Then, After And Now

All right, turn with me to Luke, Luke 21. Luke 21. Let's read the passage together, beginning in verse 25, Luke 21, 25, to the end of the chapter. Our Lord, speaking to his disciples, says, and there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars and upon the earth, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.

For the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. And he spake to them a parable, Behold the fig tree, and all the trees, when they now shoot forth, you see, and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled. heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. And in the day time he was teaching in the temple, and at night he went out and abode in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives. And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple for to hear him.

Now, there's three things that I want to bring out in regards to this passage here. The first is its immediate application to the disciples that were there at that time hearing our Lord speak. The second has its eye looking at the meaning of this at that great and final day, in the end. And then the third application is what it means to us in our day, to our generation in our day. So those three things, I've titled it then, after, and now, because we'll just go in that order there. So the first thing that we draw from this passage is that our Lord's words were applicable to the disciples that were then hearing him speak. This held meaning for them at that time. Look at verse 31 and then 32.

When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. And what occurred here is that our Lord's kingdom was firmly established by our Lord at his crucifixion and resurrection. It was established then, and it was made very clear that Christ is Lord of all when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD and the temple torn down. It was made clear that the sacrifices were ended and that the Lord had left them desolate. They were left desolate. The power and glory of God was in the preaching of the gospel, which went out to the Gentiles then in great power and in great glory. at that time, and it was very clear. Verily, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled.

And so certainly the signs and the fear of men would be seen and felt when they witnessed, when they came to that point, and Titus of the Roman army surrounded Jerusalem, they knew and could think of what the Lord had said. and they came in there and destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple then in 70 AD. Now, these signs that our Lord describes, they began to be witnessed immediately when our Lord was crucified. These things began to come to pass immediately when our Lord was crucified.

Turn over to Matthew 27. Matthew 27. And let's go to verse 45 to begin. Matthew 27 and verse 45, we're told that from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. So typically the Jews would count their time from 6 a.m. was about the rising of the sun, around 6 a.m., and so the sixth hour would be noon to the third hour, which would be 3 p.m. So from noon to 3 p.m. there was darkness over all the land. Drop down to verse 50. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain, or in two, from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent. There was an earthquake. There was a shaking of the earth at that time. And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection. and went into the holy city and appeared unto many. Now, when the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly saying, truly, this was the Son of God." And so this aligns with what our Lord said in Matthew 24 and in Luke 21 and Mark 13. It aligns with what he said, that there would be earthquakes in diverse places.

There was earthquakes right there, right in the beginning. These signs began to come to pass because as we saw the last time, we're in the latter days, we're in the end times. Since our Lord came, this whole time is called the end days, the end of days, the end of the time, the end of the age, right? This is all taking place here. And so these signs began to come to pass immediately.

And when they did, the words of the Lord would come back to their hearts. They would remember what he had said. They would be reminded of these things and encouraged in the Lord who called them, who revealed himself to them and told them of these things.

Likewise, all who persecuted Christ. When these things began to come to pass, they began to know, what have we done? What have we done? We have put to death the Christ whom the Father sent. And they would know, and they would be terrified at what they had done, especially when they saw Rome come in and destroy everything and scatter them to the four corners of the earth. Every time that the Lord did that, angry with them and sent them off away, to be carried away by the nations and destroy their temple. And here the Lord did it again. To ignore it is just to ignore it, to be willfully ignorant of what the Lord had done.

And so the fact that our Lord's words were relevant to his disciples then is significant to us today. Because rather than say there's nothing for us today, it affirms that His words hold relevance in every generation. They hold meaning to every generation since our Lord came and rose again, having accomplished our redemption. And so there's yet a future fulfillment of these words for us. And this is our second point with the eye towards that great and final day when our risen and ascended Christ shall come again just as he promised.

He shall return. Our Lord Jesus Christ is coming. He says at the end of Revelation, behold, I come quickly. Amen is what the scripture says, even so come quickly. Lord Jesus. And so that's a hope, that's a good hope which is given to the church, to the brethren who look for his appearing, who look for his coming. We rejoice in that. We believe our Lord. It's declared in Revelation 1-7, Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen. And so we agree with the Lord's coming, knowing that he's going to judge the earth and all the works that are therein. and he's going to bring an accounting of it.

If our heart is with the Lord, we look for his coming. We rejoice at the thought of our Lord coming. It's not a terrifying time for us. It's a joyful time for us who see the weakness throughout this world, the corruption that's in our own hearts and in this world, and we rejoice at his coming who makes all things new. And so his return is yet coming, and when he does, every eye shall see him more clearly than they do now. Those who have heard and rejected and denied and don't care about it, it'll be undeniable then, and they'll see him clearly.

