I want to take a look this morning
at Luke 21 and touch on a few points here, verse 29 to verse
38 of Luke 21. Now, as I usually do, I tell
you the title of the message. And today is no different. The
title of the message is found and contained in the words that
are said in verse 36. Watch ye therefore and pray. Always, that you may be accounted
worthy, accounted worthy to escape all these things. Talking about
the wrath of God, the judgment of God that shall come. It shall
come to pass. That you may be accounted worthy
to escape the wrath of God, that you may be accounted worthy to
stand before the Son of Man. The point on the man wants to
die. After that, judgment. Everyone on top side of the face
of this earth must appear before God in judgment. Now, the question is this. Who is accounted worthy? Are
you accounted worthy? to escape the wrath of God and
to stand before God justified? Are you accounted worthy? I mean
you, me, us! Think about it, is it not? Now,
and here's the problem. How can any vile, guilty sinner
escape the judgment and holy wrath of God? How can I escape
that? Judgment's coming. Wrath is coming. The only way the Bible clearly
lays out for us is to be holy and without sin. That is, how holy do I need to
be? As holy as God. Preacher, are
you sure? How can that be possible? Only
one way, and that's to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, we read in the Revelation that Worthy is the Lamb to receive
all honor, glory, blessing, and power, both now and forever. You see, the only way I can stand
before the holy throne of God is to stand in Christ. A preacher, I think I'll just
stand there because I have so many good works, and he'll say,
oh, you've been such a good little boy, come on in. It ain't going
to work. None of us all have seen to come
short of the glory of God. The only way we can stand before
God is to be found in Christ. Now, Philippians 3, I quote this
nearly all the time, that is why we must be found in Him. Remember Paul's testimony? Count all things but loss. with
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, and
I count all those things but dung, ruin, rubbish, that I may
win Christ and be found in Him." Where do you want to be found
when the Lord comes back? He's coming back! Where do you
want to be found? I hope I'm not in the picture
show when He comes back. I hope I'm not down at the local
bar when He comes back. Where do you want to be found
when He comes back? In Christ. That's where I want to be found.
In the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want to carefully consider
the Lord's last words of His last public sermon, verse 29,
down through verse, I'm going to look at verse 38, in this
chapter, deals with, and it intermingles here, between the destruction
of Jerusalem that did happen, yesterday he said it would, in
70 AD, and the final destruction of the world when the Lord Jesus
Christ returns in all His splendor and glory. Now, verse 29, Behold,
he says, the parable, the parable, Remember the earthly story that
illustrates the heavenly truth? Behold the fig tree and even
all trees. When they now shoot forth, you
shall see and know of your own self that summer's just around
the corner. So likewise, when you see these things come to
pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is near at hand. Verily I say unto you that this
generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled. Heaven
and earth, it's gonna pass away. But my words, my words will never
pass away. His words are the decrees of
God. Now, when any fruit tree starts
to bring the flower in the spring, the bud, the fruit, you know
summer's close. So too, when you see all these
things being fulfilled in Holy Scripture, you know that the
end is near. Now, people will often ask, Preacher,
are we living in the last days? Absolutely. Absolutely. What are we to do to prepare
for that day? Well, better pay off your car. You better pay off all your debts.
You need to do those things to be prepared for that day. What
are we to do to be prepared for that day? Real simple. Real simple. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Everything else is tommy
rot. Tom foolery. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. What must I do to be saved? Don't
need to do anything. Believe on Christ. Now, look
at verse 32. Verily, truly, and what the word
verily means is truly, I say unto you, this generation shall
not pass away till all things be fulfilled. That was true of
those living in that generation. Those things the Lord said would
come to pass in the destruction of the temple and the city, those
things that He said would come to pass, you know what? It did. It did. Because, why did it come
to pass? Because God said so. He said
so. He said so. In every generation,
in any time in human history, everything God has decreed shall
come to pass in that generation before they pass away. That helped
me so much. The Lord gave me that. I've never
really wrapped myself around that verse. I know it's talking
about those in that generation, but it's also talking about you
in your generation. our children's generation, everything
God had decreed for every generation in human history, it shall come
to pass. Why? Because God said, I've spoken
it, I'll bring it to pass, I'll do it, saith the Lord. Isaiah 46. Now, look at verse
33. He says, heaven and earth, heaven
and earth is going to pass away, Heaven and earth are going to
pass away till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my word shall not. My word shall not pass away. Now God is faithful to his word.
