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LUKE CHAPTERS 20 & 21 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Lk 20,1-8 (20b) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Unbelief >> Unwilling to acknowledge the facts – The thing about the Pharisees was they really did know the truth; this is what turns the study of the Pharisees into a Halloween story. They didn’t mistakenly overlook the ministry of John the Baptist; they knew he was a prophet, being well versed in the Scriptures, making them even spookier, so if they wanted, they could have identified him in the Old Testament through the prophecies in his ministry fulfilled, but they wouldn’t give him the credit, thus rejecting God’s purpose for themselves. They saw John as a threat and they saw Jesus as a greater threat to their prestigious position in Jewish society as spiritual leaders of the only nation in the world that was born of its religion. They were not about to advocate John’s ministry being baptized, and now Jesus was bringing this fact to light, placing them in a no-win situation using their rejection of John against them. In chess it’s called checkmate; their wickedness has come back to haunt them! Couple the Pharisees’ ridiculous question with their ridiculous answer, and it reveals a people who could not be more indifferent to the truth. Instead of searching their hearts, they reasoned among themselves for the best answer to debate Jesus, bypassing the truth altogether. Instead of answering Jesus’ question, they gave Him a non-answer, which is exactly what Jesus knew they would do, giving Him an excuse to nix their question. What made this so perfect was the conspicuous absence of information passed was the message conveyed. (181a) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Rebelling against God's authority (157i) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Having a reprobate mind – 'Answer My question and I will answer yours,' was essentially Jesus reply, which in any other case would have been disrespectful, but the Pharisees didn’t deserve respect. They were the most evil of society, the Bible’s personification of the reprobate mind, people who cannot be saved, Jesus testifying against them regarding this in Mat 23-33, “How will you escape the sentence of hell.” There was no hope for them; they were incapable of the truth. They were a million miles from coming to terms with Jesus or believing a single word He said. They made this clear by their accusatory question, “Who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them essentially saying, ‘Heal the sick and feed the five thousand with a picnic basket of food and then come and ask Me that question, otherwise acknowledge that I am God.’ These people were teachers of Israel, yet the common Jew of the day had a tighter grip on the truth than these guys, yet they cried for His execution! (182h) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Being deceptive with people >> Lying to others Lk 20,3-8 (155e) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Witness of the believer >> Conscience >> An evil conscience keeps us from believing God >> Knowledge of evil testifies against our motives Lk 20,9-26 (241j) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom to the death >> Kill Jesus because of what He said – Jesus just told them that when they kill Him, they will lose their place and their nation, and their reaction was to seek to kill Him all the more. Again, this makes no sense; we would think they would stop trying to kill Him after what He said, but they were incapable of that, as though genetically predisposed to killing Him and all the prophets. These people were controlled by demons; so deeply embedded into them were they that not even Jesus tried to exorcise them, and the only thing the devil knows is to steal, kill and destroy. They were close to the devil incarnate, no different from the antichrist when he comes in the last days. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 20,9-19 (55c) Paradox >> Opposites >> Condemning the Jews as Jesus killers while seeking salvation through the cross – God’s way of saving mankind was actually made through disobedience and unbelief, which is one of the great ironies of the Bible. To condemn the Jews as the nation that killed its own Messiah and hold it against them while seeking salvation through that sacrifice is the height of hypocrisy. In fact, it’s no different from the mindset of the Pharisees who thought they could kill God and steal His Kingdom, rather than receive it through obedience. These two ideas (condemning the Jews for killing Jesus and seeking God’s mercy through the cross) are mutually exclusive. We must forgive the Jews for crucifying their Messiah, if not thank them for securing salvation for all mankind. Lk 20,9-18 (49f) Judgment >> Enemies of the prophets are destroyed – In verse 16, the Pharisees cried out saying, “May it never be!” They didn’t say this when they heard that they intended to kill their own Messiah; they said it only after hearing that “He will come and destroy these vine-growers and give the vineyard to others” (v16). It didn’t bother them to hear Jesus prophesy that they would murder the Son of God, but when He told them that they were about to lose their inheritance, that got their attention. How could they inherit the Kingdom of God after they crucified its owner? The fact is, God still would have given them their inheritance if they simply would have humbled themselves and asked God’s forgiveness and repented of their unbelief. Salvation was offered to the Jew first, even after they killed their own Messiah, perhaps especially afterward, because now salvation was secured for them and for the rest of the whole world. Before Jesus was crucified the way of salvation had not yet been made available. (185h) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >> Responding with contempt to the Holy Spirit >> Resisting the Holy Spirit – The Scriptures give us the Pharisees because there are always those in every generation just like them, who seem to always find their way to the top of society. Reprobates, the scientific term for them is psychopaths, people completely lacking in conscience. The Pharisees knew the truth and didn’t know it at the same time. They were like many of our politicians in Washington and CEOs of of many global corporations of our day; they have a convoluted mental state and an ill-advised method of dealing with the truth. The Pharisees knew Jesus was the Son of God, but they refused to acknowledge Him. Jesus demonstrated through this parable that there are varying levels of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, defined as refusing to believe what you know is true. Nothing but evil can come of this. There are no blessings and no promises accredited to unbelief. The Pharisees were cursed prior to Christ, but when Jesus came in the power of His Father and offered Israel the way of faith and they rejected it, they sealed their own fate. (242a) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the death >> Killing God’s prophets – This parable pertains to the time from the birth of Israel through Abraham to the time of Christ. These slaves that the owner of the vineyard sent to the vine growers were the Old Testament prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Obviously, Israel has had a history of mistreating their prophets, martyring many of them in Jerusalem. Lk 20,13-16 (19c) Sin >> Mocking God Without a cause >> Motivated by demons – According to the parable, the owner of the vineyard sent them His Son, hoping they would respect Him, but when the vine growers saw Him they reasoned among themselves (see also verses 1-8). They said, “Let us kill Him that the inheritance may be ours.” What kind of reasoning is that? This is beyond twisted; it is demonic! Jesus testified that the Pharisees were surmising in their hearts, perhaps in a place so far in their blackened souls that they themselves didn’t even know what they were thinking, that they could kill Jesus in hope of capturing heaven. That sounds eerily like the mad plan of Lucifer when he stormed God's throne, a level of darkness that staggers the imagination, a half-thought at best. What did Lucifer think he was going to do with the Father? Where is heaven anyway? The Pharisees didn't know! How could they steal a kingdom that was completely inaccessible to them? Instead of appreciating the grace and mercy of God sent to them in God's only Son, they saw only opportunity, calculating that if they killed Him whom they knew was the Son of God, they could somehow hold God ransom? How does someone become this monstrous? Actually, this was what the demons were thinking who inhabited them. There are the demon-possessed and then there were the Pharisees, the reprobates, the religious psychopaths. The Pharisees had a closer relationship with demons than they ever wanted with God. This was Satan’s idea that if they killed Jesus, he would somehow inherit the Kingdom of God, or at least it would be the first step in taking over God’s throne. After that he could be god, as though destroying Jesus’ body would actually destroy the person of Christ. Satan is a spirit; he would know better than anyone that the body is nothing more than a vehicle; the spirit is indestructible and doesn't die when the body dies. Satan lied to himself and denied what he knew was true, and so did the Pharisees. We have both the Pharisees and the demons thinking alike, narrowing the difference between them. Satan should have known his wacky idea wouldn’t work, but he deceived himself and had Jesus killed anyway, using the Pharisees. