In the sermon 'The Great Tribulation,' Peter Allison explores Luke 21:5-19, focusing on the prediction of the temple's destruction and the subsequent events leading to the end of the Old Testament age. He distinguishes between the end of the Old Testament age, marked by the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and the end of the New Testament age, which remains in the future. Allison interprets the 'Great Tribulation' as a period of severe persecution and upheaval that occurred between 62-66 AD, highlighting the corruption of the Gospel and the rise of false prophets during times of apostasy. He emphasizes the sovereignty of God over natural disasters and wars, viewing them as instruments of divine judgment. The sermon encourages believers to remain steadfast, trusting in God's promise of preservation and perseverance, even in the face of persecution and trials. Jesus assures his followers that they will be given wisdom to testify before rulers and that their ultimate victory is secured in Him.

Please turn in your scriptures to Luke chapter 21. We will be looking today especially at verses 8 to 19, but I'd like to back up just a few verses this morning and read from verse 5. Then As some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, he said, These things which you see, the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down. So they asked him, saying, Teacher, when will these things be, and what sign will there be when these things are about to take place? And he said, Take heed that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and the time is drawn near.

Therefore do not go after them, 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 to them, nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes in various places. In famines and pestilences there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. But before all these things they will lay 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.

But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls." May this law be our delight and Lead us to long for his salvation Almighty Heavenly Father We ask that this word that we have heard might be mixed with faith in us and that as we Continue to worship here Lord may you speak to us may You sanctify this vessel of clay and these sinful lips that they may proclaim the riches of Your grace in Jesus Christ. May You strengthen us this morning, edify us, and build us up. Through Christ we ask, Amen. Well, last week we spent a large amount of the message identifying what exactly the last days was referring to.

And I probably violated every good hermeneutical principle in taking you into the kitchen to see how the details of how the meal is prepared instead of simply serving the meal in a ready dish. But I think it was necessary and important that we did that because of the culture that we live in and the general understanding of what last days refers to. If we hear that we typically think last days, eschatology, We typically think of what's coming in the future, yet to come, the end of the New Testament age. And yet we saw that in the scriptures in the New Testament, last days doesn't refer to the end of the New Testament age, but it refers to the end of the Old Testament age, which happened. And those days are referring to that time between Christ's resurrection and and or ascension and his destruction the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD where the entire Old Testament ceremonial system was completely decimated, eradicated, and destroyed.

As Jesus said here, not one stone shall be left upon another, that would not be thrown down. And we saw that when Jesus said that, he was referring to the temple proper. And there are two different words that are used in the New Testament at least two for temple and one would refer to the ceremonial aspects of the temple, the service. So when it talks about the Swearing by the gold on the temple it uses that word not us that the ceremonial parts When it talks about Jesus just coming to the temple or departing the temple It there's a little a different word that's used and so we saw in Revelation how how John was told to mark out, measure the naos. But he was to leave out the court around it, not to measure that.

That was not going to come under this judgment that was being described. And so this, I think, is the way we understand the fact that when Jesus says not one stone will be left upon another, there are still some stones standing on another over in Jerusalem, but those are part of the temple mount, the retaining wall that was around the temple, not part of the Holy of Holies or the holy place or the sanctuary itself. And so what Jesus says here really did come to pass. We also saw last week, for those that weren't able to be with us, that there are two different events being discussed here. The question was, when would these things be, that Jesus said, this amazing thing about the temple being destroyed, and what would be the sign when these things take place.

But we also saw in Matthew 24 that there was a third question, and what would be the end of the age? And so in this passage, there are really two different events. The end of the Old Testament age and the end of the New Testament age. And those of course are two different events separated by a great amount of time. And we saw there are a number of clues in the passage that differentiate, allow us to differentiate between these two different times.

We saw that in the end of the Old Testament age, which was called the last days, we saw that Jesus said these events are predictable, That there will be signs that you're going to, when you see these signs, then know that this is happening. The end is near. Whereas the end of the New Testament age, which is described later on in this passage, it's just the opposite. You're not going to know when it's coming. There's not going to be any sign that indicates it's about to happen.

