INVINCIBLE CHURCH 11-12-23

Invincible Church Sermon Notes
11/12/2023
Be Ready pt 5
Luke 21:5-38
The Bible tells us that God has a “master plan”! In His plan, the world as we know it is counting down to and end of time moment that He’s already determined, which starts with the second coming of Jesus and nobody knows the exact day and time this will happen except God!
So, He wants His people to be ready, stay ready and keep doing the specific work that He’s designed us to do inside of His perfect plan. It’s why we can be sure God wants us to know and understand the times, signs and events that will be happening before the second coming of Jesus!
About 27% of the Bible contains prophecy. The second coming of Jesus is mentioned 321 times in the Bible, which is more than any other subject except for salvation. So, a key part of the life, teaching, instructions, ministry and prophecies of Jesus tells His followers to be ready!
Luke 21:5-38 NIV - 5 Some of His Disciples were Remarking about how The Temple was Adorned with Beautiful Stones … And with Gifts Dedicated to God! … But Jesus said … 6 “As for What you See Here … The Time will Come when Not One Stone will be Left on Another … Every One of them will be Thrown Down!” 7 “Teacher” they Asked … “When will these Things Happen? … And What will be The Sign that They are about to Take Place?” … 8 He Replied … “Watch Out that you are Not Deceived! … For Many will Come In My Name … Claiming … “I Am He” … And … “The Time is Near!” … Do Not Follow them! ... 9 When you Hear of Wars and Uprisings … Do Not be Frightened! ... These Things Must Happen First … But The End will Not Come Right Away!” … 10 Then He said to them … “Nation will Rise against Nation … And Kingdom against Kingdom! ... 11 There will be Great Earthquakes … “Famines and Pestilences” in Various Places … And Fearful Events … And Great Signs from Heaven! … 12 “But Before All This … They will Seize you … And Persecute you! ... They will Hand you Over to Synagogues … And Put you in Prison … And you will be Brought Before “Kings and Governors” … And All On Account of My Name! ... 13 And so you will Bear Testimony to Me! ... 14 But Make Up your Mind Not to Worry Beforehand How you will Defend yourselves! ... 15 For I will Give you “Words and Wisdom” that None of your Adversaries will Be Able to “Resist or Contradict”! … 16 You will Be Betrayed … Even by Parents … “Brothers and Sisters” … “Relatives and Friends” … And they will Put Some of you to Death! … 17 Everyone will Hate you Because of Me! … 18 But Not a Hair of your Head Will Perish! 19 Stand Firm …And you will Win Life! ... 20 “When you See Jerusalem being Surrounded by Armies … You will Know that Its Desolation is Near! ... 21 Then Let Those who Are In Judea Flee to The Mountains … Let Those In The City Get Out! … And Let Those In The Country Not Enter The City! ... 22 For This is The Time of Punishment in Fulfillment of All that has Been Written! ... 23 How Dreadful It will Be In Those Days for Pregnant Women … And Nursing Mothers! … There will Be Great Distress in The Land … And Wrath against this People! ... 24 They will Fall by The Sword … And will Be Taken as Prisoners to All The Nations! … Jerusalem will Be Trampled On by The Gentiles until The Times of The Gentiles are Fulfilled! ... 25 “There will Be Signs in The Sun … Moon … And Stars! ... On The Earth … Nations will Be In “Anguish and Perplexity” at The “Roaring and Tossing” of The Sea! … 26 People will Faint from Terror … Apprehensive of What is “Coming On” The World … For The Heavenly Bodies will Be Shaken! … 27 At That Time … They will See The Son of Man Coming In a Cloud with “Power and Great Glory”! … 28 When These Things Begin to Take Place … Stand Up … And “Lift Up” your Heads … Because your Redemption is Drawing Near!” … 29 He Told Them this Parable … “Look at The Fig Tree and All The Trees! ... 30 When they Sprout Leaves … You Can See for yourselves … And Know that Summer is Near! ... 31 Even So … When you See These Things Happening … You Know that The Kingdom of God is Near! ... 32 “Truly I Tell you … This Generation will Certainly Not Pass Away until All These Things have Happened! ... 33 Heaven and Earth will Pass Away … But My Words will Never Pass Away! ... 34 “Be Careful … Or your Hearts will Be Weighed Down with Carousing … Drunkenness … And The Anxieties of Life … And that Day will Close On you Suddenly like a Trap! ... 35 For It will Come On All Those who Live On The Face of The Whole Earth! ... 36 Be Always On The Watch [Be Ready] … And Pray that you May Be Able to Escape All that Is about To Happen … And That you May Be Able to Stand Before The Son of Man!” … 37 Each Day Jesus was Teaching at The Temple … And each Evening He Went Out to Spend The Night On The Hill Called The Mount of Olives … 38 And All The people Came Early in The Morning to Hear Him at The Temple!
