Experience TRUTH - #32

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This is the Truth Network. We continue our challenge to look up. Lift up your heads, for the Lord's redemption is drawing near. I'm Stu Epperson, this is Experience Truth, and Luke chapter 21 is some...or 22 is some...no, 21.

We're still in Luke 21. It's some heavy stuff. Robbie Dilmore's reading.

Robbie tackling some deep theological issues as to the return of Christ. So many discussions, debates, so many people are mad at each other, by the way. People get heated over this stuff. They do. They need to lighten up. They need to look up.

He's coming back, whether you like it or not, but we're not going to be able to manipulate or prognosticate the exact date and time. But we do look at this passage from Scripture. Go ahead and read the passage, Robbie, and then we'll probably tackle the last maybe three or four questions here as we wrap up this section of Luke chapter 21.

Yeah, verses 25 through 38. And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars, and on the earth, distresses of nations and perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear, and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near. Then he spoke to them a parable. Look at the fig tree and all the trees.

When there are already budding, you see and you know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happen, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life. And that day come on you unexpectedly.

For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell in the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. And at the daytime he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and stayed on the Mount of Olivet. Then, early in the morning, all the people came to him in the temple to hear him." So people were clamoring to hear Jesus. He is answering one question by the disciples. It's the longest answer to a question Jesus gave in the whole Bible, and it's right here in Luke chapter 21.

And I really want to pick up this statement. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word will not pass away. This statement of God's eternal truth in His Word is something we know concretely. Some of the language here about this generation will not pass away. Some of the language about some of these apocalyptic events in the sun, and the clouds, and the earthquakes, and all that. We don't know exactly how to connect all those dots per se, but we do know that His Word is true.

And it's really what Mark Twain said. He said, it's not the stuff in the Bible I don't understand that gives me trouble. He says, it's the stuff in the Bible that I do understand, that I have the hardest time with.

Right? So you're in the heavenlies trying to figure prophecy out. Well, how about love, and serve, and sacrifice for your wife?

Now, that's going to be a little bit tougher. I think I'd rather be going deep into eschatological diagnostics with you, and then actually put the rubber on the road and go share Jesus and how to be saved with my neighbor, who will face a certain doom if he doesn't receive the good news of Christ. So there's some practical things here, and Christ gets practical, but he makes that statement in verse 33. Robbie, let's hit the last couple few questions here.

I love this question. Why is there so much apathy regarding the return of Christ? Yeah, you have, you know, we don't care, honestly, a lot of times when this subject comes up. But it's the next great event in history, and it's really interesting too. There's all these challenges to be ready to not get caught up in the drunkenness, you know, this word of caution, verse 34 and 45. He says, beware, don't get caught up in the carousing, the drunkenness, the cares of life.

The idea of being intoxicated simply means, you know, being inebriated. Am I so controlled by, intoxicated by, the stuff of this world? And it's crazy, it's busy, and you talk to more people, and their life is always like crazy. Jesus can't come back now, I've got this vacation to Disney World coming.

He can't come back now, I'm gonna go hunting this. And those things, I get caught up in them. But I think that also for me, as I really ponder that question, I love that question too, by the way, Stu, is it really sends me to searching how cool is the kingdom that's coming? And some of the things that John does give us a vision of in Revelation, and the rest of the word tells us about what it is that's coming in the kingdom, and how much better it's going to be, the Disney World, or that hunting trip, or anything you could possibly imagine. Look at what's on your calendar right now, and everything on there pales.

I don't care what it is, I don't care if it's two years in Hawaii at the multi-billion dollar resort, I don't care what it is, it pales in comparison to complete consummate fellowship with Jesus in heaven forever. And maybe we just don't understand how awesome heaven is, maybe we have lost that light, that passion for how awesome Jesus is. Maybe our communion, maybe we're in such fellowship with the darkness, and the unbelief in the world, that our passions for that have way outweighed, you know, we've created all these idols. And it's interesting, he says, don't be lulled asleep by two things.

Fascinating. The first thing is immorality. This is represented by drunkenness.

This is just, you know, just getting in the flesh. Some of us, we've let our guard down, we've let immorality creep in, and it's enticed us away from Jesus. But the second thing is worldliness or apathy. Now, that's represented by slumberiness or, you know, or passivity, where we just checked out. Yeah, we've checked out, where we're, boy, I really kind of like my life now, you know, and goodness, if Christ came back, what a disruption that would be, you know, and how attached we are to the things this world, and the cares of this life.

