King James Bible Study – [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. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Monday, November 06, 2023
Chapters: MARK 13, MATTHEW 24
Message: Strengthen Each Other
Hello My Friend,
I swear that the devil is working overtime on me, between home, work, church, and now my own health. I really feel like I am on the edge of some cliff somewhere with the devil’s minions poking at me in an attempt to push me off. Nevertheless, I am told by Jesus Himself that the devil himself will sift me like wheat, well, He told it to Peter, but the same thing applies to every faithful, saved, born again Christian, [Luke 22:31-32 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.]
In other words, your faith and faithfulness is what will strengthen your brothers and sisters in Christ. I really had no idea where God was leading me with this passage, but now I see why. Christ’s faithful will face many battles, and we really are sifted of every one of our weaknesses by Satan because we are the ones who are called by Jesus to lift up our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in their weakness. Can we do this in our own strength? Absolutely not! Can we do it in Christ’s strength? Absolutely! [2 Corinthians 12:9-10 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.]
I have always been a woman of great independence and of a strong will, so, you can imagine my surprise when I learned how weak in the flesh I was once I accepted Christ as my Saviour. I never understood why God had chosen me to serve Him under what I believe is one of the most accountable tasks given to any servant of God and that is the teaching of His Word. I feel like I am the weakest member in the link of the body of Christ. Then I read this from Charles Spurgeon and come to realize that my weakness is Christ’s strength.
[God will have no strength used in his battles but the strength which he himself imparts. Are you mourning over your own weakness? Take courage, for there must be a consciousness of weakness before the Lord will give thee victory. Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up. “When I am weak then am I strong, Grace is my shield and Christ my song.”]
In my own strength I cannot and will not accomplish anything that God has given me to do, but in Christ’s strength I can do all things, even if that means I am sent to strengthen someone else. As we continue in the reading of the Gospels, both Matthew and Mark also give the account of Jesus warning the disciples of the tribulation. Notice, that it was actually one of the disciples who was admiring the beauty of the buildings.
[Mark 13:1-5 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! 2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?]
[Seest thou these great buildings?] Jesus, is kind of being sarcastic here, did they think that these buildings were indestructible? That God Himself still dwelt in the temple, that they could save people or could remain beautiful forever? Well, nothing on this earth will survive. This is why our foundation needs to be Christ, [1 Corinthians 3:10-11 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.]
[Tell us, when shall these things be?] Jesus, could have responded to their question like He did when the Pharisee’s wanted a sign, but He did not, He actually told them what would take place prior to the destruction of not only the buildings, but Jerusalem itself. A tribulation before the tribulation as you will.
[Mark 13:7-8,11-13 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. 8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. 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.]
[be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be;] If all that is going around in the world is not the beginning of sorrows, then I do not know what it is. Nevertheless, we are not to be troubled, only to observe and be ready for the day that we who are saved say goodbye to the earth as we are carried out of here. No matter what we are facing we must realize that this is no our home as we have a new home awaiting us with no more pain and sorrow. The things that we are going through now is something that God will use to find glory in it, [Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.]
[And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake:] According to God’s purpose we are going to face persecution, be slandered, rejected, and hated even by the very people we thought were our friends and family. Nevertheless, we who are faithful and true are in this battle together fighting against “fellow brothers and sisters in Christ” who really are wolves in disguise. And leading us is none other than Jesus, and in His strength He will give us the victory, [1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.]
What we do for Christ today is not to be about what we can get out of it now, it is about our being witnesses to bring others to Christ while there is still time. We will have enough rewards when we get to heaven, what we do now is what will impact those around us. And let me tell you, if the wolves will attack the men of God they will also attack anyone else who gets in their way. Now, as Jesus continues to give tell them what the signs of His return will be, He goes on to point out that this goes all the way back to Daniel’s prophecy.
[Matthew 24:15-21,27 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:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.]
[see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel…(whoso readeth, let him understand:)] Did you notice that both Matthew and Mark said this? They want us to read and understand what the abomination of desolation that Daniel spoke about is and when it will take place. This is the passage that Jesus was referring to.
[Daniel 9:25-27 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 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.]
In order to explain this, we need to do a little math and have some understanding as to what an actual week in this case is. Within the space of seventy weeks, these weeks are based on the Sabbatical years leading up to the Jubilee, which took place every forty-nine years. A Sabbatical year is counted as seven years, seventy times weeks seven years, makes it four hundred and ninety years. Since the Jews are still awaiting their Messiah, the Gentiles are getting saved. While a few Jews have 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.]
Jesus continues explaining the things that will come of Jerusalem and the entire world prior to His return, and simply states that no one will know the time, but when it does happen it will be a complete shock, so we who do know need to be watchful for these signs.
[Matthew 24:29-34 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. 32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.]
[and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds,] Christ’s elect, the ones who chose Him, are the ones He has chosen to escape the 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 13:31-37 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 32 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 to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.] 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.
[Matthew 24:43-48,50-51 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45 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; 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.]
[whom his lord hath made ruler over his household,] 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, [1 Thessalonians 4:13-15 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.]
[My lord delayeth his coming;] I do not care how knowledgeable you are about the tribulation or how prepared you think you are for what is to come, no 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.]
Today’s Prayer: 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 even in Your churches. You are my witness that a life lead by Christ is one of abundance, and while I do have to endure 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 sober, giving strength to those in need while doing it all in His strength. Lord, Lead me and guide me, put Your hedge of protection around Your elect, keep us save from the evil. Send Your mercy and grace to the weak, 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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