Mark 13:7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.
13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
We said yesterday that Jesus was going to answer two questions that the disciples had asked Him. We noted as well that wars and earthquakes, etc. have not been anything new to this earth. As we look at verses 7-8, we see that Jesus talked there of a time when “ye”, Jews, would hear of wars and rumours of wars.
Again we need to ask ourselves, when is this? There are wars taking place now. Israel is at war with Hamas and Hezbollah and those people are being funded by Iran. Quite often there are sirens that go off in Israel these days. There are rockets coming at Israel from many sources. Israel is currently not just hearing of wars and rumours of wars, but Israel is heavily involved in war right now. Thus the time that Jesus is talking of here is a time when Israel will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but they will not be actively involved in wars at that time. Notice as well that Jesus said that these times would be the beginnings of sorrows.
The Bible tells us that when the antichrist comes on the scene, he will come riding on a white horse with a bow in his hand. You can read about this in Revelation 6:1-8. It is important to note that this rider will have a bow, but no arrows. This is a picture of the antichrist who will come in as a deceiver and part of that deception will be that he will present himself as a peacemaker.
We know that our world is hungry for peace right now. Yes, Israel wants peace. Hamas does not want peace. They want the destruction of Israel. President Trump is trying to present himself as the greatest peace negotiator the world has ever known. Mr. Trump is not THE antichrist, but he is certainly an antichrist. He has not been able to broker peace in the Middle East nor between Russia and Ukraine.
When the antichrist comes on the scene, he will use lying signs and wonders to convince the world that he is the peacemaker. Notice this is how he will begin his short seven year rule. Jesus said this will be the beginning of sorrows. At the mid-point of the Tribulation, he will declare himself to be God and he will demand the worship of all of mankind. He will demand that all take his mark in order to buy and sell. He will also set his sights on the destruction of all Jews and of all Christians of that time.
Thus in verse 9, while there have been persecutions since the time of Christ, there is a persecution coming that will be worse than all persecutions before that time. Again, there are those who want to dismiss the seven year Tribulation time, and suggest that persecution is quite a usual occurrence on this earth. Verse 10 creates a problem for those who want to dismiss the seven year Tribulation time. Verse 10 tells us that the gospel must first be preached among all nations. As we look at church history, we know there have been times where the gospel has been preached more freely across the world. However, there are still unreached areas of our world today. The naysayers suggest that Jesus cannot come back until all people have heard the gospel. As we look at the world today, less and less countries are accepting the gospel today. At least one fifth of the world is controlled by Muslims. They hate the gospel. England, France and Germany are quickly becoming havens for Islam. Canada is becoming more and more welcoming of Islam all the time. Quebec wants to ban all public prayer because they do not want Muslims to be able to block sidewalks and streets with their prayers. Rather than identify the real problem they want to ban all public prayers. Born again Christians do not block sidewalks or streets to pray. They respect the right of others to not be stopped if they do not want to pray or hear prayers. True Christians give out tracts and they talk to people about the Lord, but they do not try to force their faith on the lost. They seek to encourage the lost be be saved. They know that true Christianity is the Only True Faith to have, but man must choose to receive the truth. Muslims want to force their false religion on all people.
With that in mind, we see that it is becoming less acceptable all the time for the gospel to be preached to all the nations. Yet, our text tells us that the gospel must be preached to all nations before the end comes.
When will this be? The Bible tells us that during the Tribulation time, in spite of the antichrist’s hatred for God, God will raise up one hundred and forty four thousand virgin Jewish men who will be saved and will be evangelists, proclaiming the Word of God across the nations. The Bible also tells us in Revelation 11 that God will raise up two witnesses who will prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, dressed in sackcloth. They will be hated by the antichrist and the lost. Eventually God will allow the antichrist to kill them and their dead bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three days. The world will see this and rejoice in that fact. The shocker will be that God will raise those two witnesses up after they will be lying in the streets of Jerusalem for three days. The world will see that. With the internet now, it is possible to broadcast pictures from anywhere in the world. More and more people are connected through internet. At the time of the antichrist, the world will be so connected that the world will see the dead witnesses lying in the streets of Jerusalem, and they will witness them being miraculously raised up after three days. The Bible says the world will throw a party when they see their dead bodies. There will be no party when they see them raised up again.
Not only that, but God will also have His angel flying across the heavens proclaiming the everlasting gospel at that time. All nations will hear the gospel preached at that time.
We must remember that there is nothing hindering Jesus Christ from coming back to take His New Testament saints out of this world right now. The one thing that is withholding Jesus’ return right now is the longsuffering of God, not the lack of the preaching of the gospel. We need to be preaching the gospel, but God is not waiting for us to get the gospel everywhere before Jesus comes back in the air.
In verse 11 the disciples were further told not to worry about what to say when arrested. This was true in the first century and it is still true today. However, the context is speaking to the second half of the Tribulation time when the antichrist will try to destroy all true Christians. He will try to do that, but he will not succeed. Many Christians, both Jew and Gentile, will be killed, but he will not be able to wipe them out.
Christians will not be able to trust their own family members during that time. There are families today where the unsaved members hate those who are saved. There are families now who are separated because some of them hate God and have no use for saved family members. That is true now. It will be even worse during the Tribulation time. If it were up to mankind, there would be no saved individuals left on earth by the end of the seven year Tribulation time. However, God will make sure there will be Christians who will survive to the end of the Tribulation and be able to enter the Millennium. That is what verse 13 is talking about. Rather than being deceived into thinking we need to hang on and be careful we do not lose our salvation, we need to know the true God and rest in Him.
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
God never lies. He never makes a promise He cannot or will not keep. Those who are truly saved, have eternal life. Salvation is a gift of God. It is not something earned. It is a gift given to those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Does that describe you? If you have chosen to believe some smooth talking deceivers on this important matter, why not humble yourself and believe what God actually said. Don’t substitute truth for opinions. You may appreciate the lies, but that does not make them truth. Your soul wants to know the truth. Your soul cannot rest unless you receive the truth. Jesus warned of trouble ahead, but He also assured the disciples that He knew all about it and heaven is still the home for those who truly know the true God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bartel