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 20,14-18 (157b) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Rejecting God >> Rejecting Christ – If we stood on top of a boulder and accidentally tripped and fell on it, maybe we would skin our knee, or if we fell harder, we might break a leg or an arm. However, if the boulder fell on us, it would crush us into a fine powder. This is the difference between committing a sin and rejecting Christ. We can commit heinous sins that can ruin our lives. If we break a leg, a hip, an arm in a terrible fall, we would still be alive to make a full recovery; but if we reject Jesus Christ, after this life we would go to hell. Rejecting Christ is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is unforgivable in the sense that it is unrepentable. The Holy Spirit speaks to us all and urges us to come to the knowledge of the truth and believe in Jesus for the salvation of our souls. If we die in our sin and find our place in hell, this is what Jesus meant by the boulder falling on us. Lk 20-14,15 (181h) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Self deception >> Imaginary perception of self >> Distorted perception of self – Apparently, it is possible to believe in God while at the same time conspire to murder Him. How that is actually true and how it plays in the mind is not readily describable, being so twisted and depraved that it defies being framed in a sentence. The Jew represents all of mankind, suggesting that anyone is capable of thinking this way. It would have been better to be born a squirrel or a rabbit or a bird or an animal that is incapable of higher thinking than to fit the description of a reprobate, who is incapable of salvation. The mind, while it is capable of higher thought, can also get twisted into knots beyond repair and confuse us beyond hope and reason. It can make us the most irrational creatures on the earth. The Pharisees believed in the God of the Old Testament with all their hearts, or so they claimed, and they seemed sincere about it. They believed in a lot of doctrines and teachings based on their ancient manuscripts that they had carefully maintained throughout the centuries, but they didn’t believe in God Himself, and this is what allowed them to conspire against His Son. The same thing can happen to us. We need to be careful not to believe in a lot of theology while at the same time forsaking the very teachings of those doctrines in our behavior. The Bible teaches us to live a godly life, and that is what we need to do; we shouldn’t just talk about it as the Pharisees did, or teach it without living it. The Pharisees believed in the laws of Moses, but they didn’t believe in the God of Moses, otherwise they would have recognized Jesus as the person that God sent to them as their leader and deliverer and Messiah. If we are not careful, we will make the same mistake, emphasizing the Scriptures over the God who inspired them. Lk 20,15-18 (186k) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> God’s role in forming a reprobate >> Rejected by God Lk 20-15,16 (16k) Sin >> Continuing in sin to avoid the light >> Suppressing the truth they cannot deny – When the Pharisees said, “May it never be,” it absolutely proved they understood that Jesus was the Son of God, and it also proved they understood everything Jesus was telling them, yet they denied everything. In their minds this was the equivalent of Jesus blaspheming, to lose their position as not only spiritual leaders of Israel, but also Israel losing the position as spiritual leaders of the world, but this is exactly what Jesus meant, and it is exactly what happened. The Jews lost their place and their nation, and spiritual leadership was given to the Church of the gentiles. In the mind of the Pharisees, the religion they believed and advocated was their business, so it was like Jesus saying, you are about to be fired. Israel will be laid-off during the age of grace, and then be reinstated at the end of the age. Lk 20-17,18 (2l) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Do not stumble over Him – The part of this verse, "Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces," is equivalent to Mat 11-6, where Jesus warned us not to stumble over Him. Whenever you stumble over something, we can potentially get hurt, but it usually doesn't end in total destruction. Jesus was making the distinction between falling on it and it falling on them. While we are alive in the flesh, He is the little stone that catches our toe, and we tumble head over heels, but when we stand before God on judgment day, He will be the big stone that falls on us and grinds our sin to dust, and if we have not received Christ as our savior, we will become sin, and we will be ground to dust. (40a) Judgment >> Jesus is the judge >> Jesus judges the world’s unbelief (137c) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the foundation of the Church >> Jesus is the cornerstone KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 20,19-47 (6l) Responsibility >> Protecting the Gospel >> Expose hypocrisy in the Church (179a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >> Jesus rebukes the Pharisees >> Rebuked for questioning His authority – Jesus rebuked the Pharisees to their faces, and if He weren’t predestined by His Father to give his life for the sins of the world, they could have never touched Him. He was just that great, even without an army, a single individual, Jesus could have overcome the entire world if He were so inclined, in fact He did. He destroyed sin, so that all who are willing can come to Him and be delivered from its power, which is death. Lk 20,19-26 (68k) Authority >> Discernment >> Judging truth and error >> Perceiving wicked plans (175b) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Using religion as a front (181c) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Rebellion >> Rebelling against God >> Rebelling against the men of God (183j) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Truth is the enemy of the spirit of error >> Spirit of error interrogates the truth (240j) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Taking away the key of knowledge >> Suppressing the truth – By this statement, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s?” Jesus meant that they should render to Caesar what belongs to him (taxes), and render to God what belongs to Him (people). The most common interpretation of this verse is: pay your taxes and give your tithes, but if we took context into consideration, if they didn't want to be part of God's family, they should get out of the way and let those enter who want to be His children. Jesus said in Lk 11-52,53, “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.” Lk 20-20 (18h) Sin >> Twisted thinking >> Can’t distinguish between good and evil >> Jesus is evil Lk 20,21-26 (89d) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Answers of wisdom – Jesus used wisdom in answering His enemies; it says that they were unable to catch Him in anything He said. He never miss-spoke. Jesus didn’t have any dark corners in his life. Every temptation and every evil thought that Satan put in His head or was fostered by his flesh he took to God and remedied it. Jesus refused to walk in darkness, and for this reason they were not able to find any dirt on Him or catch Him in anything He said. There was virtually nothing in Him that would speak evil and catch Him in a trap of his own making. It just wasn’t in Him to say something that would incriminate Him. Jesus silenced His enemies in two ways: by his wise answer and by his perfect character. One without the other is useless, for the lack of one will tear down the work of the other. Inconsistency nullifies wisdom, but with character wisdom is included. Nobody has good character without wisdom, but there are plenty of people who claim wisdom without any matching character. The best way to seek wisdom is to pursue good character, for wisdom is attracted to it, but the pursuit of wisdom does not guarantee good character. (252c) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Jesus is worthy of our worship >> Worship Jesus for what God made Him through suffering Lk 20,27-36 (209a) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being married to God >> We go where He goes – Those who attain to the resurrection from the dead will not marry nor procreate, but will be like the angels, for the angels do not reproduce either. This means there will always be a finite number of us, a limited addition, though we will hold infinite value to God. Since there is nothing finite about Him, He will create another man and woman who will reproduce, and He will place them on the earth after he has created all things new, and this time He will bypass the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil so they cannot sin, and He will command them to be fruitful and multiply. From there they will reproduce throughout eternity, and we will rule over them. They will be human, but they will not be exactly like us, anymore than the angels are exactly like us. There is a trust factor that God is building in us, and we will take that trust to heaven and draw on our many experiences to obey God, just as we do today and God will give us His authority to reign over His people. Each of us will govern an infinite number of people, and this is why God wants as many of us as possible to come to Him, because He will need every soul to help govern His kingdom. See also: New heavens and a new earth (Our inheritance is infinite and eternal); Rom 8-18; 226f KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 20,34-36 (71d) Authority >> Ordained by God >> Worthiness of man >> God makes us worthy of heaven Lk 20-35 (71c) Worthiness Of Man (Key verse) Lk 20-37,38 (212f) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> He is the creator >> Evolution (Defaming God) >> God created atheists too – This simple yet profound insight into the Scriptures was something that the Sadducees had overlooked, who claimed that there was no resurrection, nor did they believe in angels. Their religion was based on the Old Testament Scriptures, so they believed there was a God, but they didn’t believe in the Holy Spirit. What’s left to believe after they have eliminated the spiritual realm? Their faith was more about unbelief than believing! Jesus brought to light the fact that God does not rule over dead people, but over the living. That is, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still alive, though they have not yet received a physical body. We all who have died in faith will receive a resurrected body that can never die. The Sadducees didn’t believe that man had a spirit, so in that sense they are like those who believe in the religion of atheism, who acknowledge the physical realm only and have a secular worldview. According to them when someone dies, they simply blink out of existence, believing that our flesh is all there is to life. Lk 20,41-44 (37e) Judgment >> Jesus’ humanity >> He was part of the lineage of David (141c) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ ministry >> Jesus as the Son of God – Jesus took the emphasis off the Christ as the son of David and put it on the Son of God. Through the authority of Old Testament prophecy, David said, “The Lord said to my Lord,” meaning the Father said to His Son, “Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” David was capable of producing a great, great... grandson who