WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:01.600 Good morning, Church. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:06.639 Today's scripture reading is from Mark 13, 9 through 13. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:19.280 But be on your guard, for they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:32.079 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations, and when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour. 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:35.840 For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:44.719 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father has child, and children will rise against parent and have them put to death. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:48.159 And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:51.520 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:52.880 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:54.240 Please be seated. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:57.600 Good morning. 00:00:58.640 --> 00:00:59.920 Welcome to Church This Morning. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:01.039 My name is James Rathman. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:03.359 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:06.079 It's so wonderful to get to gather with you all. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:08.640 And uh did you get to sleep in? 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:10.719 No. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:11.200 Yeah. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:14.000 Everyone with kids is like, no. 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:16.560 There's no sleeping in at all. 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:18.959 They'll just be hungrier earlier. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:20.879 That's what you have to look forward to. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:22.560 Well, thanks for joining us. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:26.239 Um welcome uh to Redemption Church. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:34.719 Uh we are continuing in our series, moving through Mark, and we are in chapter Mark, we're in Mark chapter 13 this morning. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:41.120 And this is our third sermon on this section of Mark, which is called the Olivet Discourse. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:53.439 This is where Jesus gives uh some instruction and some prophecy to his disciples on the Mount of Olives just after they leave the temple during Holy Week. 00:01:53.760 --> 00:02:04.799 And he gives this uh these dire warnings this morning of what we're looking at to the disciples, and he really calls them to endurance. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:09.840 This morning we're looking at Christ's call to his disciples of endurance. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:13.520 So before we move into our text, let's pray together this morning. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:22.639 Holy Father, you tell us to be anxious for nothing. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:30.800 But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:40.240 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:47.360 Lord, we praise you that you give us peace. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:54.080 Lord, we thank you that the peace that you give is not one that we can uh reason towards. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:59.759 It's it's not one that we can look at circumstances and say, oh, I know just how they're they'll work out. 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:05.680 But it's a peace that comes directly from you, from your Holy Spirit, into our hearts. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:08.960 And that means that there are no circumstances that can take it away. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:35.199 Father, I pray that this morning, in your text this morning, that this peace which you gave to your disciples, and which you encouraged your disciples to hold fast to and endure by means of, that we here gathered together at Redemption Church Denver, and this morning on this morning we're with an time change. 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:43.919 Lord, that you by that same power of that same Holy Spirit would give to us that peace. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:45.599 We trust that you will. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:47.120 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:48.000 Amen. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:56.000 So the all of it discourse is described in all three of the synoptic gospels. 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:59.599 It's laid out in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.840 In Matthew, you get this really complete version of the discourse. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:09.520 In Mark, just kind of the way Mark is and he writes, he writes in this really spare style. 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:13.919 And we're moving through Mark, and so we get this sort of spare version of it. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:17.839 And in Luke, you get a really distilled version of the all of it discourse. 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:30.240 But these all work together, these three sort of perspectives on this same speech work together to provide us the understanding that we need for what Jesus is teaching his disciples. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:35.680 The discourse began when we started looking at it a couple of weeks ago. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:40.720 We saw that the beginning of the discourse is Jesus leaving the temple with his disciples. 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:44.720 And he leaves the temple for the last time, the temple in Jerusalem. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:48.000 And he'll never enter the temple again. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:05:03.279 And when Jesus leaves the temple, some of his disciples, perhaps even in a way of trying to get Jesus to acknowledge the wonder of the temple and what it means for the people of God. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:14.319 They turn to the temple and they and they say, look at these wonderful buildings and the wonder of these stones that the temple is made of. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:23.600 And the temple was this incredible wonder, one of the great wonders of ancient architecture, one of the great human achievements. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:33.839 And Jesus turns to his disciples and he says, You see these stones, there will be not one stone left upon another. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:40.720 He describes that the temple itself will be destroyed, not one stone left upon another. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:46.879 Now that's a weird interaction for the disciples, and that probably not the thing that they were expecting. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:06:05.199 I think the interactions that we saw Jesus have within the temple were basically all of the different sects of Judaism come one by one to Jesus, and they basically have this open verbal combat with Jesus. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:08.720 So the Pharisees come and try and destroy Jesus. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:11.680 The Sadducees come and try and destroy Jesus. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:20.800 And there's the the ruler that Jesus had come in earlier and he'd seen that the way that the money changers were working in the temple, there's this open conflict within the temple. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:27.360 You can feel that the disciples were probably like, okay, that was a lot of conflict that we just experienced uh going through the temple. 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:31.040 This is, you know, not a fun Passover week. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:36.800 This is one of more like one of those uh Christmases that you go home and you fight with your family. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:40.240 This was like that type of Passover week for the disciples. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:45.120 And so they're moving out and they're like, well, the building's nice, though, isn't it? 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:49.680 Isn't we've got a nice, aren't the stones, have you seen the stones, Jesus? 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:51.839 And probably expecting, like, yes, of course. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:53.839 There's such a beauty here and a wonder. 00:06:53.920 --> 00:07:00.160 And the Lord has been faithful to his people in this place for so long, and you can count on that never-ending. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:06.240 That this place will always stand in the world as this beacon of hope for the world. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:09.199 It's probably the type of thing that the disciples were trying to elicit. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:12.160 And instead, he says, Yeah, see those beautiful stones. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:15.600 Not one is gonna stand among on another. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:17.439 It's all going to be destroyed. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:22.480 To which the disciples, as they probably often experience with Jesus, was like a, huh? 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:25.680 This isn't exactly what I expected. 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:36.000 And so they ask for the particulars on it, and the all of it discourse is Jesus' answer to these two questions that the disciples ask. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:41.199 And the two questions that the disciples ask are: When will these things take place? 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:46.879 And what will be the sign that all of these things will be accomplished? 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:55.040 And especially in Matthew's version, we see that these two questions are not just about the temple. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:56.560 They're when will these things take place? 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:58.879 Meaning when will the temple be destroyed? 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:04.800 But the second question they ask is really about when will all of history come to an end? 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:13.120 When will all of what Christ has promised to accomplish be finally and completely realized in the world? 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:17.120 To the disciples, these are the same question. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:24.480 Because they cannot imagine a world that doesn't have a temple at the center of it. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:38.000 For them, there is no such thing as a functioning history, as the world itself existing, without the temple being the centerpiece of that world. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:46.879 And that's because they would understand the temple from the very beginning had been the centerpiece of the world, that the Garden of Eden itself is this temple structure. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:09:07.519 And that the tabernacle that was given to Moses, this pattern that had been received from Moses on the mountain, and he was instructed to build this tabernacle, this mobile tent that would move with the people of God as they wandered through the wilderness, was what held the world together, the center place of their worship, the meeting place with God on earth. 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:11.360 And then this temple, of course, is a pattern of that same thing. 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:17.919 It's an image of the presence of God on earth, which holds the world together, prevents the destruction of the world. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:30.240 Now, Jesus sees that these one question of when will these things take place and what will be the signs of these things taking place are really two questions. 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:37.600 Because Jesus understands that the destruction of this temple will not mean the end of the world. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:44.480 It will actually mean the establishment of something more wonderful than they could have possibly imagined. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:10:02.960 That while the temple itself, where the Jews had gathered for millennia to worship, although it will be destroyed, what will stand in its place is a new temple, which is more glorious and more wonderful than even the great stones of this ancient temple. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:06.000 And it will be the temple of the church. 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:14.240 It will be the dwelling place of God, which is no longer in this building, but the dwelling place of God will be in the very hearts of his people. 