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We come now to the time in which we turn to the Word of the living God. It's Luke chapter 21...Luke chapter 21 and we're going to be looking this morning at what is really introductory to the rest of this very important chapter. Starting in verse 5, we come to a section of Scripture that runs nearly to the end of the chapter, all the way to verse 36, in which our Lord speaks concerning His return...His Second Coming...His coming to judge and His coming to reign on the earth. This is our Lord's own sermon on His Second Coming. And it comes at a very, very appropriate time because from the human viewpoint, it looks as if His coming has been a total disaster and abysmal failure, a massive disappointment. It is, when we come to verse 5, still Wednesday...Wednesday of what is known as Passion Week, the week in which our Lord is crucified. On Thursday the betrayal will take place. And on Friday He will be crucified by the Romans. It is Wednesday. It is only going to get worse, a lot worse from the human viewpoint. In fact, from the human viewpoint, His life is worse than a failure, it is a disaster. And so it is on the brink of what appears, from a human viewpoint, to be a tragic end that our Lord gives to us the real story of the end bound up in His return to earth in the future.

The world has not seen the last of Jesus Christ. He is coming back. And he speaks of it in this chapter. It is a very important chapter. It is a powerful chapter, as we shall see, experiencing its unfolding in the weeks to come. But as we approach this text, let's read at least the introduction to it in verses 5, 6 and 7. "And while some were talking about the temple, that it was adorned with beautiful stones and votive gifts, He said, 'As for these things which you're looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.' And they questioned Him saying, 'Teacher, when therefore will these things be? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?'" And verse 8 begins, "And He said..." and then comes the longest answer ever given by our Lord to a question, and it runs all the way, as I said, into verse 36. It is an answer to the questions about when will divine judgment fall and what are the signs that it is about to take place? Jesus answers those questions....