S1: Today on Bold steps with Mark job, we're learning how
S1: we can prepare for the end times.
S2: The day will come where you will have to tell
S2: between the true and the counterfeit. And unless you're grounded
S2: in the Word of God, you will not be able
S2: to tell the difference between what is real and what
S2: is false, what is deceptive, and what is authentic. And
S2: many will fall away the Word of God. Know the word.
S2: Be grounded in your foundation.
S1: Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark job. Mark is president
S1: of Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor of New
S1: Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today, as
S1: we proceed in our new series about the end times,
S1: Mark will be taking us to the Book of Matthew,
S1: chapters 24 and 25 to give us the good news
S1: and the bad. Mark started this message yesterday. So if
S1: you missed the exciting open or if you'd like to
S1: hear the complete message, listen online at boldsystems.org. Today's message
S1: is titled how close are we? And it starts right now.
S2: The temple in those days was a magnificent structure. It
S2: was a wonder of the world. People would come and
S2: be flabbergasted at the magnificence, the beauty, the architecture, the
S2: enormity of these buildings. The temple itself was between 10
S2: to 16 storeys high, gold plated on the outside, so
S2: that when the sun shined on the building, it was
S2: almost like you had to cover your eyes because of
S2: the the reflection of the sun on the gold exterior
S2: of the building. So the disciples were amazed at the
S2: beauty of this temple. And yet Jesus said, not a
S2: stone of this temple will remain upon stone. This will
S2: be utterly destroyed. Destroy when they said, when will this happen?
S2: Jesus had already seen it in the future. In fact,
S2: 40 years after the death of Jesus, 40 years in
S2: 70 A.D., there was a rebellion that came in the
S2: in Jerusalem by the Jews against the Romans. Rome had
S2: occupied Jerusalem. And to squelch the rebellion, the Roman armies
S2: marched on Jerusalem and destroyed the entire city, um, burning, ransacking,
S2: killing thousands upon thousands of people in Jerusalem. And when
S2: they came to the temple, they set the temple on fire.
S2: As the temple was burning, the gold that was on
S2: the roof and the gold that had been plated on
S2: the walls began to melt, and it melted in the
S2: crevices of the rock. So the Romans, in order to
S2: get every single piece of gold they destroyed rock by rock,
S2: the temple so they could get the melted gold within
S2: the crevices of the rock. So every one of the
S2: rocks was torn down and the prophecy of Jesus was
S2: fulfilled 40 years after his death. This is a historic fact.
S2: Collaborated by many historians. In fact, I've been to a
S2: place called Masada in Jerusalem, where the rebels ran to
S2: a thousand of the rebels, ran to after the massacre,
S2: and hid in this fortified place called Masada. The Romans
S2: surrounded this place called Masada, which was like a fortress.
S2: And for three years tried to get the rebels out
S2: of this place. Finally, when they were breaching the wall,
S2: 960 of them committed suicide because they'd rather die than
S2: fall into the hands of the Romans. The disciples had
S2: no idea that their temple would be destroyed. But Jesus,
S2: being the Son of Man, seen and prophetically he saw
S2: a vision of Jerusalem being destroyed. And when Jesus came
S2: into Jerusalem, he wept not just because of the condition
S2: of people's souls, but because he saw that in 40
S2: years from then, the entire city would be destroyed. When
S2: Jesus is answering, when will these things happen? He was
S2: talking about when Jerusalem would be destroyed, but he's also
S2: talking about when the end of humanity will come to be.
S2: And so I want you to keep that in mind
S2: as you look at the answers given in Matthew chapter
S2: 24 and Matthew chapter 25. So Jesus is answering, when
S2: will this happen and what will be the sign of
S2: its coming? So I want to give you the bad
S2: news and the good news. I don't know about you,
S2: but sometimes I'd rather hear the bad news first, so
S2: I could be encouraged by the good news later. How
S2: about it? I'm going to give you the bad news first.
S2: Are you ready? Bad news. So, as Jesus describes what
S2: the end will look like, he gives us a description.
S2: And there's four primary descriptions of the end times, and
S2: it's pretty much bad news. Number one, he says there
S2: will be an increase in people being deceived. Look at
S2: what Jesus says in verse four. Jesus answered when they said, what?
S2: What will be a sign of the end times? And
S2: when will this happen? Jesus says, watch out that no
S2: one deceives you, for many will come in my name,
S2: claiming I am the Messiah, and will be deceived by many.
S2: So the first thing that Jesus says is that one
S2: of the characteristics of the end times is that there
S2: will be many people that will fall away from the faith, deceived,
S2: because they're not grounded. They can't tell the counterfeit from
S2: the real. They can't tell the truth from the false.
