1. This passage of Scripture (Luke 21, along with Matthew 24 & 25 and Mark 13) has been called "the Olivet Discourse" because our Lord gave this important discourse from the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24:3; cf. Luke 21:37).
2. As we study this discourse, and other Biblical prophecies, we can see that the Lord could return at any time -- it is imminent.
3. When we say the rapture is imminent, there are invariably some listeners who are not sure what that means. In case there are some here today that are unfamiliar with these terms, allow me to explain.
4. When we speak of the rapture, we are referring to the Lord's return for His saints.  Our Lord said in John 14:3, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (cf. I Thess. 4:13-18).
5. When we say the rapture is imminent, we mean it could take place at any moment.  Let me give a few reasons why I believe the Lord could return very, very soon.
6. Consider the nation of Israel.  In Ezekiel 36:24, the LORD told Israel, "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land."
7. What happened in 1948 was an important fulfillment of Bible prophecy -- not the complete fulfillment, but the beginning of the return of the Jews to the land of Israel. It is very significant that Israel is front and center in the news every day.
8. The Bible predicts that all nations will turn against Israel.  Zechariah 14:2 says all nations will be gathered against Jerusalem to battle.  We are rapidly approaching the Battle of Armageddon.
9. Getting back to Luke 21, our Lord said in verse 24 that the city of Jerusalem would be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
10. Recently, an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Jerusalem should remain the "undivided capital of Israel." That is what the Bible teaches, but most people do not care what the Bible teaches.
11. There is much discord in Jerusalem today, and there will continue to be discord and confusion and terrorism until the Lord Jesus comes back to rule and to reign in Jerusalem.
12. The LORD said in Zechariah 12:2 and 3, "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.  And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."
13. William MacDonald said, "He did not say this about London or Moscow or Beijing. Only about Jerusalem. And what city is such a cup of trembling for the nations today? Revered by Jews, Muslims, and Christians, it is the despair of international diplomats. They cannot agree to recognize it as the capital of Israel. And it is the scene of terrorism and continued unrest."
14. Have you ever wondered if the world (as represented by the wicked, ungodly United Nations) will ever acknowledge Jerusalem as the legitimate capital of Israel (and not Tel Aviv)?
15. I believe it will surely happen, but only when the Lord Jesus comes back to establish His throne in Jerusalem.   There will be no UN then (cf. Psalm 2).
16. Psalm 48:2 says, "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King."
17. The king is not in Jerusalem now, but when King Jesus returns the world will take notice.  Philippians 2:10 and 11 says, "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
18. Regarding His imminent return, our Lord said in Luke 21:34 to "take heed to yourselves." There are several warnings here in this text (cf. Scofield Bible).  Let us consider some of them this morning.

I. WARNINGS ABOUT WORLDLINESS (21:34).

1. Our Lord said in Luke 21:34, "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares."
2. Strong's Concordance says the "heart" refers to "the centre and seat of spiritual life; the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavours."
3. Our Lord said our hearts are in danger of being "overcharged" (21:34).  This means "weighed down." 
4. I hope there aren't people here that are guilty of surfeiting (carousing) and drunkenness (perhaps there are), but I am sure there are quite a few who feel weighed down by the "cares of this life."
5. What are the "cares of this life"?  For many people, it would be making money and spending money.  Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24).
6. But many Christians are trying to serve both God and mammon!
7. Our Lord said in Matthew 13:22, "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful."
8. Jesus said in Matthew 13:22 that riches are "deceitful" (cf. I Tim. 6:6-10).
9. Many Baptists are not worldly when it comes to the way they dress.  And they avoid worldly habits like drinking and smoking and gambling, etc.
10. And they do not listen to worldly music and they do not watch worldly TV shows.
11. But they are materialistic and covetous and that is very worldly!
12. Worldliness in the church has always been a problem, but it is getting worse and worse as we draw near to the second coming of Christ.
13. Therefore, our Lord warns: "Take heed to yourselves" (Luke 21:34).
14. Worldliness is the mind-set of the unregenerate, but because of the strong pull of the flesh, it influences and corrupts Christians as well.
15. James is speaking to Christians when he says, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4).
16. John is writing to Christians when he says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (I John 2:15).
17. Peter is writing to Christians when he says, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (I Peter 2:11).
18. Paul is speaking to Christians when he says, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (I Cor. 7:1).
19. Horatius Bonar was a 19th century preacher and author from Scotland. He wrote:
    "Are we Christians? Or are we worldlings?
    Where is the self-denial of the New Testament days?
    Where is the separation from a self-pleasing luxurious
    world? Where is the cross, the true badge of discipleship,
    to be seen -- except in useless religious ornaments for the body,
    or worse than useless decorations for the sanctuary?"

