WEBVTT - How Close Are We? – Part 2 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:03.720 Today on Bold steps with Mark job, we're learning how 0:00:03.720 --> 0:00:06.000 we can prepare for the end times. 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:08.600 The day will come where you will have to tell 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:12.160 between the true and the counterfeit. And unless you're grounded 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:14.320 in the Word of God, you will not be able 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:17.279 to tell the difference between what is real and what 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:21.000 is false, what is deceptive, and what is authentic. And 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:25.000 many will fall away the Word of God. Know the word. 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:27.360 Be grounded in your foundation. 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:43.360 Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark job. Mark is president 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:45.839 of Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor of New 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:49.760 Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today, as 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:52.199 we proceed in our new series about the end times, 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.040 Mark will be taking us to the Book of Matthew, 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:57.120 chapters 24 and 25 to give us the good news 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.360 and the bad. Mark started this message yesterday. So if 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:02.480 you missed the exciting open or if you'd like to 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:07.800 hear the complete message, listen online at boldsystems.org. Today's message 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:11.240 is titled how close are we? And it starts right now. 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:17.119 The temple in those days was a magnificent structure. It 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:20.720 was a wonder of the world. People would come and 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:26.760 be flabbergasted at the magnificence, the beauty, the architecture, the 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:30.970 enormity of these buildings. The temple itself was between 10 0:01:30.970 --> 0:01:35.880 to 16 storeys high, gold plated on the outside, so 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:39.320 that when the sun shined on the building, it was 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:42.000 almost like you had to cover your eyes because of 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:46.600 the the reflection of the sun on the gold exterior 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:50.320 of the building. So the disciples were amazed at the 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:54.120 beauty of this temple. And yet Jesus said, not a 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:59.000 stone of this temple will remain upon stone. This will 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:03.809 be utterly destroyed. Destroy when they said, when will this happen? 0:02:04.530 --> 0:02:08.490 Jesus had already seen it in the future. In fact, 0:02:08.490 --> 0:02:12.770 40 years after the death of Jesus, 40 years in 0:02:12.770 --> 0:02:16.970 70 A.D., there was a rebellion that came in the 0:02:17.010 --> 0:02:20.570 in Jerusalem by the Jews against the Romans. Rome had 0:02:20.610 --> 0:02:25.410 occupied Jerusalem. And to squelch the rebellion, the Roman armies 0:02:25.410 --> 0:02:33.090 marched on Jerusalem and destroyed the entire city, um, burning, ransacking, 0:02:33.210 --> 0:02:37.130 killing thousands upon thousands of people in Jerusalem. And when 0:02:37.130 --> 0:02:39.889 they came to the temple, they set the temple on fire. 0:02:40.250 --> 0:02:43.930 As the temple was burning, the gold that was on 0:02:43.930 --> 0:02:46.770 