March 8, 2025 • 26 mins
Today on Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe, you’ll be learning how to prepare for the End Times. From the book of Matthew, chapters 24 and 25, Mark will be sharing the good news and the bad news. This is a continuation from last week’s message, so if you missed it you can go back and listen to Part 1 of the message first.
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S1 (00:00):
Today on Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe, we're learning
how we can prepare for the end times.
S2 (00:06):
The day will come where you will have to tell
between the true and the counterfeit. And unless you're grounded
in the Word of God, you will not be able
to tell the difference between what is real and what
is false, what is deceptive, and what is authentic, and
many will fall away. The Word of God. Know the word.
Be grounded in your foundation.
S1 (00:39):
Welcome to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Mark is
president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New
Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today, as
we proceed on our series about the end times, Mark
will be taking us to the Book of Matthew, chapters
24 and 25, to give us the good news and
the bad. Mark started this message last weekend. So if
(01:01):
you missed the exciting open or if you'd like to
hear the complete message, listen online at Bold steps.org. The
message is titled how close are we? And it starts
right now.
S2 (01:13):
The temple in those days was a magnificent structure. It
was a wonder of the world. People would come and
be flabbergasted at the magnificence, the beauty, the architecture, the
enormity of these buildings. The temple itself was between 10
to 16 stories high, gold plated on the outside, so
(01:36):
that when the sun shined on the building, it was
almost like you had to cover your eyes because of
the the reflection of the sun on the gold exterior
of the building. So the disciples were amazed at the
beauty of this temple. And yet Jesus said, not a
stone of this temple will remain upon stone. This will
(01:59):
be utterly destroyed when they said, when will this happen?
Jesus had already seen it in the future. In fact,
40 years after the death of Jesus, 40 years in
70 A.D., there was a rebellion that came in the
in Jerusalem by the Jews against the Romans. Rome had
(02:21):
occupied Jerusalem. And to squelch the rebellion, the Roman armies
marched on Jerusalem and destroyed the entire city, um, burning, ransacking,
killing thousands upon thousands of people in Jerusalem. And when
they came to the temple, they set the temple on fire.
As the temple was burning, the gold that was on
(02:44):
the roof and the gold that had been plated on
the walls began to melt, and it melted in the
crevices of the rock. So the Romans, in order to
get every single piece of gold they destroyed rock by rock,
the temple so they could get the melted gold within
the crevices of the rock. So every one of the
(03:05):
rocks was torn down and the prophecy of Jesus was
fulfilled 40 years after his death. This is a historic
fact collaborated by many historians. In fact, I've been to
a place called Masada in Jerusalem, where the rebels ran
(03:28):
to a thousand of the rebels, ran to after the massacre,
and hid in this fortified place called Masada. The Romans
surrounded this place called Masada, which was like a fortress,
and for three years tried to get the rebels out
of this place. Finally, when they were breaching the wall,
960 of them committed suicide because they'd rather die than
(03:51):
fall into the hands of the Romans. The disciples had
no idea that their temple would be destroyed. But Jesus,
being the Son of Man seen in and prophetically he
saw a vision of Jerusalem being destroyed. And when Jesus
came into Jerusalem, he wept not just because of the
condition of people's souls, but because he saw that in
40 years from then, the entire city would be destroyed.
(04:15):
When Jesus is answering, when will these things happen? He
was talking about when Jerusalem would be destroyed, but he's
also talking about when the end of humanity will come
to be. And so I want you to keep that
in mind as you look at the answers given in
Matthew chapter 24 and Matthew chapter 25. So Jesus is answering,
(04:39):
when will this happen and what will be the sign
of its coming? So I want to give you the
bad news and the good news. I don't know about you,
but sometimes I'd rather hear the bad news first, so
I could be encouraged by the good news later. How
about it? I'm going to give you the bad news first.
Are you ready? Bad news. So, as Jesus describes what
(04:59):
the end will look like. He gives us a description,
and there's four primary descriptions of the end times. And
it's pretty much bad news. Number one, he says there
will be an increase in people being deceived. Look at
what Jesus says in verse four. Jesus answered when they said, what?
(05:22):
What will be a sign of the end times? And
when will this happen? Jesus says, watch out that no
one deceives you. For many will come in my name,
claiming I am the Messiah, and will be deceived by many.
So the first thing that Jesus says is that one
(05:43):
of the characteristics of the end times is that they
will be many people that will fall away from the faith,
deceived because they're not grounded. They can't tell the counterfeit
from the real. They can't tell the truth from the false.
