachings like Chuck Swindoll stood up in his jury duty.  It is ok to say, “I have a problem with this!”

Then He tells us that there will be wars and revolutions and not to be frightened.  These things must happen.  Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.  This too is not a new phenomenon.  A group of historians have figured that since 3600 BC we have had only 292 years of peace.  There were 14,351 wars during this time and 3.64 billion people have been killed.  World Vision figures that the world spends over $1 million every minute on military things.  These are staggering statistics.

Once again we have people telling us that because of so many wars and some specifically big wars that we are at the end times.  This may be true.  But it may also be true that we have a ways to go yet.  I am not convinced that we are definitely in the end times.  I have a problem with people telling me we are in the end times.

Then Jesus says that there will be great earthquakes, famines, pestilences, fearful events and great signs from heaven.  Once again we have many people telling us that the weather is worse as we have more hurricanes, floods and tornados than ever before.  We are told that the earthquakes are getting worse.  If we look at northern Africa we see famines that are horrendous.  The sad part of these famines is that, as a society, we do very little to help.  We, as a society, are more interested in the fact that some illegal immigrant doesn’t get into this country than the reason why he wants to come here in the first place.  Many of these families are coming here because they starving or they are being persecuted in their countries.  But we don’t want to see that.  I am getting a little off track here.

Anyway, these things will happen.  Maybe all of these things are getting worse, I don’t know.  But the one thing that I don’t hear a lot about is the great signs from heaven.  It tells us this right in verse 11.  We often read over this and we don’t notice it.  As a pastor I see great signs from heaven every day.  But outside of a church setting, people don’t want to hear about them.  Generally people don’t want to hear that something is a miracle from God.  They want a so-called logical explanation.  And I am not even sure that these things I see are the great signs that Jesus is talking about.  But I do have a problem with all of these naysayers running around telling us that the end is here.  There is too much Good News to talk about.  We do not have to dwell on all of these negative events.

And lastly Jesus tells us that before all this will happen we will be persecuted.  And this is happening all over the world right now.  That is why I will usually try to pray for the hurting and poor people every Sunday.  These are our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being maimed, tortured, starved and murdered because of their belief in Jesus Christ.  And we should be ready for this to happen in this country also because Jesus says it will happen.  He doesn’t say specifically that it won’t happen in the United States.  He makes a general statement that it will happen.  So we should be ready.

Quite some time ago, I had someone tell me that a television preacher had said that God had told this preacher that the United States was safe from destruction.  This may or may not be true.  God can and will do anything that furthers His purpose.  But I would question the person who said this to see if the man is indeed a prophet or is he just trying to please the masses or maybe trying to make an extra dollar.  I believe that there are certain characteristics that make a prophet and I would check to see if this person had any of them.  We have to be careful about the things we hear.  There is falseness all around us.

So what we have here is a pretty bleak picture.  And there is absolutely nothing that we can do about it.  This will happen.  We just don’t know when it will happen.  It may be starting right now or it may not be.  The one thing that we can usually be pretty sure about in reading a prophecy like this is that we will know it has happened after the fact, after it has happened.  If you look at the prophecies like this in the Bible, the people didn’t know they had occurred until after the events.  So what do we do?  This is the question of the day.

First of all, Jesus tells us to make up your mind not to worry how you will defend yourself.  Jesus will be right with you to give you the words and wisdom that you will need.  He is telling us that none of our enemies will be able to resist or contradict you if you put your trust in Him.  And this isn’t just for end times.  This is for any and all the time.

Jesus loves you so much that he will protect you.  He tells us that all people will hate us.  We will be betrayed by our families and our friends.  But not a hair of your head will perish.  We will gain our lives.  Take your Bibles and read verses 18-19.  Here is a promise written out so that we can all understand and believe.  It is absolutely crystal clear and you need to grab onto this all the time and not just the end times.

I would certainly hate to be anyone who is going against God’s people.  Their future is grim at best.  So if you haven’t confessed your sins and allowed Jesus into your life yet, then do so today.  The consequences are eternal.  The reward you will get is great, beyond anything that you can imagine.

Some today may think that they have a pretty good life here on earth.  Some may thrive on the challenges of trying to get more and more of things like money, power or prestige.  Here is something to think about.  You will never get enough.  We talked about this last week.  No matter what you do, you cannot get enough.  Jesus Christ is the only way to satisfaction.  I know.  I used to be looking for more money, friends, influence, etc.  I was always restless.  I could never get enough.  It wasn’t until I found Jesus that my cravings curtailed.  It wasn’t until I believed that not a hair on my head would perish, that I found happiness and satisfaction.  And the Good News is that everybody can have this satisfaction, everyone in the world.  You just have to believe-just believe!

There is a long story about a mobster out east somewhere who had done every kind of crime that you can imagine.  He was also filthy rich.  If he didn’t have something it was because he didn’t want it.  But no matter what he had or did, he found that he was not satisfied.  He had everything money could buy and it wasn’t enough.  To make a long story short, he held a pastor at gunpoint in Atlanta until 4 in the morning because he had thought that the pastor was singling him out.  In the end God singled him out and he has walked away from all his crime and riches and now is in the ministry.  He was one of the bad guys and now he is good.  He was once a Saul and now he is a Paul.  So I urge you not to give up praying for those who seem like they are hopeless.

As we close today I would like to encourage you not to be passive.  When you see a problem, then raise your hand and say, “I have a problem with that.”  Our world will be facing a lot of problems in the future.  Jesus told us that today.  We will see false prophets and disasters.  You should be having a problem with all of these things and you should make it known.  But the important part of this lesson is that God will be with you every step of the way if you only believe and follow Him.  He loves you so much that He has provided a way for you in the end times.  You will be safe.  Believe that and don’t take your eyes off of Him.  The reward is a goodness that we can’t imagine.  The reward is an eternity with Jesus.  I don’t know of anything that can top that.  Praise the Lord and thank you Jesus for first loving us.  Let’s pray.