the roof and the gold that had been plated on 0:02:46.770 --> 0:02:50.329 the walls began to melt, and it melted in the 0:02:50.330 --> 0:02:53.650 crevices of the rock. So the Romans, in order to 0:02:53.650 --> 0:02:59.050 get every single piece of gold they destroyed rock by rock, 0:02:59.090 --> 0:03:02.010 the temple so they could get the melted gold within 0:03:02.010 --> 0:03:05.130 the crevices of the rock. So every one of the 0:03:05.130 --> 0:03:08.890 rocks was torn down and the prophecy of Jesus was 0:03:08.889 --> 0:03:18.170 fulfilled 40 years after his death. This is a historic fact. 0:03:20.450 --> 0:03:24.930 Collaborated by many historians. In fact, I've been to a 0:03:24.930 --> 0:03:28.530 place called Masada in Jerusalem, where the rebels ran to 0:03:28.570 --> 0:03:32.169 a thousand of the rebels, ran to after the massacre, 0:03:32.169 --> 0:03:36.250 and hid in this fortified place called Masada. The Romans 0:03:36.250 --> 0:03:39.970 surrounded this place called Masada, which was like a fortress. 0:03:40.170 --> 0:03:43.330 And for three years tried to get the rebels out 0:03:43.330 --> 0:03:46.410 of this place. Finally, when they were breaching the wall, 0:03:46.970 --> 0:03:50.850 960 of them committed suicide because they'd rather die than 0:03:50.850 --> 0:03:54.050 fall into the hands of the Romans. The disciples had 0:03:54.050 --> 0:03:57.370 no idea that their temple would be destroyed. But Jesus, 0:03:57.370 --> 0:04:00.940 being the Son of Man, seen and prophetically he saw 0:04:00.940 --> 0:04:04.540 a vision of Jerusalem being destroyed. And when Jesus came 0:04:04.540 --> 0:04:08.140 into Jerusalem, he wept not just because of the condition 0:04:08.140 --> 0:04:10.780 of people's souls, but because he saw that in 40 0:04:10.780 --> 0:04:15.580 years from then, the entire city would be destroyed. When 0:04:15.580 --> 0:04:19.860 Jesus is answering, when will these things happen? He was 0:04:19.860 --> 0:04:23.020 talking about when Jerusalem would be destroyed, but he's also 0:04:23.020 --> 0:04:27.260 talking about when the end of humanity will come to be. 0:04:27.420 --> 0:04:29.180 And so I want you to keep that in mind 0:04:29.220 --> 0:04:32.060 as you look at the answers given in Matthew chapter 0:04:32.060 --> 0:04:38.740 24 and Matthew chapter 25. So Jesus is answering, when 0:04:38.740 --> 0:04:41.540 will this happen and what will be the sign of 0:04:41.540 --> 0:04:44.380 its coming? So I want to give you the bad 0:04:44.380 --> 0:04:46.539 news and the good news. I don't know about you, 0:04:46.540 --> 0:04:48.380 but sometimes I'd rather hear the bad news first, so 0:04:48.380 --> 0:04:50.060 I could be encouraged by the good news later. How 0:04:50.060 --> 0:04:53.460 about it? I'm going to give you the bad news first. 0:04:53.460 --> 0:04:58.859 Are you ready? Bad news. So, as Jesus describes what 0:04:58.860 --> 0:05:02.020 the end will look like, he gives us a description. 0:05:02.460 --> 0:05:07.260 And there's four primary descriptions of the end times, and 0:05:07.260 --> 0:05:12.659 it's pretty much bad news. Number one, he says there 0:05:12.660 --> 0:05:16.339 will be an increase in people being deceived. Look at 0:05:16.339 --> 0:05:21.339 what Jesus says in verse four. Jesus answered when they said, what? 0:05:21.540 --> 0:05:23.500 What will be a sign of the end times? And 0:05:23.500 --> 0:05:29.500 when will this happen? Jesus says, watch out that no 0:05:29.500 --> 0:05:33.460 one deceives you, for many will come in my name, 0:05:33.460 --> 0:05:38.300 claiming I am the Messiah, and will be deceived by many. 0:05:39.460 --> 0:05:42.180 So the first thing that Jesus says is that one 0:05:42.180 --> 0:05:44.980 of the characteristics of the end times is that there 0:05:44.980 --> 0:05:49.700 will be many people that will fall away from the faith, deceived, 0:05:50.500 --> 0:05:55.779 because they're not grounded. They can't tell the counterfeit from 0:05:55.779 --> 0:05:58.580 the real. They can't tell the truth from the false. 