S2E203-Luke 21-22: Any Time Now?

Transcript Today's Bible Translation Bible translation used in today's episode: Ch. 21 NET, Ch. 22 HCSB Associate Producer Anonymous, Michael Haner Podcast Introduction Today is Gospels Saturday. We’ll read Luke 21-22. I’m calling this episode “Any Time Now?” Design: Jason Paschall | Photo: Midjourney Comments on Luke 21 In Luke 21, Jesus makes the statement concerning the Temple, that not one stone will be left on another. He prophesied the destruction that would take place 40 years later. In his account of this same conversation that Jesus had with his disciples, Matthew is more complete in what Jesus said, because it is more apparent that Jesus was also talking of His ultimate return at the end of the age. So the disciples asked Jesus when these things would take place, and He gave them signs to look for. And since I was a teenager, I have heard the question, "Are we in the end times?" And I'm sure that question has been asked countless times since Jesus was resurrected.  Let me answer this way. Pastor Chuck Smith, the man who founded Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, fervently believed that Jesus would return before the end of his life. He wrote a book on the subject, explaining the reasons for his belief. I remember going to an event at the Anaheim Convention Center (I'm pretty sure that was the venue) where Pastor Chuck spoke about it. He made a great argument, and many people agreed with Chuck and believed that Jesus would be coming before 1980.  Well, here we are on March 19, 2022. We’re still here. Jesus didn’t return in 1980, and Pastor Chuck went to be with the Lord on October 3, 2013. By the way, Chuck was always very careful to say that "No man knows the hour". He was not predicting Jesus' return, he was merely stating that he believed that Jesus was coming soon. I believed it then, and I believe it now. Jesus is not late in returning. He will be on time. But I believe it can be at any moment. So my answer to the question of are we in the end times is, "I believe that we are. I believe that many things that must happen before Jesus' return have happened. However, I have learned not to be dogmatic about prophetic events. God is sovereign. Jesus said, 'But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.' (NIV) If Jesus doesn't even know, how can I?" I'll add this: I can imagine Jesus sitting on the edge of His throne, next to the Father, "Saying, now Father? Now?? Surely the time has come!" What do YOU think? Support This a value for value podcast. There are no advertisers because advertising equals censorship. If you enjoy the Lifespring Family Audio Bible, decide how much value it brings to you. Only you can make that determination. Then put a number on the value and donate here: SUPPORT. The Team Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Denise: Transcript CorrectionMichael Haner: Podcasting: 2.0 ChaptersScott Snider: Show ArtJason Paschall: Show ArtLifespring Family Berean, Sister Brittaney: Newsletter Publisher Transcript Download .txt file. Transcript corrected by Sister Denise Steve Webb 0:00Are we in the End Times? Steve Webb 0:09It's the Lifespring! One Year Bible coming to you from Riverside, California, and podcasting since 2000… When? Yeah, 2004, I'm your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. It's Gospel Saturday and our reading today will be Luke 21 and 22. I'm calling this episode "Any Time Now?" Before we get started, let's pray. Our heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word. And we thank you for telling us what to expect before Jesus comes back. Teach us today as we read. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, Beloved, are you ready? Let's get started. Steve Webb 0:46Luke, chapter 21. Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. He also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all of them....

Episode Transcript

Steve Webb (00:00):
Are we in the end times?
It's the Lifespring! One YearBible coming to you from
Riverside, California Andpodcasting since 2000. When?
Yeah, 2004 I'm pierogi GodcasterSteve Webb, it's gospel Saturday

(00:22):
And Our reading today will beLuke 21 And 22. I'm calling this
episode any time now. Before weget started, let's pray. Our
Heavenly Father, we thank Youfor Your Word. And we thank you
for telling us what to expectbefore Jesus comes back. Teach
us today as we read, I pray thisin Jesus name, amen. Okay,

(00:42):
beloved, are you ready? Let'sget started.
Luke chapter 21. Jesus looked upAnd saw the rich putting their
gifts into the offering box. Healso saw poor widow put into
small copper coins. He said, Itell you the truth, this poor
widow was put in more than allof them, for they all offered

