#172 Lu. 21:24-36 THE DISTRESS OF NATIONS Introduction: This period of time which here is called "The Distress of Nations" is better known to most of us as "The Great Tribulation." I. A review All of this discussion about end-time events started when Jesus had told His disciples that the temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed. The disciples, at that time, expected that it would not be long until He would establish Himself on the throne in Jerusalem and drive out the Gentile Roman forces. They thought that a great conflict would develop during the effort to drive out the Romans and that it would be during that conflict that the temple would be destroyed. Thus, they thought that the temple would be destroyed and Jesus would come to power on the throne all in the same event. Therefore, when they asked for a sign which would show them when it was about to take place, they were thinking it would be a sign for both the destruction of the temple and also His coming to power on the throne. However, in answering their question, Jesus gave them several additional signs concerning His return to the earth and His coming to power on the throne at Jerusalem. He first gave them some long range signs and cautioned them not to think of those signs as a token that the event was about to take place immediately. Then He gave them one short range sign. He told them that when they see Gentile military forces march against the city of Jerusalem they would know that the fall of the temple was at hand. He told them that they were to get out of Jerusalem immediately. This sign served those early Christians well to show them when the temple was about to be destroyed and when they should flee from the land. However, from this sign which Jesus gave them, the disciples would learn that Jesus would not take over the throne at the time of the destruction of the temple, as they had thought. Instead, they learned that the Gentiles would continue to overrun Jerusalem until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled. V. 24, "...and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Jesus did not say how long it would be before the time of the Gentiles would be fulfilled. Yet it would not be until the time of the Gentiles would be fulfilled that Jesus would come to power in the land and establish His throne in Jerusalem. In our previous message, I showed you from the Book of Revelation that this same sign, which served those disciples to show them when the temple would be destroyed, would also serve Christians in the later days to show them when the time of the Gentiles would be fulfilled and the Christ would come to the throne. Just as the Gentile powers waged war against Jerusalem in 70 A. D. even so the Gentile powers of the world will wage war against the city of Jerusalem in the end time. This is called "The Armageddon." The Armageddon will be a sign in that day that the end of the Gentile age and the coming of the Christ to power in Jerusalem is very near at hand, Rev. 16:13-16. II. Additional signs of the Lord's coming So now that Jesus has established in the minds of the disciples that He will not take over the throne at the destruction of Jerusalem, He proceeds to give them these additional signs so that Christians in the last days can know that His coming is near at hand. The signs which are give here do not apply to the destruction of the temple in 70 A. D. They apply only to the end- time events. Let us take a look at them. V. 25, "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars..." I am not going to take the time to go into great detail concerning these signs in the heavenly bodies. However, I do want to show you some Scriptures which deal with these signs in the heaven and give you a brief explanation. Joel 2:10 reads, "The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining." Joel 2:31 reads, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come." Joel 3:15 reads, "The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining." Revelation 6:12-13 read, "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell into the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind." Note that all of these Scriptures speak of signs in the heavens just before the end. Most of you heard Bro. Tom McElmurry when he gave a much more detailed explanation. I will simply put it this way. Many great earthquakes and great volcanic eruptions will take place along the major fault lines in the crust of the earth. Those volcanic eruptions will send millions of tons of volcanic ash into the upper troposphere around the earth. As the earth rotates and it spreads it will cover over both the sun and the moon as viewed from the earth. It will discolor the sun and the moon and shut out the light of the stars so as to produce the signs in the heavens that Jesus spoke about in this text. But take a look at what will be taking place down on the earth. (V. 25), "...and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity..." The picture here is that of the greatest kind of terror. The earthquakes which produce the signs in heaven will be so numerous and so destructive that great horror will prevail in every part of the world. (V. 25), "...the sea and the waves roaring." The waves that are spoken of here in this text are not the ordinary swells that are so common in every sea and ocean. Neither are they the waves which result from hurricanes, cyclones or typhoons. These are huge waves that are caused by the earthquakes. They will reach great heights and will rush across the oceans at great speeds. They will destroy all ships which are in their pathway. They will wipe out entire cities along the coastlines where they hit. V. 26, "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." I used to read this Scriptural and think that it referred to heart trouble being the number one killer among the diseases of the world. And it is true, that for many years heart trouble has been the number one killer disease. But that is not what this verse is talking about. It is talking about men being so frightened that their hearts fail them in the sense that all courage is gone. All hope is gone. They are at their wit's end. They are in total despair. It would seem to them that all of the laws of nature which hold this world together and make it a livable place have suddenly gone berserk. III. The coming of the Lord to the earth It is at that time when all hope is gone that our Lord will return to establish His throne. V. 27, "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." I call your attention to the word, "they." Jesus did not say, "Ye shall see the Son of man coming." He said "they" shall see Him coming. What this means is that at some point of time before Jesus actually comes on down to the earth, He will catch the save up to meet Him in the air as it is said in