Mills Memorial Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Worship - 9/27
  • Immortal Invisible
  • Blessed Assurance
  • Luke 21:5–24
    There are church buildings that make you look up the moment you walk through the door.
    You notice the stonework, the windows, the care someone gave to every detail.
    Perhaps you think about how many generations have worshipped there, and you find yourself wondering how long the building will stand.
    That's something like the scene before us tonight.
    Jesus has just drawn attention to a poor widow whose gift nearly everyone else could have missed.
    Now some are talking about the temple, its beautiful stones, and the gifts that adorned it.
    There was nothing strange about noticing its beauty.
    But Jesus answered with something they could hardly imagine while it stood before them: the days were coming when not one stone would be left upon another.
    They could see the stones.
    Jesus could see what was coming.
    So they asked Him when it would happen and what sign would show that it was near.
    His answer takes them through deception, frightening news, persecution, and the destruction of Jerusalem.
    It is a serious passage, and it belongs first to those who heard Jesus speak it.
    But it also presses a question upon us: when what we see and hear unsettles us, whose voice will guide us?
    When the world shakes and voices compete for our attention, we must listen to Jesus and act on His word.
    As we follow His answer, notice four moments when His voice matters most.

    I. Listen Beyond What You See

    vv. 5–7
    Jesus begins with the building before their eyes, then gives them a future they cannot see and a question they cannot answer for themselves.

    A. The Temple They Admired

    (v. 5)
    Verse 5 says that some spoke of the temple, “how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts.”
    They were standing in a place bound up with their nation’s worship and history.
    These were not just beautiful stones to them; they represented something deeply familiar and precious.
    Luke does not say that admiring them was sinful.
    But he lets us hear what held their attention just before Jesus spoke.
    That matters because the widow who gave her two mites had just caught Jesus’ attention.
    Others noticed the gifts adorning the temple; He had noticed the costly gift of a woman who had very little.
    Even before He predicts the temple’s fall, Luke invites us to ask whether we are noticing what Jesus notices.

    B. The Future Jesus Saw

    (v. 6)
    Yet Jesus looked at the very things they admired and said, “there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
    That statement wasn't a criticism of good craftsmanship.
    Nor was He saying that God's people should never care for a place of worship.
    He was telling them that what looked immovable to them was not beyond judgment.
    Remember Luke 19:44, where Jesus wept over Jerusalem and said its enemies would not leave one stone upon another because it had not known the time of its visitation.
    Luke 19:44 KJV
    44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
    This warning in chapter 21 grows out of that earlier grief; it is no sudden change in His heart.
    This scene is especially striking because of what Jesus has just said about the widow.
    He saw the value of a gift other people might overlook, and He saw the end of a building other people thought would endure.
    His judgment was better than their eyesight in both scenes.
    We can be thankful for a beautiful place to worship and still refuse to measure the church’s spiritual health by its building.
    A full room can conceal neglected hearts; a small gathering can contain genuine faithfulness.
    Let us care for this place without letting it become a substitute for the Lord we worship here.

    C. The Question They Asked

    (v. 7)
    The disciples' question in verse 7 was understandable: “Master, but when shall these things be?”
    Who wouldn't want to know when a catastrophe like that would occur?
    Yet notice where Jesus takes their attention.
    He gives them more than a date to circle; He gives them words to live by.
    Sometimes we'd like God to hand us a full account of what will happen to our family, our church, or our nation over the next ten years.
    He has not done that.
    He has given us something more important for the next step: His word.
    So when what you see seems safe, listen to what Christ says about it.
    And when what you see seems frightening, keep listening to Him then too.

    II. Listen Amid the Noise

    (vv. 8–11)
    When they ask for a sign, Jesus first prepares them for voices and events that could unsettle them.

    A. Do Not Follow Deceivers

    (v. 8)
    Jesus begins His answer with a warning: “Take heed that ye be not deceived.”
    He says that many will come in His name, saying, “I am Christ; and the time draweth near,” and then commands, “go ye not therefore after them.”
    His first concern is not that the disciples might miss an exciting prediction.
    His concern is that they might follow the wrong voice.
    A person posting a mistaken theory online is not necessarily claiming to be Christ.
    Still, the principle reaches into a world where religious confidence spreads much faster than careful reading of Scripture.
    One video announces who the Antichrist must be.
    Another promises to identify the year of Christ's return.
    Another attaches a dramatic claim to a red heifer and says everything is about to happen.
    Jesus' instruction is wonderfully plain: do not go after them.
    Before you share a claim, ask what the passage actually says.
    Ask whether someone is quoting Scripture in context or borrowing its authority for a guess.
    Christians do not need to be ignorant of the world.
    We do need to keep our eyes on Christ and our minds in His word.