was a prophet, but he was not capable of producing the Son of God; only God the Father could do that. It was significant that Jesus brought up this passage, firstly because the Scriptures spoke against His enemies, and secondly, because Jesus fulfilled this passage just days later when He allowed these same enemies to shed His blood on the cross, destroying the power of sin. Jesus was testifying about Himself that He was more than a prophet. These were words that He carefully avoided during the onset of his ministry, cautioning His disciples not to breathe a word about Him as the Son of God, for such talk was a shortcut to the cross before the time. Israel was equipped to believe their Messiah was the Son of God, but not when he seemed unwilling to deliver them from their physical enemies, the Romans, instead always speaking in terms of their greatest enemy -- sin. Had Jesus been a mere prophet, He could not have purchased salvation for us, for the person delivering us from sin must be without sin, and no man but Christ fit that description. Accepting His work on the cross as propitiation for our sins is how God will accept us into His presence one day and how He will invite us to live with Him in paradise forever. Therefore, rejecting Jesus Christ as the Son of God is what defines every cult, which will eventually be made a footstool for His feet. (253eb) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is the Son of God >> Authority of the Son of God – This passage, originating from a Psalm of David (110-1), was popular in Jesus’ day, and He made it more popular to us by quoting it, offering profound insight that those listening never considered. This passage was obviously not referring to any of David’s descendants, since nobody could fulfill this prophecy except the Son of God. If the gospel were not mysterious, we would suspect it was not of God, because God is mysterious. There are many mysteries in the ways of God and many mysteries in the way things have happened in the fulfillment of prophecy that no one would have predicted, such as another 2000-year period after Christ that no one saw coming. The Bible is very clear that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary with many passages clearly saying that Jesus was a descendant of David, though Mary was a Levite. Joseph was from the tribe of Judah, yet he had nothing to do with the conception of Christ; he was a surrogate father; none of his genetic code entered the equation. So, by proxy Joseph was Jesus’ father. Therefore, what we have in this verse in the book of Psalms is the Father telling His Son to 'sit at My right-hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.' Where is the fulfillment of this prophecy? The answer to every question that anyone would ask about the Lord is that He is eternal and He takes His time in everything He does. He is never in a hurry, using time for His own purposes, and for the last 2000 years He has been choosing people from the world to be His worshippers to fill His kingdom. See also: David, King; Jn 10,11-14; 180cb _________________________________ LUKE CHAPTER 21 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 21,1-4 (11g) Servant >> God’s standard is in proportion to our output – God does not merely repay us according to what we have done, good or bad; He repays us according to our means, you might say on a percentage basis. The poor widow’s two copper coins represented nearly 100% of her income, while the rich put much more into the treasury, but amounted to a mere fraction of their total earnings. God does not merely count the coins to determine our generosity, He takes into account every aspect of our lives before He determines how much we are giving. (23i) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> God’s perspective on the poor – God through Moses instituted the temple tax, and He also instituted the general treasury fund, where people could donate however much money they wanted. God views the money that people place in the treasury as an exercise of the heart. Through her nominal donation Jesus was making the point that the others were donating almost nothing by comparison. The fact that Jesus brought this widow to His disciple’s attention automatically implied that she had not escaped God's notice. She couldn't give enough money to buy a meal that would have satisfied her appetite, so she placed it in the treasury hoping that God multiply her gift so she could eat. (30e) Gift of God >> Prepare to receive from God >> We must first get His attention – God knows how much we have and how much we depend on Him to survive in this world, and He knows when we need a miracle. The question is, how are we preparing to receive a miracle? Are we investing in His kingdom and praying in faith for His assistance? People get mad at God when He does not immediately respond to their needs, and then they build walls of resentment and bitterness against Him, and then hope that He is listening through the walls, but God only listens to faith. We must appeal to Him in genuine faith, like the widow who gave her last coins, something she could say, ‘this is how I asked God for a miracle.’ The sound of her coins hitting the bottom of the treasury box was her prayer for help. Giving it to the treasury was her way of converting her copper coins to seeds; if one didn't grow, maybe the other would. The widow was investing in the Kingdom as a way of asking God for help. She prayed, ‘God, I don’t have any means to support myself, please help me, plink, plink.’ (48g) Judgment >> Levels of judgment >> Judged according to your standard of measure – The story about the widow’s mite is a hint as to how God will judge the Church and the world, in that He does not intend to judge us based entirely on the law alone, but also by a standard of comparison and contrast. For example, contrasted against the proportion of the widow’s mite, the rich gave very little, though their sums far exceeded hers. Those who receive the collections look only at the dollar amounts, and they tend to value those who give more, whereas God looks at the heart. We have all been given a certain measure of gifts, abilities and faith; if God has made us rich in talents and abilities, He will expect more from us, but if we don’t think God has given us much, He will show us someone who did more with less and judge us based on their standard. God will raise up the poor widow and give her a better place, and the rich will squawk and produce their tally sheets and quote their gross annual giving to the Lord and say, ‘According to our records we gave more.’ And God will tell them, ‘On the contrary, the widow gave Me everything she had.’ Jesus condemned Capernaum because of all the miracles they witnessed and still didn’t repent, and will compare them to other villages who saw fewer miracles yet repented (Lk 10,13-15). So our judgment will not be exclusively based on what we did or didn’t do, but will also be based on our potential, compared to others. (206g) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Conditions to promises >> Conditions to the gifts of God >> Conditions to the promises of God – The widow’s mite parallels the story of Elijah and the widow in 1Kings 17,9-16. God told Elijah that there was a woman who would provide for him at Zarephath, though she may have had less than anyone in the land, yet she had one thing in greater abundance—faith. She had enough flour and oil to make a single bread cake for her and her son, saying that she was about to make it, eat it and die of starvation. However, Elijah promised that the oil and the flour would not run out until the rains came, but he prefaced the promise with a command that she should make him a cake with the last of all she had. So the promise was hinged on the first cake she made with the last of her ingredients, and that first cake for Elijah represented the widow’s mite. Lk 21-5,6 (190f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision >> Undressing >> Dismantling the outer tabernacle – Wasn’t the destruction of the temple symbolic of Jesus sacrificing His flesh on the cross, making temple worship obsolete? In a sense the Romans were doing God a favor by tearing down the temple and judging Israel unworthy of owning and inhabiting their own temple/city/nation after disowning their Messiah. The consensus has it that the temple must be rebuilt in the last days to fulfill endtime prophecy. Daniel 9-27 says that the antichrist will make a covenant with Israel and then break that covenant. The Islamic mosque is standing in the way of rebuilding the temple on Mount Moriah where all the other Jewish temples have been built, where Abraham went to sacrifice his son. To the Jews no other location on earth would due for the location of their temple, and if they find the Ark of the Covenant, they will rebuild their temple no matter what. However, it would seem to explain the phrase in parentheses "(Let the reader understand)" (Mat 24-15), that Jesus spoke in context with the antichrist standing in the holy place. Let the reader understand that persecution of both Jews and Gentiles will have been in progress before the antichrist enters the temple, but when he exits the holy place, he will ratchet up that persecution like Nebuchadnezzar stoked the fire for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who refused to bow to the king (Daniel chapter 3). See also: Temple in Jerusalem (Temple will not be rebuilt in t he last days); 2The 2-3,4; 190f KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 21,7-19 (49l) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Condition of the world in the last days -- These verses go with verses 25,26. Since World War I and World War II, it is safe to say that World War III will be next, and since man has achieved what it takes to fulfill the more technical aspects of endtime prophecy, such as the mark of the beast, no other generation is prepared to fulfill endtime prophecy more than our own, making Jesus’ return more realistic than any other time in history. We go from apostasy to apocalypse, but who is at fault for allowing Satan to overrun the world? If the apostasy brought on the apocalypse, can’t we blame the Church? God has called us to be the salt of the earth, the preservative of the world, but we have become tasteless! It is safe to say that the apocalypse has occurred because the Church has fallen away from its faith; we can no longer give mankind a reason to be "nice" to each other. This question pings off the inner skull of sinners: ‘why should I be nice?’ If we can’t answer that question through our faithful service to God and man, then we have just unleashed hell on earth that will systematically murder billions of people. Lk 21,7-9 (214h) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God’s time is soon >> Relatively soon – Everyone claims to have a logical reason for hating one another, so now all they need is an excuse for killing each other. This attitude and mindset is spreading throughout the world. (237c) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> The rapture >> Rapture is delayed – These verses go with verses 34-36. We should beware of those who speak about the second coming of Christ in specific terms without first seeing many of the signs that precede His actual return. that is, Jesus said that rumors of war is not one of the signs, but kingdom rising against kingdom and nation against nation (World War III, the four horsemen of the apocalypse) is definitely a sign. The very first sign of his return is the total collapse of the global economy; it won’t be hard to recognize. In other words, not even the prelude to the tribulation period should be considered a sign, only when the tribulation period begins in earnest should we consider His second coming immanent. When this happens, then we know the time is near. Lk 21-7,8 (65h) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan unites the world for the cause of deception – This is the very first piece of advice that Jesus would give anyone living in the last days: “See to it that you are not misled.” There are many cults, denominations and divisive belief systems within Christianity today, yet Jesus wasn’t talking about these; rather, His next words were, “For many will come in My name saying, ‘I am He’ and ‘the time is at hand;’ do not go after them.” These are the words of the antichrist. We should not think for a minute that the antichrist is our Lord, for Jesus promised that He would not return in the weakness of human flesh as He came the first time, suggesting that the antichrist will counterfeit His first coming, but he cannot counterfeit His second, who promised to return like lightning that flashes from one end of the sky to the other in great power and glory. The Nephilim (genetic material from demons transcribed into human flesh) existed during the time of Noah and during the time when God directed Israel to possess the land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey, commanding Israel to completely obliterate those who lived there and to cleanse the land of their wickedness. Therefore, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the Nephilim exists in the last days, and nor should it surprise anyone to learn that the antichrist is a Nephilim. Anyone who gets hoodwinked into believing in the antichrist should know the difference between Jesus Christ and the devil. They are the difference between night and day, and anyone who can't distinguish them apart deserves to be deceived. Lk 21,10-19 (25f) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Satan and his children are murderers – When Jesus said, "Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom," He was talking about the four horsemen of the apocalypse, referring to Satan’s wrath. That is not God doing anything, but man playing with fire and getting burned. This is what they get for serving the devil: they get killed for it. The only way Satan can express his gratitude is to kill them, for that is all he knows, meaning that serving the devil is a death sentence. Man serves Satan, and so Satan serves man by destroying one fourth of them (Rev 6-8). (218c) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> You cannot control the judgment of God >> You cannot control how God responds to persecution – Did you hear that? Jesus said that persecution would come "before all these things." The terror and great sign from heaven is the earthquake mentioned in Rev 6,12-17. After martyrdom begins and a system is set in place for rounding up God’s people to destroy them, a massive earthquake will occur that it will appear to rattle the stars in the sky, but in fact it will be the earth itself that will be rattling. This is the sign from heaven in those days, but Jesus said that before all these things they will lay their hands on us and persecute us, delivering us to governors and kings for His namesake, putting some of us to death. It is the martyrdom of the saints that leads to the trumpets. Before the trumpet judgments begin, God has done nothing, so this earthquake stands for the beginning of God’s fierce wrath for martyring His saints. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 21,12-19 (200l) Denying Christ >> Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> He is against Christ who does not receive Him >> Whoever does not receive the Church is against Christ (242ka) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Reacting to persecution >> Enduring persecution >> Persecution to the death Lk 21,12-15 (110c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through us in times of persecution – If we want to know if God is in control, then be quiet and let Him do the talking. These will be days when we will need a sign that God is with us and the sign is to shut the mouths of His opponents, just as Jesus did before His crucifixion and the apostles in the book of Acts. For the sake of destroying their conscience, He will eliminate their excuses that they didn’t know what they were doing. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in our heart as a constant reminder of Him. When we are facing so much darkness and evil, we will want just one more sign that we are not suffering alone and that He is near and knows our situation and cares for us, and this is how He will speak to us, by speaking to our enemies through us. Persecution winnows the righteous from the wicked, for their religion won’t matter enough to die for it or go to prison, but the saints will gladly die for their faith in Jesus. It takes wisdom to shut the mouths of lions and let God speak through us. God knows what to say to our persecutors; He knows what they need to hear, and wants to be the one to tell them in the boldness and confidence of the Holy Spirit, because He is the persuader of truth. Some of our oppressors may get saved as a result of our testimony, but if they don’t, they will have had an official warning from God that what they are doing calls for eternal judgment. (147i) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Solemnly testify about Jesus Lk 21-12 (67h) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> Sacrificing your life for the name of Jesus (103l) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by circumstances >> Purified Through hardship -- This verse goes with verse 19 Lk 21-15 (254i) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Holy Spirit >> Holy Spirit is life >> Spirit of Jesus Lk 21,16-19 (18j) Sin >> Twisted thinking >> Unable to distinguish between good and evil >> God’s people are evil – Our own unbelieving family members will turn us into the authorities, and many current members of local churches, highly religious but unbelievers just the same, will also turn against us as some of our greatest enemies. It says we will be hated by all, suggesting that corrupt governments will turn the world against Christians, blaming Jews first and also believing gentiles for all the evils in the world. The antichrist will manipulate them to do this with the mental framework of conformity already in place and well entrenched, especially in the younger generation, who seek popularity with the in-groups and wanting to associate with the latest and greatest Internet sensations. Conversely, bullying is now a big problem; no one wants to be isolated and targeted for relentless taunting and harassment. These represent lines drawn where each person stands on one side or the other, so all the antichrist needs to do is define the "bad guy" and let the cultural machine do its job. (29c) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> Delivered from death – Jesus’ perspective about becoming martyrs for our faith is that we don't actually die. They may have destroyed the body, but we personally don't die, and God will give us a new body that is infinitely better than our sinful flesh. Some of us will become martyrs, yet not a hair of our head will perish. This reveals how Jesus viewed death; He completely removed the finality of it through His own death and subsequent resurrection. To Him this life was nothing more than an investment that we make in the Kingdom of God, saying “By your endurance you will gain your lives.” In the natural realm, martyrs can be tortured first and then killed; for example, they pulled out Jesus’ beard before they crucified Him, yet in heaven when we see Him, not a hair of His head (or face) will be missing. In the resurrection we will have perfect bodies, a full head of hair, even if it fell out naturally, not reflecting the injuries we incurred in this life, except martyrs may retain some of their scars as trophies. So Jesus placed very little emphasis on this life, yet we see people investing everything God has given them in this life, and He says that those who do this will eventually lose it all. God will deliver us through our endurance, so we are not to fight against our persecutors, but to endure them. Through endurance we will enter eternal life by maintaining our faith, which produces love. We overcome this world by keeping love at the center of our lives, regardless of the circumstances. (38c) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death (Satan) >> Resurrection overcomes death – Jesus said that we will be put to death, yet not a hair of our head will perish. This speaks of the First Resurrection and opens our minds to God’s perspective on death, that it has absolutely no power over those who believe in Jesus. Those who partake of the blessed First Resurrection, though many have died thousands of years ago, yet their spirit went to be with the Lord, and on the day of the First Resurrection God will give them and us new bodies that will never die again. Not a single hair from our head will perish. To those who believe in Jesus there is no death, and for this reason the Lord doesn’t want us fretting about it. Jesus said in Jn 11-25,26, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (201g) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Jesus is an offense >> Jesus offends the world >> The Church offends the world (209g) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with