May 30, 2025 Morning Devotional

Morning Devotion: Read Luke - Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

Luke 21:5  And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, 6  As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 7  And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? 8  And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. 9  But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

The temple was the centre of worship for the jews. They adored the house of God and would often comment on the goodliness of it. On this occasion the Lord tells of its total destruction. The temple would be torn down, razed to the ground. Its goodly and gifts would be taken leaving desolation. This happened in 70AD.

There is no temple today. There is no place of worship today; there is no sacrifice today. Consequently, the jews are without sacrifice not knowing that Jesus was their sacrifice and they rejected Him.

Hebrews 9:11  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

There will be another temple built and the plans and preparations for it have already been set. The prefabricated pieces are made. The red heifers which will be used for cleansing the temple have been found. The place will be next to the dome of the rock. Everything is ready.

When the next temple is built it will be desecrated by the beast who will proclaim himself to be God. Matthew 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

2Thessalonians 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

In our text and in 2 Thessalonians we are admonished about deception. We are not to be deceived.

Luke 21:8  And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. 9  But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

There is great deception in the world today. Deception abounds in every facet of life from the food we eat, the medicine we take, the politics we hear and most importantly the religions we endure.

One point is case it the catholic church; the pope claims to be the vicar of Christ, meaning he is in the stead of Christ, claiming himself to be Christ, when he is not for he is just a man. We know this because, as we have recently seen, they die just like men.

Jesus said “be not deceived for many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ;”

Yet, many will reject the Lord Jesus Christ and follow another who is antichrist.

John 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

John 5:43  I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

What are you believing, what are you following? Are you already deceived?

John 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The choice is still yours,

Pastor Cook