This passage give us…
4 Primary Ways Jesus Teaches us to “Be Ready”
1) Discern “The Prophetic Times” We’re Living In! … (vs 5-9) Tells us, followers of Jesus are supposed to know and remember the specific Biblical events that happened at specific prophesied times in the past and be diligent in praying, working and watching for the Biblical prophecy that’s going to happen in the future.
2) Discern “The Prophetic Signs” We’re Living In! … (vs 10-19) … Tells us what the signs are! These are fearful events that will terrify and disgust us! Some are natural disasters like tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and famines!
Then, there’s other things like curses, plagues and pestilence! And the worst indicator signs are depravity, debauchery, perversion, pagan rituals, wickedness and all other manners of evil! We see it escalating every day now… human trafficking, sex slavery, child abuse, child sacrifice, mass shootings, serial killers, etc.
3) Discern “The Prophetic Events” That Are Still to Come! … (vs 20-28) … When we’re faithful to study and know Bible prophecy, we can be 100% sure of what’s going to happen in the future, which gives us confidence and courage to keep doing the work we need to be doing now! So, now we’re going to pick back up from last week on the 4th way He tells us to be ready.
4) Discern “Spiritual Matters” So We Can Be Ready for Now! … (vs 29-38) … What Jesus was telling the disciples then also applies to us as His disciples today… and it will always apply to His followers until He returns. The truth is, choosing to identify with Jesus makes us a follower of Him, so we’re supposed to be ready to do the work He’s called us to do!
Inside that framework…
A ) (vs 29-31) … The only way we can be ready to accomplish everything that God has for us to do is to always be pursuing the light of the truth, which is His Word, His will and His ways! Then in…
B ) (vs 32-35) … The only way we can be ready to receive discipline from God is to walk in the light of the truth. And, picking up here from last week in…
>(vs 36) … Jesus just said … 36 Be Always On The Watch [Be Ready] … And Pray that you May be Able to Escape All that is about to Happen … And that you May be Able to Stand before The Son of Man!”
Jesus is giving a universal command to all believers that carries through for all ages! There are a lot of verses that talk about this and remembering them will save us a lot of grief and confusion. Look at…
Mark 4:19 NIV – 19 … but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke The Word, making it unfruitful.
2 Timothy 2:3-4 NIV - 3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his Commanding Officer.
Another way to say it… going into battle with golf clubs, fishing rods, skateboards, TV remotes or video games will get a person killed! That’s why followers of Jesus go into spiritual battles with the Bible and the power of the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 13:5 NLT – 5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of Genuine Faith.
*Back in (vs 35) … Where Jesus said … 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of The whole earth.
This is a very specific description of lost people! These are the people who’ve rejected Jesus! They’re condemned and they’ll definitely be living on earth during the time of the great tribulation period that’s coming (sooner rather than later)! The Old Testament also tells us to be ready…
Isaiah 26:20-21 NIV – 20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. 21 See, the Lord is coming out of His dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer! … The signs are the indicators to take actions from the warning.
Revelation 13:14 NIV – 14 Because of The Signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. … There it is again… the signs…
Revelation 17:8b NIV – 8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come! … PAST - PRESENT - and FUTURE PROPHECY! …
The very best reason we have for being ready is no matter how and when the rapture goes down, followers of Jesus have the guaranteed hope, powerful peace and unstoppable joy that comes with being a child of God because we don’t belong here. When we live it, people notice it!
Philippians 3:20 NIV – 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, The Lord Jesus Christ, … It's also how we're qualified and worth of discerning spiritual matters.
C ) (vs 36-38) … The only way we can be ready to obediently respond to spiritual matters is to always be on watch for the light of the truth!
A lot of professing Christians spend a whole lot of time worrying about debating and sometimes even arguing about when the rapture of the church will happen! The rapture is when God removes all believers, living and dead, from the earth (the true church) …and…
… give us glorified bodies in heaven for eternity. Then, He’ll impart His righteous judgement on all who refused to believe and submit to Jesus (God’s only Son/ the one true Messiah) as Lord and Savior! Followers of Jesus need to stop worrying and keep working!