God is faithful to every promise he has spoken. Every promise
he has spoken shall come to pass. We have these exceeding great
and precious promises God has given unto us. He made a lot
of promises. Every promise he has made shall
come to pass. Yes, heaven and earth is going
to pass away, but my word, my promise shall not pass away. We've been studying through the
book of Joshua, and we're going to be studying Joshua 23, Lord
willing, Wednesday night. But in Joshua 23, the last dying
words of this man, Joshua, he said, Behold, this day I'm going
away of all the earth, and you know, in all your hearts and
all your soul, not one thing hath failed of all the good things
which the Lord your God spake concerning you, all are come
to pass unto you, not one word has failed." When Solomon completed
the temple of God and at the dedication of the temple He said,
Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest unto his people Israel,
according to all that he hath promised, there hath not failed
one word of all his good promise. Every word spoken by the Lord,
every promise of salvation, the salvation of his people, shall
come to pass. Why? Because God said so. His word cannot fail because
God cannot fail. Everything he speaks, shall come
to pass because he said so. Now, you parents, when I had
little ones at home and I was a parent, we had three children.
Lord bless us with three beautiful children. But when I would instruct
my children, I would say, you do this, and you do that, and
you do this. And often children will say,
why? Why? And you know what you'd say?
What I'd say? And what you'd probably say?
Because I said so. I said so. Everything God says will come
to pass because He says so. He says so. You see, He has promised
to save sinners. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all exceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. How do we know that? He said
so. He said, I came to seek and to save that was lost. How do
we know that? He said so. He said, I didn't
come to call the righteous but sinners under repentance. Will
he do it? Yes, because he said so. Never
put a question mark on the Word of God. Everything he says in
this book, it is so. So. Drawing. It's by his Word
He said, My words will not pass away. It's by His word that the
Lord calls out sinners unto life. That's why He said, Go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes
and is baptized shall be saved. So we go preaching the word because
He said so. He said so. It's by the word
of the Lord that He quickens the dead. you hath he quickened
who were dead. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of the Lord. We're born again, not of a corruptible
seed, but of an incorruptible seed by the word of the Lord
that abides forever. You see, his word quickens us. The word of God is quick and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. It's by his word, it is
by his word that faith comes. Aren't you glad it doesn't pass
away? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of the
Lord. It's by His Word that He comforts
His people. It's by His Word that He comforts
His people. One of my favorite verses. Last
time we were flooded in 2010, someone sent me a little teeny
scrap of paper. I mean, it's not that big. I
got it taped to my computer. I look at it almost every day.
Psalm 5522, I don't even remember who sent it to me. Cast thy burden
upon the Lord, he shall sustain thee, he shall never suffer the
righteous to be moved. I've been looking at that verse
for almost, well, more than nine years. More than nine years. 2010, this is 2018. Eight years. Sorry about that.
My math is not good. It's by His Word that He comforts
us. Cast the burden upon the Lord.
Remember, He careth for you, Peter says. His Word comforts
us. He's a God of all comfort. Isaiah
40 says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, sayeth your God.
Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, crying to her that his warfare
is accomplished, that her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity
is pardoned, for she has received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. Our God is called the God of
comfort. Every promise exceeding great
and precious promise He's given to us shall be fulfilled. How
do we know that? He said so. I think I'm going
to get a message sometime entitled because He said so. He said so. This is also true of every word
of warning. It shall come to pass because
He said so. Every word of warning in His
holy word shall be fulfilled. His word of warning To punish
sin? Will God punish sin? Absolutely. Will God punish sin? I'll tell
you the greatest example of that. Behold the Lord Jesus Christ
as he's nailed on Calvary's tree with the sin of God's elect charged
to his account. Will God punish sin? Yep, wherever
he finds it. That's a warning. Will it come
to pass? Yes. Why? Because He says so.
God will judge the guilty. God will destroy this world.
Why? Because He said so. He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. His word shall never pass away,
because the Lord, our God, shall never pass away. He said, I'm
God. Beside me, there is no other.
He said, I'm the Lord. I change not. Therefore, ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. Psalm 119 says, forever, O Lord,
thy word is settled. The issue is settled. Whatever
the issue is, it's settled. Why? He said so. The Lord said, I'm the same yesterday,
today, and forever. The word of the Lord endureth
forever, and this is the word by which the gospel is preached
unto you. His word is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged
sword. Our Lord said this in John 6. It is the spirit that quickeneth
the flesh, prophets, nothing. The words that I speak to you,
they are spirit and they are life. You remember it said in
the word, no man spake like that man. He had the words of God
because he is God. His word was with power and they
were astonished at his doctrine for his word was with power.
His word is still quick and powerful. It's still sharper than any two-edged
sword. He says by his word that he operates
upon the heart when a surgeon operates upon you, you better
hope he's got a sharp sword. That's the way the Word of the
Lord is. It's sharp. Dividing asunder a soul and spirit
is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.
His Word shall not pass away. Now, here's
the second part of this. Verse 34, 35, 36. Take heed to yourselves that
at any time your hearts be overcharged with anxiety, suffering, drunkenness,
and the cares of this life. I mean, you can get so wrapped
up and involved with the cares of this life, and I know we have
to deal with these issues, but we're to set our heart on things
above. not on the things of this earth.