(01:03):
their gifts out of their wealth,but she out of her poverty put
in everything she had to liveon. Now, while some were
speaking about the temple, howit was adorned with beautiful
stones And offerings, Jesussaid, As for these things that
you're gazing at, the days willcome when not one stone will be
left on another, all will betorn down. So they asked him,

(01:25):
Teacher, when will these thingshappen? And what will be the
sign that these things are aboutto take place, he said, watch
out that you are not misled, formany will come in My name saying
I am He And the time is near. Donot follow them. And when you
hear of wars And rebellions Donot be afraid for these things

(01:45):
must happen first, but the endwill not come at once. Then he
said to them, Nation will riseup in arms against nation And
kingdom against kingdom. Therewill be great earthquakes And
famines And plagues in variousplaces. And there will be
terrifying sights And greatsigns from heaven. But before
all this, they will seize youAnd persecute you handing you

(02:07):
over to the synagogues Andprisons, you will be brought
before kings And governorsbecause of my name. This will be
a time for you to serve aswitnesses. Therefore, be
resolved not to rehearse aheadof time, how to make your
defense. For I will give you thewords along with the wisdom that
none of your adversaries will beable to withstand or contradict.

(02:29):
You will be betrayed even byparents, brothers, relatives And
friends. And they will have someof you put to death. You will be
hated by everyone because of myname. Yep, not a hair of your
head will perish. By yourendurance you will gain your
lives. But when you seeJerusalem surrounded by armies,
then know that its desolationhas come near. Then those who

(02:53):
are in Judea must flee to themountains. Those who are inside
the city must depart those whoare out in the country, he must
not enter it, because these arethe days of vengeance to fulfill
all that is written woe to thosewho are pregnant. And to those
who are nursing their babies inthose days. For there will be
great distress on the earth Andwrath against this people. They

(03:15):
will fall by the edge of thesword And will be led away as
captives among all nations.Jerusalem will be trampled down
by the Gentiles until the timesof the Gentiles are fulfilled.
And there will be signs in thesun And moon And stars And on
the earth nations will be indistress anxious over the
roaring of the sea And thesurging waves. People will be

(03:36):
fading from fear And from theexpectation of what is coming on
the world. For the powers of theheavens will be shaken. Then
they will see the Son of Manarriving in a cloud with power
And great glory. But when thesethings begin to happen, stand up
And raise your heads becauseyour redemption is drawing near.
Then he told them a parable.Look at the fig tree And all the

(03:59):
other trees when they sproutleaves you see for yourselves
And know that summer is nownear. So also you when you see
these things happening, knowthat the kingdom of God is near.
I tell you the truth, thisgeneration will not pass away
until all these things takeplace. Heaven on earth will pass

(04:20):
away, but My words will neverpass away. But Be on your guard
so that your hearts are notweighed down with dissipation
And drunkenness And the worriesof this life. And that day
closed down upon you suddenlylike a trap. For it will
overtake all who live on theface of the whole earth. But
stay alert at all times prayingthat you may have the strength

(04:40):
to escape all these things thatmust happen And to stand before
the Son of Man. So every dayJesus was teaching in the temple
courts, but at night he went Andstayed on the Mount of Olives.
And all the people came to himearly in the morning to listen
to Him in the temple courts.
Luke 22 The Festival ofUnleavened Bread which is called

(05:02):
Passover was drawing near. Thechief priests And the scribes
were looking for a way to putinto death because they were
afraid of the people. Then Satanentered Judas called Iscariot,
who was numbered among the 12.He went away And discussed with
the chief priests And templepolice, how he could hand him
over to them. They were glad Andagreed to give him silver. So he

(05:23):
accepted the offer And startedlooking for a good opportunity
to betray him when the crowd wasnot present. Then the Day of
Unleavened Bread came when thePassover lamb had to be
sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter AndJohn saying, Go And prepare the
Passover meal for us so we caneat it. Where do you want us to
prepare it? They asked him.Listen, he said to them. When