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:22.240 And so Jesus will explain that there will be a time that this temple will be destroyed, but that will not be the end. 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:31.840 This temple being destroyed will be something like birth pains of this glorious new people of God, which extends to all nations. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:46.559 So Jesus moves into this discourse where he's explaining: here's what the time will look like for you, disciples, leading up to the destruction of the temple, which will take place in the year 70 AD. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:54.320 And he begins by warning them to not be led astray in this time. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:11:08.799 During this time they will face intense persecution, and there will be people that will rise up, and they will say, I'm the one who will be able to accomplish what it looks like Christ wasn't able to fully accomplish. 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:13.039 I'm the one who will be able to bring about the kingdom on earth. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:19.440 I will be able to restore all the glory and hope of Israel if you just follow me. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:24.240 And the way that we'll be able to do that is we'll be able to overthrow this Roman occupation. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:29.519 So we'll no longer be under the oppressive heel of this giant empire. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:36.879 And instead, the people of God will be finally and completely restored to Israel. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:41.600 Now, Jesus is saying, don't be led astray by these people. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:45.679 Don't be led astray by these empty promises. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:53.519 Because when I return, you won't have to wonder if it's me or not. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:59.039 When Jesus returns, you will know that Jesus has returned. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:13.200 And when we looked at that last week, this warning to be led astray, we looked at how this is kind of analogous to any sort of fantasy offering of a utopia on the earth. 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:31.840 That we're constantly given these offers from people or from technological innovations or from whatever it may be that you we will finally be able to realize the kingdom on the earth in a complete way. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:36.320 And we'll be able to do it on this side of Christ's return. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:38.399 So it will be completely realized. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:54.879 But those offers of finality are foolish hopes that cause us to chase things that will ultimately prove fruitless and useless and have our hearts taken captive by a hope of rescue that is outside of Christ. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:13:04.879 But the problems that we face, the problems that are in the hearts of us, cannot be rectified outside of Christ Himself. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:09.039 He himself is the only true Savior. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:21.519 So that means that the depth of problems that we face, that there is no political solution for them, and there is no anti-political solution for them. 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:37.360 You cannot solve these problems by a total engagement with the political world, and you cannot solve the problems of the lack of peace in your heart by a total retreat from political engagement in the world. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:42.960 You cannot solve these problems with any sort of technological solution. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:58.080 The promised age of abundance and lack of suffering that technology will bring into the world, it cannot reach to the depths of your heart to end the suffering that we will face in this world. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:03.440 And there is not an anti-technological hope. 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:18.240 So that if you finally, if you finally are able to create the the perfect sort of Instagram homestead, even there, your heart will remain. 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:27.759 And so our and so we must be transformed in some sort of other way, this true hope of a real finality. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:31.440 These things must be redeemed in our hearts. 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:35.120 And this is the promise of Jesus. 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:38.000 And so he's saying, don't be led astray. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:41.679 Keep your heart fixed on Jesus. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.799 He is the only real hope. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:53.519 He is the only one that will bring the absoluteness, the true conclusion, the true peace, the true rescue, the true reconciliation. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:57.600 It is only in Christ, so don't be led astray. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:14:59.759 Don't be led astray. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:13.600 Now, this week, the warning is not to just not be led astray, but it's to not collapse under the intensity of the persecution and anxiety that you will face. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:25.440 This is a call to endure, a call to not give in, but to hold fast to the promises that have been given to us in Christ. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:35.120 And the disciples are given this per these very particular warnings of look, here is what the dawn of the church will look like. 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:44.399 The church, the new covenant, will be born into a place that is hostile towards it and that is seeking to destroy it. 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:53.120 And when we remember just the Bible stories, we should think, yeah, that is the way rescue is often born, isn't it? 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:56.960 Moses, do you remember the story of Moses being born? 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:09.840 All the he's why wasn't he born, you know, five years earlier, when there wasn't an edict from Pharaoh that said all the firstborn sons must be destroyed. 