0:05:58.580 --> 0:06:02.710 They can't tell that which has contains truth, but is 0:06:02.710 --> 0:06:10.870 primarily from the authentic truth. Uh, in Second Timothy, the 0:06:10.870 --> 0:06:13.710 Apostle Paul also talking about the end times in Second 0:06:13.710 --> 0:06:16.950 Timothy chapter four, verse three through four says, for the 0:06:16.950 --> 0:06:21.589 time will come, talking about the end times, when men 0:06:21.589 --> 0:06:24.990 will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit 0:06:24.990 --> 0:06:28.390 their own desires, they will gather around them a great 0:06:28.390 --> 0:06:31.549 number of teachers to say what their itching ears want 0:06:31.550 --> 0:06:34.990 to hear. They will turn their ears away from the 0:06:34.990 --> 0:06:39.870 truth and turn aside to myths. Over and over in Scripture, 0:06:39.870 --> 0:06:42.430 it tells us that in the end times, there will 0:06:42.470 --> 0:06:45.750 be many people that will be led astray. Many people 0:06:45.750 --> 0:06:49.230 that will fall away from Christianity. Many people that will 0:06:49.270 --> 0:06:53.910 be deceived by false teaching. Let me tell you this. 0:06:55.670 --> 0:07:01.669 We in America, in the United States of America, Christianity 0:07:02.870 --> 0:07:10.030 is by and large suffering a bleeding of sorts, because 0:07:10.030 --> 0:07:13.910 many people that were born in traditional Christian homes have 0:07:13.910 --> 0:07:17.670 never truly been grounded in their faith. And many of 0:07:17.670 --> 0:07:21.350 them are falling away and not continuing on in the 0:07:21.350 --> 0:07:25.510 faith of their parents because they have not been grounded 0:07:26.070 --> 0:07:31.990 in the truth of Christianity. By and large, there's swaths 0:07:31.990 --> 0:07:36.030 of our world. If you go to Europe now, a 0:07:36.070 --> 0:07:40.710 lot of the continent of Europe is considered post-Christian. It 0:07:40.710 --> 0:07:43.550 was a nation at one time where the churches were filled. 0:07:43.550 --> 0:07:48.190 It was considered the cradle of Christianity, where the great 0:07:48.190 --> 0:07:53.870 majority of the population were believers. Now in Europe, including 0:07:53.870 --> 0:07:56.390 the town where I grew up in Burgos, there's a 0:07:56.390 --> 0:08:00.720 beautiful Gothic cathedral that took 400 years to build. It's 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:04.760 in the center of the city. It's beautiful, ornate. But 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:10.080 now it's a museum, not a church. There are churches 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:14.000 in the UK that are turned into rock climbing courses 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:19.640 or pubs. The massive buildings that once were there now 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:23.880 are empty buildings. A testimony to a Christianity that once 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:29.640 was flourishing, but a population that is veered away from 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:34.840 their roots and left their Christian heritage behind. The the 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.000 the percentage of people that go to church in Europe 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:43.080 under the Christian flag is a small, small percentage of 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:47.440 the population. Because Europe has become, by and large, a 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:53.640 post-Christian nation. The United States of America is not far behind. 0:08:55.360 --> 0:09:00.320 We're tracking on course. Our society is becoming more secular. 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:05.320 Many of the people that at one time people were 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:07.920 expected that you move into a neighborhood, you find a 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.520 Christian church and you go to that church. By and large, 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:14.720 a huge percentage of our population in North America does 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:18.960 not go to church anymore. Um, the 20 somethings of 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:22.120 our generation are being lost. Many of them do not 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:25.000 believe in organized religion. Many of them no longer go 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:28.680 