It's going to be like life as usual, and then the flood came and took everybody away. It was completely without warning. So you see two very different natures of things. The times themselves will be different. The end of the Old Testament age is described as a time of great upheaval, of chaos, of destruction, and so on.

The end of the New Testament age is described very differently. People are marrying, giving in marriage, eating, and drinking. This is a very ordinary, normal living. We saw that there's different words that are used for this coming. One is the Perusia, the coming at the end of the New Testament age and the coming at the end of the Old Testament age.

We also saw that there is a change in just a temporal language. In one, it's very, there's a temporal sequence. Then this happens, after this will happen, whereas in the parts that deal with the last day, or the end of the New Testament age, you don't see that temporal sequence. And there's a different emphasis. In the end of the Old Testament age, the last days, there is a warning not to be deceived.

At the end of the New Testament age, it's a warning and admonition to be always ready because the arrival of the last day will come with no warning. And of course, probably the most obvious differentiation is in verse 32 and 33 where Jesus said that is in verse thirty three, verse thirty two and thirty three, where Jesus said that all these things that he was describing would take place before that generation passed away. Now a generation is from father to son. And so it's speaking about a generation of people. And people generally live 70 or 80 years.

So when Jesus says that all these things are going to pass away before this generation passes away, He's saying this is something that's going to happen in the next few decades, in the next 40 years or so. This is what this all these things are going to happen. That's the clear language that's there. A generation doesn't refer to many many fathers and sons and fathers and sons for many generations. That's not a generation.

A generation is one father. The next generation would be the son. And the third generation is the grandson. So Jesus is saying that the people He's talking to, some of whom are 30, some 40, some 50, He's saying As a generation, as a group of people, you are going to see the things that I'm describing. But then after that, he says that, then he goes on to say, but, And we see this big change that we've talked about, all the different things we've talked about, the differences.

In other words, the things that are going to happen far into the future, those people wouldn't be alive to see. So some people have taken this passage and said, well, obviously Jesus and the apostles, because throughout the New Testament there's this expectation of an immediate coming in many places. And they said, well, They were just wrong. They had a wrong idea about it. It just didn't happen.

But we know that those of us that believe the Bible, that that's unacceptable. That God's Word is true. Every word of it is true. And when he says that something's going to happen before that generation passes away, then that's the truth. And that's what happened.

So for all these reasons then, what we are looking at here is something that has happened in the first century Jesus Discusses in this passage specifically that we read He discusses the last days generally You know of the He speaks generally about the time between his resurrection and the destruction of Jerusalem. But he also speaks specifically about these two particular periods, what we'll call the Great Tribulation, which happened between the three and a half years between 8062 and 8066, followed by the Great Wrath in the destruction of the temple and of the Jews. And so my understanding, and I'm always willing to learn, but my understanding now is that verse 8 is speaking generally of the time immediately following Christ's resurrection. Take ye that you be not deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and the time is drawn near. Therefore, do not go out after them.

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." It is not immediate. Then he goes on and talks about, nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, famine. So he's saying there's going to be some upheaval but the end is not immediate. The end is not next week or next month or even maybe next year.

But it's a little bit farther out. It's in your lifetime, but it's not immediate. There's going to be nation against nation, then he said nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, earthquakes and so on. But verse 12 says, but before these things, before this political upheaval, there's going to be something else that happens. So I believe in verse 12 through verse 19, he's speaking about the great tribulation.

And you notice that that is before the great wrath. Before the, what are you describing in 9, 10, and 11, before that happens, there was going to be this great tribulation and persecution. And then, beginning in verse 20, there's another but. It means he's contrasting something. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near." Now he's speaking about the great wrath that follows the great tribulation.