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:21.279 Well, no, he's born right at the time where this in this intensity of him being him from the greatest power in the world being try trying to be snuffed out. 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:32.240 Or Jesus is born under that same sort of thing where Herod says that all of the firstborn sons are to be killed when Jesus is born. 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:45.919 You see these hopes of rescue, and and the the wonder of the way Christ works is that these wonders are born into intense adversity. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:58.399 And they stand in like the sharp contrast against this darkness that shows us just how unstoppable this work of light is. 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:02.879 So the disciples are going to be given these warnings this morning from Jesus. 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:11.920 When the church is born, after Christ's resurrection, the apostles will begin facing intense persecution almost immediately. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:24.319 And the shape of their ministry in the first century will be one of constant opposition, to where they might conclude for themselves, this is something's going wrong. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:28.880 Did Christ's resurrection mean any actual victory? 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:30.319 Did it work? 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:41.200 Because it seems like things have just ramped up and gotten worse and worse, and the world is more upside down than it was prior to Christ's resurrection. 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:46.799 But Jesus says, be on your guard against that type of thinking. 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:56.799 Recognize that this intensity is refining and producing a glory for the church. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.920 So let's move into the text and look at Christ's warning. 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:16.799 In Mark 13, 9, Jesus says, But be on your guard, for they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:20.720 And disciples are thinking, okay, so the temple is going to be destroyed. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:29.839 What are we looking forward to before that most catastrophic event imaginable will happen? 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:42.799 Well, you should be on your guard, for they will deliver you over to councils, you will be beaten in synagogues, you'll stand before governors and kings for my sake. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:44.319 And what will you do there? 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:46.640 Why are you being brought to these places? 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:50.400 It's to bear witness before them. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:56.160 It's so that you might proclaim the Lordship of Christ in all of these places. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:58.799 And as you do it, you will face intense hostility. 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:04.640 Now the warning to be on your guard is not a warning of like, hey, be on your guard. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:05.839 Persecution is coming. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.599 If you're not looking out for it, you won't be able to avoid it. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:24.000 But if you are looking out for it, then you'll be able to figure ways, these clever ways, to avoid persecution while you're still holding fast to the gospel and to the proclamation of Jesus as Lord. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.400 It's not that type of be on guard. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:30.559 It's a type of be on guard where Jesus is saying, This is coming. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:34.000 Don't be surprised when it happens. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:56.880 When you face this intensity of opposition and persecution, then you should not think something has gone wrong, that Christ's power of the Holy Spirit has somehow become impotent, or that he's not effective, or he's not caring, or he's written us off in the world, and we're just we're written off and we are not his people, and he doesn't care for us anymore. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:00.240 No, don't be surprised like that, as though something were going wrong. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:09.519 Jesus is saying, these things will happen, and I'm telling you beforehand so that you will know that these are happening. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:21.519 And this is exactly what happens, as we see recorded through the book of Acts, that the apostles face this immediate and constant persecution. 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:27.359 And the shape of this persecution is really public. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:31.200 They'll deliver you over to councils. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:43.519 So they'll be brought before formal courts of their own people who will say to them that they are guilty of blasphemy in the same way that Jesus will be accused of blasphemy. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:21:00.799 They'll be beaten in synagogues, which means that their their church, you know, the place of their own gathering, that there will be informal mobs which will gather together to beat them because of their proclamation of Jesus as Lord. 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:07.759 That they will be dragged before governors and kings for the sake of the name of Jesus. 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:22.640 Now, the the disciples that Jesus is particularly speaking to in this context, he's not gathered with all twelve of his disciples, he's just gathered with four of them, and it's sort of a private conversation, this discourse. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:26.160 He's talking to Peter, James, John, and Andrew. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:30.880 Now, these are Galilean fishermen. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:42.000 These are not educated men, they are not powerful men, they have no social standing to speak of. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:54.960 Why would they be such a threat to these great powers that they would be beaten, that they would be dragged before formal courts? 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:59.759 Why would these men be pulled before? 