Don't let your heart be overcharged with anxieties, drunkenness,
the cares of this life, so the day of the Lord will come upon
you unaware. You see, we're instructed in
Scripture to look, look, look, the Lord's coming. For as a snare, verse 35, it
shall come on all them that dwell on the face of the earth. Now,
take heed, verse 36, watch. Watch therefore, and while you're
watching, just keep on praying. Pray always. Pray about everything. that ye may be accounted worthy.
You're not accounted worthy by praying now, make sure you get
that. Watch ye therefore, were not
counted worthy by watching or by praying, that ye may be accounted
worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, because
he said so, and to stand before the Son of Man. Let us not be so consumed with
the affairs of this life that we neglect the real issue of
life. What is the one main thing and
the one main issue in life that you need to be concerned with?
It's not your job, not even your family. It's being found in Christ. It's
salvation in Christ, to win Christ and be found in Him. You see,
he that hath the Son hath life. Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these other things, and take
care of themselves. Now, I know we've got to work,
and I know we've got to provide for our family. He's not telling
us to be neglectful in those things. But don't be so consumed
and work-oriented and work-driven that you forget the things that
are most needful, and that is knowing God in Christ. That ye may be found worthy,
that ye may be found worthy, How can we as sinful people be
accounted by God to be worthy? Did you ever think about that?
Most people have the foggy, vain notion that they will be accounted
worthy to escape the judgment of God by their deeds, don't
they? They'll be weighed in the balance
and they'll be found wanting, right? that you may be found
worthy. That is, how can this sinner
be accounted, reckoned, charged to my account as being worthy? Well, what would you say? What
do you think? What's the answer in your heart? that we may be accepted in the
Beloved. That's the only way that we are
accounted worthy, is to be accepted in the Beloved. Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness with our works. God made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Christ. Now, if I have the righteousness
of God charged in my account, What does that mean? We become
worthy in Christ. Worthy as a lamb.
As I said earlier, to receive all honor, glory, and blessing,
and that you may be counted worthy to escape all the judgment of
God. He delivered us from the wrath
to come, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way we
can be delivered from the wrath to come, is to be found in Christ. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those that are in him. I'm about to lose my voice. Some of you are probably thinking,
that might be a good thing. And then to stand, it says, to
stand in the presence of a Son of Man. Revelation 16. Rather 6 verse
17 says, Who shall be able to stand in the day of His wrath?
To stand in His presence. You see, the only way we can
stand before God and be accounted worthy is to be found in Christ. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
is risen again, who is even, at the right hand of God, who
also makes intercession for us. The Father judgeth no man, but
committeth all judgment unto the Son. Now unto him that is
able to keep you from falling and present you faultless, before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise
God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and power, both now
and forever. Now, verse 37, verse 38. And
in the daytime, He was teaching in the temple,
and at night he went out. He preached all day long. And
he bowed, as I said earlier, he camped out in the Mount of
Olives. You know, sometimes the Lord would pray all night long. And the people came to him early
in the morning to hear him in the temple, They came to Him
in the temple for to hear Him. Now, I'm going to wind this up. The Lord Jesus Christ was and
is always about doing the business of the Father. In other words,
He was all business. He was all business. You remember
in Luke 2.49 when His parents Mary, Joseph, his foster father,
we say, or stepfather, however. "'How is it that you sought me?'
the Lord said. "'Don't you know I must be about
my father's business?'' Twelve years old. He was always about
the father's business. And the Lord said later on in
the beginning of his ministry in John chapter 4, the Lord said
unto them, "'My meat is to do the will of him that sent me,
and to finish the work.' And then he prayed in John 17, Father,
glorify Thou me with Thine own self with the glory which I had
with Thee before the world was. I finished the work You gave
me to do. And then his last words upon
the cross, you remember? It's finished. Salvation done. Now, may the Lord help us to
be vigilant zealous about doing the will of the Father, being
about our Father's business. This ministry, in case you haven't
caught on, this ministry here is not one of entertainment.
We don't have a set of drums. We don't have guitars. We're
not up here trying to entertain the flesh. Now, if you want that,
you'll have to go somewhere else. But this ministry is about one
thing. You see, it's being about the
Father's business. The Father's business is preaching
the Word. The Father's business that He's
instructed us as believers is to preach the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Always, every time, teach His
Word. May we come early in the morning
to Him, every morning looking to Him, for to hear Him, Now, as I said earlier, I've
got it written down. I'm going to give it to you again.
I want you to listen to me, but I want you to hear him. Does
that make sense? In James, it says, wherefore,
my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to
speak, slow to wrath. May we walk by faith. live by
faith, and trust him for all of our salvation. All the people
came early in the morning to him. I don't want you to come
to me. I want you to go to him. He said,
look unto me and be you saved. And I want you to hear him, hear
his voice. How do you, preacher, how do
you, tell me, how do I hear the voice of the Lord?