Boy, it's just something. Then he comes back with this really stern command, watch therefore and pray, which we covered some last week. It's one of the many calls to be alert. Christ had to wake his disciples up. Prayer and watchness go hand in hand all throughout Scripture, especially in light of his return.

Watch and be ready always, be sober, be diligent, Peter says in 1 Peter 5. Read this next question, Robbie. Before you leave that one under here, just for a second, because I love your question. Yeah. Watch. You know, I'm a sailor, so like, I'm always watching the wind. Yeah.

Because I want to know when it's good to go out to sail. Like, I don't pay that much attention to the weather unless there's something on my calendar that seems to be affected by what that is, and so I get a sense of, wow, the reason I'm not watching for the kingdom to come is because I'm not that excited about it. And it's scary that in my own heart, wow, watch and pray, like, wow, they do go together.

So I really do love that. The next question that you're referring to is how important is reaching the ends of the earth in the end times discussion? Yeah, and this really connects a lot of dots, Robbie, because one of my buddies, Pastor David Chad, he says, you know, we're so focused on the ends of times, we forget about the ends of the earth, and there is, you know, a powerful word by Jesus throughout the Gospels. I think about like Matthew 24, I believe it's verse 14, where he says, and this gospel shall be preached in all the earth, and then the end will come. So we actually can hasten the return of the Lord, believe it or not, as crazy as it sounds, we can actually expedite that process by going to the ends of the earth with the good news of the gospel. And that's what we're called to be, that's part of this vigilance. We're not called just to sit around and obsess with heaven, we're called to invite people to go to heaven with us.

Take us home with these final questions. Okay, how alert and prepared am I for His return, and how should that impact my everyday life and my heart for missions? Yeah, this has everything to do, taking the eminence of His return with an urgency to share Christ with people.

And you look at how people, how do you get that, by the way? You do exactly how the passage ends. What's the very last verse in the passage? What does it say? The very last verse, Robbie, what does it say?

Read it. Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him. Early in the morning, by the way.

Early in the morning. As soon as the rabbi's there, we want to go hear him. Where something about Jesus is so bright, so beautiful, so attractive, so desirous, that they want to go and sit at His feet and listen to Him. How am I daily listening at His feet? How am I passionately a disciple of Christ, truly learning from Him?

How am I discipling others and pouring that in to others? And so what a great statement. And you know, may I sit at His feet and have ears to hear daily from Jesus and a heart to receive truth from Him. We're not exactly sure when He's returning, but we know that we are called.

This is what we do know. We know we're called to reach the world. There's over two and a half billion people on our planet, planet earth, that have never heard the gospel. Christ's final words before He ascended into heaven, not His final words from the cross, which I wrote a book about, last words of Jesus, but His last words before going into heaven were, go into all the world. Make disciples. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, the uttermost part of the earth.

Go and be a witness. Shine the light to Him. There is a dark, empty, hopeless world out there, and we are hope dealers. We are called to take Jesus to them, Robbie, while we still have time. And so this message on prophecy should cause us to light us up, even more so, right? To fire us up, to take the amazing gospel to the ends of the earth. What a great study. Read more on Luke 21.

Don't take my word for it. Read God's word for it, and be under a pastor. Go to a church where the pastor is a man of God who preaches the word of God, led by the Spirit of God, that lifts up the Son of God, Jesus.

Biblicentric, Christocentric, missiocentric preaching, where He also compels you to go out there to share the gospel to all the earth. That's why we go to church to disciple each other and be built up in the faith, to go out there in the world. We gather to be built up. We scatter and multiply to reach our world that is desperate for hope, and that's why God has saved you.

Thanks for being with us. If you're not saved, call upon the Lord and be saved. Reach out to us. I think there's all kinds of resources out there at truthnetwork.com and other places where you can come into a personal relationship with Christ and get plugged into a good church, or go find that fanatical Christian friend of yours that's been bludgeoning you with the truth for all these years and say, hey, I want to receive Christ now. I'm serious.

I'm not kidding. And get on your knees with them, wherever it is, and pray to receive Christ today. Call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved. We've got to go. Experience Truth. We're out of time. Thank you for being with us today on Experience Truth, and stay in the Word daily. Feed on the Word and take the Word to the world. This is the Truth Network.