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 [Jesus] said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:9-11, NKJV)
I want to speak encouragement to you, because we are facing a lot of difficulties. We’ve been having difficulties travelling overseas on ministry because of Covid. Not only that, but there’s been very serious flooding in Britain, and even worse in Germany and Holland – unprecedented. And massive floods in China, which they claimed were the worst in a thousand years. On the other side of the world in America, vast fires in Oregon, out of control, smoke so dense you could hardly see. And the same in Siberia! It does look as if there are strange things happening. Of course, it’s blamed on climate change.
But I want to turn you to Luke 21. The disciples are asking Jesus what are the signs of the last days. In verses 9-10, Jesus says, “When you hear of wars and commotions, don’t be terrified, for these things must first come to pass, but the end is not yet... Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom...” This touches on the situation we have at the moment. We have had virtually constant war in one part of the globe or the other for more than one hundred years. People are now saying that the First World War which began in 1914 didn’t actually finish in 1918. There was an armistice, but that First World War precipitated the Second World War, which in Britain began in 1939 and finished in 1945. But the fighting has not stopped. There is fighting in so many different places. In Ethiopia, tribes being virtually exterminated. In Afghanistan, the fighting hasn’t stopped. I don’t know how many wars we in Britain have fought in Afghanistan – many – we have never won one of them! The Russians tried, the Americans have tried – they didn’t win. There is a continuous state of war. We lived for many years under the Cold War, which began after the Russians took control of East Europe after World War II and persisted until the beginning of the 1990s. Now we’re hearing that there is another ‘Cold War’, Russia is re-arming. In Britain we are re-assessing our response to this. And there is a threat from China.
But Jesus said, “When you hear of wars and commotions, don’t be terrified!” So I want to encourage you. Don’t be terrified by all this. Jesus said, “These things must first come, but the end is not yet... Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, great earthquakes, famines, pestilence, fearful signs, great signs from heaven...” We have seen that there is a rise of earthquakes, famines, in so many parts of the world, and pestilence... Come on, Covid has touched the whole world, people are treating it like the worst pestilence in history! We’re still living with it.
So when the disciples began to ask Jesus about the Kingdom, He described many of the things that have happened and are happening. I want you to understand, the real message of Jesus – I’m looking at it very clearly in the Scripture – when you study the ministry of Jesus, He talks more about the Coming Kingdom, than He does about simple salvation and deliverance. Although the healing ministry of Jesus was phenomenal, He did not come just to bring healing. He came to bring a message of a Coming Kingdom that we can enter and where we are free.
Look further in verses 25-26, Jesus says, “There shall be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of all nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring – and men’s hearts failing them for fear for looking at those things that are coming on the earth...” Today the whole world is becoming obsessed with things like climate change, Covid, the economy, and there is a sense of a shaking amongst the nations. So Jesus continues in v28, 31 & 32, “When you see these things come to pass, know that the Kingdom of God is near... This generation shall not pass away until all is fulfilled.”
This is very significant. There is a generation, according to the prophecies of Jesus, that will not pass away until it sees the fulfilment of the return of Christ. What that generation is, I’m not going to speculate here...
I do see Covid as one of the signs prophesied by Jesus. Also the floods, the earthquakes and the fires. But, these things don’t trouble me, because Jesus is coming back to the earth, and when He does, His feet stand on the Mount of Olives as you know, and He is to rule the world for a thousand years. It is clear from the Scriptures that at that time, everything will be restored to what it was before sin came! The world will become like a Garden of Eden. If this Coming of Christ is as near as I believe, then the changes that are taking place are not going to prevent His Return, but are signs and evidences and witnesses of things which, according to Jesus, will happen. As He says in v31, “When you see these things come to pass, then you know, the Kingdom of God is near!”
I want to encourage you: I believe the things which you and I are seeing and experiencing are the signs that the age in which we live, is the age immediately before the Return of Christ. And because I want to be, and expect to be, part of Christ’s Kingdom, I’m not so afraid of what I see! We have to labour until He comes, carry on working! The older I get, the more determined I am, the more I’m going to preach! I see the necessity of preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom in the light of the fact that everything we see around us is the fulfilment of the signs spoken of – not just by the prophets, but according to the words of Jesus Himself! I know that some people, in trying to prophesy about the return of Christ, get tied up in the prophecies of the Old Testament. Yes, I believe those prophecies, and I think many of them have been fulfilled. But I’m more concerned at looking at what Jesus says about the Second Coming! And at what the disciples recorded and what the Early Church believed!
There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1-8, NLT)
Right from the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, He’s not talking just about salvation, He’s talking about the Kingdom of God! Except a man is born again, from above, he cannot see, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Of course Nicodemus replies, “How can a man be born a second time?” Jesus gives a straight answer, “Truly I say, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Because, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Can you see, there is a very strong emphasis here that, in the natural, because of sin we are all born of the ‘flesh’. Jesus, although the Son of God, was the ‘Son of Man’ because He gave up His Holiness, the Power He had in Heaven, and came down to be born as a man – in human flesh (Philippians 2:5-8) – and because of that, even Jesus Himself, as we saw in Luke 3, had to be baptised in water, and only then, the Spirit comes on Him and He manifests a new life! And that’s true for us!
It is absolutely clear that we have to be born again, from above. And you can only be born again by water and the Spirit. This new birth is demonstrated by water baptism. It is not through ceremonial, and that if you attend church and do certain things you are a ‘Christian’. In the Anglican Church, when they baptise an infant, they welcome you into the family of God, as a child of God and a member of the Church! The sprinkling of a child is NOT baptism! We need to see a restoration of the full teaching of the Word of God! It’s very clear from what Paul wrote (Romans 6:3-11), from what Jesus said, you have to be baptised by an immersion which signifies death, and when you come out of the water, it is a resurrection into the New Life! Only this means you can enter the Kingdom. Because Jesus said, “He that is born of the flesh is flesh, and He that is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
The Kingdom of God is a spiritual place is reserved for those who are born again from above – a spiritual place that we will enter. That’s why I’m an evangelist. Examine the Scripture, and see if you have really been born again as Jesus said. God bless you!