difficulty >> Righteous saved with casualties KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 21,16-18 (53b) Paradox >> Opposites >> Of life and death >> Death cannot hurt you (189h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Martyr >> Dying to self through persecution (243h) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> The indestructible kingdom >> The body of Christ is indestructible >> The new man is indestructible Lk 21-16,17 (163i) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used by Satan to destroy the Church (172a) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Devils among the saints >> False brethren among the people of God >> Antichrists among Christians Lk 21,17-19 (28g) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God protects us through endurance (98ka) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Endurance invites the Holy Spirit into your life >> The salvation of God >> Enduring the wicked is to overcome them -- These verses go with verses 34-36 Lk 21-19 (103l) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by circumstances >> Purified Through hardship -- This verse goes with verse 12 (207cb) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> God will accept you into His heaven if you overcome >> Endure to the end – Jesus didn’t whitewash our faith in Him like the Church does today, often preaching the gospel of easy-believism. Many denominations teach an insidious Eternal Security doctrine where the believer is incapable of recanting His faith, as though God were holding us hostage after reciting the sinner’s prayer. According to Eternal Security, the believer can do whatever he wants without any fear of losing his salvation, but nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus said that through endurance we will gain our lives in the resurrection of the righteous, but if we don’t endure, then we won’t partake of the First Resurrection; it’s just that simple. Remember, Paul said we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2-8), but if our faith fails, then how can we be saved by grace? It doesn’t matter that Jesus died on the cross if we don’t have the faith to believe in Him. Nor does it matter that we once believed, anymore than it matters what great things someone did before being convicted of capital murder; he will spend the rest of his life locked behind bars, and all his good works will be forgotten. Convicted murderers have more hope of salvation than the one who has forsaken His faith in Jesus, for how will He return to it? KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 21,20-28 (51a) Judgment >> World & church >> Warning of wrath >> Consequences of sin Lk 21,20-24 (49a) Judgment >> Nations are destroyed >> Israel judged as an example for us (50a) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Condition of Israel in the last days – “Trampled under foot by the gentiles until the times of the gentiles is fulfilled,” refers to AD 70; it also refers to the age of grace, the 2000-year period when the gentiles managed the gospel of Christ, and it also refers to the period the Jews did not had a nation of their own. Only recently has the Jewish state returned sovereign, and their people re-colonizing Israel and Jerusalem. Since the context is the endtimes, He is not concerned about AD 70 or the 2000-year age of grace, but about a specific event in the last days, called Armageddon. Mankind will come to believe that Israel is the cause of all evil and human suffering in the world, as though the horrible judgments that God unleashed on mankind was the fault of the Jews, because it was their God that judged them, so the nations will surround Jerusalem to destroy it; also, the antichrist is a fugitive at this point, and the populations of the world are coming for him. Jesus will suddenly appear and defend the Holy City, but before He does that the Holy City will be trampled underfoot by the gentiles, suggesting that this statement Jesus made refers to two specific events: a time when the gentles trample the Holy City and a time when they seek to completely destroy it. The fact that they don’t just use an atomic bomb to blow Israel off the map proves the level of technological decline. Human civilization has nearly regressed to the stone age, so they’re coming with weapons perhaps a little above rocks and clubs to destroy Jerusalem. Jesus said that the inhabitants of Jerusalem had better evacuate the city and do it fast, because someone is coming whom they don’t want to meet. He said, “These are the days of vengeance,” who is exacting vengeance, and upon whom? There is strong scriptural evidence to support the idea of antichrist living in the Holy City at the time of Jesus' return to Jerusalem, so for the armies of the world to encompass Jerusalem suggests that they are coming to destroy the antichrist. The nations of the world are seeking to exact revenge on him for deceiving them into taking the mark of the beast, and for martyring the saints and leading them into judgment with God. Although the antichrist is hiding in Jerusalem, the world will consider the Jews to be harboring him and will seek to destroy the city with the antichrist in it. To the degree that this has happened in AD 70 is the degree that it will happen again at the end of the age, only for completely different reasons and motives. He’s making a comparison with the fulfilled prophecy of AD 70, which was God’s judgment on the Jews for rejecting their Messiah, then playing this scenario again at the end of the age like replaying a movie. The difference between the two events is that Jerusalem was destroyed the first time because of their unbelief, and the second time because of their faith. So, the invasion of antichrist will trample Jerusalem, and the nations seeking to destroy him will threaten the complete annihilation of the holy city. (152h) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies about the fulfillment of Scripture – We need to interpret the Scriptures through various principles that we use to look through them to properly understand the prophets. The main principle of interpreting endtime prophecy is contained in this statement: “Endtime prophecy often refers to two or more periods, traverse multiple eras and cycle through various stages of completion, until the words of the prophets are fulfilled.” Many of the prophecies appear to have already taken place, but they will occur again, only at a different time. If we understand how endtime prophecy works, we will better understand this very popular statement: “History repeats itself.” We never stopped to realize that this is a fact because of various principles that are at work. Critics scoff at Christians for believing in endtime prophecy because passages like this seem to have already been fulfilled in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, but what the critics don’t understand is that many prophecies go through a cycle of completion until the time is ready for it to be fulfilled. Jesus was talking about the last days; for Him to be talking about any time other than the end of the age would have been deceptive. He was in fact talking about a time shortly before His return, and just as Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, so it will be destroyed again. Lk 21-23 (240f) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >> Natural disadvantage of the flesh >> Limitations of the flesh – The first five seals spoken in Revelation chapter six are the period of the four horsemen, called the Apocalypse, and it will be associated with much destruction and loss of life. Sometime after the first seal is broken and the first trumpet sounds, a Great Endtime Revival will begin. The antichrist will pose Jesus as Christ through the Pope, but his deceptions will fail in light of a Great Endtime Revival that will arise before antichrist reveals himself. Satan will use the Pope as a means of quelling this revival, but this diversion will fail, which will result in the destruction of Rome. Satan didn’t want to take on human flesh; he was pressed into it after this revival threw a wrench in his plans. Prior to that there was no one to hold him accountable, but the revival blew the whistle on him and exposed him as the son of perdition. Taking on human flesh as his last ditch effort to win the world’s admiration, he will find that living and walking in human flesh has its limitations that will prove too challenging even for him. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 21,25-36 (50b) Judgment >> God judges the world >> The second coming of Christ – We are to be at our post, guarding our hearts, spiritually alert. The guard cannot see anything coming from a long distance, only within eyeshot can he finally sound the warning of an approaching enemy. However, we who are alert in the Spirit have both the Old and New Testament prophecies that can enable us to see an approaching army from a much greater distance. Our alertness is watching for the unfolding of endtime prophecy, and the very first thing to happen is the total collapse of the global economy. It is the first seal, represented by a white horse with a rider holding a bow with no mention of any arrows, suggesting not a conventional war but a war of economics, coupled with the Corona Virus. This failed economy will halt civilization as we know it, bringing every developed nation to its knees and exposing America’s soft underbelly. The Middle East will take this opportunity to effect a terror attack, incurring greater loss of life and property than 9/11. This will prompt America to retaliate with a nuclear strike on Middle Eastern countries. This will spur a nuclear exchange between America, Russia and China as the second seal. After these things there will be a power grab between globalists who will seize the opportunity to become world dictator. Three attempts will be made and the forth will produce the Beast that is to come (see Daniel chapter 2). After this the rest of endtime prophecy will unfold in domino fashion. Lk 21-25,26 (23k) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of the unknown >> The fear of fear – Those who belong to Christ will not be overcome by fear as this verse indicates. Hence, Jesus was talking about unbelievers fainting from fear, literally dying from the earth erratically shaken, moving like a drunken man from the many earthquakes. (49l) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Condition of the world in the last days -- These verses go with verses 7-19. These things will continue to increase in frequency and