    B. Do Not Yield to Fear

    (vv. 9–11)
    Then Jesus says in verse 9, “when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified.”
    He doesn't deny that wars are real or that they bring terrible suffering.
    The command not to be terrified is not a command to be indifferent to people caught in them.
    It is a warning against drawing conclusions that Jesus has not authorized.
    He says, “these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.”
    In other words, frightening news did not give His hearers permission to announce that the end had arrived immediately.
    We know how quickly one story can be followed by another: fighting in Ukraine, suffering in Sudan, fear across the Middle East, and rumors that some new confrontation may spread.
    We should pray for people, care about truth, and respond where we can.
    But watching the news until fear masters us is not the same as being watchful before God.
    Jesus names nations rising against nations, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, and fearful sights.
    These were serious warnings to His original hearers, not a checklist by which we can identify the date of His return whenever a headline sounds familiar.
    If a report makes you anxious tonight, you can take a simple first step.
    Put the phone down for a moment, read what Jesus actually said, pray for the people affected, and ask what faithful action is yours to take.
    He has asked you to hear Him.
    A family forced from home by war is not a clue in a puzzle for us to solve.
    They are neighbors whose grief should move us to compassion.
    We can care deeply about the world and still refuse to let frightening reports rule our hearts.

    III. Listen Through Opposition

    (vv. 12–19)
    Now the danger moves closer: from what the disciples will hear about to what they themselves will face.

    A. Opposition Opens a Witness

    (vv. 12–15)
    Verse 12 begins, “But before all these.”
    They will be seized and persecuted, delivered to synagogues and prisons, and brought before kings and rulers for His name's sake.
    That phrase, “for my name's sake,” matters.
    This isn't a promise that every objection to us proves we have been faithful.
    Their suffering is connected to their allegiance to Jesus.
    And then comes a surprising sentence in verse 13: “And it shall turn to you for a testimony.”
    The very setting they would have chosen to avoid could become an opportunity to speak of Christ.
    The book of Acts gives us scenes that help us see what such a witness looks like.
    Peter and John stood before religious authorities and spoke about Jesus.
    In Acts 4:8–12, Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, addressed the rulers and named Jesus Christ of Nazareth as the One by whom the lame man was made whole.
    Acts 4:8–12 KJV
    8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
    That is a concrete example of opposition becoming testimony.
    Paul later spoke before rulers when he would surely have preferred freedom.
    Those accounts do not make prison desirable; they show that the risen Lord can open a door for witness even there.
    We see public conversations about Christianity today, including people going to campuses to discuss belief and answer objections.
    But a planned conversation on a campus is different from being arrested and compelled to answer a ruler.
    Most of us won’t be dragged before a ruler.
    But some of us know what it’s like to sit down for a conversation we’ve been dreading.
    We can ask the Lord for wisdom there too.
    Jesus says in verses 14 and 15 that He will give His disciples “a mouth and wisdom.”
    Earlier, in Luke 12:11–12, He had told them that when brought before authorities, the Holy Ghost would teach them what they ought to say in that hour.
    Luke 12:11–12 KJV
    11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: 12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.
    That does not mean a Christian should never study, think, or prepare to explain the faith.
    It means those disciples were not to spend their lives rehearsing anxious speeches as though the outcome depended entirely on their skill.
    If you have a difficult conversation ahead of you, you can prepare honestly and pray for wisdom without trying to control every word the other person might say.

    B. Faithfulness May Cost Relationships

    (vv. 16–17)
    Then Jesus speaks of something even more painful than facing authorities.
    Parents, brothers, relatives, and friends will betray them; some will be put to death.
    There is a kind of opposition that hurts more because the person knows you so well.
    Perhaps someone here has had a family conversation in which you tried to speak truth and the other person heard only rejection.
    You went home wondering whether you had said too much, said it badly, or could have made yourself understood at all.
    Jesus knows that loyalty to Him can be costly inside a family.
    But this passage does not allow us to call every disagreement persecution or to treat a loved one's pain as proof that we handled the conversation well.
    If a relative says, “You don't accept me for who I am,” we should listen carefully enough to understand what they mean.
    We can be honest about biblical convictions without withdrawing affection, mocking them, or making every meeting into an argument.
    We may not be able to agree about what is right.
    But the person across the table should still know we love them and want them in our lives.

    C. Endurance Rests in Christ

    (vv. 18–19)
    We must also hear how severe Jesus' own words are.
    Verse 16 says that some of His disciples would be put to death.
    Then verse 18 says, “But there shall not an hair of your head perish.”
    How can both be true?
    It would contradict verse 16 to say that Jesus is promising none of them will die.
    He is assuring them that death itself cannot finally destroy those who belong to Him.
    They may lose their lives in this world, but they are not lost to Him.
    Paul gives words for the same assurance in Romans 8:38–39
    Romans 8:38–39 KJV
    38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    Verse 19 adds, “In your patience possess ye your souls.”
    Here patience is steadfast endurance, the continuing faith that refuses to abandon Christ under pressure.
    Jesus is not saying that we earn salvation by surviving a hard season or by performing bravery perfectly.
    He is calling His people to hold fast to Him, with the assurance that their deepest life is safe in His hands.
    That distinction matters for someone who is exhausted tonight.
    Endurance does not always look dramatic.
    It may look like praying again after a hard conversation, telling the truth without striking back, or coming to worship when your heart feels heavy.
    The Lord's promise is not that following Him will spare us pain.
    It is that suffering cannot take away what He keeps.
    If you lost your temper in a difficult conversation, don't excuse it by calling the other person's response persecution.
    Confess what was wrong, seek forgiveness where you owe it, and ask the Lord to help you speak with more care next time.
    Christ's call to endure gives us a path forward even after we have handled a moment badly.