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:05.599 Kings and governors to testify to Jesus. 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:10.799 It's it's a it they they must have been thinking like this is kind of absurd. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:14.720 Like I'm way in over my head here. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:42.079 Because we couldn't possibly be a threat to kings and governors, the establishment of the Roman Empire, and nor could we possibly be considered anything like a threat to the millennia-old movement of the Jewish people and what our own cultural self-identity is. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:46.720 And yet Jesus is explaining to them that's exactly what they will be. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:23:05.359 In Acts chapter 4, actually in Acts chapter 3, uh Peter and John are out walking and they see a lame beggar who asks for money, and they say, We don't have money for you, but uh we have Jesus and you can be healed, and they heal the beggar. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:13.680 And this is just what we see is that the ministry of Jesus after Jesus' resurrection has just continued. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:18.640 The very same ministry is happening through John and Peter. 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:26.400 And news of this beggar being healed and of him being healed in the name of Jesus Christ, it spreads throughout the whole area. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:33.839 Uh the man was more than 40 years old, everybody knew him and understood his infirmity, and now he's healed. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:41.119 And this causes a bit of a uh hub. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:24:07.200 And in the midst of this, he they are brought before the captain of the temple and the Sadducees, and they command Peter and John to they hear out Peter and John and they hear their testimony, and they said they could tell, they knew that these were just uneducated men, but they could tell by the way they spoke that they had been with Jesus. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:10.720 That's pretty good praise. 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:22.319 And after hearing their testimony, they say, Yeah, we can't uh imprison you for healing a man who is lame. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.599 There's no law against such a thing. 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:29.759 But you're no longer permitted to speak in the name of Jesus. 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:33.440 This the speaking in the name of Jesus business has to come to an end. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:35.599 It's causing too much controversy. 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:46.720 And it's turning uh upside down all of the ways that uh Rome had considered itself and all of the ways that the Jews had considered themselves, and it's too disruptive. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:48.799 So no more speaking in the name of Jesus. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:58.400 To which in Acts 4.19, but Peter and John answered them: whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you must judge. 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:02.480 Which I wanted to quote because it's just one of the coolest lines ever. 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:16.319 And these men are brought before these councils, and they bear witness to Jesus, and their message is unstoppable. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:38.480 This text and this particular warning of being beaten and being brought before kings and councils, and this uh uh almost word for word, what we see in Mark chapter 13, it is recorded in Matthew chapter 10. 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:56.079 And Jesus tells his disciples to this in Matthew chapter 10, this very same warning, before he sends them out uh two by two, it's a Bible thing, to preach, but just to the Israelites. 00:25:56.319 --> 00:26:05.440 At that time they're sent out to just preach to the nation of Israel and to tell them that the kingdom of God is near and repent. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:17.200 And in that initial missionary journey that's just to the Israelites, they are warned that they will face this very same sort of persecution. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:26.480 But this time, when Jesus offers them this same sort of warning for the second time, he adds this phrase in Mark 13, 10. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:31.680 He says, and the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:42.640 So that means this sort of missionary outreach that the disciples are being sent on this time is not just to the nation of Israel. 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:48.400 It's not just to the Jews, but it is an outreach to all nations. 00:26:49.359 --> 00:27:07.440 To this means that there's something coming, there's this new covenant that is on the horizon, which means that the offer of salvation, which has come from the Jews, will be an offer in Jesus Christ to all nations, to all peoples. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:15.039 So that the Gentiles will be offered the same good news that Jesus saves. 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:27.680 So the emphasis here this time is that the message that you're going out to share is not like the message that you had gone out to share before. 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:32.799 It's much more big, it's much more expansive. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:34.799 It's to all nations. 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:41.519 Now, the disciples, you know, their heads must have just been spinning. 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:43.920 Like, okay, I've got threats of being led astray. 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:48.079 We know that there's something like the end of the world coming with the destruction of the temple. 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:51.039 So we we're we're it's very disorienting. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:57.200 I'm not quite sure how to how to witness to this story, Jesus, that you're explaining to us. 00:27:57.440 --> 00:28:08.880 And you're saying that as we witness to it, we're going to be brought before kings and councils, we're going to be brought before the courts of our own people, we're going to be beaten in synagogues. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:17.599 And they would begin in their minds to probably ruminate on what these moments would be like that they've just been promised or coming. 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:30.400 And so the anxiety would just begin to build in their minds of like, okay, so so we're we're we're going to be persecuted by our own people in the synagogues. 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:40.960 Uh, but perhaps we could make like some sort of a deal with the with the Gentiles, because then there would be, oh, wait a minute, Jesus said we'd be brought before kings and governors for his name's sake. 00:28:41.039 --> 00:29:12.559 And they realize that the world that Jesus described them is a world where they are surrounded by hostility with no possibility of escape, and that in that place of intense pressure, they are being asked to bear witness, not just to their own people, but to all the nations, and that when they're brought before the kings and governors, they will be told to say things like, uh, Christ is Lord over you, highest power in the land. 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:21.519 Now that's a very vulnerable place and will be read by the Romans as an act of treason against Caesar. 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:33.200 And so that anxiety, you could imagine, it's it's uh uh must have been an almost unthinkably intense anxiety. 00:29:33.359 --> 00:30:10.880 You know when you have a hard conversation coming up and you're you're thinking through it over and over again, or you've got some issue with a family member or a friend or a coworker or a boss, and you're trying to figure out how how is it that we're gonna start going on a hunt for the magic sentence, and you'll you'll just be showering it, and then you'll you'll come up with the magic sentence in your mind, and then it and then you'll say it in a fake conversation in your own mind in the shower to this person, and then you'll look at their face as the light bulb goes off in their head, and you'll realize I got them. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:20.400 Because I figured out the perfect magic sentence to say because I was able to piece together the the whole of these complexities. 00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:22.799 Well, here's what Jesus says to that sort of rumination. 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:36.960 In Mark 13, 11, he says, and when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour. 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:41.039 For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 00:30:51.599 --> 00:31:14.480 Jesus is giving them these warnings so that when they face these difficulties, they can know this is not a surprise, this is not outside the providence of the Lord, in the depth of these complexities that I'm seeking to try and understand, or this desire in myself to try and piece it together and be able to hold it all together. 00:31:14.799 --> 00:31:16.079 I can't. 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:37.359 And so I'm not just gonna sit and be anxious beforehand and try and figure out my way through, where I can somehow take the hostility of these kings and governors, but say it in such a way where it will avoid their hostility and they will be able to receive it perfectly. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:41.920 No, they they would need to do no such rumination. 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:52.960 All that they need to remember is that in that hour, the Holy Spirit will be with them. 00:31:53.920 --> 00:31:57.200 And he will attend them perfectly. 00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:02.160 They don't even need to worry about what exactly the words that they will say. 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:15.039 And I I I love how just uh I love how how tangible it is about it's like we're talking about what you will say, because that's what we worry about in those situations. 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:17.839 What exactly are the words that I would say? 00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:20.720 And Jesus just goes right there for them. 00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:24.799 And he says, Don't be anxious about the words that you're gonna say. 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:28.480 And they should be thinking, what else could I be anxious about? 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:41.440 It's my words of witnessing to you that are going to result in me, I don't know if you remember what you just said, being beaten in synagogues, being called before counselors, being called before these kings and governors. 00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:46.000 This is all very scary stuff that you're saying is gonna be brought about because of my words. 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:47.920 Maybe I should try and figure those out. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:51.440 And Jesus, in the plainest terms, says, don't. 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:53.200 Don't. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:57.119 If you try and figure them out, you'll just spin yourself into this anxiety. 00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:09.119 What the way that you will be able to move through the intensity of the persecution that is coming your way is trust that the Holy Spirit will provide. 00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:15.839 He will be with you, He will care for you in the midst of it, He will equip you. 00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:22.000 It is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:23.440 What does that look like? 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:38.400 It doesn't look like, you know, they you they you know approach the bench and they're required to turn around and share their testimony, and then it's like they black out and then just say something. 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:41.839 And then they wake up on the other side of it and it was like, what did I just say? 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:45.200 And it's like it wasn't you, it was the Holy Spirit that spoke through you. 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:47.200 It's not like that, it's not the way the Holy Spirit works. 00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:57.279 The Holy Spirit does not uh come and and uh uh uh like destroy our humanity or our personality or who God made us to be. 00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:01.440 Uh the Holy Spirit comes and he enlivens those things. 