Tribulation: Watch and Pray

Watch and Pray: Mark 12–13 Tribulation, Wars & Jesus’ Return (Gospel Portion 22)

Shirah Chante shares Gospel Portion 22 from Mark 12–13, focusing on Jesus’ teachings about tribulation and the times believers are living in. She reads and reflects on Mark 13, where Jesus warns against deception and false Christs, says wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, and troubles are the beginning of sorrows, and reminds listeners not to be troubled because the end is not yet. Shirah emphasizes that no one knows the day or hour of Jesus’ return except the Father, so believers should not follow those claiming to know. The central instruction is to “watch and pray,” stay spiritually alert, build resilience for coming persecution and hardship, and live holy. She prays for God’s children, invites listeners to believe in Jesus, and references Jeremiah 29:11 about God’s plans of peace and hope.

00:00 Welcome and Mission

01:15 Why Mark 12–13 Matters

02:33 Signs of the Times

03:41 Deception and False Christs

06:57 No One Knows the Hour

09:42 Stay Awake and Resilient

11:30 Watch Pray Live Holy

12:27 Prayer and Subscribe

13:38 Believe in Jesus

15:25 Torah Tidbit Jeremiah 29

17:02 Closing Shalom

Transcript

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Hi everyone, this is Shera Seante, your relationship coach called by God in the summer of 2010 to help his people with relationships here with Gospel Portions Torah Tippets Podcast.

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There's no one above him. God is love.