(05:46):
you've entered the city, a mancarrying a water jug will meet
you follow him into the house,he enters, tell the owner of the
house, the teacher asks you,where is the guestroom where I
can eat the Passover with mydisciples, then he will show you
a large furnished room upstairs,make the preparations there. So
they went And found it just ashe had told them, And they

(06:07):
prepared the Passover. When thehour came, he reclined at the
table And the apostles with him.Then he said to them, I have
fervently desire to eat thisPassover with you before I
suffer, For I tell you, I willnot eat it again, until it is
fulfilled in the kingdom of God.Then he took a cup, And after
giving Thanks, he said, Takethis And share it among

(06:30):
yourselves for I tell you, fromnow on, I will not drink of the
fruit of the vine until thekingdom of God comes. And he
took bread, gave Thanks, brokeit, gave it to them And said,
This is My body which is givenfor you do this in remembrance
of me. In the same way, he alsotook the cup after supper And

(06:51):
said, This cup is the newcovenant established by my
blood, it is shed for you. Butlook, the hand of the one
betraying me is that the tablewith me, for the Son of Man will
go away as it has beendetermined. But woe to that man
by whom is betrayed. So theybegan to argue among themselves,
which of them it could be whowas going to do this thing, then

(07:13):
a dispute also arose among themabout who should be considered
the greatest. But he said tothem, the kings of the Gentiles
dominate them, And those whohave authority over them are
called benefactors. But it mustnot be like that among you. On
the contrary, whoever isgreatest among you must become
like the youngest. And whoeverleads like the one serving For

(07:34):
who is greater the one at thetable, or the one serving, isn't
it the one at the table, but Iam among you is one who serves,
you were the ones who stood byme in my trials, I bestow on you
a kingdom, just as my fatherbestowed one on me, so that you
may eat And drink at My table inMy kingdom. And you will sit on

(07:55):
thrones judging the 12 tribes ofIsrael, Simon, Simon, look out.
Satan has asked to sift you likewheat, but I have prayed for you
that your faith may not fail.And you when you have turned
back, strengthen your brother'sLord, He told him, I'm ready to
go with you both to prison Andto death. I tell you, Peter, he

(08:16):
said, The rooster will not crowtoday until you deny three times
that you know me. He also saidto them, when I sent you out
without money bag, traveling bagor sandals, did you lack
anything? Not a thing. Theysaid. Then he said to them, but
now whoever has a money bagshould take it And also a
traveling bag. And whoeverdoesn't have a sword should sell

(08:39):
his robe And buy one for I tellyou what is written must be
fulfilled in me. And he wascounted among the outlaws? Yes,
what is written about Me iscoming to its fulfillment. Lord,
they said, Look, here are twoswords. Enough of that he told
them, he went out And made hisway as usual to the Mount of
Olives, And the disciplesfollowed Him. When he reached

(09:02):
the place, he told him, praythat you may not enter into
temptation. Then he withdrewfrom them about a stone's throw,
knelt down And began to pray.Father, if you're willing, take
this cup away from me.Nevertheless, not my will but
Yours be done. Then an angelfrom heaven appeared to Him
strengthening him being ananguish he prayed more

(09:25):
fervently, And his sweat becamelike drops of blood falling to
the ground. When he got up fromprayer And came to the
disciples, he found themsleeping, exhausted from their
grief. Why are you sleeping? Heasked them, get up And pray so
that you won't enter intotemptation. While he was still
speaking, suddenly a mob wasthere. And one of the 12 named

(09:47):
Judas was leading them. He camenear Jesus to kiss him. But
Jesus said to him, Judas, Areyou betraying the Son of Man
with a kiss when those aroundhim saw what was going to
happen? They asked, Lord, shouldwe strike with the sword? Then
one of them struck the highpriests slave And cut off his
right ear. But Jesus respondedNo more of this And touching his