00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:07.920 And he he makes you uh exactly who he's intended, who God intended you to be from the very beginning. 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:21.360 He works through the fullness of who you were were meant to be and and provides you with the skill and equipping to do that, and you you recognize that the Holy Spirit had been working and preparing you this whole time. 00:34:23.119 --> 00:34:37.039 And that that all of all of what he's been doing in you and doing through you, now in the moment where the Lord requires you to speak on his behalf, he provides exactly what he requires. 00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:51.199 One of the great insights of the Christian faith that you must grasp is that exactly what God requires of you, he freely provides to you. 00:34:52.719 --> 00:35:00.880 All that is needed to honor the Lord is freely given to you in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. 00:35:01.199 --> 00:35:07.039 And so they are told not to ruminate in this anxious way. 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:09.760 This is what's so strange about Christianity. 00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:18.400 Ordinarily, to relieve someone's anxiety, you would you would say something like, It's not gonna be that bad. 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:24.000 You know, nothing's ever really as bad as it seems, nothing's ever really as good as it seems. 00:35:24.159 --> 00:35:27.039 It's generally good, good, generally true. 00:35:27.199 --> 00:35:27.760 You know? 00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:31.760 Like about halfway through a day at Disney World, it's like I've got a really bad headache. 00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:33.119 Florida's so hot. 00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:35.519 You know, that one probably doesn't work here. 00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:37.679 I'm from Florida, and that one really works there. 00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:40.000 Lakeside. 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:44.239 I'm like, man, I'm exhausted. 00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:47.920 And this is very dangerous. 00:35:49.360 --> 00:35:51.360 Some, you know, it's not as good as you thought. 00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:54.480 It's more horrifying. 00:35:57.119 --> 00:36:01.840 But Jesus doesn't offer that's not the way that that Jesus is saying to not be anxious. 00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:03.679 He's not saying it's not gonna be that bad. 00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:07.840 You know, yeah, there's gonna be persecution, but I've been persecuted before, it's not so bad. 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:09.599 It's not that type of encouragement. 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:12.000 He's saying it's going to be very bad. 00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:14.239 It's going to be very hard. 00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:16.320 I'll be with you. 00:36:17.280 --> 00:36:18.639 I'll be with you. 00:36:19.599 --> 00:36:23.199 All that's required of you in this, I'll provide to you. 00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:26.719 I'll strengthen you by the power of my Holy Spirit. 00:36:26.800 --> 00:36:28.079 I'll I'll give it to you. 00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:33.920 All that I require of you in this, you will be equipped to face this hardship. 00:36:34.159 --> 00:36:47.199 I and then it what it prevents is like you're searching your own soul to figure like, okay, where am I going to pull the strength for this, for, for something that's that's crushing. 00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:52.719 And Jesus is saying, don't search your own soul. 00:36:53.760 --> 00:36:57.119 Don't even look, don't even, don't even ruminate there. 00:36:57.440 --> 00:36:58.400 Trust me. 00:37:00.320 --> 00:37:02.960 Say say things like, the Lord will be with me. 00:37:03.039 --> 00:37:04.719 That's that's why we'll make it through. 00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:09.679 The Lord is faithful, he'll provide me with the words. 00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:12.639 I'll only seek to honor him. 00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:24.639 Now, for those of you that are taking part in our Ephesians study, uh within the last month, I think, we went through Ephesians 2, depending on where the studies are. 00:37:25.519 --> 00:37:27.280 And so this should kind of sound familiar. 00:37:27.360 --> 00:37:39.840 In Ephesians 2.10, Paul writes, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 00:37:40.719 --> 00:37:50.400 All that he is requiring of the apostles to walk in, these are good works that God has already prepared for these apostles to walk in. 00:37:50.639 --> 00:37:53.039 And they are like a hand in glove. 00:37:54.159 --> 00:37:59.119 You were made for the challenges that the Lord brings you to. 00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:20.320 And when you face opposition, persecution, when you face situations that seem like the end of the world with levels of confusion where you you literally can't, you can't find the sentence that would make it go away, or the magic phrase that would finally make it connect with this person, or whatever it may be. 00:38:21.840 --> 00:38:32.559 That you can know that even in the midst of that, you need not worry, you need not be anxious, that this is a good work which has been prepared in advance beforehand for you to walk in. 00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:41.119 It's been prepared for you as a good father prepares for his children, and it's tailor-made for them. 00:38:42.239 --> 00:38:56.400 You know when you take your, you know, like teaching your kids how to ski, and you know that they can go down a run that they don't know that they can go down, and you take them there, it's just a little bit a little bit beyond what they've done before. 00:38:56.639 --> 00:38:59.360 But you know for them this is perfect for you. 00:38:59.760 --> 00:39:02.239 You you are sufficient for this. 00:39:02.320 --> 00:39:04.480 And they might not know it for themselves. 00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:08.000 That's the way our Father takes care of us. 00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:16.320 Now it's more than that because he's not bringing you up against just things that are just a little bit beyond what you're able to handle. 