II. WARNINGS ABOUT INATTENTION (21:34, 35).

1. Our Lord said in Luke 21:34, "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares."
2. Furthermore, He said in the next verse, "For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth."
3. A snare refers to a trap in which birds are entangled and caught.  The idea is they are caught "unawares" (cf. Luke 21:34b) -- unexpectedly and suddenly.
4. Strong's Concordance says the word "snare" refers to "whatever brings peril, loss, destruction; the allurements and seductions of sin; the allurements to sin by which the devil holds one bound."
5. Proverbs 7 refers to a "a young man void of understanding" going after a strange woman "as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life" (Proverbs 7:23).
6. What a vivid picture of careless sinners!  How accurate is the Word of God!  We can easily observe how lost sinners, deluded and deceived by the devil, stumble along on their way to hell, but what about careless and complacent Christians who are inattentive to the things of God!
7. Our Lord says, "Take heed" (Luke 21:34).
8. We realize the worldly crowd is inattentive to the things of God.  They have no real interest in God or the Bible or church, etc.   They prefer their parties and their rock music and their entertainment and their luxuries and gadgets and their sports and making money, etc.
9. But what about Christians?   Lot was a believer (cf. II Peter 2:7, 8).
10. But Lot was careless and inattentive.  He was living comfortably in Sodom, surrounded by perverts and other wicked sinners (cf. Luke 17:26-32).   There are many like Lot and his wife today.
11. People today are not paying attention to the "signs" of the times (Luke 21:7).
12. Therefore, they will be taken by surprise when the Lord returns (21:34-36; cf. I Thessalonians 5).

III. WARNINGS ABOUT PRAYERLESSNESS (21:36; cf. 18:8).

1. Jesus said to "pray always" (21:36).   But some Christians pray occasionally. 
2. "Pray always" -- not "pray infrequently."
3. Our Lord said in Luke 18:1 "that men ought always to pray, and not to faint."  There has to be that desire to pray.  If you do not have it, then you should ask the Lord to give it to you.
4. Andrew Murray referred to this as getting victory over the sin of prayerlessness.
5. And prayerlessness is a sin.  Samuel said, "God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you" (I Samuel 12:23).
6. First Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray without ceasing."
7. The apostles said in Acts 6:4, "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word."
8. James 4:2 says, "ye have not, because ye ask not.
9. I heard an old story about an Irish woman who had a son named Jack. One day when he was drunk, Jack was shanghaied aboard a ship bound for Australia. After docking, he managed to escape into the interior.
10. There he discovered gold and became very rich.
11. Jack loved his mother and wrote her regularly. He told of his wealth, about his wife, his two children, his automobiles, his home.
12. The mother grew old and tired, but Jack was too busy with his business to go back and visit her.
13. She finally became too feeble to continue working, and she was sent to the poorhouse.
14. While in the poorhouse, her priest went to visit her and asked her, "What became of your son. He left home. What ever happened to him? Do you ever hear from him?"
15. She replied, "He went to Australia, and is very rich now. He has a wife and children."
16. "How often do you hear from him?" the priest asked.
17. "Every two weeks, regularly."
18. "But doesn’t he ever ask what you are doing? how you are getting along? if you need any help?"
19. The old woman shook her head. "No. He has never asked, and I have never mentioned it. I do not want to worry him."
20. "Hasn’t he ever sent you anything?"
21. "No, except for some small presents on my birthday and holidays."
22. "I can’t understand it," said the priest. "He loves you. He has written to you every two weeks during all these years. Yet he has never sent you a thing."
23. The woman replied, "No, except in every letter there is a little greenish-blue slip of paper."
24. "And what do you do with these slips of paper?" he queried, surmising what they were.
25. "They looked so pretty; I have pasted them up in my bedroom."
26. They went to her room and there were pasted neatly from one side of the wall to the other, from ceiling to floor, money orders covering thousands of dollars.  The old woman did not know what they were; she had plastered her walls with them!
27. When we consider the promises of  God, we are just as foolish as that old woman.
28. "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jeremiah 33:3).
29. Our Lord said in Matthew 21:22, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

CONCLUSION:

1. For any here today who are not saved, allow me to take a few more minutes to explain what our Lord meant by these warnings.
2. Our Lord said in Luke 21:9 that there will be "wars and commotions."  I believe "commotions" refers to terrorism, and is a sure sign that we are getting close to the second coming of Christ.
3. Soon God is going to turn this wicked world upside down.  Sinners will try and hide but they will not be able to escape the judgment of God (Rev. 6:12-17).
4. Some sinners will be tormented by horrible demons.  The pain will be so severe they will hope to die but will not be abler to die (Rev. 9:1-6).
5. The antichrist will force everyone to take a mark (microchip?) in either their right hand, or in their foreheads (Rev. 13). Those who refuse the mark will have their heads cut off (Rev. 20:4).
6. Those who receive the mark will be tormented in the lake of fire for ever and ever (Rev. 14:9-11).