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: Wednesday, November 06, 2019
Chapters: Mark 13, Matthew 24
Message: Prepare Yourself
Hello My Friend,
No matter your faith, or how mature you are as a Christian, no one really is prepared for what is about to take place before, during, and after the tribulation, in which all the earth will seem as though it will literally be living in hell until Christ returns. Then again, in hell, there is complete and utter darkness, isolation, and pain which you would not believe, as they see the ones they loved, hated, or wronged up in the heavens while they burn in torment. All this because they refused to accept the one and only living God as their Saviour. And let me tell you, God has always been the only Saviour for His believers. “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.” – Isaiah 45:20-21.
“and pray unto a god that cannot save.” Allah, Mohammad, Buddha, Confucius, Baal, these are all gods that their believers pray to, they cannot save, let alone hear them, because they are man made gods. There is, was, and will only be one Saviour, and that is God, who came here to earth in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. How can this be? He is God, and just like we have several forms (I John 5:6-12), such as me being a daughter, a sister, and an aunt, God has several forms, meaning we have individual traits that are used for that specific role, but we are still one person. God came here as man through man, just as it was foretold He would when the very first sin was committed (Genesis 3:15), and we were bound to the curse of death. Jesus would break the curse on the cross (I Corinthians 15:54-58). The news of Jesus telling the Jews that the temple will be destroyed, and the earth will end came to a shock to many, the disciples, after they got alone with Jesus, begin questioning Him, and asking Him when all this will happen. Jesus begins by describing what the earth will be like before He returns, and judgment of all who ever walked the earth will begin.
“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. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” – Matthew 24:6-14.
“And then shall many be offended,” I am not saying that Jesus is coming right this second, but do you see how easily people are offended these days? Do you see how Christians are hated, and have none of the rights and liberties that the rest of the world has? Do you see how people disregard life, and are cold toward one another, betraying, and hating each other? It has been said that persecution of Jews has not been this bad since the Crusades, and Christians since the days of the Apostles. And unfortunately, we who are saved will be right in the mess of it all. Why? So that we might preach the Gospel while we are still able. There will come a time when we will not be allowed to preach the Gospel in public, and if they do and get caught, they die. In some countries this is happening already, just a couple of weeks ago a church in China was demolished, all the converts were arrested, and detained. While we are to be the witnesses unto all nations, even Jesus does not want us to be in all this when it gets really bad, He tells us what we need to do when we start seeing signs of the tribulation.
“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: And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house: And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. 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. 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.” – Mark 13:14-20.
“(let him that readeth understand,)” The Book of Daniel is almost identical to Revelation in how it describes the tribulation as well as Christ’s return, and His reigning the earth for a thousand years. “And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.” Jesus does not know either when He will return, as the Father has blocked that from His knowledge, which also proves of them being three individuals, and He does not want us to be in the middle of the tribulation, He tells us to get to high ground, do not look back, and to pray.
“whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.” 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). Jesus continues explaining the things that will come of Jerusalem, and the entire world prior to His return, including the false Christ’s and prophets, but when He does return, everyone will know about it.
“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 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. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 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: 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. 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.” – Matthew 24:24-31.
“and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds,” We who are saved will not be in the midst of this, we will be up in the clouds. This includes the ones in the graves. “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: 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.” – I Thessalonians 4:16-17.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,” 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 need to be prepared, and just getting saved is not going to prepare us for any of this.
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. 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. 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: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” – Mark 13:32-37.
“And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” The wicked and immoral things of this world are taking over, and people are turning to it and forsaking Jesus. If you think things are bad now, we do not want to know what it is going to be like through the tribulation. Jesus has no room for those who mess with and distort the Gospel, which only sends souls 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. “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” – John 15:2-5.
Today’s Prayer: God, There is a fine line between going completely insane or finding peace through the evil that is taking place today as we near the signs of the tribulation, and that is Your Son, Jesus Christ. With all the crazy things going on in the world today it is comforting knowing that Christ is my Saviour and I do not have to be here when the great tribulation comes, but it is also very heartbreaking to see the evil taking over and destroying everything, including life. Lord, 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, I know that You are my Redeemer, my life, strength, motivation, and reason for living a life that is pleasing to You. And for that reason I will be watchful and be sober for Your Sons return. I love You, and pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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