to church anymore. There are there are entire segments of 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:32.640 our population that are falling away from Christianity and oftentimes 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:41.400 embracing other isms, relativism. My truth is, whatever I make it. Hedonism, 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:44.000 whatever makes me happy is what I pursue. And so 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:49.320 I pursue the pursuit of happiness. Pluralism. Every road leads 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:51.679 to the same place. Doesn't matter if you believe in 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.760 a tree. If you believe in Buddha, if you believe 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:59.160 in Hindu, if you believe in Muhammad. We all end 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:02.210 up in the same place. as pluralism. All religions are 0:10:02.210 --> 0:10:09.449 the same paganism, a sense of a sense of pursuing 0:10:09.850 --> 0:10:14.890 other gods, secularism. Science is chief humanism. All humanity is 0:10:14.890 --> 0:10:17.530 good and there's really no need for God. There's a 0:10:17.530 --> 0:10:20.810 lot of isms that have led us astray, deceived us 0:10:20.809 --> 0:10:24.569 away from the course of Christianity, and we are fighting 0:10:24.570 --> 0:10:28.370 for the soul of our nation when it comes to Christianity. 0:10:28.650 --> 0:10:33.290 Should that surprise us? No. Jesus predicted that the closer 0:10:33.290 --> 0:10:36.050 we get to the end times, the more we will 0:10:36.050 --> 0:10:40.090 see a massive falling away of people that claim to 0:10:40.090 --> 0:10:44.010 be Christians, but will be deceived by a lack of teaching, 0:10:44.050 --> 0:10:46.290 a lack of grounding, a lack of faith, a lack 0:10:46.290 --> 0:10:48.809 of passion, a lack of knowledge of the word. Let 0:10:48.809 --> 0:10:53.770 me tell you something. If I could reiterate something, listen 0:10:53.770 --> 0:11:01.890 to me. You need to know your Bible. You need 0:11:01.890 --> 0:11:10.010 to study, read, be grounded. Understand the truth. As a pastor, no, 0:11:10.010 --> 0:11:11.330 I just like to come and listen to you. Now, 0:11:11.330 --> 0:11:15.449 that's not good enough. One of these days, I'll be 0:11:15.450 --> 0:11:19.250 dead and gone. I can still listen to your podcast. No, no, no, 0:11:19.250 --> 0:11:24.089 not good enough. You need to know the truth. You 0:11:24.090 --> 0:11:27.730 need to know the word. You need to study. Because 0:11:27.730 --> 0:11:29.650 the day will come. Where you will have to tell. 0:11:29.690 --> 0:11:33.210 Between the true and the counterfeit. And unless you're grounded 0:11:33.210 --> 0:11:35.449 in the Word of God, you will not be able 0:11:35.450 --> 0:11:38.370 to tell the difference between what is real and what 0:11:38.370 --> 0:11:42.050 is false, what is deceptive, and what is authentic. And 0:11:42.050 --> 0:11:45.410 many will fall away. The Word of God. No, the 0:11:45.410 --> 0:11:48.930 word be grounded in your foundation. 0:11:56.490 --> 0:11:59.250 You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. We'll continue 0:11:59.290 --> 0:12:02.140 today's message in a moment. Mark, there's something I've been 0:12:02.140 --> 0:12:04.059 noticing lately that I think many of our listeners are 0:12:04.059 --> 0:12:07.300 thinking about with so many voices competing for our attention. 0:12:07.420 --> 0:12:11.420 There's social media news cycles, workplace demands. It's easy to 0:12:11.460 --> 0:12:14.060 lose sight of what matters eternally. And I find myself 0:12:14.059 --> 0:12:17.020 wondering how many Christians today are investing their best resources 0:12:17.420 --> 0:12:19.300 in things that won't ultimately last. 0:12:19.460 --> 0:12:22.340 You know, Wayne, I remember when my youngest son was 0:12:22.340 --> 0:12:25.900 playing football in high school. It was a big game 0:12:26.179 --> 0:12:28.620 and I went there. I was cheering him on, and 0:12:28.620 --> 0:12:30.300 I got a phone call and I thought, well, let 0:12:30.300 --> 0:12:32.220 me pick up this phone call just for a moment. 