When You Feel Overwhelmed

Prepare By Trusting The Spirit

Mar 13:9 "But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.
This lesson's author speaks in his comments as though this event has already happened and we need not be concerned. The truth though, as I see it, is that this condition has never ceased to be and as I sit here in my old age and watch as Islam is concurring the world, I know that this condition will only grow worse. For years now, I have seen men and women martyred for the cause of Christ in the Arab Nations, China and Africa. Today, our legislators are preparing legislation to silence the Church or to put them in prison. I have forgotten the bill number but it is being modeled after the Canadian bill that was made into law, resulting in men being placed in prison for declaring th whole word of God.

Mar 13:10 "The gospel must first be preached to all the nations.
I am often called down for proclaiming to folks that we are living in the last generation before the Rapture, they tell me that only a fool will name the date of that event. Of course they are correct in their statement but they err in that they have not payed attention to the signs they are given to look for. The signs Jesus enumerated for us to look for are happening all around us and yet we are not excited.

Mar 13:11 "When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.
In 2Tim. 2:15 the KJV teaches us to study the Word to show ourselves approved. I sometimes surprise folks because I can tell them what the scriptures say but because I have cognitive reasoning and short term memory problems due to my MS, I need my computer or a little time with my Bible to find the address of the scripture. When I need an answer the Holy Spirit is always true to provide it because I have been as faithful as I could manage to study, learn and to follow Jesus. If we will seek after the heart of God, the way King David did, the Holy Spirit will speak through us.

Mar 13:12 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
On the Local News in the last month or so there have several murders where sibling have murdered one another and there are more and more instances where children and parents are murdering one another. Right now, in Houston, there is a new warrant for a man they believe has escaped into Mexico that murdered his wife and both of his children and over and over I have seen young men going off to prison for the murder of their father or their mother and sometimes both. In a not too distant case the son hired the murder of both parents done.

Mar 13:13 "You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
This is an oft misused verse in some sections of the Church. Here are teachers that use this verse, out of it's context, to force people do give until it hurts. When we read 2Cor. 9:6,7 we get some clarification for the second half of this verse. Another good verse for comparison is the parable of Mark 4, the parable of the sower of the seed. Not every person that claims the name of Christ in the early days of their hearing the Gospel will walk to the end with Him, that saves.
As for being hated or disliked, the day I walked away from my former life people began to show their dislike and distrust for me. In the past nineteen years some of them have tried to draw me back into my former life of perpetually planned sin. I was hated the day I walked away from sin and declared Jesus to be my Master and that condition will never change, so long as I do not turn back.

Prepare By Staying With The Truth

Mar 13:21 "And then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ'; or, 'Behold, He is there'; do not believe him;
This verse must be the least known scripture in the Bible. We know from reading the scriptures that our LORD will not touch the Earth again before the Rapture, a.k.a. the catching away, followed by the most horrible seven years the Earth has ever known under the, soon coming, One World Government and yet there are people, everywhere, that are walking around with a christ.

Mar 13:22 for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
I have seen members of my own family be temporarily drawn away from the truth they have known to be. The most amazing part, to me, is that these people do nothing more than pervert the scriptures. I have yet to see one of these false christs do anything any more amazing than to burn themselves, their followers and their children to death.

Mar 13:23 "But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.
If we will read the Bible, the very Word of God, and hide it in our heart, we cannot be deceived. While Jesus spoke in parables to separate the believer from the hangers on, He has revealed everything we need to know to keep from being deceived.

Prepare By Rejoicing

Mar 13:24 "But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT,
Mar 13:25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.
Many of the Post Trib. Rapture folks will use this scripture as proof for their view but the problem is that the context of the Bible and of this chapter will not support that view. The preceding verses of this scripture set the table required for understanding this verse. The tribulation spoken of here is not the Great Tribulation, it is the troubled time that has been going on for the past two thousand years. From my studies I find that there have been folks that have proclaimed their messiah status ever since before Jesus was born.

Mar 13:26 "Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.
Jesus has just given us the exact method of His arrival and He mentions nothing of His feet touching the Earth at this time. In Jesus' second appearance He will not be here for the Kingdom on Earth, as has been expected by the Jewish believers for thousands of years.

Mar 13:27 "And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.
It will be, at this time, that Jesus will gather the Church to Himself and take them to Heaven.

Prepare By Remaining Faithful

Mar 13:32 "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
Except we see these signs and we are looking at Jesus, standing on a cloud we cannot know the time of His coming. Instead of being busy trying to out smart God by figuring the time table that none can know, any way, we need to be busy being prepared for His arrival every day.

Mar 13:33 "Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.
Mar 13:34 "It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert.
With the Great Commission of Matt. 28:18-20 we received our orders for our duty while the LORD is away. If we will perform our assigned task we will find the constant need to read and to learn the scriptures. If we read the scriptures we will continue to grow in out faith and our faith will keep us on the alert for His arrival.

Mar 13:35 "Therefore, be on the alert--for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning--
Mar 13:36 in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep.
Mar 13:37 "What I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!'"
Even the lost man will do well to constantly be observant.