And all kindreds of the earth, we're told, shall wail because of him. That's how unmistakable his coming shall be. Now, looking back in Luke 21, in verse 27 and 28, then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh. And so all that the scriptures declare shall be at his return, it shall be. It shall be. You can count on it.

As best as we can gather and understand it, it shall be something as when the Lord comes, we're told that the dead in Christ shall rise first. And Paul goes on to say, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. And at that point from the scriptures, we'll return with the Lord immediately. We'll return with the Lord to the earth where he shall judge the earth and make all things right.

He shall destroy this earth and make all things new, a new heavens and a new earth, after which, and I'm not saying it's precisely in this order, but as far as I can tell in reading the scriptures, then there shall be a judgment of the dead who are yet in the grave, which is described as the great white throne judgment, and after which his saints will dwell with him forever and ever. Satan and hell and the grave and everything is thrown into the eternal lake of fire will be with our Lord forever. And a new heavens and a new earth. And so that seems to be the order of these things. Either way, we know whatever shall be, the Lord's gonna do it. And he's gonna do it right, brethren. And we can take confidence and rest in him. We can believe him and trust him to do all things well.

And so the point then here is that all living, all on the earth at that time will see his coming, men's hearts failing them for fear. Why are they so fearful? Well, because they're looking at all these things that are coming to pass upon the earth. They're seeing fearful sights and are afraid. They're worried because they're not ready.

Their eyes weren't on Christ. They didn't care for him. They weren't looking for him. He meant nothing to them before them. And so now their whole world is turned upside down at his appearing. They're ruined. They're destroyed. Everything that they set their heart on is taken away. And when he comes, his enemies shall be made his footstool. because he's right now seated on the throne of heaven, expecting till his enemies be made that, made his footstool. And so it shall all come to pass at his coming.

The difference then in our Lord's second coming is that when he comes again, he's not coming in his humiliation. When he came the first time in the flesh, to suffer as the servant of God, suffering for his people. A man despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief from whom we hid our face as it were. We hid from him, he was despised and we esteemed him not. Well, when our Lord comes, that's no more.

He's not coming in his humiliation, he's coming as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. to whom the Father gave all things and committed everything into his hands, to save his people, to bless his redeemed chosen people given to him by the Father when he purchased them with his own blood on the cursed tree, to put away our sin forever and to give us an expected end, a glorious end with him in our inheritance. He is our inheritance and we as his, We shall be with him and see him and know him as he is and rejoice with our Lord in that day. He's not coming again to suffer. He comes as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Philippians says that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, because that gives glory to the Father, because the Father chose him. The Father committed everything for our salvation, for our well-being, for our profit, for our good, for our eternal good, committed it all to Christ, who provided everything. abundantly, freely, gloriously, all by His grace. And those who love this world and the way of this world, you can understand it will be a most terrifying thing in that day when they see Him coming in the clouds with great glory. But to those who love his coming, to those who look for it, it shall be a day of rejoicing.

Set your heart on that. Set your heart on Christ. Look for him. Don't set your heart on your kingdom here and laying up for yourselves here in earthly things, which can all be taken away in an instant. All right, and it all gets burned up. It all goes away.

Verse 28, when these things begin to come to pass, Then look up and lift up your heads without shame, without fear, for your redemption draweth nigh. Your hope and confidence is the Lord's bringing it to pass. He's showing you that you are justified for your hope in him. You are justified. He declared it and your heart received it. He blessed it to you, gave it to you by his grace and power with his spirit. communicating that in life and in power to your hearts. Now of that verse, look up and lift up your heads, your redemption draws nigh.

Mark records that verse, that same verse in this manner, Mark 13, 27, saying, and then shall he send his angels and shall gather together his elect from the four winds from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. And that's because the sheep of our Lord must be gathered. They must be gathered together to him. Reading of this in 2 Peter 3, 9 and 10, it's Peter writes of these things in this manner, saying, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, right? He's not lazy, he's not forgotten, he's not being careless with these things, but is long suffering to usward. to his chosen sheep, elect of God, given to Christ. He is long-suffering to us, word.

All right, that we should all be gathered together in our generations when he calls us, when he brings us forth and then calls us in his grace and mercy and salvation of the Lord. He's not willing that any of us should perish, but that all should come to repentance. but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. We don't expect when the thief will come, we don't know when the thief comes, otherwise we'd be watching for him. But when he comes, it'll be as that, as a thief in the night, unexpectedly, when you're least aware of it, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

And so our Lord promises, before that day comes, all my sheep will be gathered to me. They're mine. I lead them out. They're my sheep because none shall be lost. As our Lord said, other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must gather. And he's gathering them together right now to this day through the preaching of the gospel and the giving of the Holy Spirit that makes these words alive in your heart. that reveals Christ to you and reveals your need of Him to you. And for you to see in Him, He's everything I need. He's all my righteousness, all my salvation, all my hope, all my inheritance. He's everything and we're happy. We're glad for that because He is all.

