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We are reading and studying these words of Jesus Christ in Luke Chapter 21, where Jesus is warning His disciples about what will happen one day so that they are not deceived, and so that they do not become frightened.

He explains that there will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places. There will appear what could be fearful events, and great signs from heaven.

There will be happenings in our world which could very easily make even disciples afraid. So often Jesus says, “Don't be afraid and fear not”.

Understand what He is teaching His disciples, and remember all this is being taught the week before He faces the agony of Calvary’s Cross. It is as if Jesus is seeking to teach His men all they can absorb.

After three years of being with Jesus and being trained and prepared by Jesus they are now ready for this salutary teaching, and there is no point in praying against these matters, because if God says they are going to happen, then they will happen, but we can be prepared and not taken by surprise.

This is why it is ultra important that we know what is in our Bible. Jesus does not want any of His disciples to be taken by surprise.

Pestilence can follow famine, when the physical resistance of people is low, as it is broken down by starvation which can often follow an earthquake, and then disease enters.

We are told that 40 million people perish every year as a result of malnutrition and starvation, and yet we know that there is something like 30% more food in the world than we require. God has done His part, but in our greed, we have not shared what God has provided.

In times of war, our task is to make peace. When there are earthquakes, our role is to rescue the victims. When there is famine our calling is to feed the hungry and clothe the poor and house the homeless. When there is pestilence or plague, we are to use our talents and our brains, in research for cures, in order to heal the sick and ease their pain.

These could be fearful signs and to many they will cause fear. Lots of things are going to be shaken; things which we thought would never be shaken. Hebrews Chapter 11 warns us of that reality.

We are going to see Economic problems, Social problems and Moral dilemmas, on a scale never before experienced. These things must not shake our faith.

And, there will be persecution, fierce persecution, and your mind will come under attack. Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Paul went through all this. They faced religious persecution from the elders of the Jews, from those who had rejected Jesus.

There was political persecution from kings and rulers, and domestic persecution from family and friends. Verse 16. You will be betrayed. Now that is never nice to experience but it just happens to be true, so it is best to be prepared as well as we can.

Verse 17. There will be universal persecution. Jesus, that is very strong, but this is what Jesus is teaching His Beloved Ones to expect. It is as if from every angle there will arise persecution. It is as if there will be attacks from all sides and from every direction. Now it can feel like that at times.

When you feel so sore, and such sore feelings can arise very subtly, that does NOT mean that you are out of the Will of God, but that the Bible is true, reliable and accurate.

Jesus lovingly and with concern informs us that these things are going to happen, and all this will give us an occasion for TESTIMONY.

He will give you words to speak on these occasions but not on all occasions. When it comes to preaching and teaching we prepare, but when in court on trial, or being attacked in some less formal setting, trust Jesus to give you words, through the inspiring Holy Spirit. Many have found that to be true. Jesus gives us words.

Then comes the call to stand firm and to remain faithful and to endure, to the end.

Verse 20. No-one could have predicted that. Very few people would have dared to predict and prophesy that. Only Jesus Christ could have spoken these prophetic words which came true within thirty years of His teaching His chosen men.

Remember, as we read this, Jesus is teaching disciples these things, so that when they happen we will not be thrown. We must not allow these happenings to trip us or cause us to fall away.

You will be saved and safe, after you have endured. The end is not painful and bitter and sore, but glorious.

Jesus says, when referring to the fall of Jerusalem in verse 21; when you see these things happen, flee. But when referring to the deteriorating situation in the world as the time draws near for the Coming Again of Jesus, He says Watch and Pray. Look at verse 36.

Can you imagine Peter and James and John sitting there with Jesus? Within two months they were experiencing much of what Jesus is here describing and prophesying, and they used the opportunity to be witnesses and to speak about Jesus to those who arrested and imprisoned them, and placed them on trial. We read about this in the Book of Acts. But they also found verse 19 to be so true. You will be safe.

We are almost being called to face all this, composed, faithful, unmoveable, standing firm and enduring to the end. In Jesus Christ, there is safety and security, whilst all around there is a Temple and various other things and they all become just a pile of rubbish and ruins, but in Jesus Christ, everlasting life.

Read the text carefully and study the passage and be fully informed so that you will not be taken by surprise.

"Today's Little Lift" from Jim Bullington

No Harm, No Foul (12-17-10)