0:12:32.220 --> 0:12:34.740 So I went down and I got on the phone call, 0:12:34.940 --> 0:12:38.140 and it was right at that time that my son, 0:12:38.500 --> 0:12:43.660 he intercepted a pass. And afterwards he said, dad, did 0:12:43.660 --> 0:12:46.020 you see that? And I had to say I missed 0:12:46.020 --> 0:12:49.500 the moment I was distracted by something. And in the end, 0:12:49.500 --> 0:12:52.900 it wasn't an urgent phone call. Listen, right now, there's 0:12:52.900 --> 0:12:57.340 a lot of distraction. The political environment in our country, 0:12:57.340 --> 0:13:02.820 there's a drama every day. There's a lot that's happening internationally. 0:13:02.820 --> 0:13:07.620 There's wars, there's natural disasters. It feels like we are 0:13:07.620 --> 0:13:11.219 just sucked into it. But I want to say, don't 0:13:11.220 --> 0:13:15.860 miss the moment. I believe that we are seeing more 0:13:15.860 --> 0:13:18.860 people come to Christ at this season at a time, 0:13:18.860 --> 0:13:22.100 especially under the age of 35, than I have ever 0:13:22.100 --> 0:13:26.300 seen in our lifetime. It's happening in Africa and Europe. 0:13:26.300 --> 0:13:29.140 It's happening in the United States of America. We at 0:13:29.140 --> 0:13:34.460 Bold Steps are committed to not get distracted, but to 0:13:34.500 --> 0:13:37.660 make sure that we are proclaiming the gospel of Jesus 0:13:37.660 --> 0:13:41.140 at a time of uncertainty so that people can come 0:13:41.140 --> 0:13:44.900 to know him in this window of opportunity that we have. 0:13:45.140 --> 0:13:48.900 So we want to encourage you. Pray. Don't miss the moment. 0:13:48.940 --> 0:13:51.460 Such an important word, Mark. Thank you. And if you 0:13:51.500 --> 0:13:53.579 would like to become part of this eternal work today 0:13:53.580 --> 0:13:56.500 by visiting us, you can do that at Bold steps.org 0:13:56.540 --> 0:14:00.190 and make a gift or call us at 800 But D.L. Moody. 0:14:00.429 --> 0:14:05.470 That's (800) 356-6639. And when you do, we'll send you a 0:14:05.470 --> 0:14:07.670 special gift as a way of saying thanks for partnering 0:14:07.670 --> 0:14:11.550 with us and sharing God's truth that will last eternally. 0:14:11.590 --> 0:14:14.150 More on that later. But let's not delay the message 0:14:14.150 --> 0:14:16.429 any longer. Mark has two more points to address in 0:14:16.429 --> 0:14:20.030 today's message on the End Times titled How Close are we? 0:14:26.870 --> 0:14:31.430 Secondly, Jesus says, not only will many people fall away, 0:14:31.990 --> 0:14:35.030 but Jesus also says this is a bad news. There 0:14:35.030 --> 0:14:40.470 will be an increase in catastrophic events, both natural and 0:14:40.470 --> 0:14:44.630 man made. In verse six, Jesus says, you will hear 0:14:44.630 --> 0:14:48.710 of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it 0:14:48.710 --> 0:14:53.790 that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but 0:14:53.790 --> 0:14:56.790 the end is still to come. Nation will rise against 0:14:56.790 --> 0:15:02.280 nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:07.520 earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:11.880 birth pains. In others, what Jesus was saying is just 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:14.120 because there are wars and rumors of wars, because there's 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:18.600 earthquake and famine and natural disasters, don't be alarmed because 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:21.960 it's like, well, how many of you ladies have had 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:27.400 babies in this place? All right. Do you remember Braxton 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:31.480 Hicks what that means? Those are false birth pains that 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:33.680 you start feeling them and they say, no, no, no, no. 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:38.400 I've had three. I mean, my wife has had three. 