INTRODUCTION:

1. Tonight’s message is from the Olivet Discourse (cf. Matt. 24 & 25; Mark 13).  The key word in the discourse is “sign” (Luke 21:7).
2. Many people are looking for signs. And many people are confused over these signs. Personally, I do not think we should be looking for signs, but should be “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
3. But though we are not looking for signs, we cannot help but notice them.  The other day I read an article about Stephen Hawking, the English theoretical physicist and cosmologist.
4. Hawking has a rare form of ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, and this disease has gradually paralyzed him.
5. In a speech he recently gave at the Oxford Union, Stephen Hawking said humanity can only survive another thousand years on Earth thanks to growing threats that include climate change, nuclear war, and artificial intelligence. “I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go to space." 
6. This may strike fear into the hearts of worldly people, but Christians do not need to get into a rocket ship and move into outer space!  We have a much better trip prepared for us (cf. John 14:1-4).
7. And the Bible does refer to a future thousand years on earth.  The Lord Jesus Christ will rule and reign for one thousand years, and the establishment of His kingdom will not be hindered by “climate change, nuclear war, and artificial intelligence.”
8. Unfortunately, Mr. Hawking does not know God’s Word. In fact, he recently traveled to Rome to meet with the pope.
9. Some of these verses in the Olivet Discourse seem to describe general characteristics of the present age (what we usually call “the church age” – i.e., the period between the first coming and the second coming of Christ).
10. Matthew 24:8 says, “All these are the beginning of sorrows” (literally, “birth pangs”).
11. It should be stressed that these signs (deception, war, earthquakes, etc.) will characterize the entire period between the first and second coming of Christ, but things will greatly intensify as we get closer to the return of Christ.
12. The order of these predicted events in the Olivet Discourse is climactic and increases in intensity, culminating in the second coming of Christ (21:27).
13. Everything is moving forward to that great event – the second coming of Christ.  This is something that Mr. Hawking and the pope are not anticipating nor expecting.  It is not part of their dreams and schemes.
14. Our Lord began His Olivet Discourse by predicting the destruction of the temple, which was fulfilled in AD 70 when the Roman army, led by their general (later emperor) Titus, invaded Jerusalem (21:5, 6).
15. Our Lord’s disciples asked Him, “Master, but when shall these things be (i.e., the destruction of the temple)? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?” (21:7).
16. Again, the key word is “sign” (21:7).

 

I. RELIGIOUS DECEPTION (21:8).

1. The first sign mentioned by our Lord is religious deception, specifically prophets and false christs (Luke 21:8).
2. This is a very important sign, because people are often deceived by false teachers.  Our Lord said in Matthew 24:5, “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
3. And then He said in Matthew 24:11, “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”
4. This is the subject of II Peter 2 and the epistle of Jude.  The apostle Paul also gave many similar warnings.  In II Timothy 3:8, Paul compared false teachers to Pharaoh’s magicians, Jannes and Jambres, who “withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth, men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.”
5. Many religious people are misled by false teachers, and many irreligious people are misled by false teachers too.  Friday night, my wife and I heard a Roman Catholic priest say the only way to Jesus is through Mary.
6. But that is totally contrary to Scripture.  The Bible says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 2:5).
7. Religious people are misled by their priests and ministers and rabbis, and the irreligious people get caught up in weird cults like Scientology and Kabala.
8. The devil uses different bait for different people.
9. Some people do not like it when a pastor preachers against false teachers, but we have a responsibility to protect the sheep from dangerous wolves.
10. I remember one lady who frequently criticized me for preaching against false preachers.  That lady eventually left our church and joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
11. Our Lord said in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
12. Paul said in Acts 20:29, “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.”
13. Religious deception has always been a problem, and it will get far worse as we draw closer to the second coming of Christ (cf. Rev. 13).

