Before diving into preaching this text I want to set the scene a little by letting the cat out of the bag so-to-speak by explaining that over the next few weeks because of the breakdown of the text we will be focusing heavily on a theology of eschatology which is to say that we will be examining what the Bible teaches us in regards to what will happen as the end of the world and Christ’s return draws near.

And as I say that I want to be sensitive to the sensationalistic nature of the topic and also acknowledge the many competing views of end-times theology in the church today and I also want to be sensitive to the fear that can naturally set in when studying these things. So to that end I’ve found the following quotes to be helpful in my study and I hope they help to set the stage for what I am about to preach in our midst today.

My first quote from one scholar says this: the study of this text “requires a proper humility and a willingness to admit that we do not have all the answers. It is only the fool who tries to get the heavens inside his head, and not unnaturally his head bursts. The wise man is content to get his head inside the heavens.”

There are a lot of questions that get aroused when we study the end times & Christ’s return and there are many voices seeking to answer those questions. Some people in their attempt to answer these questions about the end-times approach the Bible from a historical-grammatical method of interpretation which is to say that they seek to understand the history of the text as well as the grammatical meaning of the text. Others practice a copy-cut-paste method of interpretation, which is to say they seek to lift portions of proof-text out of the immediate context and transplant it into another passage written hundreds of years before or in the future to support their stance. My approach today will be an attempt at a historical grammatical approach, which I believe is a biblically faithful and pastoral approach.

My second quote is from another scholar who says that, “Jesus was not interested in giving date-setting details but in encouraging his own to be steadfast and faithful until he returns… Jesus spoke pastorally.” So… I don’t want to try to get all of heaven into our heads by filling us full of more information but instead I want to help us get our heads inside of heaven so that our hearts can catch a glimpse of the hope we have in Christ, who is our hope of heaven. I want to approach this passage in a way that gives us sound pastoral instruction from the words of Jesus in regards to how we can live faithfully as followers of Christ in light of the troubling times we find ourselves in. In light of the chaotic times we find ourselves living in.

Look at Luke 21:5 – 19…

5 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” 8 And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. 9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Think with me for a minute about every great action movie you’ve ever seen. At the climax of every great action movie there is usually a mind-blowing sequence of chaos. Bullets wiz by, things explode, cars crash, the bad guys surge forward and almost win, the good guy nearly dies (and sometimes does die only to come back to life in some miraculous plot twist) and the big bad guy always dies horribly and then comes back to life long enough to get off one last nearly fatal shot and then gets his brains blown out by the returning good-guy-hero who miraculously saves the world from total destruction. This is the chaos before the end and in the end the hero sails off into the sunset peacefully and everything is finally set into right orbit.

But before the end is the chaos… and in our text, Jesus is simply pastoring his disciples by outlining what the chaos before the end will look like and in doing so he gives them pointers for living in the midst of the chaos in a way that will keep their heads in heaven & their hearts focused on him. So my plan is to outline the following five points of chaos from the text: 1) The chaos of the destruction of religious freedom, 2) The chaos of false messiahs, 3) The chaos of war, 4) The chaos of natural disaster, and 5) The chaos of persecution. As we examine these elements of chaos my hope once again is to get your head into heaven and your heart focused on Christ who is the hope of heaven!

#1: The Chaos Of The Destruction Of Religious Freedom… (5 – 6)

As we enter into the front gate of this text we find Jesus exiting the temple (compare Luke 21:5-6; Matt. 24:1; Mark 13:1) and as he exits the temple some of his disciples “were speaking of the temple, how it is adorned with noble stones and offerings, (and) he said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’” To the original hearers of these words, what Jesus says here would have been absolutely shocking and sensational. Instead of entering into a conversation that oohed and awed over the beauty of the temple, Jesus turns his disciples attention to the truth that nothing on this earth is meant to last forever. We have no hope in anything we can construct here on this Earth. It will all pass away someday. It will all be brought to ruin. We are not invincible and neither are the kingdoms that we seek to build.

Think about the temple in Jerusalem for a minute. This temple had been engaged in a remodel project for nearly 50 years at the time of Jesus’ speaking. The walls of the temple were built out of massive white washed stones and the dome of the roof on the temple was made from pure gold that had been melted down into golden plate shingles. It had a massive sculpture of a cluster of grapes that was larger than a man along with enormous pillars, gigantic doors and huge flights of steps. Now take that temple in all of its majestic beauty and place it on a 150 foot tall mountain so that it towered above the city and became the object of anyone’s attention who entered the city. Jesus takes this massive image of religious freedom that brought much joy and peace to the Jewish nation and he speaks prophetically to his hearers in regards to the coming destruction of the temple at the hands of the Roman Empire that would happen nearly 37 years later. Jesus is simply & pastorally explaining that as the end of the world draws near, believers should expect to experience the chaos of the destruction of religious freedom. But in the midst of the chaos of the destruction of religious freedom we must get our heads into heaven and our hearts focused on Christ!

#2: The Chaos Of False Messiahs… (7 – 8)

After Jesus drops this major prophetic bomb in regards to the coming destruction of the temple and the destruction of the little bit of religious freedom that his hearers were experiencing, his disciples “asked him, ‘Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?’ And he said, ‘See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them.’” In other words, there will be false Messiahs, false teachers, false prophets and wolves in sheep’s clothing seeking to draw the flock away from the fellowship of Christ and Jesus instructs his disciples not to be led astray and not to go after them. There have been many false messiahs, false prophets, false teachers & wolves that have sought to lead God’s people astray. Jim Jones, David Koresh and Harold Camping were 20th century false messiahs. Tim LaHaye (Left Behind books) and Hal Lindsey (The Late Great Planet Earth) are to some extent just a few other false teachers in our day who’ve taught on this topic of the end of the world and Christ’s return.