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:42.360 I felt her pain. Really? Not as much as she 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:46.560 felt it, but I felt it vicariously. And it was 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:48.640 always difficult to figure out when should we go to 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:53.480 the hospital? And they say, well, time it. You know, 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:55.800 if you're new, as soon as you feel the pain, 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:57.440 you say, I gotta go, I gotta go, and then 0:15:57.440 --> 0:15:59.640 you go and you're three days in the hospital because 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:03.400 they say you're not ready. Because the beginning of birth 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:05.400 pain doesn't mean that you're going to have a baby 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:08.600 right away. How many of you mothers discovered that? Yeah. 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:11.320 Just because you have pains, it means that, well, the 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:15.080 baby's coming. It's the beginning of the end. But the 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:19.600 end could be 32 hours later. And so just because 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.160 you're starting to have pain doesn't mean the end is there. 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:25.480 And Jesus is saying, just because there's rumors of wars 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:28.239 and earthquakes doesn't mean it's the end of the world. 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:33.160 It just means that there are, well, they're contractions that 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:37.640 are pushing towards the end. I'm not a geologist. I'm 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:42.600 not a scientist. I'm not a historian. But I read 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:51.000 recently something interesting concerning earthquakes. I read that someone that, uh, 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:58.320 tracks earthquakes and seismic movements in the earth, they discovered 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:03.280 that earthquakes have increased in frequency and destructiveness during the 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:10.480 20th century. For example, between 1890 to 1950, there were 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:15.160 an average of 2 to 4 devastating earthquakes every year 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:19.920 in the world. In the decade of the 50s, there 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:26.040 were nine. In the 60s there were 13. During the 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:31.600 70s there were 51. During the 80s there were 86. 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:37.840 Between 1990 to 1996, there were more than 115 damaging 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:44.430 earthquakes recorded. And I read another geologist that said, between 0:17:44.430 --> 0:17:52.320 2000 and 2009, the planet averaged 160 earthquakes per year. 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:58.640 That is a 38% increase over the recent years. Interesting. 0:18:00.609 --> 0:18:04.890 It feels like it. But I'm not a geologist. I 0:18:04.890 --> 0:18:06.489 tell you what, I don't know about you, but it 0:18:06.490 --> 0:18:08.530 seems like there's so many wars going on, I can't 0:18:08.530 --> 0:18:11.490 even keep track of who's fighting with who these days. 0:18:13.210 --> 0:18:16.810 This country's fighting against that country and threatening that country. 0:18:16.850 --> 0:18:19.930 And people in Syria are being knocked out and going 0:18:19.970 --> 0:18:23.530 to Europe and and some Middle Eastern countries are warring, 0:18:23.570 --> 0:18:26.929 and someone's against this, and this country's invading that country. 0:18:26.970 --> 0:18:29.929 It's like, whoa. I can't even keep it straight. Who's 0:18:29.930 --> 0:18:34.530 fighting against who? In fact, it seems like there's a 0:18:35.369 --> 0:18:40.810 escalation that's happening in the violence, the natural disasters that 0:18:40.810 --> 0:18:44.730 are happening and the wars that are beginning to happen. 