Welcome And Series Context

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You're listening to Heath Word with our pastor and teacher Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study the Gospel of Luke, verse by verse.

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Has the time of the Gentiles been fulfilled? Many commentators say yes it has, and what we're living on now is just an extended grace period. Borrowed time, if you will, and I suppose that that is possible. I'm not gonna be dogmatic in my interpretation of that verse, but I will say that by God's grace there is still time. How much we don't know. How much time we do not know?

From Thessalonians To Luke

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The Gospel of Luke is the third account in the Gospels of the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As believers, there are a few studies that will benefit us more spiritually than studying the life and teachings of the Master. There are many debates out there today regarding the end times and how and when they'll plan. Thankfully, as believers, we know what the end result will be: eternal life in heaven with our Father. What's important is to stay submitted to God and His Word. As we do this, He will reveal Himself and His plan for us. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about He the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles to the book of 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 13, as we join Pastor Ken.

Deception And Loving The Truth

Wars, Commotions, And Calm Hearts

Signs, Disasters, And Perspective

Persecution As Testimony

Not A Hair Lost: Eternal View

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They refuse to believe, they refuse to accept, they refuse to repent and be forgiven of their sins. Why? Why would they believe a lie and reject the truth? Well, Paul tells us because they had pleasure in unrighteousness. They don't want to believe. Verse 13, but we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which he called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. Let's turn back to Luke. Paul's message to the Thessalonians was an echo of Christ's word to his disciples, and that is, do not be deceived. There are many things that could deceive you if you reject the truth. So what is the answer? How do we keep from being deceived? As Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians there, we receive the love of the truth. Well, Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. So what is the answer? How do you keep from being deceived? You love Jesus. You get to know Jesus in his word and you follow him with all your heart. And if you do that, you will not be deceived. Because he won't let you be. Because the spirit of truth is living in you. And when you hear the lie, there will be something in your mind and in your heart that says, wait a second, that sounds good, but it's not right. Because that's not what my Bible says. That's not what the Spirit bears witness to in my heart. So don't be deceived. Moving on to Luke 21, verse 9. Jesus moves now from warning into prophecy. But when you hear I love it that he says, when. He doesn't say if you hear it, he says, but when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified, for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately. Then he said, nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. I'll pause there for a moment and say this. There is a tendency that we have as people, and I think maybe as Americans, because we're so inundated with news from all around the world that when we hear of the tragic things that are going on, we wonder, is this the end? You know? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? There are gonna be wars and rumors of wars, and there's an old Jack Hannah song. Anyone ever hear of Jack Hannah? It's from the album I'm Stepping High. I remember my dad used to have it on eight-track. And the song went like this: There shall be wars and rumors of wars, fear and strife shall rip the nations. Kings and presidents shall meet and for peace, they all will cry. When famines rip the lands and earthquakes rip the world in diverse places, look up, for your redemption draweth nigh. That's true. You know, when we see all of these things going on in the world, all this strife of nations, we think, is it the end? Is it the time yet? Is it gonna happen today? And Jesus said, Don't be troubled. When you hear of wars and conflict, he says, Don't let your heart be troubled, for the end is not yet. You see, the end is not going to come as a result of human conflict. But it does tell us that the time is drawing nearer. Verse 11. And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences, and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. And so, yes, all of these things are coming. If we look at the world today, has there ever been a time more wrought with natural disaster than our own? It seems like day after day there are new earthquakes or hurricanes or typhoons or tidal waves or tsunamis or just one thing right after the other. And yet, before these things happen, he says, something else, more personal, was going to come to pass. Verse 12. But before all these things, before the wars and the rumors of wars, before the famines, before the earthquakes, before the signs in the heavens, before any of that, before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts, not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. Jesus is saying, Listen, I know I've talked to you about wars and pestilence and famine and all of those things seem pretty horrific. But you need to understand, but before we even get to any of that, there is going to be tribulation in your own life to a degree that you've never known. And he warns his disciples, he says, Listen, they're going to arrest you, they're going to drag you before councils and throw you into dungeons. They're going to persecute you. And some of you they're going to kill. All that we need to do to see the fulfillment of that is just to read Fox's Book of Martyrs, and we find that every single one of the disciples met a martyr's death, with the exception of John the Apostle. And so the words of Jesus rang true in their lives, and they ring true today. And then in verse 18 he says, But not a hair of your head shall be lost. Not a hair of your head shall be lost. And I don't want you to worry. Because it's going to be an opportunity for you to bear witness of me. When we read through the book of Acts, as we'll be studying Acts once we finish with Luke, we're going to see how this came so true in the life of Paul in particular. Where he was before Agrippa and before Festus and ultimately taken