intensity as the day draws near that the world has never seen. The extreme violence of earthquakes explain the signs in sun, moon and stars (the earth is moving, not them), “and the perplexity of the roaring of the seas and the waves” (tsunamis). Some of these earthquakes will take place underwater, raising the sea floor and hurling giant waves against the coastlines, where most people live. Hence, earthquakes can explain almost everything Jesus said, but it also doubles as an analogy of the heavens surrounding the earth that will be shaken where demonic entities live. In the book of Revelation the first recorded earthquake is in chapter six, and the last and biggest one is noted in chapter sixteen, being so massive that it levels every mountain and fills every valley, happening just prior to Jesus’ return. There are others in-between, and if the last quake is biggest, then it stands to reason that they occur on a continuum of increasing intensity. (121e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Hope >> Expectation >> Hope is the expectation to receive >> What the wicked fears (expects) will come upon him – The first four seals of God’s judgment, written in Revelation chapter six, refer to the activity of Satan. The sixth seal is a giant earthquake that rocks the planet that God uses to signal His people that He is about the judge the world for martyring the saints, and then the seventh seal opens the Trumpet judgments, which will be far more severe than the seals. The period of the Trumpets will be a time when spiritual forces of both God and demon will manifest. Things will happen in those days that will make Hollywood appear unimaginative. People will be terrified by the demonic manifestations that have invaded their world to torment them, literally scaring some people to death. Through them God will say to the world, 'If it's demons you want to worship, then I will give you demons!' Terrible things will happen during the seals: total collapse of the world economy, terrorism, World War III, riots and anarchy, poverty, disease and pestilence, which will kill a forth of mankind, and the antichrist will appear during this time, yet all these things are man's doing; God hasn't acted yet. During the period of the trumpets the powers of the heavens will be shaken and demons will emerge from the ground and sting mankind who received the mark of the beast. They will writhe in pain so severe that they will cry for death, and so God will give them death. The stinging demons will mutate into horse-like creatures with riders on them that will be given orders to kill. These are things coming to unbelieving mankind, not to His people, for the Rapture has not yet occurred. The church will be hidden and protected by God in the wilderness from the world and from the judgments that He is unleashing on the world, though there will be martyrs, accrued mostly during the seals. The Rapture will finally occur at the seventh and final Trumpet. (245l) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestations of the devil >> Manifestation of the prince of the power of the air – At the same time that Jesus was talking about signs in sun, moon and stars, He was also talking about the heavens surrounding the earth, shaking the realm of demonic forces. There is some truth to the fact that the spiritual realm and the natural realm are linked. They have things in common, so that when God shakes the spiritual realm, it also shakes the natural realm. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 21-28 (82k) Thy kingdom come >> Power of prayer >> Prayer prepares you to meet Jesus -- This verse goes with verses 34-36 (84ca) Thy kingdom come >> Be on the alert >> Be faithful till Jesus comes >> Endure to the end – When these things begin to take place, Jesus commanded us to focus even more on perfecting our walk with Him, because our redemption is at hand. There is a difference between His caution in verse 8 to beware of men who say the time is near, and verse 28, “When these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” What is the difference? When we see a pattern of frequency and intensity being established in the fulfillment of these signs, we can say in non-relative terms that the Kingdom of God is near, but until then, we should not consider His coming immanent, yet always be dressed in readiness. There will be many liars and false teachers in the last days who will try to mislead people, drawing attention to themselves for the purpose of money. (137k) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >> Stages of maturity are levels of accountability >> It is our responsibility to be mature -- This verse goes with verses 34-36 Lk 21,29-32 (84b) Thy kingdom come >> Be on the alert >> Remain on duty >> Keep watch – The fulfillment of endtime prophecy is much like fireworks; we hear a big boom and say, ‘Here comes the finale,’ but there is a lull with sporadic fireworks. When it finally comes, the sky is filled with fire and exploding bombs, making the finale unmistakable. We had World Wars I and II that included many nations, and both of them would be hard to top, yet when the finale begins, it will be unmistakable; they won’t be able to squeeze another bomb in the air. That is when we know we are at the end. Frequency and intensity are the rule of thumb. These will be desperate times with spiritual deception so thick in the air we could cut it with a knife, and many will buy into the lies of the devil if they are not watching and praying. (126k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Patience >> Have patience for the return of Christ >> The physical return of Christ – People have been seeing signs of the times for thousands of years, a sign here and there, yet Jesus said, “When you see these things happening,” not just one thing but everything all at once, then we should lift up our heads, because our redemption draws near (v28). We could go to Matthew chapter 24 and list all the signs involved in endtime prophecy, speaking about them to some degree in sequence, though His foremost warning was this: “See to it that you are not misled” (v8). Spiritual deception will be rampant in the last days. He spoke about wars and rumors of wars, saying that these must take place, but they do not refer to the end. Instead, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…” all these things have happened, yet Jesus has not returned. Fulfillment of endtime prophecy is like a combination lock where we need all the numbers in sequence as a matter of frequency and intensity. (165i) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Hardship >> Circumstances caused by the devil – These things preceding the second coming of Christ have happened in the past, but His second coming was not at hand. God is not trying to fulfill endtime prophecy; Satan is the one doing it, and God is in the background averting these travesties, such as the two world wars. This gave time for more souls to be added to God’s kingdom. Endtime prophecy will finally be fulfilled when God no longer has enough people in the world to help Him avert the circumstances, and then endtime prophecy will unfurl as people have watched and waited for centuries. During WWII people had every reason to believe that this was the end, but God was able to mediate the situation by other nations who didn’t have the same sentiments as Hitler. It is when all the nations have been weakened and tied to a common economy that finding someone outside the system to come and help will be impossible. (214i) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God’s time is soon >> Evidently soon – Jesus gave us a time frame and said that endtime prophecy will occur within a single generation; it won’t be spread over a period of centuries. A generation is defined by the average age when people start having children, which for us is about age 25. So, Jesus gave us a frame of reference in which to understand the approximate length of time before all is fulfilled, and that includes the beginning of birth pangs, about 25 years. People have been recognizing the signs of the times since Jesus talked about them. The First Century Church was totally convinced that He would return in their lifetime, and there was actually reason to believe it. He spoke about the destruction of the temple that occurred in AD 70, and so they expected the Kingdom of God to come shortly thereafter, but it didn’t happen. Some people say it is cruel of God to make people wait for Him so long, giving them signs of his appearing and then never coming, but real cruelty would be to give people no hope of His return. Without hope, people would have caroused through this life forgetting about God. They did anyway. Lk 21-33 (244g) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> The word of God is eternal >> The word of God will outlast the creation – The word of God is eternal; it never becomes obsolete. Nothing ever replaces it with something better and it never needs updating. What God speaks He never edits with a more accurate version, but says the first time what He meant and is relevant throughout all eternity. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 21,34-36 (4d) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Being accountable to Jesus – This is my favorite verse of the Bible, for in it is the recipe for getting through this life and through the last days with our faith in tact, an endeavor that is perhaps the single most difficult task that God has imposed on any Christian of any generation in history. Jesus, in these three verses gathered all the vital elements and condensed them into one sentence. Here is a list of those elements: 1) Keep on the alert, (2) don't be the victim of a poorly placed seed, choked by the worries of the world, (3) the day of the Lord will come when you don’t expect it, (4) the antidote – prayer, (5) those who successfully go through it will actually escape from the horrors of it, (6) the next stop after the tribulation is the presence of God – what a relief. (5k) Responsibility >> Discipleship tested >> God tests your strength through perseverance – There is a focal point to what Jesus said in these verses, stay awake. This implies that falling asleep will be our greatest temptation and biggest mistake prior to the tribulation. When Jesus warns us of something, we would do well to heed it. (8o) Responsibility >> Prevent backsliding from God – This verse is by no means a summary of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, which teaches that we don’t need to prepare, because Jesus is coming for us before anything bad happens. Read Foxes Book of Martyrs if you don’t think God has ever allowed anything bad to happen to His people. If God is just going to Rapture us, we don't need strength for anything, but Jesus advised us to prepare. Only one generation needs to prepare for His return, though we all need to prepare for life as a Christian in this world. (24d) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Pursuit of happiness creates anxiety – You would think that the worries of life would rouse a person from his sleep, yet it has an opposite effect. The worries of life cause us to fall asleep to the things of God, for a person is awake to the degree of his faith, but worrying about the things of this life is related to fear, and fear is the opposite of faith and love. The worries of life have an erosion effect on our faith. A person who worries about his life is not content. Jesus was not talking about people who are about to cook their last meal and succumb to starvation; He was talking about people who are caught in the trap of materialism, striving to have it all and worried about losing it. Jesus is saying, ‘Do not pursue a standard that allows no room for faith.’ The person who works day and night in his pursuit of happiness will have no time for God. Jesus is saying that those whose first love is money, ‘that day will come upon Him suddenly like a trap.’ (75a) Thy kingdom come >> Let not your heart be hardened >> Numb from over stimulation (82k) Thy kingdom come >> Power of prayer >> Prayer prepares you to meet Jesus -- These verses go with verse 28. Staying on the alert and praying are two sides of the same coin, for prayer is the means that we stay on the alert. He didn’t advise us to amass silver and gold. Rather, He said to pray. Let others toil to accumulate their precious metal stash and see what good it buys them on the Lord’s day. If gold and silver could help us survive the last days, Jesus would have told us. He said that instead of devoting ourselves to these things, we should devote ourselves to prayer. Instead of gathering earthly wealth, gather truth delineated by the Holy Spirit. Develop a relationship with Jesus and treasure Him in our heart, at the same time developing a reputation of good works, so when the last days come, people will look to us for answers, and we can lead them into the salvation of God. However, those who have not prepared for the last days, a good leader will do them no good. It goes back to the parable of the Ten Virgins (Mat 25,1-13); there was no way to help those who were foolish. We are not to share our oil with those who have not prepared. (83m) Thy kingdom come >> Be on the alert >> Remain on duty >> Be on guard – “Be on the alert.” Jesus often said this throughout the gospels as the number one thing we can do to prepare for his return. For Him to say this so many times suggests that spiritual laziness will be a problem in the last days. That is, for Scripture to often remind us to remain alert means that doing so is the solution to getting through the last days. It conversely means that spiritual laziness will be our greatest threat. This is true to the extent that we can use the Church’s slothfulness as a sign of Jesus’ return, in that the more wayward the Church, the sooner His return. (98ka) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Endurance invites the Holy Spirit into your life >> The salvation of God >> Enduring the wicked is to overcome them -- These verses go with verses 17-19. The hardships we endure are lessons for eternity, but Satan's lie is that he has power over us. On the contrary, if we are with Jesus, He said to His persecutors, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above” (John 19-11). The world has rejected the testimony of the saints by evidence of the martyrs that have accumulated over the centuries throughout the age of grace. We are in His hand, and if it is the will of God that we become martyrs for Christ, then so be it. We can prove to the world that God's ways are better than the ways of the world, and that evil must cower to Him, who never thinks in terms of the temporal, though we think almost exclusively in those terms, and this is why we so often wrestle with God. We want Him to care for this life more than it being a mere sacrifice for the life to come. If we have trouble finding Him, think of eternity and suddenly we will discover Him right in front of us, ready to lead us through all our problems. (113b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Heaven’s clothes >> Protection >> Shelter (137k) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >> Stages of maturity are levels of accountability >> It is our responsibility to be mature -- These verses go with verse 28 (140e) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> The entrance exam – Rev 3,8-10 says, “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars-I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth." This passage elucidates the Christian pretenders that will be numerous in the last days; our goal is not to become one of them. If we want to escape, the way to do it is to walk through this door through prayer. No one can keep us from our divine invitation. This is the kind of escape that Jesus meant in Lk 21-36, walking through the door into a spiritual realm that will overcome all the forces of this natural realm. They might be able to kill us, but they won’t be able to touch us. They might have power over our bodies, but they will not have authority over our spirit. They will try to inflict fear on us, but we will have transcended their darkness. They can throw us in the deepest, darkest dungeon, but so long as we fellowship with the Lord our location doesn’t matter. So long as we have the angels of God looking over us rejoicing in our faith, what man does to us is irrelevant. If they kill us, we will partake of the First Resurrection. It is important to recognize the unfurling of the seals, but Jesus is telling us that it is far more expedient to recognize the trumpets sounding the alarm. In Revelation chapters 8 and 9 there are seven trumpet judgments. The first doubles as a sign, alarming the Ten Virgins, calling us to attention, and we will scramble to enter through this door. There was a door standing open, and there was an angelic shout sounding like a trumpet that awakens the saints from their slumber, and the wise virgins venture through the door and passed into a spiritual dimension resembling heaven, a spiritual means of coping with the circumstances of the last days, a realm that the Church has never known until then. This door will remain open throughout the 3½ years of the trumpet judgments, so if they have not passed through the door by then, the onus is on them. At the seventh trumpet the door will shut, signifying the Rapture and coming of God's kingdom, a hope that Israel had before the Babylonian takeover. (156e) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of salvation >> You will know them by their endurance (209e) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with difficulty >> Righteous saved with hardship >> Righteous saved with endurance – The last days will be a time when it will be easier to go backward than forward, because of the slippery slopes we will face in our daily lives, like a funnel of conformity that will draw us into itself. When we finally make some ground in our faith, the biggest job will be to keep it without wavering. We who are faithful must remain on the alert, praying that we will have strength to escape the influences of the world. God always provides a way of escape. Paul in 1Cor 10-13 used the word “endure.” "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape, also that you will be able to endure it." God will protect us through our endurance even through the trumpets described in Revelation chapters 8&9. At the seventh and last trumpet, the Rapture will finally occur, but until then, God will protect His people in a way much like He protected the Israelites in the land of Goshen during the plagues of Egypt. The land of Goshen represents the wilderness in Revelation chapter 12. Jesus was not kidding when He said we need to pray for strength to escape, because there will be all kinds of temptations to divert us from the wilderness of God’s protection. (233e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Seek the kingdom with your essence >> Seek the Kingdom of God with your whole life – God will eventually Rapture His people after the last trumpet when the dead are raised, but before that, God will deliver His people by an anointing that He will give us through prayer for the purpose of prayer, which will cause us to overcome the darkness of this world. The anointing will empower us to hear His voice and give us courage to do whatever He says. How do we acquire this anointing? Jesus said, “Keep on the alert at all times, praying,” which means to be spiritually awake. The only way we can remain spiritually alert is through prayer. We can read the Bible and He will minister to us through His word, but when we take His word into prayer, He enlightens us and adds his anointing to it. Walking in the Spirit is to obey the Holy Spirit, and we cannot obey Him until we know His will. Knowing the will of God is the result of many hours in the word of God and prayer, until a revelation results that speaks to our inner most being and shows us the way we should go. By this path He will deliver us from all evil. (237c) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> The Rapture is delayed – These verses go with verses 7-9. The keyword in this passage is "escape". How does God intend to deliver us in the last days? The vast majority of Christians believe it will be through the Rapture, and that is ultimately His plan, but before that happens He will take the opportunity to refine His people and multiply them in the Great Endtime Revival. Peter in his epistle wrote about being refined like gold. Jesus said to him, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat” (Lk 22-31), meaning to separate the chaff from the wheat, which actually does God a favor. Satan’s intension was not to refine Peter but to cause him to fall away from the faith, not just backslide, but never return from an overwhelming sense of guilt; but God saw it as an opportunity to winnow him, and this is exactly what the last days will do to God’s people. We want to be pleasing to Him in every respect, and so we will go through the refiner’s fire. He will be with us and deliver us from all evil. Although there will be martyrs in those days, they will receive a better resurrection. We don’t need strength to be raptured, but we do need strength to escape the world forces of Satan's darkness in the way that God intends. He will allow us to suffer for a little while (1Pet 5-10) for the sake of the elect, that He might use us to bring many souls to glory before the door closes for good. If we start seeking a relationship with God while the world is imploding on itself, it will be too late. We need to start developing a relationship with God now so we will be ready for hard times. When we prepare for vacation, we don’t do it on the day we are supposed to leave. Likewise, God wants us to develop a relationship with us before endtime prophecy begins to unfold. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 21-34,35 (164f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> He is the prince of the power of the air – Whoever thinks the endtimes will be like a localized storm, involving only Israel and its surrounding nations, needs to reread these verses. The endtimes will cover the earth like a an overcast sky from horizon to horizon, and the prince of the power of the air will envelop the entire world until there is nowhere to hide, except in Christ. Satan will literally take control of this world, becoming its king and ruler for a short time, and within that period many millions of people will die. It is his plan in the last days to make it appear that his perspective is the only one, that everyone should think and act like him. (196d) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Immaturity >> Not mature enough to die to self >> Unable to put down the flesh (202d) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running to your sinful nature >> Run from God through a lack of character (223k) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the train >> Miss the return of Jesus Christ – Jesus just as well could have been speaking about a man’s death as the last days, in that both are traps if we do not prepare for them. A man’s death and the second coming of Christ are even the same kind of trap, in that both cases he was forewarned, and in both cases he knew that day would come. Young people don't think death will ever come to them, so the people in the parable didn’t think Jesus would come in their generation. To those who have this attitude, the second coming of Christ will resemble their death, whereas those prepared will invite both death and the second coming of Christ, whichever comes first. In the opposite way that death is the worst thing that could happen to unbelievers, being the door that leads to hell, so death is the greatest thing that can happen to those who believe in Jesus, being the door that leads to eternal life. Lk 21-34 (159i) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit anointing >> Drunkenness >> Having a party spirit (215ib) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> The Kingdom of Heaven appears suddenly >> Without warning >> Kingdom suddenly appears when His people are not expecting it – When Jesus spoke about “that day,” he was not talking about a specific day, but the last days, which will turn into years that we will need to endure before He comes. At the same time He was talking about a certain day, the day that falls like the first domino in a set of dominoes, creating a chain reaction that won't stop until Jesus sets foot on the Mount of Olives. What if we are not ready for that day when it comes (beginning with the total collapse of the global economy), won’t we have time to get our lives in order? Jesus said no! He taught that if we are not ready when these things begin to happen, it was already too late. Like standing on the railroad tracks when a train is coming, it seems logical to simply step off the tracks and let the train pass, but the train is coming so fast, we won’t have reaction time to move, and if we are weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness, it slows our reaction even further. Our hearts are not like kayaks but more like ocean liners that take miles and hours to change direction. By the time we reestablish our hearts in the faith, we will have already become a statistic of the endtimes. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Lk 21-36 (6a) Responsibility >> Jesus’ yoke of obedience >> Our obligation to keep His commandments (7g) Responsibility >> Protecting the gospel >> Defending your territory (9g) Responsibility >> Strengthened by the sword of His Spirit >> Through prayer – Jesus couldn’t stress enough that we stay on the alert through prayer, asking God to give us “strength to escape all these things that are about to take place.” Jesus was not advising us to pray for the Rapture, since it is a fixed time. Rather, He advised us to pray for strength to endure the fulfillment of endtime prophecy until He comes for us on the day set by the Father. The way Jesus is speaking, there are many things that must first happen before the Rapture occurs, but some say that the Rapture is the first thing to happen, kicking off endtime prophecy. They think that those who have been left behind will realize the error of their ways only after it’s too late. In the meantime all the prophecies are being fulfilled of Satan’s wrath. However, Satan’s wrath is coming to us and not to someone else, and that is why Jesus told us to pray! (29g) Gift of God >> God is on our side >> He stands beside us through hardship (45a) Judgment >> God judges us for not judging ourselves >> Preparing for the believer’s judgment – After this life ends and our spirit leaves our body and we enter eternity, one of the first things to happen is the believer’s judgment. The Bible doesn’t define a specific time when this happens, so it will occur when each person enters eternity, a different time for each person. God will look over each person’s life and separate the good works from the evil and reward us for the good and subtract rewards from the evil. In the last days God will refine us through the tribulation, so it will go better with us when we meet Him. 1Jn 2-28 says, “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.” (59d) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Escape through the rapture / Escape through endurance – Some would interpret this word “escape” to mean the Rapture, but not so fast. Ultimately it does mean the Rapture, but before that, God has a way of protecting His people, commanding us to stay on the alert, “praying in order that you might have strength to escape all these things.” Escape what? There are two sources of suffering coming to the earth in the last days: the wrath of Satan against the saints and the wrath of God against the world for martyring the saints. Jesus is telling us to pray to remain faithful that we might not wander into sin and be judged along with the world. If our prayer life fails in the last days, we may become a statistic of the apostasy, also predicted in the last days, defined as falling away from the faith, which is the same as falling into the hands of the living God (Heb 10-31), who is exacting judgment against the world for its unbelief. Another thing, if the Rapture is the first thing to happen, then this verse was not meant for us but for those who have been left behind, that is, those who have been unfaithful. However, when we look at the Scriptures as a whole, the intended readers have always been the faithful. When we tally up the whole of endtime prophecy, it accounts for about one third of the Bible, ultimately begging the question, ‘why should Christians read the Bible if we are not the intended readers?’ Actually, reading the Bible is how we got saved in the first place. The moment we obey God, much of His word is no longer relevant to us if the pre-tribulation Rapture is correct. That doesn't sound right. (98e) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Rooted deeply >> To keep from falling away (116f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through hardship – The topic of Working the Grace of God is no doubt unfamiliar to most people, yet it is deeply seated in the Scriptures. God never asks us to do anything by the flesh but commands us to obey Him by the Spirit, so when Jesus commanded us to stay on the alert, He expected us to remain spiritually alert. Christ has given instructions to His people to stand guard over our heart to keep in tune with the Holy Spirit, and the way to do this is through prayer. This is not something we can do in the flesh, and therefore it is an example of working with the grace of God, watching and waiting for signs of His return. We are not to pick up a gun and shoot anybody; we are not to defend ourselves; rather, we are like sheep in the midst of wolves being led to slaughter. Nevertheless, by the grace of God the majority of us will survive to experience the Rapture, though there will be many martyrs. (193k) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God to avoid running from Him (227g) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Depending on Jesus to have compassion >> Depending on Jesus to deliver us – The first five seals revolve around three things: a collapsed economy, a global nuclear holocaust, and anarchy, resulting in poverty, famine, disease and death. Two billion people will die, based on ¼ of an eight billion world population. Law and order will completely deteriorate with three individual attempts at securing world power, and then a forth man will come (see Daniel chapter 2) proclaiming salvation to the world by inventing a global economy powered by the mark of the beast. The Church will be here to see all these things, accompanied with persecution and martyrdom of the saints that may number into the millions, until a massive earthquake occurs as the sixth seal that will mark the beginning of God’s judgment on the world for martyring His people. The first trumpet will be the signal of our salvation. Martyrdom will subside with each trumpet, which represent stronger judgments from God for martyring the saints. Going through the first five seals will be very difficult especially for Christians. The world will welcome the antichrist, who will accuse Jews and Christians of all the evils of the world and of perpetuating self-fulfilled prophecies. We will feel our way through the seals, needing to listen very carefully for the Holy Spirit to direct us, according to what Jesus reiterated seven times in the first three chapters of the book of Revelation, “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Lk 21-37,38 -- No Entries See next page