I Thessalonians chapter 4. The saved will then come with Him as He comes on down to the earth and touches down at Mt. Olives. I confess to you that I really do not know at just what point Jesus will catch the saved up in the air. But I am more and more persuaded that the saved will be here for at least some part of the tribulation. IV. Admonitions to Christians In verse 28 Jesus gives an admonition that was intended to bring great encouragement to the saved who live on earth as the end-time approaches. V. 28, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." As I said, I am not sure just how much of the tribulation the saved will see, but they apparently will see some it. Jesus said that they will see these signs at least begin to come to pass. Then when they see these things beginning to come to pass, they are to lift up their heads with joyful hope. They will not know the exact time that the rapture will take place, but they can know when it is near. They can know when it is very near. V. 29-31, "And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye 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." Just a few weeks ago we saw the fig trees right here in East- Texas shoot forth their first buds. Most of the other trees had already budded. We did not need somebody to persuade us that summer was near at hand. We could see the sign. The trees were budding out. Particularly, the fig tree was budding. So we knew that summer was near at hand. Likewise, we have seen the signs of which Jesus spoke beginning to take place. The nations of the world have not yet gathered for the Armageddon War, but it looks as if they might do so soon. When the Gentile armies gather against Israel, this will be a sure sign that the end of the Gentile Age is near at hand and the coming of Christ is near. As to the heavenly signs in the sun, the moon and the stars, we have not yet seen those come to pass either. But what we are seeing come to pass is a vast increase in earthquake and volcanic activity which leads us to believe that the big event will come rather soon. Even the scientists are predicting greater and greater earthquakes right here in our own nation and throughout the world. And the newspapers and newscasts give evidence that the scientists are right. No, we have not yet seen all fulfilled, but I am convinced that we have seen at least the beginning of these things. Listen to what verse 32 has to say about the generation which sees it all begin to come to pass. V. 32, "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled." Listen to what Jesus has to say about the certainty of all this. V. 33, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away." This is the very opposite of what the unbelieving world says. They say that the words of the Lord will be proven to be false and that the world will stand. But that is not what Jesus says. Jesus says that His words will stand and the words of the unbelieving world will be proven to be false. Now listen to what Jesus said about the attitude that Christians ought to have. V. 34, "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting..." The Greek word that here is translated "overcharged" carries the idea of "overloaded, overburdened." The word that is translated "surfeiting" means "reveling, partying, seeking fun and gaiety." So what Jesus admonishes Christians to do is to not become overly burdened with reveling. Now that seems like strange advice. Who would ever dreamed that reveling would be a burden? Reveling is not supposed to bring burdens. Is it? Reveling is supposed to bring the very opposite of burdens. It is supposed to bring a joyful heart. But the sad truth is that reveling does not bring the happiness that it is supposed to bring. It brings burdens and sadness. (V. 34), "...and drunkenness..." The same could be said about drunkenness. People do not get drunk in order to have greater burdens. They get drunk to try to relieve the burdens they already have. But the fact is that drunkenness brings greater burdens. (V. 34), "...and cares of this life..." The cares of this life may or may not involve sinful activity. And a certain amount of these things are necessary to the carrying on of life. But the Christian is not to live just for the affairs of this world whether good or bad. He is to learn to live for God. (V. 34), "...and so that day come upon you unawares." It is to be expected that the unsaved would not be looking for the Lord's return, but it should not be so with the saved. Yet even the saved is warned lest he get so involved in the affairs of the world that he neglect to watch for the coming of the Lord. V. 35-36, "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." Children of God are here admonished to watch for the coming of the Lord. They are admonished to pray always. They are told that they should watch and pray in order that they may be counted worthy to escape all the horrible things that shall come in the end time. There are a few things that we should know about this translation. The first is that the Greek word which is translated "counted worthy" means "to be strong, to have power, to be able." The second is that the word which is translated "to escape" literally means "to come out of." The third is that the verb which is translated "to stand before" means "to stand acceptably before." Thus what the Lord here is saying to the Christian is that he should watch and pray always that they would be able to come through the tribulation time and to stand acceptably before the Lord. We are scheduled to have revival services very soon. If there was ever a time when the Christian people of this nation really needed to be revived spiritually it is today. This world is in a terrible mess and we are getting closer and closer to the Great Tribulation period and the second coming of our Lord. Even in our own lives we need to be spiritually revived. We need to draw closer to the Lord to let Him have His way in our lives. We need to let Him have His way in our attitudes toward the Lord and His cause and toward other people about us. We need to let Him have His way in our attitude toward the church and other church members. We need to let Him have His way in our conduct. We need to correct our lives to be in harmony with His will. Then in those ways wherein we know that our conduct does not meet His will we need to change our ways. May God give us members of Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church grace to live for Him in these last days. Conclusion: If you are saved here and you have a desire to move your membership to this church, then we invite you to come at this time. If you are saved and you have never been baptized, we invite you to come. If you are unsaved and you want to be saved, we invite you to come and trust in Jesus Christ to save your soul. Will you come?