And he speaks about that and what's going to happen at that time. And he concludes that discussion with a little parable about a fig tree. And his purpose in telling the parable of the fig tree is that just like you know what's going to happen to the fig tree when you see it budding, you know that the fruit is about to come. He said in the same way, when you see all these things I am talking about, then know that the Kingdom of God is near. Kingdom of God is about to take place.

And assuredly I say to you this generation won't pass away. So we know the Kingdom of God is where Christ takes his authority as Messiah and begins to reign. We could say that that happened around. That happened around 70 A.D. I won't put an exact date on it here, but if you want to study that, Pastor Kaiser's series in Revelation goes into that in a lot more detail.

But the kingdom of God came, it's to say for this morning, around 70 AD, when Christ took his authority and began to reign as the messianic king of kings and Lord of lords and 1st Corinthians 15 says that he will reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet and that the last enemy is death and when that enemy is conquered then the end of the New Testament age is here, and the general resurrection occurs. So let's look this morning though at these verses between 8 and 19 that deal generally with the last days and specifically with this tribulation that they will experience before the great wrath called the Great Tribulation. Matthew 24 says that it was so severe that if the Lord hadn't shortened it, which happened when Nero died, if the Lord hadn't shortened it, not even the elect would have been saved. So the first thing we see in verse 8 then is the corruption of the Gospel. Take heed that you are not deceived, for many will come in My name saying, I am He, and saying the time has drawn near.

Therefore, do not go out after them." Remember, we are dealing with a period of great apostasy in the church. It doesn't mean that there weren't any believers in the church. Yes, there was always a remnant, but by and large, the church in this time was largely apostate. This is the church whose leaders crucified the Lord of Glory. This is the church whose leaders crucified the Lord of glory.

This is the church whose leaders stirred up the people to crucify Christ. This is the church that rejected Christ. And one of the signs of apostasy is the corruption of the Gospel. People come saying, I am Christ, and the time has drawn near. Jesus said, don't be deceived by these imposters who come claiming to be the Christ, claiming to be the Messiah.

Josephus gives us some examples as well as the New Testament give us some examples of these kinds of people. Josephus tells us in his Antiquities of the Jews, Now, as for the affairs of the Jews, they grew worse and worse continually, for the country was filled with robbers and imposters who deluded the multitude." That was his assessment of it as an unbeliever himself and somebody who had gone over to the Romans. He says, moreover, it gives an example. There came out of Egypt about this time to Jerusalem one who said he was a prophet and he advised the multitude of common people. He encouraged them to come with him to the Mount of Olives.

That's about a half a mile, just over a half a mile from Jerusalem. And he said he would show them, once they got there, he would show them how at his command the walls of Jerusalem would fall down. And he promised that he would procure an entrance into the city through those walls when they were falling down. In other words, he was coming and going to fulfill what the Jews commonly thought Christ would do, which was bring them victory over the Romans, a military victory, And push out the Roman occupation. A Roman occupation that they had invited in a hundred years earlier.

And Josephus says when Felix was informed of these things, he sent his soldiers out and they came against this guy with a great number of horsemen, and attacked him and slew 400 of them, and took 200 alive. And the imposter escaped, but nobody saw him anymore. There was another magician by the name of Thudus, and he persuaded a large number of people to take their belongings and follow him to the Jordan. He told them he was a prophet and that he would, by his own command, divide the river and give each of them a way to pass over the Jordan. And many were deluded by him.

And Phadus captured him and killed him and cut off his head. He didn't permit this to go on. The Acts makes reference to somebody like this, who deceived a number of people and was killed So even the scriptures in the in the days of the Apostles Recognized these these imposters that were arising and deceiving people Gamaliel made reference to somebody like that when the Jews were wanting to persecute the apostles for preaching. He said, well, these kind of people come and go, and if it's not of God, it won't prosper, but if it is, we can't stop God. So this is a specifically Jesus is warning his disciples that this would come.

