FBC Daily Devotional – May 13, 2021

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, good Thursday to you. How is your week going? We're getting to near the end of the week, and I hope it's going along well for you.

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You know, we're living in a time that is really kind of unprecedented for our lifetime, for our generation.

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And I, of course, speaking as one who is the older half of the age spectrum.

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But really, I mean, think about it from the standpoint of those of you who are listening, who've grown up in church.

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OK, I've been in church since I was knee high to a hymnal and always, always.

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And I have watched and observed how the changes that have occurred in our society, in our culture and in the church over the last 60 years.

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And yet right now, the changes and the darkness, if I can use that term, of our culture and its impact across the nation and even in the church is unprecedented in my lifetime.

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And because of that, there are a lot of us believers who say, man, you know, the time must be short.

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You know, you know, and we get really focusing on eschatology or the doctrine of last things.

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And I understand that. I understand that sentiment, especially because of what we read in Mark chapter 13.

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Today's reading and verses 14 to 37 of that chapter build upon the earlier sections of Mark 13 that is prompted by Jesus when he says, takes the disciples and he's in Jerusalem outside the temple.

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And he says, you know, there's coming a day when every stone in this temple is going to be torn down.

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There won't be one stone left upon another. And disciples are perplexed by that and they get alone together and they ask

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Jesus about it and say, well, when is this going to be? When is this going to be? And Jesus goes into a lengthy discussion about when this is going to be.

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Now, part of what Jesus was talking about very clearly had to do with the destruction of Jerusalem, which came in A .D.

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70. And in A .D. 70, literally, the stones of the temple were torn down.

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There wasn't one left upon another. It was totally decimated. But he goes on beyond that to speak of, you know, greater things and in a broader way, talking about the cataclysms of the ages and the culmination of it all in his return.

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And so in, for example, verses 3 through 13, in my

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Bible, there's a little section there that says the signs of the times and the end of the age. And it talks about these different things like hearing of wars and rumors of wars and nations rising against nation, kingdom against kingdom, earthquakes and famines and troubles.

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And he says this is just the beginning of sorrows and talks about persecution.

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They're going to be delivering you to councils and you'll be beaten in the synagogues. Now, clearly that was a directed toward Jewish people and so forth.

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I mean, perhaps the synagogues and so forth to worry about. But then he says the gospel must be preached to all nations and brother will betray brother and a father will betray his child and children will rise up against parents and cause somebody to die.

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You'll be hated by all men for my namesake. So that was that was what you read the other day. And now in verses 14 to 37, he talks about this time of great tribulation and so on.

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But what I want to focus on is not the nitty gritty details and try to say, you know, this is what's going to happen when it's going to happen.

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This is what every little detail means. But what I do want to focus on is the blessings and the security of the elect.

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That's what I want you to see. Did you notice this? If you've read this, I hope you did.

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If you didn't, go back and read it again and notice these three occurrences where Jesus talking about the end times events.

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He specifically expresses blessing and security for the elect.

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Notice what he says in verse 20. He says, unless the unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved.

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But for the elect's sake, whom he chose, he shortened the days.

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So whatever the details are here about this tribulation and this difficulty, what's clear is that the

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Lord is looking out for his elect, the ones whom he has chosen.

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And, you know, Paul talks about being chosen from before the foundation of the world.

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And who are those? Those who have put their faith and trust in Christ, that God in his grace has chosen them to be in Christ from before the foundation of the world.

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And here Jesus says, those whom he chooses are safe and secure.

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The days of tribulation are going to be shortened for their sake. And then he also says in verse 22 that false

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Christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

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The point, of course, is it won't be possible to deceive the elect, but they'll be so persuasive that they'll deceive many.

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Ah, but not the elect. There's security and there's blessing for those who are the elect.

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And then in verse 27, he says, at the end of this time, the

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Son of Man will come in the clouds with great power and glory. And then verse 27 says, and he will send his angels and gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven.

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The elect, his elect are chosen out of, they are secured and gathered together out of the earth for their eternal blessing to be with the

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Lord. What great blessing and security is in store for those who are

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Christ's, those who are his elect. Now, Jesus goes on in this passage to emphasize the imminence of his return.

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What we mean by that is that he can come at any time. There is an imminent uncertainty regarding the day and hour of the

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Lord's return. Throughout the age, from the time Jesus ascended until our very day, throughout this whole age, we have seen plenty of evidence that summer is near.

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We've seen persecution, false teachers, natural disasters. So we've seen signs of his coming throughout the age.

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But the day and the hour of Jesus' return, he says specifically, no man knows.

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He says, watch, therefore, you don't know when the master of the house is coming. He says earlier, he says, heaven and earth will pass away.

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My words will not pass away. But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the son, but only the father.

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So the day and hour of the Lord Jesus' return is a secret thing.

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It's a secret thing. It is not for us to know. It is not for us to speculate.

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It's not for us to try to figure out. We don't look at Washington and we don't look at Moscow.

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We don't look at Europe and we don't look at the Middle East and say, well, Jesus is going to come such and such a time.

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No, no, it is not our place to engage in wild speculation.

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Our responsibility is not wild speculation, but diligent observation and prayerful consideration.

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What does Jesus say? Take heed, watch and pray in verse 33.

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For you do not know when the time is. Take heed, watch and pray.

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Jesus is coming again. He's promised it. It's certain. When? I don't know.

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I don't know. And that I don't know is all the more reason for us to watch and to pray.

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To be ready whenever that time comes. That's what

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Jesus is emphasizing to his disciples, to us. Watch and pray. Because I could come at any time.

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Be ready. Be ready. Our Father in heaven, I pray that we who are your people, whom

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Jesus describes as the elect, those whom he has chosen, that we would be watching, we would be prayerful, we would be ready for his return.

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And that we know could come at any time. May we be ready when he comes.

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We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, have a good rest of your Thursday.