FBC Morning Light – February 27, 2023

Faith Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:17

Good Monday morning, hope you had a wonderful Lord's Day yesterday, able to gather with God's people, looking forward to a new week.

00:24

Today, I want to center our attention on Mark chapter 13. This chapter and its corresponding parallel references in the book of Matthew, they stir our interest in Bible prophecy and things of the end times.

00:44

For example, the passage begins talking about Jesus saying that the temple is going to be destroyed.

00:55

The disciples are walking out of Jerusalem and the disciples are enamored of all the beautiful structure of the temple.

01:01

Jesus says, the time is coming when there's not going to be one stone left on another. Then they go out to the

01:09

Mount of Olives and Peter, James, John, and Andrew, they get together with Jesus and say, hey, when's all this going to happen?

01:19

When are you going to come? What's the sign that all these things are going to be fulfilled, and what is the time of your coming, as Matthew's parallel tells us?

01:30

Jesus proceeds to answer, and the answer that he gives is one that has created all kinds of interpretational challenges, because he seems to be weaving together the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, which is what the destruction of the temple was going to involve, and the end of the age.

02:01

He weaves these two things together, and this is typical of biblical prophecy. It happened in the

02:06

Old Testament as well. Jesus goes on to talk about this, and he says in verse 7, when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don't be troubled, such things must happen, but the end is not yet.

02:20

He says nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.

02:28

These are the beginning of sorrows. Was Jesus talking about some signs to anticipate the destruction of Jerusalem?

02:38

Quite possibly. Certainly there were wars and rumors of wars in that time period, because there was a war that destroyed the city of Jerusalem.

02:48

Were there earthquakes and things of that happening? Were there famines and troubles? Undoubtedly, in that part of the world, in between the time

02:56

Jesus gave that prophecy and the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, there probably were some of these things.

03:04

Or is Jesus referring to the time of the end, the end of the ages? Probably, and perhaps he very well is.

03:14

There have been those things all through the church age, haven't there? Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, troubles of all kinds, and it seems that every time there is a cluster of these kinds of things that occur, there is a renewed frenzy of interest in biblical prophecy.

03:36

Right now, for example, in our world, you've got the saber -rattling of China, you've got the

03:43

United States responding in ways to China, you've got North Korea sending long -range missiles into the

03:51

Sea of Japan, you've got Russia's war with Ukraine and their further threats of expanding that war if there's more involvement of outside countries, and on and on and on we could go with the various rumors of war and wars that are going on.

04:08

We just suffered through the news of this horrific earthquake in Turkey and Syria, thousands of lives lost in that.

04:20

There are places that are experiencing drought and famine and all kinds of troubles in this world, and it seems like every week there's some new kind of trouble.

04:30

We've got these clusters of things, and consequently, there is within the church a great deal of interest in biblical prophecy.

04:39

Certainly, Jesus is coming back anytime now. Well, as Jesus said,

04:46

I'm coming soon. I'm coming without delay. Maybe morning, maybe night, maybe evening, maybe noon, maybe surely soon, but Jesus is coming again.

04:59

The Word of God makes that clear. Jesus is coming again. But in all of this that Jesus gives us in Mark 13,

05:08

I want to stress the way the chapter ends, because that's how Jesus emphasizes the attitude we need to have and the focus of our attention.

05:22

Because at the end of this chapter, he says, look, of that day and that hour, no one knows, not the angels in heaven, not the

05:30

Son, but only the Father. Then he says, take heed, watch and pray, for you don't know when the time is.

05:36

Isn't that interesting and significant? Because Jesus was telling that to his disciples almost 2 ,000 years ago.

05:46

He's telling them, take heed, watch and pray, for you don't know when the hour is.

05:53

It's the same message that he gives to us. What is our responsibility as the end of the age is now 2 ,000 years closer than it was when

06:03

Jesus issued this prophecy? What is the responsibility that we have?

06:10

Take heed, watch and pray, for you don't know when the time is.

06:16

In verse 35, he says, watch therefore, for you don't know when the master of the house is coming. In the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

06:26

What I say to you, I say to all, watch. Our responsibility is just to watch, just to be alert, be alert and pray.

06:38

We don't know when the time is. Jesus may come today. I'm recording this on a

06:45

Monday, the week before you're actually watching this. When this thing goes live on Facebook and YouTube, Jesus may already have come.

06:56

It's very possible. He may come before the next Lord's Day. Can you fathom the possibility

07:05

Jesus may come 2 ,000 years from now? We don't know.

07:11

But what we do know is we're to watch and pray and take heed.

07:18

Take heed to ourselves, take heed to the flock, take heed to those we love and those around us, take heed to share the gospel, take heed, watch and pray, for we don't know when the time is.

07:32

Let's just be faithful and consistent and diligent about taking heed and watching and praying and being ready whenever that time comes.

07:44

So, our Father and our God, I pray, help us to keep our focus where it belongs and keep our priorities straight and not be distracted by giving undue attention to all kinds of speculations, but to focus on what we know you have given us to focus on.

08:02

You are coming again. The Lord Jesus is coming again. In the meantime, we need you to watch, to take heed, and to pray.

08:10

Help us to be faithful in doing so. In Jesus' name, amen. All right. Well, have a good rest of your