S2: They can't tell that which has contains truth, but is
S2: primarily from the authentic truth. Uh, in Second Timothy, the
S2: Apostle Paul also talking about the end times in Second
S2: Timothy chapter four, verse three through four says, for the
S2: time will come, talking about the end times, when men
S2: will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit
S2: their own desires, they will gather around them a great
S2: number of teachers to say what their itching ears want
S2: to hear. They will turn their ears away from the
S2: truth and turn aside to myths. Over and over in Scripture,
S2: it tells us that in the end times, there will
S2: be many people that will be led astray. Many people
S2: that will fall away from Christianity. Many people that will
S2: be deceived by false teaching. Let me tell you this.
S2: We in America, in the United States of America, Christianity
S2: is by and large suffering a bleeding of sorts, because
S2: many people that were born in traditional Christian homes have
S2: never truly been grounded in their faith. And many of
S2: them are falling away and not continuing on in the
S2: faith of their parents because they have not been grounded
S2: in the truth of Christianity. By and large, there's swaths
S2: of our world. If you go to Europe now, a
S2: lot of the continent of Europe is considered post-Christian. It
S2: was a nation at one time where the churches were filled.
S2: It was considered the cradle of Christianity, where the great
S2: majority of the population were believers. Now in Europe, including
S2: the town where I grew up in Burgos, there's a
S2: beautiful Gothic cathedral that took 400 years to build. It's
S2: in the center of the city. It's beautiful, ornate. But
S2: now it's a museum, not a church. There are churches
S2: in the UK that are turned into rock climbing courses
S2: or pubs. The massive buildings that once were there now
S2: are empty buildings. A testimony to a Christianity that once
S2: was flourishing, but a population that is veered away from
S2: their roots and left their Christian heritage behind. The the
S2: the percentage of people that go to church in Europe
S2: under the Christian flag is a small, small percentage of
S2: the population. Because Europe has become, by and large, a
S2: post-Christian nation. The United States of America is not far behind.
S2: We're tracking on course. Our society is becoming more secular.
S2: Many of the people that at one time people were
S2: expected that you move into a neighborhood, you find a
S2: Christian church and you go to that church. By and large,
S2: a huge percentage of our population in North America does
S2: not go to church anymore. Um, the 20 somethings of
S2: our generation are being lost. Many of them do not
S2: believe in organized religion. Many of them no longer go
S2: to church anymore. There are there are entire segments of
S2: our population that are falling away from Christianity and oftentimes
S2: embracing other isms, relativism. My truth is, whatever I make it. Hedonism,
S2: whatever makes me happy is what I pursue. And so
S2: I pursue the pursuit of happiness. Pluralism. Every road leads
S2: to the same place. Doesn't matter if you believe in
S2: a tree. If you believe in Buddha, if you believe
S2: in Hindu, if you believe in Muhammad. We all end
S2: up in the same place. as pluralism. All religions are
S2: the same paganism, a sense of a sense of pursuing
S2: other gods, secularism. Science is chief humanism. All humanity is
S2: good and there's really no need for God. There's a
S2: lot of isms that have led us astray, deceived us
S2: away from the course of Christianity, and we are fighting
S2: for the soul of our nation when it comes to Christianity.
S2: Should that surprise us? No. Jesus predicted that the closer
S2: we get to the end times, the more we will
S2: see a massive falling away of people that claim to
S2: be Christians, but will be deceived by a lack of teaching,
S2: a lack of grounding, a lack of faith, a lack
S2: of passion, a lack of knowledge of the word. Let
S2: me tell you something. If I could reiterate something, listen
S2: to me. You need to know your Bible. You need
S2: to study, read, be grounded. Understand the truth. As a pastor, no,
S2: I just like to come and listen to you. Now,
S2: that's not good enough. One of these days, I'll be
S2: dead and gone. I can still listen to your podcast. No, no, no,
S2: not good enough. You need to know the truth. You
S2: need to know the word. You need to study. Because
S2: the day will come. Where you will have to tell.
S2: Between the true and the counterfeit. And unless you're grounded
S2: in the Word of God, you will not be able
S2: to tell the difference between what is real and what
S2: is false, what is deceptive, and what is authentic. And
S2: many will fall away. The Word of God. No, the
S2: word be grounded in your foundation.
S1: You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. We'll continue
S1: today's message in a moment. Mark, there's something I've been
S1: noticing lately that I think many of our listeners are
S1: thinking about with so many voices competing for our attention.
S1: There's social media news cycles, workplace demands. It's easy to
S1: lose sight of what matters eternally. And I find myself
S1: wondering how many Christians today are investing their best resources
S1: in things that won't ultimately last.