The broader context of Scripture gives the same warning that Jesus gives us here: Matthew 24: 4 – 5 and Mark 13:5 – 6 read nearly word for word the same as verses 7 – 8 of Luke 21. 2 Peter 2:1 – 3 tells us that, “there will be false teachers among you.” 1 John 2:18 – 19 tells us that, “as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.” 1 John again in chapter 4:1 – 6 tells us “do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone into the world.” Paul says in Acts 20:29 – 30 “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Paul also said in 2 Timothy 4:14 – 15 that “Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.” The big idea here is that before the end comes and Jesus returns we will experience the chaos of false messiahs and they should not lead us astray and we should not follow after them. In the midst of the chaos of false messiahs we must get our heads into heaven and our hearts focused on Christ!

#3: The Chaos Of War… (9 – 10)

As if the chaos of the destruction of religious freedom and the chaos of false messiahs isn’t enough to squash our hope in the kingdoms of this Earth, Jesus continues to drill his hearers with the truth that before the end comes and he returns there will be much chaos when he says “‘And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.’” The chaos of war is nothing new to mankind. One scholar even pointed out that in the 3,000+ years of recorded history there has been less than 300 years without war.

It’s easy to hear of new wars taking place and begin to despair or become terrified that the end is near but Jesus here in his own pastoral wisdom instructs his followers not to be terrified and not to live in fear and not to think that the end of the world is at hand but to instead recognize that part of God’s total redemption of the world is the continuing chaos of war. We can know for sure that Christ reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords and that as he establishes his perfect Kingdom we can keep our eyes focused on him as the object of our hope in the midst of the chaos of war. In the midst of the chaos of war we must get our heads into heaven and our hearts focused on Christ!

#4: The Chaos Of Natural Disaster… (11)

Think about the chaos of natural disaster. Whether it’s the news of a tsunami, an earthquake, a hurricane, mass genocide, flooding, tornados or starving people across the world the truth is we never become numb to the devastating effects of natural disaster and the toll that it takes on human life. And the other truth is that every time our news feeds get flooded with news of the latest natural disaster it’s natural to begin thinking about the end of the world and the return of Christ. In fact for many of us its natural to begin to pray more fervently for the return of Christ during times of natural disaster and I think that’s an appropriate response because Jesus tells his disciples that one of the signs of his imminent return is the chaos of natural disaster. He specifically says “There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.” This imagery that Jesus invokes here brings up thoughts of fire falling from heaven as God releases his judgment and the entire cosmos falls into complete disrepair.

This chaos of natural disaster is something that must happen before the end comes and Christ returns and it’s simply more evidence that there is something broken in this world. Something that isn’t quite right. Something that we can’t fix. It’s almost as though the world is on a collision course with an awful destiny and again this is a reminder that the world we live in is irreparably broken because of the effects of sin and we as broken people have no hope in making things right which is why in Philippians 3:13 – 15 the apostle Paul says “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of you who are mature think this way.” It takes a certain amount of spiritual maturity to remain focused on Christ and his call towards holy living in the midst of the chaos of natural disaster. It’s easier to fall into erratic date-setting and bible-code-cracking theology or fall into despair or self-medication or rebellion when the chaos of natural disaster gets unleashed. But Christ calls us to remain steadfastly focused upon him as our Savior who is the hope of heaven in the midst of the chaos of natural disaster. In the midst of the chaos of natural disaster we must get our heads into heaven and our hearts focused on Christ!

#5: The Chaos Of Persecution… (12 – 19)

In these final 7 verses of text Jesus explains that his disciples will face the chaos of persecution from other religious people, secular governing authorities and close relatives and friends and in the midst of that chaos of persecution Jesus exhorts his followers to trust the Holy Spirit to help them give an answer for the hope of the gospel with gentleness and respect because even though some of them would be put to death, the hope of heaven that they could cling to is that they would be preserved through fiery trials to endure the chaos of persecution and come out the other side unbroken in the presence of Christ. Jesus says it this way: “But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.” Listen… if you follow Christ then you can expect to face the chaos of persecution from other religious folks and secular governments as well as some of your closest relatives and friends. But you can take heart in the fact that just like the disciples, the Holy Spirit will give you the courage in the face of the chaos of persecution and the ability to speak the truth of the gospel wisely and as you suffer you can cling to Christ who is your hope of heaven. In the midst of the chaos of persecution we must get our heads into heaven and our hearts focused on Christ.

Closing reflection…

Have you experienced the chaos in the world around us? The loss of religious freedom? False messiahs? War? Natural disaster? Persecution? Have you experienced the fear involved with thinking about the end? Have you lived in the frustration of watching the world around us crumble? Have you faced the uncertainty of discerning truth from lies? Have you experienced the pain of persecution because of your faith?

How do we get our heads into heaven & our hearts focused on Christ who is the hope of heaven? I think the simple answer is that we need to come to terms with the truth that though Christ was murdered at the cross in the chaos of sin he rose 3 days later triumphant over the chaos of Satan, sin and death. Simply put… we keep our heads in heaven & our hearts focused on Christ who is the hope of heaven by relishing in the truth that in the midst of the chaos before the end… Christ reigns supremely victorious over the chaos of Satan, sin and the grave and if you’ve trusted in him then you too will share in Christ’s victory over the chaos before the end! Let Jesus’ words pastor your soul in these moments… See that you are not led astray… do not be terrified… not a hair of your head will perish… By your endurance you will gain your lives. If you’ve trusted in Christ then you can keep your head in heaven and your heart focused on Christ who has been victorious over the chaos before the end!