0:18:44.730 --> 0:18:48.010 Jesus said that in the end time, there'll be an escalation, 0:18:48.010 --> 0:18:52.409 an acceleration of some of the natural catastrophes and some 0:18:52.410 --> 0:18:56.410 of the man made catastrophes that will be experiencing on 0:18:56.410 --> 0:18:58.689 the face of this earth. This is not something to 0:18:58.690 --> 0:19:02.940 be alarmed about. Afraid about is something that Jesus says 0:19:03.260 --> 0:19:06.420 will naturally begin to happen as we get closer and 0:19:06.420 --> 0:19:11.460 closer to the end of times. Number three, I'm talking 0:19:11.460 --> 0:19:13.379 about the bad news. Some of you are saying, pastor, 0:19:13.380 --> 0:19:15.699 you're scaring me already. Okay? Come on, I'm still there. 0:19:17.700 --> 0:19:22.100 There will be an increase in persecution of Christians. Verse 0:19:22.100 --> 0:19:24.940 nine says, then you will be handed over to be 0:19:24.940 --> 0:19:28.940 persecuted and to be put to death, and you will 0:19:28.940 --> 0:19:33.220 be hated by all nations because of me. At that time, 0:19:33.380 --> 0:19:37.020 many will turn away from the faith and will betray 0:19:37.140 --> 0:19:40.859 and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear 0:19:41.100 --> 0:19:51.340 and deceive many. Whoa! We live in North America, in 0:19:51.340 --> 0:19:56.140 which we've experienced some of the longest periods of safety 0:19:56.140 --> 0:20:00.260 and peace than any country in the world. But. But 0:20:00.260 --> 0:20:02.380 look at me. Look up at me. Because this is 0:20:02.380 --> 0:20:06.860 really important for you to understand. We are the abnormality, 0:20:06.900 --> 0:20:14.699 not the normality. We live in safety that's abnormal to 0:20:14.740 --> 0:20:19.260 the rest of the world. But as I speak right now, today, 0:20:19.540 --> 0:20:24.540 we are living in the most violent times against Christianity 0:20:24.540 --> 0:20:29.620 than any history before us. We are experiencing more martyrs, 0:20:29.619 --> 0:20:35.740 more persecution, more torture, violence, rape against Christian than practically 0:20:35.740 --> 0:20:39.340 any generation that has come before us. In fact, I 0:20:39.340 --> 0:20:44.140 read some of the stats on the violence against Christians. 0:20:44.340 --> 0:20:52.140 And on average, every month, on average, there are 322 0:20:52.180 --> 0:20:57.260 Christians that are killed for their faith on average every month. 0:20:58.460 --> 0:21:07.860 322 every month. On average, there are 214 churches and 0:21:07.859 --> 0:21:12.860 Christian properties that are destroyed every month. In other words, 0:21:12.859 --> 0:21:16.740 violent groups come and they torch a church, burn it down, 0:21:16.740 --> 0:21:22.340 ransack it, tear it apart because of their anger and 0:21:22.340 --> 0:21:27.180 hatred towards Christianity. On average, I'm talking about today, not 0:21:27.180 --> 0:21:32.460 100 years ago, on average today there are 772 forms 0:21:32.460 --> 0:21:37.300 of violence are committed against Christian people in a month, 0:21:37.300 --> 0:21:44.379 every day. We live in a accelerating time of violence 0:21:44.380 --> 0:21:50.260 against Christians. In fact, in an article of Christianity Today, 0:21:50.260 --> 0:21:53.180 during the last two years, there have been reports of 0:21:53.180 --> 0:21:57.459 terrorist attacks against Christians that have steadily emerged in the world. 0:21:57.460 --> 0:22:03.310 For example, seven Egyptians were executed in Benghazi Beach last year. 0:22:03.670 --> 0:22:08.590 165 Christian girls were kidnapped from a Christian school by 0:22:08.590 --> 0:22:13.430 a group called Boko Haram, and 21 Coptic Christians were 0:22:13.430 --> 0:22:21.230 beheaded near the Mediterranean Sea, among other incidents. Just in 2014, 0:22:21.390 --> 0:22:25.510 we have seen that same escalation begin to happen in 2015. 0:22:26.030 --> 0:22:30.270 Groups like ISIS, for example, have forcibly displaced hundreds of 0:22:30.270 --> 0:22:37.830 thousands of people, conducted mass executions and kidnapped, sold, enslaved, 0:22:37.869 --> 0:22:42.070 raped and forcibly converted thousands of women and children, all 0:22:42.070 --> 0:22:45.989 on the ground that these people stand in opposition to 0:22:46.030 --> 0:22:50.350 their religious dogma. We are living in a season of 0:22:50.390 --> 0:22:56.030 unprecedented persecution against Christian at a massive scale. 