King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Saturday, November 06, 2021
Chapters: Mark 13, Matthew 24
Message: The Beginning of Sorrows
Hello My Friend,
Jesus Himself said, [John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 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.] Let me tell you, there is not one person with some kind of knowledge of the Bible seeing what is going around all over the world and not feeling a little troubled. Oh, we know where we are going, it is not our souls, or bodies for that matter, that we are concerned about, it is those we leave behind when we have gone to be with the LORD until He returns to the earth, and that last trumpet sounds, [1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.]
I do not care how knowledgeable you are about the tribulation or how prepared you think you are for what is to come, not one, not even God, wants to see this earth come to an end. God created it and everything on it, of course, He would save it if there were no so much evil on it. Remember, what He told Abraham when he asked God if He would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there were ten righteous there? [Genesis 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.]
The truth is this, when Adam and Eve sinned and brought the curse of death upon us, that curse was not only put on man, but the entire world as well. However, those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Saviour will be set free from this curse, even their bodies will resurrect to escape this curse, and while the earth will get destroyed, Jesus is preparing a new one for us as we speak. Now, as we continue in the reading of the Gospels, Matthew and Mark also give an account to Jesus describing what will take place before the tribulation, during, and after. They, like most of us wanted to know the signs and when the end of the world would come.
[Matthew 24:3-8 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.]
[famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.] [Divers; Several; sundry; more than one, but not a great number.] Does any of this seem a bit familiar to you? There have been earthquakes in places that are not prone to earthquakes. As for pestilences, even though there will always be a corona virus to deal with because that is what colds and flu’s are, but Covid 19 continues to linger. And as for famines, we may not be in a food shortage right now, but there are many things that this country is becoming desolate with. And that is just the beginning, as Jesus continues, He warns of Christian prosecution like we have never seen before, not to mention the disrespect and hatred that will take place like we have never seen before.
[Mark 13:9-13 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. 10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations. 11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. 12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. 13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.]
[neither do ye premeditate:] Do you see how the media and all these politicians are further dividing our country with their false claims of racism, prejudice, and discrimination? Sure, these things exist, but not the majority of people are not any of these things. The sad thing is that half of the country has bought into their lies, and that is exactly what is going to be to their own destruction. And where are the majority of Christians? Hiding. Yes, they are troubled and scared, well, at least, the ones who are not blending in with this world. Jesus addresses worldly Christians as well, but He is telling this to His faithful not to be troubled by all this because we have the Holy Spirit inside of us, and He will tell us exactly what we need to say and do, [Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.]
We have nothing to worry about even though we see all these signs of what will take place before Christ returns. Sadly, it is going to get much worse before it gets better, but let me tell you, there is some fight left here, there are many Christians taking a stand and fighting for their countries, which is why He has not returned yet. God is not going to send His Son until the very last soul to receive Him in this generation gets saved. Now, as Jesus continues to give them what the signs will be during the tribulation, He gives a warning that there will be false Christ’s and prophets coming out in droves, many of them even deceiving the elect.
[Mark 13:14,18-22 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: 18 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. 19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. 20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. 21 And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: 22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.]
[(let him that readeth understand,)] Did you notice that both Matthew and Mark said this? This is not Jesus saying this, this is both of them. They want us to understand from Daniel, [Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.]
This of course, is referring to Jesus, and if you read the rest of the passage of Daniel [Daniel 9:24-27], you will see that it is referring to the entire Gospel of Christ, who had put an end to the sacrifices with His own sacrifice. Since the Jews are still awaiting their Messiah, the Gentiles are getting saved, of course, a few Jews are as well, but they will not fully open their eyes and hearts to the fact that Christ is the Messiah until He returns, [Isaiah 59:19-21 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. 20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. 21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.]
Christ’s elect, the ones who chose Him, are the ones He has chosen to escape this great tribulation. The world has no clue who God is and they certainly have no clue who Jesus is, but even they know that something wicked and evil is brewing. This is why it is important that we who know the truth tell it to the world. Right now today, in our country people are making a decisions that could devastate our economy and nation as a whole. And without going into politics here, there is a reason why the Bible tells us that we are a republic, and that is by which all Christians ought to stand, [Mark 16:15-16]. Now, Jesus goes on to tell us what will take place after the tribulation.
[Matthew 24:29-31,34-36 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.]
[This generation shall not pass,] This is what I meant when I said this earlier, this generation, meaning this every soul that was created all the way back to Adam, until Christ returns. During the tribulation you do not want to be here because while there will be many who do get saved, it will literally be to their death, [Revelation 7:13-15 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.]
We have, but a short time on earth, we cannot life live as though once we die, it is over. I have seen Christians do some crazy things when they thought they were going to die also. Jesus simply states that no one will know the time, not even Him, but we do need to be prepared, and just getting saved is not going to prepare us for any of this, [Mark 13:32-37 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. 33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. 34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. 35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.]
[and gave authority to his servants,] Remember, Jesus spoke this parable, it was the one regarding the lord of the vineyard, the husbandman, and the heir that they killed, [Mark 1:1-12]? This is more proof right here that God and Jesus are one in the same. Sadly, the wicked and immoral things of this world are taking over, and people are turning to it and forsaking Jesus, yet at the same time expect God to save them. We who are saved need to be preaching the Gospel while we are still here. Anyone who is not saved is asleep, and it is not until their believing in the Gospel that awakens them. As for the worldly Christian, Jesus is warning them also.
[Matthew 24:45-51 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.]
[and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites:] Jesus has no room for those who mess with and distort the Gospel, which sends their believers straight to hell. Ignorance does not save us, if we choose to believe the lie over the truth we will be cut off the vine. We who are saved get grafted into the tree of life, therefore we gladly proclaim the simplicity of the Gospel and do not change it, anyone who does will answer to Jesus. Jesus is returning for His elect, it is very important that we not only keep our faith until our body is sleeping as awaiting His return, but that we do not prevent those who need to be awaken to Christ from having that opportunity.
[1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.]
Let Us Pray: God, There is a fine line between having concern for and being troubled by all the evil that is taking place today as we see the signs coming of the tribulation. With all the crazy things going on in the world, it is comforting to know that Christ is my Saviour, that He is on the throne right next to you, and I do not have to be here when the tribulation comes. It is also very heartbreaking to see the evil taking over and destroying everything, including life. You are my witness that a life lead by Christ is one of abundance, and while I do have to endure the sting of death that comes from sin, and the evil taking place, I know that You are my strength, my motivation, and reason for living a life that is pleasing to You. For that reason I will be watchful and be sober, awaiting His return. Lord, Lead me and guide me, put Your hedge of protection around Your elect, keep us save from the evil. Please send Your mercy and grace, touch the hearts of the fearful and troubled, give them the peace and rest they need that passes understanding. And Lord, let us awaken those who are sleeping. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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