In general, in times of apostasy, the gospel is corrupted and it's true of our day as well. While this was speaking specifically of the Jewish time in the first century, remember all of the Old Testament was written for our benefit, for our instruction and our learning. So when we read what a history of the flood, for example, or when we read the history of God's judgment on Judah in the Babylonian exile, yes, That passage and those things that are said there and those prophecies are spoken to those people and were fulfilled in those times. But we can learn from that because God is unchanging. His standard of justice is unchanging and He deals with similar sins in our day in similar ways And we I think we very much see today the Corruption of the gospel in many different ways the corruption of the scriptures the unbelief around the Scriptures by people that would claim to believe the Bible.

We don't have time this morning to list all the different ways in which the gospel is corrupted in our age. But there are many, many ways. And we need to be aware of them. There are many in the church today that are accommodating themselves to the abomination of homosexual fornication. There are many in our day that are accommodating themselves to all the gender confusion and saying that it is the gospel and love that would lead us to accept these people instead of recognizing that this is a great sin.

That's a corruption of the gospel. God forgives sin as we repent of it and turn away from it. He doesn't accommodate it. The second thing Jesus points out, He says that will happen, will be that in verse 9 and 10, is that there would be international intrigue, wars. And his message to his disciples is, don't be terrified of these things.

Don't be terrified. These things must come to pass first. But don't be terrified of them. Why? Because all of this is happening by the sovereign purpose of God.

Every war, every errant general, every battle is all known and ordained by God. So we don't need to be terrified. His people in that day did not need to be terrified when they heard these things. They didn't need to wonder where God was. God was there.

God was bringing these things to pass. The third thing Jesus speaks about are disasters and upheaval in the earth. Famine, natural disasters, and signs in the heavens." We'll talk a lot more about signs in the heavens a little bit later because the text goes into more detail on these signs in the heavens. But Jesus makes a passing reference to it here. But He also speaks of great earthquakes in various places, and famines, and pestilences, and fearful sights.

In his study of Revelation, Pastor Kaiser found an article by George Parasus Karyanis in the science of tsunami hazards. And this scholar, this expert in this area shows that of the 613 historically documented earthquakes in the Mediterranean area from the time of Christ to now, the four biggest earthquakes were in the years 8066, 365, 800, and 1303. 8066 is right in this time that Jesus is speaking about. One of the greatest earthquakes in the last 2, 000 years happened in that year. Laodicea was leveled by this earthquake in 8066, and it was not rebuilt for another 160 years.

Laodicea was one of the cities that John wrote a letter to in Revelation, which was written just prior to this time. So if Laodicea had been leveled by an earthquake and nobody lived there, it wouldn't be a church to write to. Now it's interesting that Laodicea was also destroyed by an earthquake in 8060, but it was rebuilt by them in less than four years. They had completely rebuilt the city, and there was a church there. But this was a much bigger, more massive earthquake.

Laodicea is off in the western coast of Asia Minor, what we call Turkey today. It's quite a ways from Jerusalem. This was a massive earthquake. And Phil has amassed quite a bit of historical evidence in science journals documenting this earthquake around the Mediterranean Sea and recording A receding of the sea by one mile from Crete, followed by a tidal wave, volcanic activities, islands being shaken, and new islands being formed. All this happening in the spring of AD 66.

Peraris Carrionis again says that field studies of salt deposition and of erosional features indicate that the upward crustal displacements raised the land by as much as 6.2 meters. Over 20 feet the land was raised. The global warming people today worry about inches. This was 20 feet displacement of the earth's crust by these earthquakes. Maximum uplift in one area was as much as 9.9 meters.

See, God controls the natural world. And just because somebody can find a natural explanation for something doesn't diminish the fact that God controls the timing, the extent, and the severity of every so-called natural disaster that comes upon the world. They are His instruments by which He shakes the earth, by which He judges wickedness, by which He destroys the wicked, so that what cannot be shaken may remain." So Jesus warns again His disciples. He tells them that these things are coming and they are not to be terrified by them. Rather, they should be encouraged by them that this is God bringing His judgment upon the wicked.