 

II. WARS & COMMOTIONS (21:9).

1. Matthew 24:6, 7 says, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”
2. Luke 21:9 is a little different.  Luke 21:9 says, “But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified…”
3. “Commotions.”  Like that Muslim jihadist at Ohio State University who drove his car into a crowd of students, and then jumped out of his car and began stabbing people with a butcher knife (or a machete).
4. “But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified…”
5. Immediately after this terror attack, conservatives pointed out that this maniac was a Muslim terrorist and a so-called “refugee” from Somalia and Pakistan.
6. By the way, did you know that all nine of the terrorists who murdered 130 people in Paris in November 2015 had just entered Europe as “refugees.”
7. This whole “refuge crisis” is a smokescreen for terrorism.
8. So while conservatives pointed out that this latest attack confirms that we need to fix our dangerous immigration policies, liberals demanded more gun control.
9. However, Abdul Razak Ali Artan did not use a gun.  He ran people over with his car, and then stabbed them with a butcher knife.
10. Do we need more car control or butcher knife (or machete) control?
11. No, we need to stop allowing these crazy jihadists into our country!
12. The history of mankind has been written in blood. Every day we hear about wars and rumors of wars (Matt. 24:6, 7), and “wars and commotions” (Luke 21:9).
13. The jihadists who blow up bombs in buildings and trains and on crowded city streets, or hijack airplanes and fly them into buildings want people to be terrified, but our Lord said to expect these commotions, and He said “be not terrified.”
14. “Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (21:10).  Military conflict took place during every single year of the 20th Century, and the total number of deaths caused by these wars during the 20^th Century has been estimated at over 200 million people.
15. These wars include the first World War (1914–1918), the second World War (1939–1945), the Russian Civil War (1917-1922), the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949), the Korean War (1950–1953), the Vietnam War (1965-1973), and endless conflicts in the Middle East.
16. But the 21^st century will be worse as we head toward the Battle of Armageddon.

 

III. EARTHQUAKES IN DIVERS PLACES (21:11).

1. Our Lord said other signs will include earthquakes in divers places, famines, pestilences, fearful sights and great signs from heaven (Luke 21:11).
2. Just in the past few days there have been major earthquakes in Indonesia, Nepal, India, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Taiwan, New Zealand, Italy, Madagascar, Russia, and Alaska.
3. Our Lord said in Mark 13:8 that, “These are the beginnings of sorrows.” In other words, these are to be succeeded by far worse and more startling conditions before the Lord returns in judgment to set up His kingdom.
4. Religious persecution, including martyrdom, is another sign given by our Lord (Luke 21:12-19; Rev. 6:9-11).
5. There is an interesting connection between the seal judgments, described in Revelation 6, and the signs given by our Lord in the Olivet Discourse.
6. When the first seal is opened, John sees a man riding a white horse.  This rider appears to be the antichrist – “he went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Rev. 6:1, 2).
7. This is very similar to the first sign – religious deception (Luke 21:8).
8. The second rider appears after the second seal is opened. He is riding a red horse, and we are told that “power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword” (Rev. 6:3, 4).
9. This second seal lines up with the second sign – wars and commotions (Luke 21:9, 10).
10. The third rider appears after the third seal is opened. He is riding a black horse, signifying famine and pestilences, following war and earthquakes in divers places.  He lines up with the third sign (Luke 21:11).
11. The fourth rider rides a pale horse: “and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him” (Rev. 6:7, 8).  Death always follows war and earthquakes and famine and pestilences. 
12. And hell always follows the death of the wicked.  Psalm 9:17 says, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
13. Then when the fifth seal is opened, John saw the martyrs crying out, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:9, 10).
14. The sign of persecution and martyrdom given by our Lord in His Olivet Discourse follows the same sequence laid out in Revelation 6, and it lines up with the fifth seal (Luke 21:12-19).
15. Christians are being persecuted in Muslim and communist and Hindu countries, but the news media give it very little attention.
16. Kim Kardashian was robbed in a Parisian hotel, and it was all over the news for days. Meanwhile, the Muslim killers, Boko Haram, rampaged through villages in Nigeria, killing Christians and torching their churches and homes, but it was largely ignored by the news media.
17. According to Bible prophecy, persecution against Christians will get worse and worse during the tribulation and we can expect to see much more of it even here in America (cf. Rev. 13:15-18; 20:4).

 

CONCLUSION:

1. The key word here is “sign” (Luke 21:7).  I heard about a little mountain boy who went to see the school teacher in one of these little schoolhouses in a small mountain village, far from any big town or city.
2. He told the teacher that he wanted to enroll, and the school teacher said, “Why would you like to go to school?” 
3. And the little boy replied, “Sir, I’d like to learn how to read that sign down there at the crossroads.”
4. Well, if we want to understand the signs in God’s Word, we need to read and study God’s Word, and believe God’s Word.