It’s vital for us to understand how we’re declared worthy to be God’s children so we can discern spiritual mattes and help those around us who’re lost without Jesus, come to know and understand how they can be made worthy.
The Bible says, all of us are sinners, separated from God, headed for eternity in Hell! But sinners can be saved from separation and hell by God’s grace through faith in Jesus!
We’re made worthy by believing in the Holy sovereign God of the Bible, having faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior and trusting in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Then, we pray and watch for the spiritual matters God has planned for us!
So, stop worrying about it just do it! Praying and being on watch causes us to be ready because we’re made worthy in Jesus at the time of our salvation! The Bible gives us a lot of verses that speak to this…
Philippians 3:9 NIV – 9 and be found In Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ … The Righteousness that comes from God on the basis of Faith.
Our righteousness comes by God through faith in Jesus, powered by the Holy Spirit. Nobody can make this happen by their own actions or power! No other false god has the ability to impart righteousness on anything or anybody! It is where we get our strength to endure this mess!
2 Timothy 2:1 NIV – You then, My son, be strong in The Grace that is In Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 1:13 NIV - 13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with Faith and Love In Christ Jesus.
Colossians 1:28 NIV – 28 He is The One we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all Wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature In Christ Jesus.
At the moment a person repents from sin and submits to Jesus as Lord and Savior, salvation is deposited by God in our spiritual account. It’s at that same moment we’re placed in Jesus and our identity is in Him!
Which means our worthiness is found in His worthiness. Our righteousness is found in His righteousness and our salvation is found in His salvation!
Jude 24 NIV – 24 To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His Glorious Presence without fault and with great joy.
A while lot of the current so called Christian culture isn’t being very watchful! Way too many pastors don’t teach the church to be ready to discern urgent spiritual matters like attacks against our faith and freedom.
We’re supposed to be teaching followers of Jesus to be praying and watching… stay alert… so, we can be ready to take on the spiritual matters that God has designed for us! We need to be in an attitude of prayer all the time!
Revelation 3:1-2 NIV – “To The Angel of The Church in Sardis write … These are The Words of Him Who holds The Seven Spirits of God and The Seven Stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! … Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God! … There ~IT~ is AGAIN … BE READY! … à
We have to wake up and guard against the worldly dangers that keep us from being ready! It’s things that can literally consume us like bitterness, apathy, idleness, anger, lack of prayer, pursuit of worldly wealth or whatever else we get distracted by!
Matthew 26:41 NIV – 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
We need fellow believers that keep us ready, awake, watching and waiting! We want believers in our lives who will remind us that Jesus could come any minute! We want believers in our lives who’re ready to meet Jesus!
Luke 12:45-46 NIV – 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My Master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The Master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect Him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
So, what should we be doing to make sure we’re ready when Jesus comes back?
1. Make sure our closest friends are believers and hold each other accountable to the truth!
2. Start producing fruit by speaking the truth and doing things the way Jesus would!
3. Build God’s church by using our spiritual gifts to serve Jesus as He calls!
4. Be ready to reach out to meet the needs for truth of those in our circles of influence!
5. Make worshipping Jesus a priority! (Showing Him love in praise, words and actions!)
6. Read the Bible every day (with the ears to hear from the Holy Spirit inside us!)
7. Pray all the time… all day… then, fall asleep praying! (Pray continually!)
8. Look for the opportunities God gives us to serve Jesus! Be involved in His kingdom work!
9. Witness to others about what God has done for you! (Speak the truth of Jesus to people!)
10. Continue working hard to know God better (Grow in our love, faith and trust of Jesus!)
*9 Action Words :> - LOVE – PRAY – THANK – GO – MAKE – TEACH – ASK – SEEK – KNOCK!
It’s not too late to make a difference for the Kingdom of God but we have to make the decision to be ready now!
Titus 2:11-13 NIV – 11 For The Grace of God has appeared that offers Salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and Godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait [BE READY] for The Blessed Hope … The appearing of The Glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ …
If you’re listening online… and you haven’t made the decision to follow Jesus, then I’m inviting you to pray to Jesus right now… and receive Him as your personal Lord and Savior! He knows what’s best for us and it’s eternity with God in heaven… But the only way to get there is through a salvation relationship with Jesus! So, don’t wait! Receive him now!
Let’s pray!