But then Jesus says, but before these things happen, before these great earthquakes and things, there's going to be a great tribulation. There's going to be a great persecution. They're going to lay their hands on you. And they're going to persecute you. And they're going to deliver you up to the synagogues.

This is speaking of the outlawing of Christians and of the Christian faith. The world hates Christ. The world is at war with Christ. Satan is against Christ. And all of the people that follow him are against Christ.

And Satan stirs them up to fight against Christ and against His people. Satan is at war with the church. He's at war with Christ. Jesus said that the world hated him, and that we can expect that the world will hate us. We shouldn't be surprised when the world hates us, when it seeks to cancel our message, when it seeks to silence that message.

And it thinks it can do that by killing us or by putting us in prison. But the Word of God is not bound. It can't be bound. It can't be imprisoned. It won't be silenced.

Saint and his people cannot silence the Gospel by killing Christians, but they will try. They will try. They always have. They always fail. Every time.

In fact, in many times, God uses these times of persecution To grow his church to strengthen his church, you know, sometimes Sometimes we read that people in persecuted countries are praying for us, for the church in America. Because we're the ones that are weak. We haven't seen this kind of persecution. But it's all around us. And it's coming here as well.

We call it the cancel culture. People that speak the truth are silenced and now are being put in prison and tortured and killed. It's going on now in our country. You say it hasn't come to us yet, but it's here. It's in our land right now.

These things, Jesus said, would come to His disciples in that time. When the world doesn't hate the gospel, it's all too often not the gospel of Christ that is being preached. It's a gospel that has been corrupted. Jesus pronounced woe on those of whom nobody said anything bad. Woe to you, he said, when everybody loves you and speaks well of you.

The world hates the gospel and if we are faithful, testifying to the truth of God's word, we will be hated as well. And if you're not disliked by somebody, maybe ask, are you actually testifying to the truth of the Gospel, or have you accommodated yourself to the lies and the deceptions of our day and the corruptions of the gospel in our day just think of the doctrines that are so hated by culture today Jesus then says in verse 13 that this time would be used for the extension of the gospel witness of the church. He says you're going to be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. They're going to deliver you up to synagogues and prisons. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.

God's going to use this persecution. To advance the witness of the church, He's going to use it to bring you before people in authority that you may not have had access to otherwise. He's going to put you in a courtroom where you'll have an opportunity to testify to those in authority under oath. This is our chief end, to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Lord says he will use this persecution to do just that.

To give us an occasion to glorify God with our mouth. To testify to His righteousness and to His grace. And therefore, Jesus said, Therefore, settle it in your heart ahead of time. Be persuaded in your heart that you're not going to be anxious for what you're going to say in those times. He said, I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all of your adversaries will not be able to contradict or refute.

They're not going to be able to resist it. Now this promise of Christ is not a cause for laziness and lack of preparation. Rather it's an admonition and a caution not to trust our own strength in these times, but to look to Christ for the wisdom and the wit to answer the charges that are brought to us. It's an admonition to remember that it is in our weakness that Christ's strength is made perfect in us. Therefore, Paul says, therefore most gladly, I'm going to boast in glory in these persecutions, in the deprivations for the sake of the Gospel.

Because When I am weak, then I am strong. This is a promise, an assurance that we can expect immediate and extraordinary grace to answer adversaries in these times of persecution. We don't have to be afraid of them. We may not have the grace now, we think, to handle intense persecution. Jesus is saying you will get it when you need it.

My grace will be sufficient in the hour of your need. And we can rest in that promise. So we don't have to be anxious about what might be coming our way, what God may or may not call us to endure. Some of these people were killed. Not everyone, Some were.

Some were betrayed by their parents or their children or their brothers, their family. Some were hauled before magistrates. Whatever. We do not need to be anxious about it. We do not need to be afraid of it.