00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:23.440 Oftentimes it is, but sometimes he brings you up against things that are that are just reveal absolutely you can't figure this out. 00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:28.159 And here's the good news Jesus loves to save us. 00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:35.599 He loves to provide us exactly what we need in the midst of situations that you can't reason your way out of. 00:39:35.840 --> 00:39:37.440 You can trust that he will. 00:39:40.800 --> 00:39:45.920 Jesus, the New Testament loves to tell you to not be anxious. 00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:53.440 In Matthew 6, 25, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. 00:39:53.679 --> 00:39:57.440 What you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body what you will put on. 00:39:57.599 --> 00:40:00.719 Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. 00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:09.599 Because the the witness that the apostles are being called to, it will definitely be materially costly. 00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:17.519 In Philippians 4, 6 through 7, Jesus uh Paul writes, do not be anxious about anything. 00:40:17.840 --> 00:40:19.840 That's very comprehensive. 00:40:21.519 --> 00:40:31.679 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 00:40:32.719 --> 00:40:39.760 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 00:40:40.960 --> 00:40:45.760 Holy Father, I've got this difficult conversation coming up. 00:40:46.559 --> 00:40:52.880 I'm being pulled before kings and councils, people that have great authority over my life or could cause great harm in my life. 00:40:53.599 --> 00:40:57.119 I don't know exactly what I need to say in this. 00:40:57.519 --> 00:41:00.880 I have a sense, but I'm not sure exactly what it is. 00:41:01.360 --> 00:41:03.519 Lord, would you give me the words? 00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:07.519 In that hour, would you make me sufficient for what you've called me to? 00:41:07.760 --> 00:41:09.679 Will you provide in that hour? 00:41:10.239 --> 00:41:12.079 Holy Father, I know you love me. 00:41:12.239 --> 00:41:15.039 You've already given your own son, you will not abandon me. 00:41:15.360 --> 00:41:18.079 Pray that you would hear this prayer in Jesus' name. 00:41:18.320 --> 00:41:18.880 Amen. 00:41:19.119 --> 00:41:21.280 And you just go on with your day. 00:41:22.079 --> 00:41:25.039 And you go do the rest of the stuff that you need to do. 00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:29.599 That was an example of how you might pray. 00:41:30.159 --> 00:41:31.760 And you say, you know what? 00:41:31.840 --> 00:41:35.519 The Lord has given me peace with this. 00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:40.000 And I'm thankful that he's promised to always be with me. 00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:52.639 I can't imagine going through a circumstance like this without the promise that the God who hung the stars and who gave us all breath and who is in control of all things, what would it be like to go through a situation like this without that? 00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:54.000 But I have that. 00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:56.960 So he will see me through. 00:41:57.280 --> 00:41:58.239 It will be hard. 00:41:58.400 --> 00:42:03.280 He promises that these things will be hard, but the Lord will be with me and he will see me through. 00:42:04.239 --> 00:42:16.880 1 Peter 5, 7 says, Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. 00:42:18.239 --> 00:42:20.400 The Lord cares for you. 00:42:21.119 --> 00:42:23.599 So you can cast your anxieties on him. 00:42:24.719 --> 00:42:26.719 Because he cares for you. 00:42:27.199 --> 00:42:33.280 Casting your anxieties on God is a way of treating God like He cares for you. 00:42:34.800 --> 00:42:37.360 And he has told you that he does. 00:42:38.480 --> 00:42:45.199 He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? 00:42:45.440 --> 00:42:49.360 Would you wonder at the love of God towards you, at the care that he has shown towards you? 00:42:49.519 --> 00:42:51.039 He didn't spare his own son. 00:42:51.280 --> 00:42:53.360 He's already done the hardest thing. 00:42:53.679 --> 00:42:59.679 This conflict with your boss or your brother or sister, he can probably handle. 00:43:00.639 --> 00:43:02.880 And he'll bring you through. 00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:08.320 And exactly what he requires of you in that, he will give to you. 00:43:09.199 --> 00:43:10.239 And you can trust him. 00:43:10.400 --> 00:43:12.000 He will not abandon you. 00:43:13.119 --> 00:43:20.800 2 Timothy 1.7, it says, For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. 00:43:21.760 --> 00:43:24.000 This is the spirit that you've been given. 00:43:24.239 --> 00:43:25.199 Not of fear. 00:43:25.599 --> 00:43:27.519 You don't need to be afraid. 00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:31.599 You don't need to be afraid. 00:43:33.920 --> 00:43:35.519 Don't be afraid. 00:43:45.760 --> 00:43:48.800 The spirit of God has been given to you. 00:43:49.199 --> 00:43:51.119 He's given you a spirit of love. 00:43:52.239 --> 00:43:54.719 How would I enter this situation in love? 00:43:55.199 --> 00:43:58.800 What if I considered this not strategically but lovingly? 00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:02.719 What if I lose it in the midst of this conversation? 00:44:02.880 --> 00:44:05.119 Well, he's given me a spirit of self-control. 00:44:06.159 --> 00:44:08.320 I'll trust that he will provide it. 00:44:10.159 --> 00:44:12.159 That is the way that the Lord has. 00:44:13.119 --> 00:44:18.719 This is the way that God encourages his disciples for what they are headed towards. 00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:24.800 I wanted to just give you a bunch of peace verses. 00:44:25.920 --> 00:44:31.840 Anxiety is not just a we think of anxiety as like something that just takes place in your own head. 00:44:32.559 --> 00:44:34.400 It does take place there. 00:44:34.800 --> 00:44:36.639 But it's also a mood. 00:44:37.599 --> 00:44:44.320 It is the mood of all living outside of the kingdom of God. 00:44:45.840 --> 00:44:53.840 But as Christians, the mood that we live in, and it this is why it's it's it's it surpasses understanding. 00:44:54.880 --> 00:45:05.679 Because you can't say you can't just explain like, I'm not anxious because you know the the polling shows that it's gonna be fine. 00:45:06.239 --> 00:45:10.000 Because then somebody else can show up and be like, the polling's been wrong before. 00:45:10.800 --> 00:45:17.920 I'm not anxious because things like this typically work out, and you know, yeah, but you know, a lot of times they don't. 00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:23.519 And that person's the that person, anxious mood person, is right. 00:45:24.079 --> 00:45:25.599 You know, they're right. 00:45:25.840 --> 00:45:30.480