    IV. Listen and Act

    (vv. 20–24)
    Finally, Jesus gives them a recognizable danger and an instruction that requires action.

    A. Recognize the Warning

    (vv. 20–21)
    In verse 20, Jesus gives a sign far more specific than a general report of war: “when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.”
    He follows that with instructions for people in Judaea to flee to the mountains, for people in the city to leave, and for those outside not to enter.
    That is an instruction for people facing a particular danger in a particular place.
    Jesus did not tell them to stand on the city wall proving how fearless they were.
    He told them to leave.
    Listening to Him sometimes means refusing panic; here it meant recognizing the danger and moving.
    History records Jerusalem's terrible destruction under Roman forces in AD 70.
    Josephus describes the siege, the suffering, and the temple's ruin.

    B. Grieve the Judgment

    (vv. 22–23)
    Verse 22 calls these “the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.”
    These are sober words of judgment.
    We must not rush through verses 23 and 24 as if the grief were merely a useful illustration for our own problems.
    Jesus speaks of mothers facing terrible conditions, people falling by the sword, others led captive, and Jerusalem trodden down.
    His warning has both moral seriousness and human sorrow.

    C. Honor the Prophetic Horizon

    (v. 24)
    A modern scene at the United Nations or another expression of hostility toward Israel may concern us deeply.
    It is not the sign described in verse 20.
    Jesus spoke of Jerusalem surrounded by armies, and we must not turn His specific instruction to flee into a label for every political event today.
    Verse 24 does carry our eyes beyond the city's fall: Jerusalem is trodden down “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
    Then, in the next portion of this chapter, Jesus speaks of the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
    There is a larger prophetic horizon in the discourse.
    I don’t want to pretend I can settle every question about how these events fit together.
    I do want us to hear clearly what Jesus told the people facing Jerusalem’s fall.
    Next time we will give His words about that coming the careful attention they deserve.

    D. Answer With Obedience

    For tonight, one lesson is unmistakable: when Jesus made the danger plain, listening required action.
    We cannot take the command to flee Judaea and apply it literally to our families in Michigan.
    But we can ask whether we have mistaken hearing Christ for obeying Him.
    We hear Him tell us to forgive, yet keep nursing a grievance.
    We hear Him call us to speak truth, yet hide behind silence because a conversation will be difficult.
    We hear Him tell us to love our neighbor, yet treat that neighbor as a symbol in an argument instead of a person.
    We hear Him call us to trust Him, then feed our fears for hours on end.
    The right application isn't a dramatic gesture for its own sake.
    It is the next act of obedience that His word actually calls for.
    It is possible to spend an evening comparing competing timelines and never make the call we owe someone.
    Jesus' words about Jerusalem were urgent enough to require action from the people who heard them.
    His words to us deserve more than fascination too.

    Conclusion

    The people near Jesus saw a magnificent temple.
    They could not see the day when it would fall, but He could.
    His disciples would hear frightening reports, face opposition, and need to act when Jerusalem was in danger.
    He did not give them permission to follow every confident voice or surrender to fear.
    He told them what they needed to know, and He called them to heed Him.
    We cannot see the end of every conflict reported this week.
    We cannot settle the future by watching one more video or finding one more confident prediction.
    But we can know whose voice is trustworthy.
    Maybe you came in tonight already carrying a frightening piece of news.
    I don’t know what will happen with it, and I won’t pretend that reading this passage makes the fear disappear.
    But I do know Jesus did not leave His disciples to follow the loudest voice around them.
    He spoke to them plainly, even about things they did not want to hear.
    That is the voice I want us to go home listening to.
    Before you open another prediction, before you replay that difficult conversation, before you lie awake trying to work out what comes next, go back to what He has said.
    And if you have never trusted Him, begin there.
    The One who gave this warning went to the cross for sinners and rose again.
    You can come to Him.
    The temple stones fell.
    His word has not.

      • Luke 19:44KJV1900

      • Acts 4:8–12KJV1900

      • Luke 12:11–12KJV1900

      • Romans 8:38–39KJV1900

Mills Memorial Baptist Church
millsmemorialbapt@gmail.com
989-843-6433
https://millsmemorial.faithlifesites.com
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