We don't need to be meditating upon it and wondering. God said He would give us His grace that is sufficient to answer every accusation brought to us. This is also a promise of victory. I will give you wisdom and a mouth, which all of your adversaries will not be able to contradict or to resist. This is the triumph of the gospel witness.

It will triumph over all of the lies and the corruptions of the gospel. And all of the attempts to suppress it and to cancel it. Christ said His gospel would triumph. His gospel witness would triumph. It goes on in verse 16.

To say you will be betrayed 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 said that He spoke these words to His disciples, that they would have peace. In this world you will face tribulation but be of good cheer." He said, I have overcome the world. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets." You see, Christ is saying here, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But he ends with an amazing promise of preservation of his church. Preservation of his church and the perseverance of His people.

But not a hair of your head will be lost." Not a hair of your head will be lost, He says. Didn't He just say that some of you will be put to death? What does He mean now by saying not a hair of your head will be lost. He was saying people were going to be martyred. Well, Matthew 10.30 says that Jesus said that the hairs of our head are all numbered, but it doesn't mean that we won't lose any of them.

It means that the loss and the sacrifice are insignificant compared to the gain. If in the process, let's say, of completing a great job, you expend, let's say you are an excavator and in the process of completing a major excavation for a new subdivision that's going in, You consume thousands of gallons of diesel fuel in the process of doing that job. But the project is successfully completed. You don't count that a loss as if all this fuel had spilled out on the ground and was lost. No, the fuel was used for the purpose for which it was made.

It was refined. And so the fact that it's consumed, it's not a loss at all. And that's what Jesus is saying here. Not a hair of our head will be lost. We may die, but Jesus says don't be afraid of the people that can put your body to death.

We will not perish. For whoever believes in me shall not perish, but will have everlasting life." That passage, Jesus didn't mean we wouldn't die, but in dying we wouldn't perish under the wrath of God. But rather we would be raised to glory and to everlasting life, to everlasting fellowship and communion with the Lord. Paul said in 1 Corinthians, that the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, Always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Always be steadfast, immovable, abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. It will accomplish a good purpose. It will be used by the Lord for His glory and for the advancement of His Kingdom. So we will be preserved.

And not one hair of our head will perish, will be lost. But not only are we preserved, but there is also a promise here that we will persevere. By your patience possess your souls. That word patience means endurance. It's the capacity to hold out or to bear up in the face of Difficulty.

That's perseverance. It's the same word that Paul used in Romans 8, but if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Jesus is saying, by your perseverance, you will possess your souls. That's our duty. It's our duty, especially in perilous times, to secure the possession of our own souls that they not be destroyed forever, but that we in the moment don't fall into sins and into doubts and fears.

To keep our souls in Christ, to not be anxious, to not be afraid, to not be silent when we to not have grief or fear when men tyrannize us, but to enjoy, to persevere in our calling, knowing that there is nothing in the sufferings of this world that can be compared to the glory that Christ has promised us. By your possession, By your patience, by your perseverance, possess your souls. Because God by His grace will enable us to persevere and God by His grace will preserve us and present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we acknowledge the weakness of our flesh and our tendency to easily be afraid.

We remember how many times you admonished your disciples not to fear, not to fear, not to fear the storms on the Sea of Galilee, not to fear the terrors of the wicked and their persecutions. And Lord, we do ask that you would teach us as well not to fear, but to possess our souls in perseverance and in the confidence that not one hair of our head shall be lost. We thank you Lord for your power That can accomplish this for your sovereign Control over all of the affairs of this world over all of the natural disasters, the earthquakes, the hurricanes, the tsunamis. Or do you know and have sent every one of them? And they go only as far as you have sent them and not one inch farther.

They touch only those pieces of ground that you have ordained and not one square inch more, nor one square inch less. We thank you Lord that by your sovereign power you control even the actions of kings. That you hold their heart in your hand and you direct it whichever way you desire. We thank you Lord for your grace to us in Jesus Christ and we rest this morning in it by your power and in your name we pray. Amen.