And all we've given up is this dead world of dead things. That is that we've not set our hearts on it, and not our hope in it. We know it's coming to an end, it's passing away. And that's okay, because we have a lasting inheritance. We have our Lord, our God, our Savior. Paul said it this way in 2 Thessalonians 2, 1, says, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. That's what shall be when our Lord comes. We are gathered now to him through the preaching of the gospel, and when he returns, we shall be gathered to him to be forever with the Lord and to see his judging of the earth, to be with him when he does that.

Now, the scriptures tell us that the days shall wax more and more evil. In 2 Timothy 3, verses 1-5, Paul tells Timothy, this know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves. And just listen to this and just think about the things that we hear regularly and know of that occur. Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, they can't control themselves, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, even having, well it just says having a form of godliness, right? What I'm saying is, yeah, even some of these have a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turn away.

Now, as I was reading on this verse, you read the commentators from the 16th century, the 17th century, you know, the 18th, you read them, they're saying, we see this in our day. We see this in our day and we see it also. And it just seems to wax worse and worse and more bold and more pronounced than it was yesterday. It just, it all continues. In every generation, we see the truth of our Lord's words.

And these things are said not to make you afraid. and to make you fearful. The worst thing we could do is withdraw and try and escape these things and go out to an island or in the middle of nowhere to escape these things. That's not why our Lord tells us. That's not going to help us or save us from the evil in our own hearts by nature. It's not gonna deliver us from that.

And this begins our third point here. What is the application of these words for us in our day? Because we don't know if the Lord's returning in our day. This could go on for a long time, right? And as we've seen recently, our salvation isn't in when he comes or laying up for that end day, that final day, it's in who you know.

Your salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ who's revealed himself to you in grace and power and turned your eyes and heart from this fallen world from trusting in it and laying up and building your kingdom in it to looking to Christ and finding you're all in him who's blessed forevermore. Amen. So these things are given to us because we are to be looking for our Lord's return who promised that he shall come. Look at Luke 21 verses 34 and 35. He says, take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting.

And what that means is overindulgence, right? In food and in drink and in the things of this world. Don't be consumed with the pleasures of this world and drunkenness and cares of this life. And so that day come upon you unawares. It doesn't mean that you can't enjoy a nice milestone, anniversaries, birthdays, have nice things and enjoy them. That's not what our Lord is saying here. What he's saying there is, but don't let this be the aim and the focus of your life. Don't set your heart on these things and the cares of this life and be consumed with it because this life is very consuming.

Every one of us whose hope is in Christ knows how consuming and occupying this world can be in our own hearts. Even though we know these things, we see and feel the grip of these things and more pronounced at various times. Why? Because as a snare shall it, the coming of the Lord, come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Everyone will be impacted by his coming. Every one of us.

So the question for us today is, where do my affections lie? What is my hope? What is my pursuit? What is my love? What am I seeking in this world? because it's so easy to get caught up in the way of this world from which we've been delivered, right?

You who are quickened, that were dead in trespasses and sins. Right, Paul says, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world. It's very easy to walk according to the course of this world under the power of the prince of the air, the prince of the power of the air. And it's very easy to just get caught up and go along with that spirit, which is working in the hearts of the disobedient who don't believe and don't trust the Lord at all. And so that course of the world It's like a dog returning to its mom, just going back to that.

And we've all done it. I've done it. We've all been taken up and consumed with the things of this world and the cares of this life that take over like weeds that choke out a plant that would otherwise be fruitful. Uh, yesterday I was, I looked out back and Michelle was working out in the back. She was doing some weeding and we just had this one weed that's in between my fence and my neighbor's fence. And there's this weed that started somewhere, my side or his side. I don't know where it came from, but it's like this Ivy type thing.

And it just consumes. And I've tried to get rid of it, because it goes into my garden beds where I don't want it to be, and it just cruises. And I lifted it up the dirt one time, and it was a whole network, a whole network of roots. thick as a finger, to mid-size, to little, and no matter what I take out, it always seems to just come back. If you miss one little piece, it just works from that and comes forth. And what it does is it just twists around and it chokes out other plants that would otherwise be fruitful, so that they die. And that's when I saw Michelle out there ripping that stuff out and trying her best to get rid of it. And what is that like? That's like the cares of this life. It just keeps coming back.

It just keeps coming in and it twists around and wraps around and it consumes. It's very consuming and it reminds us of that parable that our Lord gave of the parable of the sowing of the seed. When he said, and that which fell among thorns are they, which when they have heard go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring forth no fruit to perfection. Before it can bring forth fruit in abundance, it gets choked out and dies. All right, it's just like that.