S2: You know, Wayne, I remember when my youngest son was
S2: playing football in high school. It was a big game
S2: and I went there. I was cheering him on, and
S2: I got a phone call and I thought, well, let
S2: me pick up this phone call just for a moment.
S2: So I went down and I got on the phone call,
S2: and it was right at that time that my son,
S2: he intercepted a pass. And afterwards he said, dad, did
S2: you see that? And I had to say I missed
S2: the moment I was distracted by something. And in the end,
S2: it wasn't an urgent phone call. Listen, right now, there's
S2: a lot of distraction. The political environment in our country,
S2: there's a drama every day. There's a lot that's happening internationally.
S2: There's wars, there's natural disasters. It feels like we are
S2: just sucked into it. But I want to say, don't
S2: miss the moment. I believe that we are seeing more
S2: people come to Christ at this season at a time,
S2: especially under the age of 35, than I have ever
S2: seen in our lifetime. It's happening in Africa and Europe.
S2: It's happening in the United States of America. We at
S2: Bold Steps are committed to not get distracted, but to
S2: make sure that we are proclaiming the gospel of Jesus
S2: at a time of uncertainty so that people can come
S2: to know him in this window of opportunity that we have.
S2: So we want to encourage you. Pray. Don't miss the moment.
S1: Such an important word, Mark. Thank you. And if you
S1: would like to become part of this eternal work today
S1: by visiting us, you can do that at Bold steps.org
S1: and make a gift or call us at 800 But D.L. Moody.
S1: That's (800) 356-6639. And when you do, we'll send you a
S1: special gift as a way of saying thanks for partnering
S1: with us and sharing God's truth that will last eternally.
S1: More on that later. But let's not delay the message
S1: any longer. Mark has two more points to address in
S1: today's message on the End Times titled How Close are we?
S2: Secondly, Jesus says, not only will many people fall away,
S2: but Jesus also says this is a bad news. There
S2: will be an increase in catastrophic events, both natural and
S2: man made. In verse six, Jesus says, you will hear
S2: of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it
S2: that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but
S2: the end is still to come. Nation will rise against
S2: nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and
S2: earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of
S2: birth pains. In others, what Jesus was saying is just
S2: because there are wars and rumors of wars, because there's
S2: earthquake and famine and natural disasters, don't be alarmed because
S2: it's like, well, how many of you ladies have had
S2: babies in this place? All right. Do you remember Braxton
S2: Hicks what that means? Those are false birth pains that
S2: you start feeling them and they say, no, no, no, no.
S2: I've had three. I mean, my wife has had three.
S2: I felt her pain. Really? Not as much as she
S2: felt it, but I felt it vicariously. And it was
S2: always difficult to figure out when should we go to
S2: the hospital? And they say, well, time it. You know,
S2: if you're new, as soon as you feel the pain,
S2: you say, I gotta go, I gotta go, and then
S2: you go and you're three days in the hospital because
S2: they say you're not ready. Because the beginning of birth
S2: pain doesn't mean that you're going to have a baby
S2: right away. How many of you mothers discovered that? Yeah.
S2: Just because you have pains, it means that, well, the
S2: baby's coming. It's the beginning of the end. But the
S2: end could be 32 hours later. And so just because
S2: you're starting to have pain doesn't mean the end is there.
S2: And Jesus is saying, just because there's rumors of wars
S2: and earthquakes doesn't mean it's the end of the world.
S2: It just means that there are, well, they're contractions that
S2: are pushing towards the end. I'm not a geologist. I'm
S2: not a scientist. I'm not a historian. But I read
S2: recently something interesting concerning earthquakes. I read that someone that, uh,
S2: tracks earthquakes and seismic movements in the earth, they discovered
S2: that earthquakes have increased in frequency and destructiveness during the
S2: 20th century. For example, between 1890 to 1950, there were
S2: an average of 2 to 4 devastating earthquakes every year
S2: in the world. In the decade of the 50s, there
S2: were nine. In the 60s there were 13. During the
S2: 70s there were 51. During the 80s there were 86.
S2: Between 1990 to 1996, there were more than 115 damaging
S2: earthquakes recorded. And I read another geologist that said, between
S2: 2000 and 2009, the planet averaged 160 earthquakes per year.
S2: That is a 38% increase over the recent years. Interesting.
S2: It feels like it. But I'm not a geologist. I
S2: tell you what, I don't know about you, but it
S2: seems like there's so many wars going on, I can't
S2: even keep track of who's fighting with who these days.
S2: This country's fighting against that country and threatening that country.
