In Jesus’ various teachings concerning the end of time and His return there is a great emphasis on being ready.  So I have to ask you, ‘are you ready?’  He speaks about this readiness in relation to how we live, ‘do our lives show the evidence of being born again’?  Jesus wants us to have a sense of assurance, but there can’t be strong assurance if we are actively ignoring His commands for our lives.  So work with me through the following questions: Do I accept God’s verdict on my life, that I actually deserve to be separated from Him and punished for my sin? Do I see that my only hope is in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that I will continue to the end only because His Spirit enables me? Am I asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to me where I need to change and seeking His enabling to be more like Jesus?

Chaos!  Don’t we just hate chaos?
It is one thing after another.  There is always something dripping or broken in the house, but that is nothing compared to the fact that there are people in the church on the edge of homelessness.  The kids have just gone back to school – and we wonder how they will cope this year.  There is that worrying lump, and the doctor’s appointment.  There always seems to be new bills to pay.  We are worried about elderly relatives or wayward children.  There are so many things that make life stressful.
In these verses Jesus speaks about very stressful events.  To those Jews He speaks of the fact that in a matter of decades the Roman forces are going to come in and destroy the temple – that symbol of their nations favour, security and pride.  What’s even more frightening is that at some undisclosed day in the future there is going to be the breaking up of the very fabric of the world.
How are we supposed to cope with those levels of stress?  We cope by remembering that Jesus is in control of all things and that He loves us.
God cares for us in the chaos (14-23)
Jesus had told the disciples that the temple would be destroyed.  Four of them had asked him when this would take place and what would be the sign that these things were about to be fulfilled.  Jesus now gives them an answer.
When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong . . . then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  The ‘abomination that causes desolation’ is the sign that the temple was about to be destroyed.  But what is ‘the abomination that causes desolation’?  The answer lies in the book of Daniel.  There this phrase is used in connection with the desecration of the temple—the introduction of pagan sacrifices to it.
Jesus is telling them that ‘when you see pagan worship in the temple then you should know that it is about to be destroyed.’  While there is some debate about what this act of desecration looked like the thing to note is that it did take place and the temple was then destroyed in A.D. 70.
Jesus then gives them some specific advice.  The events surrounding the temple are going to be dreadful and his followers are to flee to the mountains.  If you read the history books you will see that the temple and the city itself were destroyed by the Romans, and it seems that the Christians did take this warning seriously and escaped before the crisis.
so note God’s care for his people!  Jesus warns them so that they will escape this terrible event.  In verse 20 we read that the Lord even shortened the time of that tribulation for the sake of his people.  The God who is in control of history altered the course of history for his people’s sake.
Look back upon your life through the eyes of faith.  Weren’t there times when you thought you could not cope, but He actually got you through?  Hasn’t He proven that He has trustworthy?  He who spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, will He not grant us all things? (Rom. 8:32).  Psychologists have discovered that the mind can not dwell on anxiety and thankfulness at the same time, so thanking God for His past mercies actually drives out present worry!
One of the things that I love about our heavenly Father is that He is concerned about everything in our life.  We may not be facing the destruction of our city and having to flee our homes, but that does not mean He thinks the small things are insignificant.  He tells us to cast all our anxieties on Him–‘no job too big. no job too small’ – because He cares for us!
Don’t be afraid of Jesus’ return (verses 24-31)
When the four disciples had asked their question about when the temple would be destroyed they seem to have associated the destruction of the temple with the end of the world.
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Your chief end is not to be the smartest, the richest, the most successful, the most liked or respected. It is to glorify God by dying to self and growing in Christlikeness, which is achieved by the means of grace. Your chief end is not to find ultimate joy and contentment in the things of this world. It is to make the Lord your portion, which involves taking hold of Him through His gracious means.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“What college are you planning on going to, and what will you study?”
“What career do you plan on pursuing?”
“Do you plan on getting married?”
“Who do you plan on marrying and when?”
If your experience has been anything like mine, you have most likely been asked these sorts of questions at some point in your life. Especially in high school and college, these questions seem to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds. While an education, a career, and marriage are certainly important things, there is a far more important question that ought to be at the forefront of our mind: “What is the chief end of man?”
As many of you already know, this is the first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and its answer is this: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” It is this truth concerning man’s chief end, or man’s primary purpose, that ought to dictate how we answer life’s other questions and ought to help us keep those things in their proper place. In other words, to live a properly ordered Christian life that is pleasing to the Lord, we must grasp what it means to glorify and enjoy Him, and the primacy those two things have over our lives. 
First, what does it mean to glorify God? Matthew 16:24-27 says this:
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.”
In these verses, Jesus makes it clear that glorifying God involves self-denial. It means dying to self and living soli Deo gloria, for God’s glory alone. In other words, we must cast aside our own desires, both good and evil, and pursue wholeheartedly what God desires for us. As Christians, it’s a no-brainer that evil desires, or those desires that violate God’s will, must be done away with completely. If you are uncertain what those things are, consult Exodus 20 and Galatians 5 for guidance. 
Good desires are those things that are in accord with God’s will. Examples of good desires are an education, a career, a spouse, and a family. We often don’t pause to consider our good desiresin relation to glorifying God. However, this is where we tend to get in the most trouble. As Timothy Keller says, “The human heart is an idol factory that takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things.”
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As the children of God, we are ruled not by our circumstances but by the one who controls every circumstance for his ultimate glory and our ultimate good. It may seem like hardship is winning, but whatever hard thing you are going through is not your final destination. God is preparing us for our final destination, where suffering will die and hardship will be no more, forever. 

Hardship Is Inevitable
If you’re not dealing with hardship now, you will someday. And if you’re not dealing with it now, you are near someone who is. The Bible is very honest about the condition of the world we live in. The apostle Paul says that our world is groaning, waiting for redemption (Rom. 8:22). Peter writes that we should not be surprised when we face trials (1 Pet. 4:12). The blood and dirt of this fallen world and the theme of suffering splash across the pages of your Bible from Genesis 3 until the end of Revelation. Because this broken world is not functioning the way God originally intended and because it is populated by flawed people, hardship is the environment in which we live. From our irritation with little things that just don’t seem to go right to tragic, life-altering moments of suffering, we all have to deal with the unexpected and the unwanted. It’s easy to get disheartened with how hard life is. It’s easy to become cynical and negative.
It’s easy to allow yourself to question the goodness of God or the reliability of his promises. It is here that the story of the troubled life of Joseph can help us.
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