A Famine Not of Bread

"Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem" by Francesco Hayez Click here to listen to this sermon. And [Jesus] 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. 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” (Luke 21:8-9). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Our text begins with Jesus hearing His followers discussing the impressive appearance of the temple. This would have been quite a natural response to looking at Herod’s temple, which was not only lavishly decorated but was also the largest religious structure in the world at the time. When Jesus tells them of the coming destruction of the temple they respond with the obvious question: when will this happen? The remainder of the passage is an extended speech by Jesus, a response that goes far beyond the q...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The story of the boy who cried wolf is intended to teach an important lesson. If you don’t speak the truth, you become known as a liar. And when you have a reputation for tall tales it doesn’t take long before no one will listen to you. The boy in the fable amused himself by crying, “Wolf! Wolf!” when there was no wolf. Then when there was a wolf, no one would help him. This story has a vital lesson, but it also has an application to the Church and our teaching on the end times. The preacher sees this text and he wonders: Are the people going to listen? Or are they going to think I’m just “crying wolf”? Have they been conditioned to just dismiss it and say: “Yeah, yeah—the end is coming. We’ve heard that before! Tell us something we can ...