even before Nero. And we have the record of his testimony before many of these leaders and how he spoke boldly for Christ. In fact, it's believed if you look at history that it was shortly after Paul's appearance before Nero that Nero pretty much went off the deep end. I can't help but wonder if it wasn't because of his rejection of the gospel that Paul very likely shared with him. That upon rejecting the message that Paul had delivered and having Paul beheaded, that Nero became a demon-possessed man and became a tool of Satan, a type of the Antichrist. And what a great persecution of Christians followed that. And so Jesus has told them, listen, don't worry about what you're going to say, but in that moment my spirit will be in you and will tell you what to speak. You know, when we are submitted to God and we give ourselves over to the leading of his spirit, he will tell us what to say in those difficult moments. You ever had an experience like that where you were thrown into something you had no idea you were going to be thrown in the middle of, and all of a sudden you say something from scripture or share something with someone, and afterwards you're scratching your head saying, Wow, where did that come from? That was perfect. That was the Holy Spirit. It was full the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus in these moments. In verse 18, it says, But not a hair of your head shall be lost. Now, that is somewhat perplexing because just a verse or two before, he had said that some of you will be killed. So how is it that some of them could be killed and yet not a hair on their heads would be lost? That seems as though it's a contradiction in statements, doesn't it? If you're thinking in a temporal sense, it certainly is a contradiction in statements. But what we need to understand is this Jesus is not looking at the temporal. He's not looking at this life. What Jesus is saying simply is this so what if you're arrested? So what if you're drugged before counsel? So what if you're slain for my sake? Basically, he's saying, don't be afraid of them just because they can kill you. Because even if they kill you, what's the big deal? Not a hair of your head's going to be lost. What he's saying is that in the taking of your life for his name's sake, there's no loss but gain. Because then we'll stand before him and we'll be in his presence, and we won't have lost anything. You see, it's a question of divine perspective. So many of us live our lives today looking at the world around us, looking at our possessions, looking at our relationships, and saying, this is all there is. We profess to believe in Christ. We profess that there's a heaven and that we're going to be there. But have you ever noticed that everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die? And that's the only way to get there, unless the rapture were to come. Why do we hold so tightly to the things of this life? It's because we don't really believe, I think. Because if we really believed what the gospel was telling us, then we would not be held by anything. And we would not be afraid of anything. Because we would know that the one who bought us is able to preserve us and to bring us to himself. Amen. So Jesus is saying, All these things will happen, but don't worry. There will be wars and commotions, but don't be terrified. There will be natural disasters and signs in heaven. There's going to be personal persecution and trials. And in Matthew 24:8, Jesus tells us, all these are the beginning of sorrows. Just the beginning. But in verse 19, he tells us, by your patience, possess your souls. What? By your patience, possess your souls? Could you explain that, Lord? I mean, I look at that and I think, what in the world does he mean by that? I mean, the temptation is to gloss over the verse, keep moving on, and go into the next section, right? I mean, isn't that what we do sometimes when we're just reading in our devotional time, you know? We start reading the Bible and we come to something perplexing, and we just keep on reading because we've got to get in three chapters today or we'll never keep up with our reading plan, right? Isn't that how it is? And so we just bypass things like this and we don't really take the time to go back and pray about it and ask God, what do you mean, or to really examine it and dig into it. And so let's take a moment just to look at that. By your patience, possess your souls. Well, the word patience is hubamone, and it's a cheerful hope, endurance, constancy, enduring patience, and patient continuance, in other words, waiting. Waiting with hope, waiting with endurance, waiting even with cheerfulness. Well, the word possess means teomahi, which is to get, acquire, obtain, provide, or purchase. And then souls is suke. Now the soul is distinguished from the body in that it is the seat of the affections, of the will, of the desire, of the emotions. It's basically our mind, our reason and understanding. It is the inner self or the essence of life. Basically, the soul is what makes you who you are. Your personality, if you will, that inner person. Now the soul can be separated from the body. That's called death. But what's remarkable is we never find anywhere in scripture where we find that the soul would ever be separated from the spirit, which tells us that who we are is attached eternally to that life that God has given us. That's why when we get to heaven, we're gonna know each other and we're gonna be known, and we'll be able to talk and to converse and to say, Hey, do you remember when we this or when we that as we worship the Lord together? We'll know one another. So what is Jesus saying here? He's saying that by cheerful endurance and enduring patience, you will obtain and acquire your true self. You know, you never really know who you are until you're tested. You never really know if you're strong until you've gone through the grinder once or twice. And it's through the trials and the tribulations of our lives, it's through the things that we go through with God that we will learn who we really are. And so when Jesus says here, by your patience, possess your souls through the trials and the tribulations and the difficulties that are going to come against us, your faith is gonna be tested, and in the testing it will be proven to be true. And you'll know that you have eternal life in Jesus Christ. Why does God let bad things happen? Because if nothing bad ever happened, we'd never really know if we belong to Him or not. But in our trials, our character is revealed, and the goodness of God and His Spirit is revealed in us. And so Jesus had told them, look, all of these things are the beginning of sorrows. In answer to your question, when will these things happen and what will the sign of their happening be? He says, all of that's gonna happen. And that tells you that it's drawing close, but the time is not yet. But here is where really the rubber meets the road. Here is when we know that this prophecy is about to be fulfilled. Verse 20. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, don't think that you're gonna be preserved. Don't listen if there are prophets in your city who are telling you, oh, don't worry, we're going to be victorious over the Roman general Titus and his armies. When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its destruction is near. By the same token, when we see the world enmeshed in all of the trials and the tribulations that we see, when we see these signs happening, when we see deception increasing, when we see the love of people growing cold, when we see all of these things going on, we need to understand that the end is near for us as well. And Jesus gives them a principle here to follow that I think would be good for us to observe. Verse 21. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her, that is Jerusalem. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days, for there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people, and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive away into all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. So in this section, he's speaking specifically of the fall of Jerusalem. And he's saying, Listen, when you see the armies encircling Jerusalem, don't think to yourself, Oh wow, here come the Roman armies. I had better get in there and get that sack of gold that I have hidden under my bed. Or I had better run back and get my great uncle's walking staff that I've kept for generations because I really need that. Or, hey, you know, I've got these scrolls back here that I really need to keep, or whatever the possession is, not even your coat. He says, Do not go back into that city. He says, When you see Jerusalem encircled by armies, get out. Don't care about your possessions, don't care about anything else. Just get out of there. They had to hold loosely to their possessions because I warrant. I don't know, but I warrant that there were people who saw the armies coming who thought to themselves, Wow, I'd better get in there and get some supplies, right? And they probably got trapped because they didn't heed this warning. You see, Jerusalem was not taken immediately, but it was s under siege for a very long time. Josephus, the historian, tells us that there were one million one hundred thousand people slain in Jerusalem at that time. Now, why is it that there were so many there to begin with? Because it was during the time of Passover. And they had gathered together from all around, and they had come to Jerusalem for the feast. And not only were there one million one hundred thousand people slain, but there were ninety-seven thousand taken away to the Egyptian mines and elsewhere. Now many of those who died died of starvation and disease during the siege of Jerusalem. It was so bad. It was so bad that even the women dare I say this? That they would take the afterbirth and hide it that they might be able to consume it themselves rather than sharing it with their families. That's why he said, Woe unto them who were pregnant or nursing in those days. Because it was so tragic and so unnecessary. Because had they just received their Messiah when he came to them, none of that would have had to happen. And yet it did. If they had even heeded his warning. In fact, it's believed that many of the Christians left Jerusalem prior to this happening because they heeded this warning. And yet those who refuse to believe are doomed to destruction. Verse 24 told us that Jerusalem would be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Now, in 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel drove the Jordanian forces from Jerusalem and recaptured the city. Many people look at that and say that that was the fulfillment of the scripture saying that the times of the Gentiles had been fulfilled. I don't know that that's the case or not, because honestly, the Gentiles are still trampling Jerusalem under feet, aren't they? And so has the time of the Gentiles been fulfilled? Many commentators say yes, it has, and what we're living on now is just an extended grace period, borrowed time, if you will. And I suppose that that is possible. I'm not going to be dogmatic in my interpretation of that verse, but I will say that by God's grace there is still time. How much we don't know. How much time we do not know. Matthew 24, 14 said this, and I believe it gives us the answer. It says that this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. You see, because Israel rejected Jesus, salvation was extended to the Gentiles, to us. And this has been our time. But the time's coming again when God will turn his attention to the nation of Israel. And Paul wrote about that in Romans chapter 11. Let's turn there. In verse 1, Paul writes, I say then, has God cast away his people? Certainly not, for I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.

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Do you ever feel like the circumstances you're going through are more than you can bear? That God is in some way punishing you? Well, consider the words of Paul, and we know that all things work together for the good. To those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. So we learn from this verse that all things, not some, but all things work together if we love God and are called according to his purpose. Just something to think about from your friends here at Heed the Word. Heed the Word is the daily Bible-teaching ministry of Ken Davis, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel in Burleson, Texas. There's a great deal more that Pastor Ken has to share with us from the Gospel of Luke, so please join us again. Maybe you'd like to add today's message to your study library. Our online media is always available and free of charge. CD copies are also available upon request for free, but supplies are limited, so order today. To order a CD, simply log on to HeedTheWord.org and select the order a message option. There you'll find a convenient order form to fill out. The only information you need to remember is today's date. This ensures we get you the right teaching. So log on to HeedTheWord.org and place your order today. Or better yet, join us this Sunday for worship at 1030 a.m. Directions are available on our website. That's heedtheword.org. Well, we've run out of time today, but tune in next time as Pastor Ken will continue teaching verse by verse through the Gospel of Luke. That's next time on Heed the Word.