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And we are here to hear what love is saying to us through the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Yes. And uh Matthew, for for a long time, Matthew was my favorite, was my one of my favorite, but my favorite gospel is John by far. I love all the symbolism. I just really uh relate to John a lot. And uh so I'm looking forward to getting to that book. But right now we're in the book of Mark, chapters 12 and 13. This is portion number 22, and it's called Tribulation. And the title of this show is Watch and Pray. Tribulation, Watch and Pray. There's a lot of stuff happening in the world today. Wars, rumors of wars. That's what Jesus talked about in this portion of the Gospels. Mark chapter 12 and in chapter 12 and chapter 12 and 13 in particular. Jesus talks about tribulation. And so I want to read through a little of this, and we're gonna get to the main point, which is to watch and pray. Why do we study the gospels? We need to know what the Lord Jesus is saying, He has his word that will not pass away. In fact, we're about to read that. Uh, and so we want to be aware of his word because it won't pass away, but everything will be fulfilled in the law and the prophets, Matthew chapter 5, verses 17 and 18, think that I have not come, think not that I have come to do away with the law and the prophets, no, but I came to fulfill everything in the law and the prophets. So we're gonna read what Jesus is telling us about the times that we're in, because we see the the distress of nations. Don't we see different nations distress? Oh my god, how are we gonna get oil? How what the straight, the the you know, people getting killed, uh boots on the ground. All these things are concerns and uh inflation, the things, all of these distress, distress, and it's all happening now as we live. So wow, what an exciting time to be alive. Uh, thank you, Lord God, for for bringing us to this world and and allowing us to see this time of history, this time of life. Uh, and uh we are looking forward to what you are doing, Lord Jesus, in this time and help us to be uh in line with your word, with your scripture, and with what you are doing so that we can survive these times, and not only survive, but to thrive, you know, as people say, not that you know, we want to keep moving for the Lord Jesus Christ, and so Mark chapter 13. Oh, there's so much. So uh this comes about after the disciples ask him a question in Mark chapter 13, verse 4. They say, Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? Because Jesus had already started talking to them about uh the destruction of the temple, and uh and so they wanted to know what are these things gonna happen. And Jesus said in Mark chapter 5, verse uh Mark chapter 13, verse 5 and 6, and Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you, for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and and shall deceive many. And so, um, okay, uh, so that's the first thing. Don't let anyone deceive you. And then he goes on to say, When you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled, for such things must needs be, but the end shall not be yet. So he's saying, Don't be troubled. I know there's a lot going on, there's a lot of fighting, there's some war going on, but don't be troubled because the end isn't yet. We still got some time to go. Thank the Lord. We still got some time to get it together. Thank you, Jesus. The end is not yet, so we gotta keep going. For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be earthquakes in diverse places, and there shall be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. So the beginnings of sorrows. This is a time that in in the world that we're gonna have to go through that we're I would say experiencing now. There's a lot of sorrow uh in the world already, and so this is just the beginning, the Lord says. So uh, yes, brace yourself for this time. Uh may the Lord be with you. Okay, so and then he goes on and talks about some persecution that Christians, people who believe in Jesus Christ, will have to go through. And uh he goes on and talks about um the false Christs that are gonna come in Mark chapter 13, verse 22. For false Christs and false prophets shall rise and shall show signs and wonders to seduce if it were possible, even the elect. So there's gonna be people doing signs and wonders who are not of God, who are not from Christ. Uh, they're but they're gonna still be doing signs and wonders, so be careful about that. Um, and so uh we get to the time where Jesus is saying, What do we do? I mean, well, what we're saying, the disciples are asking Jesus, what what should we do? What what do we do? And Jesus is saying, What do we do? This is what you do here. This is Jesus is answering that question. Uh, but of that day and that hour knoweth no man. So this is Mark chapter 33, starting with verse 32. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, know not the angels which are in heaven, neither the son, but the father. Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is. For the son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to every man his work, and commandeth the porter to watch. So Jesus is telling us we don't know when all these things are going to happen. Uh, he's talking about the he's gonna be coming back to the earth, he's the messiah, and it says uh in Mark chapter 13, verse 24 But in those days after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, the moon shall not give her light, the stars of heaven shall fall, the powers that are in the heavens shall be shaken, and we will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. Yes, and then shall he send his angels and shall gather together his elect from the four winds from the uttermost parts of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. So he's saying, We don't know when this is gonna happen. No one knows, it says here except his father. It says, For the son of man is as a man taking a far journey, for one but of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the son, but the father. So no one knows the day and the hour Jesus is coming. So don't waste your time listening to people telling you when Jesus is coming because they don't know, nobody knows except the father. Now, yes, we have a general idea of the because of the things that are happening in the world that we're close, and he's telling us he's close that he's coming soon, but nobody knows, no man, no no one except the father. So don't it's okay. Uh so let's go to Mark chapter 13, verse 35. Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. So Jesus is saying, It's not the time to be sleeping. I'm not talking about just your normal rest that you get after your long days, day at work. I'm not talking about like normal, we all have to sleep, we're human beings. Uh, but just being aware of what's happening in this day and age and preparing yourself for the coming persecution, preparing yourself for the wars and rumors of wars and earthquakes and all the troubles that are coming. You need to have a strong mind. You have need to have some resilience about you. Hopefully, you've been uh building some resilience in your life over the years, as I have through the many trials and tribulation the Lord has taken me through. Uh, so this is a time to use those strengths you have gained in overcoming battles in your life to uh deter any uh shame or any uh uh downfall during this very tough tribulation period of time. And the main thing is to watch, watch, she says, watch what's going on. So this is not the time to put our head in the in the sand like an ostrich, who's not really a good mother, who just leaves her eggs open for anybody to grab and hides her head, like oblivious to the world. I'm just having fun. Um I don't care about all that. No, that's not the time, it's not the time to do that. It was it's we need to be watching, we need to know what's happening, watch and pray. And what I say unto one, unto you, I say unto all, I want to end right here. Mark chapter 13, verse 37. Um my elder Taylor, who went to heaven years ago, uh, was the leader of the 6 a.m. prayer for many years at uh my church in Los Angeles, and um he would always end the prayer with this scripture. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch and pray, live holy every day. He would always say this, and and that's just not words. We have to be reminded, there's struggles every day, there's temptations every day uh that we have to overcome, that we have to battle, and uh, but there's a lot of love too, and a lot of good things every day that we can enjoy, our friends, our family, uh, and the and the work God has given us to do on earth. Father God, I just pray for your children that they will watch and pray during these times of tribulation on the earth, during the trouble that is to come and that is already here. Father God, help us to make it through that time with uh shining colors because we watch and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank God. Remember to like, subscribe, and share this podcast to those who who like reading the gospel and to those who need an introduction into the gospel. This was a great podcast for you as we're studying it a little bit at a time throughout the whole year to you know get your feet wet and see what Jesus is offering here. He's offering a lot, he's offering, he's already offered his life. What more does he need to offer? Yes, and he has offered his life to you, he died for you. Yes, on the third day he rose again, and he's coming again. And so, thank you, Lord Jesus. If you want to believe in him, if you want to say, if you want to really believe, yes, he did die for me, and you know that, and he's the Holy Spirit is telling you in your heart, yes, Jesus died for you, just you, you, you one individual, he died for you. Then just say, Jesus, I believe you die for me. Thank you. Forgive me of my sins. I want to live for you, Jesus. Amen. Thank God, and that's all it takes. A heart after him who believes in him, and he will take it from here on out. Yes, he will. He says, uh, uh, my plans for you. I have I have a future and a hope for you, it says in Jeremiah. That we don't even know the things that God has prepared for us. All you gotta do is keep following him, keep coming back to this show, hearing the gospel, reading the gospel, read the gospels for yourself, get into the word, and he will lead you on what to do every day as a believer in Christ Jesus. He will not let you down, he will never fail you. Ever, never, ever. Impossible. All right, that's my love for the Lord. I'm speaking from experience and all my years of walking with him, which have been quite a few, as I've been walking with the Lord since I was a little girl. So uh thank you. Thank you for listening and and uh come back for more gospel portion, Torah Tidbits. The Torah Tibbit, we didn't really connect. I like the Torah Tidbits is where we actually go back to the Old Testament, and so I guess I did when I said Jeremiah. Um I think that's 333, where I know the plans I have for you, the Lord said. Let's see, plans to prosper you, plans for hope and a future. Let's see, Jeremiah 33. Uh, my glasses, let's see. Jeremiah 33. Oh, that's call unto me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. So, not exactly the one I was looking for. I think it's in 29. I know it's around here somewhere, Jeremiah 29. Uh is it 11? Or I know the thoughts I have for you. Uh, let's see. If I mean yes, Jeremiah 29, 11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace, ooh, and not of evil. My God, to give you an expected end, something that you expect, like you expect the Lord to take care of you. You expect your Lord's your life to be good with him, an expected end, a future and a hope. Yes, he has something planned for you, not evil, but peace. Thank you for your peace, Lord. Shalom