(10:11):
ear, he healed him. Then Jesussaid to the chief priests,
temple police And the elders whohad come for him, have you come
out with swords And clubs as ifI were a criminal. Every day
while I was with you in thetemple complex, you never laid a
hand on me. But this is yourhour And the dominion of
darkness. They seized him, ledHim away And brought him into

(10:32):
the high priests house.Meanwhile, Peter was following
at a distance. They lit a firein the middle of the courtyard
And sat down together, And Petersat among them. When a servant
saw him sitting in the firelight And looked closely at him,
she said, This man was with himtoo, but he denied it. Woman, I
don't know him. After a littlewhile someone else saw him And

(10:55):
said, You're one of them to man,I am not. Peter said. About an
hour later, another keptinsisting this man was certainly
with him since he's also aGalilean. But Peter said, Man, I
don't know what you're talkingabout. Immediately, while he was
still speaking, a roostercrowed. Then the Lord turned And
looked at Peter. So Peterremembered the word of the Lord

(11:18):
how he had said to him, beforethe rooster crows today, you
will deny me three times, And hewent outside And wept bitterly.
The men who were holding Jesusstarted mocking And beating him.
After blindfolding him, theykept asking prophesy who hit
you? And they were saying manyother blasphemous things against
him. When daylight came, theelders of the people, both the

(11:40):
chief priests And the scribesconvened And brought him before
the Sanhedrin. They said, if youare the Messiah, tell us. But he
said to them, If I do tell you,you will not believe And if I
asked you, you will not answer.But from now on, the Son of Man
will be seated at the right handof the power of God. They all

(12:01):
ask, are you then the Son ofGod? And He said to them, you
say that I am? Why do we needany more testimony, they said,
since we've heard it ourselvesfrom his mouth.
In Luke 21, Jesus made astatement concerning the temple
that not one stone will be lefton another. In doing that he
prophesied the destruction thatwould take place 40 years later.

(12:25):
And in Matthew's account of thissame conversation, he was a bit
more complete in what Jesussaid, because it's more apparent
there that Jesus was alsotalking of his ultimate return
at the end of the age. So thedisciples naturally asked Jesus
when these things would takeplace, And he gave them signs to
look for. And since I was ateenager, I've heard this

(12:46):
question, are we in the EndTimes? And that same question
has undoubtedly been askedcountless times since Jesus was
resurrected? well, I've got theanswer. Are you ready? well, let
me answer it this way. PastorChuck Smith, the man who founded
Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesafervently believed that Jesus

(13:07):
would return before the end ofhis life. He wrote a book on the
subject explaining his reasonsfor that belief. And I remember
going to an event I believe itwas at the Anaheim Convention
Center, where Pastor Chuck spokeabout it. He made a great
argument, And many people agreedwith Chuck And believed that
Jesus would be coming before1980. well, here we are on March

(13:29):
19 2022. We're still here. Jesusdidn't return in 1980. And
Pastor Chuck went to be with theLord on October 3 2013. By the
way, Chuck was always verycareful to say that no man knows
the hour. He wasn't putting adate on Jesus return, he was
just stating that he believedthat Jesus was coming very soon.

(13:53):
I believed it then And I believeit now. Jesus is not late in
returning. He'll be on time. ButI believe it can be at any
moment. My answer to thequestion of are we in the in
times is, I believe we are. Ibelieve that many things that
must happen before Jesusreturned, have already happened.

(14:14):
But I've learned not to be talkmagic about prophetic events.
God is sovereign. And Jesussaid, but about that day or
hour, no one knows not even theangels in heaven nor the Son,
but only the Father. well, ifJesus doesn't even know when
he's coming back, how can I? Iwill add this though. I can

(14:34):
imagine Jesus sitting on theedge of his throne right now
next to the Father saying, now,Father, now, surely the time has
come. well, what do you think?Do you think it's sooner? Do you
think it's still a long timeoff? Let me know call the
Lifespring family Hotline atplus 1-951-732-8511 or send to

(14:57):
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(18:17):
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