S2: And people in Syria are being knocked out and going
S2: to Europe and and some Middle Eastern countries are warring,
S2: and someone's against this, and this country's invading that country.
S2: It's like, whoa. I can't even keep it straight. Who's
S2: fighting against who? In fact, it seems like there's a
S2: escalation that's happening in the violence, the natural disasters that
S2: are happening and the wars that are beginning to happen.
S2: Jesus said that in the end time, there'll be an escalation,
S2: an acceleration of some of the natural catastrophes and some
S2: of the man made catastrophes that will be experiencing on
S2: the face of this earth. This is not something to
S2: be alarmed about. Afraid about is something that Jesus says
S2: will naturally begin to happen as we get closer and
S2: closer to the end of times. Number three, I'm talking
S2: about the bad news. Some of you are saying, pastor,
S2: you're scaring me already. Okay? Come on, I'm still there.
S2: There will be an increase in persecution of Christians. Verse
S2: nine says, then you will be handed over to be
S2: persecuted and to be put to death, and you will
S2: be hated by all nations because of me. At that time,
S2: many will turn away from the faith and will betray
S2: and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear
S2: and deceive many. Whoa! We live in North America, in
S2: which we've experienced some of the longest periods of safety
S2: and peace than any country in the world. But. But
S2: look at me. Look up at me. Because this is
S2: really important for you to understand. We are the abnormality,
S2: not the normality. We live in safety that's abnormal to
S2: the rest of the world. But as I speak right now, today,
S2: we are living in the most violent times against Christianity
S2: than any history before us. We are experiencing more martyrs,
S2: more persecution, more torture, violence, rape against Christian than practically
S2: any generation that has come before us. In fact, I
S2: read some of the stats on the violence against Christians.
S2: And on average, every month, on average, there are 322
S2: Christians that are killed for their faith on average every month.
S2: 322 every month. On average, there are 214 churches and
S2: Christian properties that are destroyed every month. In other words,
S2: violent groups come and they torch a church, burn it down,
S2: ransack it, tear it apart because of their anger and
S2: hatred towards Christianity. On average, I'm talking about today, not
S2: 100 years ago, on average today there are 772 forms
S2: of violence are committed against Christian people in a month,
S2: every day. We live in a accelerating time of violence
S2: against Christians. In fact, in an article of Christianity Today,
S2: during the last two years, there have been reports of
S2: terrorist attacks against Christians that have steadily emerged in the world.
S2: For example, seven Egyptians were executed in Benghazi Beach last year.
S2: 165 Christian girls were kidnapped from a Christian school by
S2: a group called Boko Haram, and 21 Coptic Christians were
S2: beheaded near the Mediterranean Sea, among other incidents. Just in 2014,
S2: we have seen that same escalation begin to happen in 2015.
S2: Groups like ISIS, for example, have forcibly displaced hundreds of
S2: thousands of people, conducted mass executions and kidnapped, sold, enslaved,
S2: raped and forcibly converted thousands of women and children, all
S2: on the ground that these people stand in opposition to
S2: their religious dogma. We are living in a season of
S2: unprecedented persecution against Christian at a massive scale.
S1: You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe here
S1: on Bold Steps. Now stay with us. Mark, this is
S1: part two of the message today, tomorrow part three. There's
S1: some good news coming.
S3: Yeah. You know, people get concerned when we talk about
S3: the end times. And it is, uh, it can shake
S3: us when we think about the end times, of course.
S3: But the great news is this is that God has
S3: given us all that we need to prepare. And God
S3: does have a plan. And that plan involves salvation of
S3: many people and the power to sustain his people during
S3: this time.
S1: He is not willing that any should perish. Thank you Mark,
S1: and if you want to revisit any part of today's lesson,
S1: or if you can't join us for part two tomorrow,
S1: then be sure to listen online at Bold Steps. Org.
S1: While you're on our home page, be sure to also
S1: check out our brand new Bold Step gift. Let me
S1: talk about that for a moment. In today's world, our
S1: daughters are bombarded with messages that don't align with God's truth.
S1: That's why Dana Gres's book Lies Girls Believe is such
S1: a timely resource addressing 20 common lies that girls ages
S1: 7 to 12 believe. This colorful, engaging book equips young
S1: girls to identify the lies that come against them and
S1: replace them with biblical truth. If you're a mom with
S1: a young daughter, a grandma, or someone with influence over
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S1: Wayne Shepherd, inviting you to join us again Monday when
S1: Mark concludes this message titled How Close are We? We'll
S1: be looking at the fourth sign of the time, along
S1: with the good news that's coming. It's a message from
S1: our series Beyond Now, and you can hear it right
S1: here Monday on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold steps
S1: is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody
S1: Bible Institute.