The Desolation that Compels Us

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 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” (Luke 21:20-24).

Jesus directed His discourse to the first big event of the last days, the desolation of Jerusalem. To correctly discern the precious truth our Teacher shares here, we must remember that the last days are those days between the ascension of Christ and His return. He wants His disciples in every age to be living every day as if it is the last day here on earth before His return. He also wants us to remember that the days after His visit and ministry on earth would be very different from the days that went before. The last days would begin with the siege and destruction Of Jerusalem, the city at the heart of God’s great plan of reconciliation with mankind… “At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart” (Jeremiah 3:17). Jerusalem is also the city close to the heart of Jesus… “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 1,3:34). Let’s remember that Christ is becoming enthroned in our hearts and in these last days, He wants us to be responsive to the desolation that compels us.

The desolation of Jerusalem would scatter Christ’s disciples. Jesus wanted His disciples to leave the comfort and familiarity of Jerusalem to carry the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth… “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The first days after the birth of the church were filled with blessing as the church grew by the thousands, but the first phase of God’s plan for the church to reach the world would not last for long. Persecution, then the siege and destruction of Jerusalem propelled the disciples with the message of the gospel out into the Gentile world… “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). God sometimes shakes and brings desolation to our world in order to compel us to carry His gospel to others.

The desolation of Jerusalem would not last forever. Jesus promised that… “Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled”. What did He mean by “the times of the Gentiles”? The Spirit inspired Paul to give an answer… “A partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25). Jerusalem’s desolation will end when the gospel has reached the whole world… “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). The Gentile domination of Israel until the return of Christ should compel true disciples in every age to share His gospel and make disciples of all nations… “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

The desolation of Jerusalem would fulfill God’s vengeance. God is jealous over Jerusalem… “So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion” (Zechariah 1:14). The Spirit inspired Paul to reflect the Lord’s jealousy for the heart of the true disciple, because He gave His life in exchange for our heart… “For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2). His divine jealousy moves God to bring about the desolation of the fruit of our adulterous behavior and compels us rise above the world’s temptations and to grow in holiness.

As we grow up into Christ, we are moved to make disciples of the nations in word and deed by…

The Desolation that Compels Us.

The Way of Endurance

Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:10-19).

Jesus continued His description of the tumult and conflict that would occupy the world between His ascension and His return. Indeed, the world has been consumed by political and religious conflict, increasing natural disasters, and heartbreaking human suffering since Jesus returned to His Father. Whether these increasingly terrible conditions are stirred up by our relentless adversary Satan, or by our ever-pursuing Father to gain the attention of selfish and distracted humanity (note: great signs from heaven), Jesus wants His disciples in every age until He returns, to know the way of endurance.

We endure because our persecution is a witnessing opportunity. The proclamation of the gospel and growth of the church will always provoke resistance and conflict… “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Luke 12:51). Jesus promised that our dedication to living as His disciples and sharing His gospel will instigate opposition… “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you… If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you… But all these things they will do to you on account of my name” (John 15:18-21). The Spirit also affirms this inescapable truth… “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). As we grow in the faith, our reaction to persecution should increasingly mirror that of our Lord, who offered the gospel of forgiveness to those who persecuted Him… “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Jesus wants us to turn persecution into promise by bearing witness to His saving grace when we are provoked because of Him.

We endure because our Helper strengthens us. The same Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus to see into the hearts of angry Pharisees and religious leaders… “Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you question these things in your hearts?’” (Mark 2:8) will show us what’s in the hearts of our persecutors if we listen… “These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10). Jesus promised the Spirit will show us how to respond to persecutors because the Spirit knows exactly what’s provoking their hearts and His anointed words can melt the hardest heart.

We endure because our endurance is leading us to real life. Jesus’ words sound contradictory… “some of you they will put to death” yet… “not a hair of your head will perish”. The resolution of this seeming contradiction is found in His closing words… “By your endurance you will gain your lives”. The Spirit inspired Paul to teach that this earthly life is temporary and our perishable body will be exchanged for an imperishable one… “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). In Christ, all who endure this trying and temporal life will transition to eternal life… “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52), but we do not die… “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). Jesus wants us to look past today’s trials and stay focused on the promise of real life.

As we grow up into Christ, in an increasingly hostile and turbulent world, by His grace we learn…

The Way of Endurance.

The Signs of the Beginning of the End

And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, “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.” And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. 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” (Luke 21:5-9).

Jesus had just contrasted the sacrificial giving of the poor widow with the noisy, prideful giving of the wealthy. Some in the crowd got his message, but others were so preoccupied with the natural wealth and splendor of Herod’s Temple that they missed the precious truth Jesus had just spoken… “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). Natural ears cannot hear spiritual truth, and minds that are consumed with only natural thoughts cannot understand spiritual truth… “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). What a shame. These carnally captive people heard the words of Jesus but missed His message that revealed important truth about the days to come. Here Jesus revealed that the countdown to His return would begin almost immediately after His ascension with the destruction of this splendid temple. The days of our anticipation and preparation for His return would be filled with false Christs and increasing conflict. We are reminded today that true disciples in every age are to avoid the distractions of the flesh and the natural world and listen carefully to the Holy Spirit in order to discern the signs of the beginning of the end.

The end began with the removal of the temple. Jesus had revealed that Herod’s temple was to be replaced with a new, intimate, personal place of worship… “The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father… But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4:21-23). Jesus has established His new temple in the hearts of His true disciples… “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). As we anticipate His return we are to worship and glorify God with every breath!

The end began with the revelation of false Christ’s. This prophecy was fulfilled very early in the history of the Church, with the doctrine of the papacy that teaches that the pope is the vicar of Christ. The vicar is the representative of a higher-ranking official, with all of the same authority and power that that official has. The Spirit confirms through the pen of the apostle John that from the earliest days of the pope to the return Jesus, there will be false Christ’s… “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18). The same Spirit moved John to reveal how we may discern and resist false Christs… “This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22). As we advance toward Christ’s return, our intimate fellowship with Him and immersion in His Word help us to know the true Christ and to discern and resist increasing numbers of false Christs.

The end began with the rise of war. Jesus taught that His incarnation would disrupt the natural order of fallen creation and that confronting sinful hearts with gospel truth would increase conflict among fallen people… “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). As we approach Christ’s return, increasing conflict and war compels true disciples to share His gospel because it offers true and lasting peace to a broken and tumultuous world.

As we grow up into Christ, and we long for His return we are increasingly aware of…

The Signs of the Beginning of the End.