0:23:02.910 --> 0:23:05.350 You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe here 0:23:05.350 --> 0:23:08.270 on Bold Steps. Now stay with us. Mark, this is 0:23:08.270 --> 0:23:10.790 part two of the message today, tomorrow part three. There's 0:23:10.790 --> 0:23:12.070 some good news coming. 0:23:12.109 --> 0:23:14.430 Yeah. You know, people get concerned when we talk about 0:23:14.430 --> 0:23:18.310 the end times. And it is, uh, it can shake 0:23:18.350 --> 0:23:20.590 us when we think about the end times, of course. 0:23:20.790 --> 0:23:23.550 But the great news is this is that God has 0:23:23.550 --> 0:23:27.350 given us all that we need to prepare. And God 0:23:27.350 --> 0:23:30.869 does have a plan. And that plan involves salvation of 0:23:30.869 --> 0:23:34.790 many people and the power to sustain his people during 0:23:34.790 --> 0:23:35.470 this time. 0:23:35.750 --> 0:23:38.870 He is not willing that any should perish. Thank you Mark, 0:23:39.190 --> 0:23:41.750 and if you want to revisit any part of today's lesson, 0:23:41.750 --> 0:23:43.909 or if you can't join us for part two tomorrow, 0:23:44.070 --> 0:23:46.990 then be sure to listen online at Bold Steps. Org. 0:23:47.390 --> 0:23:49.270 While you're on our home page, be sure to also 0:23:49.270 --> 0:23:51.869 check out our brand new Bold Step gift. Let me 0:23:51.869 --> 0:23:54.109 talk about that for a moment. In today's world, our 0:23:54.109 --> 0:23:58.350 daughters are bombarded with messages that don't align with God's truth. 0:23:58.630 --> 0:24:01.720 That's why Dana Gres's book Lies Girls Believe is such 0:24:01.720 --> 0:24:06.120 a timely resource addressing 20 common lies that girls ages 0:24:06.119 --> 0:24:10.160 7 to 12 believe. This colorful, engaging book equips young 0:24:10.160 --> 0:24:13.199 girls to identify the lies that come against them and 0:24:13.200 --> 0:24:16.440 replace them with biblical truth. If you're a mom with 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:19.440 a young daughter, a grandma, or someone with influence over 0:24:19.480 --> 0:24:22.760 girls in your life, this bold step gift is essential 0:24:22.760 --> 0:24:26.160 in helping them build an unshakable foundation of faith. We'll 0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:28.120 send you a copy when you give a gift of 0:24:28.119 --> 0:24:31.919 any amount. To support bold steps for an online donation, 0:24:31.920 --> 0:24:36.120 just go to Bold Steps org. You can also call 0:24:36.119 --> 0:24:43.400 us and give over the phone at 800. That's (800) 356-6639. 0:24:43.680 --> 0:24:45.959 Or send your gift in the mail by addressing an 0:24:45.960 --> 0:24:51.560 envelope to bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 0:24:51.680 --> 0:24:57.399 606 ten. Again, bold steps 820 North LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois 0:24:57.480 --> 0:25:02.040 606 ten.. It's because of the generous partnership with listeners 0:25:02.040 --> 0:25:05.000 like you, who give a monthly donation of any amount 0:25:05.000 --> 0:25:07.879 that we can offer these resources and daily messages, we 0:25:07.920 --> 0:25:11.160 call them bold Partners. That's because they're committed to helping 0:25:11.160 --> 0:25:13.639 us take the life changing message of the gospel to 0:25:13.680 --> 0:25:16.520 people all across the country. If you'd like to join 0:25:16.520 --> 0:25:19.240 the team, we'd love to partner with you. Sign up 0:25:19.240 --> 0:25:28.000 today when you go online to Boldsystems.org. That's all. I'm 0:25:28.000 --> 0:25:30.160 Wayne Shepherd, inviting you to join us again Monday when 0:25:30.160 --> 0:25:33.960 Mark concludes this message titled How Close are We? We'll 0:25:33.960 --> 0:25:36.160 be looking at the fourth sign of the time, along 0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:38.720 with the good news that's coming. It's a message from 0:25:38.720 --> 0:25:41.520 our series Beyond Now, and you can hear it right 0:25:41.520 --> 0:25:46.720 here Monday on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold steps 0:25:46.720 --> 0:25:49.560 is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody 0:25:49.560 --> 0:25:50.720 Bible Institute.