And men, and ourselves included, willing to allow ourselves to be caught up in these cares of life that, and he tells us, don't be. because otherwise that day will come upon you unawares, right? Suddenly, that great and final day comes, because we don't know when it comes, or even when calamity strikes, right? Because that happens from time to time, and we're so far out of the way that it just hits with greater impact because our eyes have been on this world, and it all gets consumed and taken away suddenly. And we find, well, my heart's just suffocating, being choked by the weeds of this world, the cares and the riches of this world. That's not where we want to find ourselves. And our Lord graciously tells us these things.

And then, you know, at that point, what do you do? You go to where you buried that pound, which the Lord gave, and you pull it up and you unwrap the napkin and you say, here, Lord, behold, here's the pound that you gave me. I've kept it laid up in a napkin. Well, what good was that? All right, what good is laying up that which the Lord has given to us in a napkin?

It's not profitable there. It brings forth no fruit, right? What he's saying is put that gospel pound, invest it, use it in the kingdom, all right? Give yourself your time, your resources, your prayers, what you have to the kingdom, right? To serve the Lord in the church and your brethren, to love them, to care for them, to pray for them. That's a good use because that's fruit. That's fruitful unto the praise and glory of the Lord. Paul said it this way in another place, walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit, right?

And we can't do that. I don't know how to do that, but he does. And so we seek him for his grace. Lord, have mercy. Lord, keep my heart. Lord, don't let me fall away because we would, right? We can't do it even knowing it. We don't even know how to stop or prevent these things, but we know that he is able and very merciful, very gracious. very patient and long-suffering, and so he gives us these words because his word does reach the heart. It does reach good ground, prepared of his spirit to hear it, to receive it, and to say, Lord, have mercy. I love you, Lord. Keep me. Keep me. Don't let me fall away. because we see it in us, but that's a good thing. That's what he does for the living who do care, who don't just dismiss his word and care nothing for it. You do care because you do love the Lord and he's given this to you so that you see these dangers in this flesh. And so it's for your good, not to scare you, but to keep you looking to the Lord and coming back to him always, always.

He says there now in verse 25 and 26 of Luke 21, he said, there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars and upon the earth, the stress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring. And so these signs are in every generation, again, to direct our hearts to the Lord, because we see all of creation groaning and crying until now, travailing until now, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, right?

At the Lord gathering us together to himself. Men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. Meaning, our Lord is sovereign. All of creation is at His disposal, and He brings forth these things to pass for the gathering of His people, for their good.

He shakes these things, the things of the flesh, the things that are carnal, He shakes these things in us to remove them, so that what remains cannot be shaken. I mean, when the Lord comes, You can imagine in the flesh what a terrifying sight that would be.

But you that are his won't be shaken by it. You'll see him and rejoice because you shall see him as he is. And he's prepared us for these things. And so when he shakes you, let it be shaken now that what remains is unshakable. Your hope and confidence in Christ. who gives you his word, who blesses you, who feeds you and nourishes you, and promises, I've provided everything you need. Everything you need is found in me. You just keep looking to me, he says.

And so the Lord has not forsaken his people. He's not left his people in darkness. He's given you the gospel of what our Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished for us. He is our hope. He's our confidence with the Lord. He's all our acceptance of the Lord and he's given us the Holy Spirit whereby we are born again and our hearts are set upon our Lord. The Spirit testifying to the truth of these things in our own heart and reveals them to us in grace and power. And so the things we see are just to remind us, don't set your heart on these things, set your heart on him. Set your heart on the Lord.

He says, verse 33 and 35 through 35, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be charged with that surfing, that overindulgence, and that looking after these things, right? Full of the cares of this life, for as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. These words are meant to shake our confidence in the flesh and our confidence in the world. They are meant to shake that.

And I believe the Lord gives us tribulations, various afflictions, weaknesses and infirmities and difficulties that all have that gracious effect of stripping us of vain confidences and just filling up in the things of the world, but they do work to keep us humble and in need of him who is everything to his people.

It's good. Those providences are good when they drive you to the feet of Christ. That's a good thing that the Lord does for us. And so he says, watch ye therefore and pray always, verse 36, that ye be, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man, which is given to you that believe Christ, that trust him for all your righteousness. The apostle John says, and now little children abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. And so he tells us this because he loves his people.

He's gathering his people together to himself in grace and in mercy. And we see that demonstrated in the last two verses of this text, verse 37 and 38. And in the daytime, he was teaching in the temple. And at night he went out and abode in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives. And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple for to hear him." All right, that's a good example for us. Hear the Lord, stay upon the Lord, seek him because he's all our salvation, all our righteousness, all our glory, all our inheritance. So I pray the Lord bless that word to our hearts.

Then, After And Now

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