Patient Endurance to the End

Luke 21:1-19

The Widow's Two Mites

1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple

5 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, 6 "These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age

7 So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"

8 And He said: "Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.' Therefore do not go after them. 9 But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."

10 Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. 13 But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. 14 Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. 18 But not a hair of your head shall be lost. 19 By your patience possess your souls.

There are general signs of what will take place before the end of time here on earth before God ends the corrupted creation marred by our sin.  Some people intend to interpret and nail down exacting timelines and boast of how they know better than others when the Lord returns, but Jesus made it clear that His return will be as unexpected as a flash of lightning illuminating the entire sky (Luke 17:24) before we are even able to understand what just happened.  We will know then the general events as signposts along the way until that day, but only God knows the time that He may test our hearts and call every chosen child of His to Himself as His sheep who enter into the narrow gate of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.  The message then is to be ready for His return long before His imminent and arrival when He returns to judge the world in His righteousness (Psalm 96:13, 98:9, Acts 17:30-31) and deliver those promised to Him without fail.  Therefore we are to be as the poor widow who gave everything she had and possessed to the Lord because we are bought at such a priceless cost by His suffering and de for our sin.  We are not to give leftovers to the Lord, but the first fruits (Proverbs 3:9) of all that is entrusted to us.  This includes out treasures and time and talents to be utilized for the kingdom of God through His church and to the lost world needing a certain hope of forgiveness and reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:20) with God in Christ.  Just as Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple made by hands (Mark 14:58) here where every laboriously laid stone was cast to the earth where it came from, so will the rest of the world be destroyed and remade according to the heavenly plan (Hebrews 9:11) like the temple in the New Jerusalem to come down to us.  The disciples wanted to know the signs to look for as a way to prepare for the coming of the end and the beginning of Christ’s return, but He made it plain that the answers had no plain details to follow as a checklist of a timeline we can follow to the end.  He did, however, provide warnings not to follow those who claim to know the details and even make themselves into false deliverers.  There will be increased numbers of wars, confusion and disorder, earthquakes, famines, diseases, and signs in the heavens and on earth all around us.  We are not to stress the distress but put our hope in Christ and the perseverance He provides to us as a certain hope and destination in eternity with Him.  We who do so will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12) and be imprisoned and even tortured or killed for the truth of the gospel we are given to proclaim until His return.  God will give us the words and wisdom which we are unable to plan for that the truth may still open hearts and minds to be delivered from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10).  We will find betrayal among friends and family and hated by those unwilling to repent, yet shall be sustained together in Him for eternity.  In such patience we possess our souls to endure to the end because He holds us firmly (John 10:28-29) in His hands.