They can't tell that which has contained truth, but is
(06:03):
primarily a lie from the authentic truth. Uh, in Second Timothy,
the Apostle Paul also talking about the end times in
Second Timothy chapter four, verse three through four says, for
the time will come. Talking about the end times, when
men will not put up with sound doctrine, instead, to
(06:25):
suit their own desires, they will gather around them a
great number of teachers to say what their itching ears
want to hear. They will turn their ears away from
the truth and turn aside to myths. Over and over
in Scripture, it tells us that in the end times,
there will be many people that will be led astray.
Many people that will fall away from Christianity. Many people
(06:49):
that will be deceived by false teaching. Let me tell
you this. We in America, in the United States of America.
Christianity is by and large suffering a bleeding of sorts,
(07:10):
because many people that were born in traditional Christian homes
have never truly been grounded in their faith, and many
of them are falling away and not continuing on in
the faith of their parents because they have not been
grounded in the truth of Christianity. By and large, there's
(07:31):
swaths of our world. If you go to Europe now,
a lot of the continent of Europe is considered post-Christian.
It was a nation at one time where the churches
were filled. It was considered the cradle of Christianity, where
the great majority of the population were believers. Now in Europe,
(07:54):
including the town where I grew up in Burgos, there's
a beautiful Gothic cathedral that took 400 years to build.
It's in the center of the city. It's beautiful, ornate.
But now it's a museum, not a church. There are
churches in the UK that are turned into rock climbing
courses or pubs. The massive buildings that once were there
(08:19):
now are empty buildings. A testimony to a Christianity that
once was flourishing, but a population that is veered away
from their roots and left their Christian heritage behind. The
the the percentage of people that go to church in
Europe under the Christian flag is a small, small percentage
(08:43):
of the population. Because Europe has become, by and large,
a post-Christian nation. The United States of America is not
far behind. We're tracking on course. Our society is becoming
more secular. Many of the people that at one time
(09:05):
people were expected that you move into a neighborhood, you
find a Christian church and you go to that church.
By and large, a huge percentage of our population in
North America does not go to church anymore. Um, the
20 somethings of our generation are being lost. Many of
them do not believe in organized religion. Many of them
no longer go to church anymore. There are there are
(09:28):
entire segments of our population that are falling away from
Christianity and oftentimes embracing other isms, relativism. My truth is,
whatever I make it. Hedonism, whatever makes me happy is
what I pursue. And so I pursue the pursuit of happiness. Pluralism.
(09:49):
Every road leads to the same place. Doesn't matter if
you believe in a tree, if you believe in Buddha,
if you believe in Hindu, if you believe in Muhammad,
we all end up in the same place. That's pluralism.
All religions are the same. Paganism. A sense of a
sense of pursuing other gods. Secularism. Science is chief humanism.
(10:14):
All humanity is good and there's really no need for God.
There's a lot of isms that have led us astray,
deceived us away from the course of Christianity, and we
are fighting for the soul of our nation when it
comes to Christianity. Should that surprise us? No. Jesus predicted
that the closer we get to the end times, the
(10:36):
more we will see a massive falling away of people
that claim to be Christians, but will be deceived by
a lack of teaching, a lack of grounding, a lack
of faith, a lack of passion, a lack of knowledge
of the word. Let me tell you something. If I
could reiterate something, listen to me. You need to know
(10:58):
your Bible. You need to study, read. Be grounded. Understand
the truth, pastor. No, I'd just like to come and
listen to you. Now. That's not good enough. One of
these days, I'll be dead and gone. I can still
(11:18):
listen to your podcast. No, no, no, not good enough.
You need to know the truth. You need to know
the word. You need to study. Because the day will come.
Where you will have to tell. Between the true and
the counterfeit. And unless you're grounded in the Word of God,
you will not be able to tell the difference between
what is real and what is false, what is deceptive,
(11:41):
and what is authentic. And many will fall away. The
Word of God. No, the word be grounded in your foundation.
S1 (11:55):
You're listening to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe, who
will continue his lesson in just a moment. If you
haven't been to our website yet, we really encourage you
to visit and see all the faith building resources, opportunities,
and sermon series we have available. Just go to Bold Steps.
Org be sure to catch up on any messages you
might have missed here on the radio. You can even
(12:15):
have these daily lessons downloaded automatically to your phone or
mobile device by subscribing to the Bold Steps Weekend Podcast.
Open up your podcast app and search for Bold Steps
Weekend with doctor Mark Jobe. And if you'd like to
get even more connected with us, and perhaps tell us
a little about your testimony, and maybe how Bold Steps
has played a part in your spiritual growth, we'd love
(12:35):
to hear from you. You can send us a message
online at Bold Steps. Org or give us a call
and leave your message on a recorded line by dialing (312) 329-2011.
That's 312329 2011. All right, let's get back to our
message now. Here's Mark Jobe.
S2 (13:03):
Secondly, Jesus says, not only will many people fall away,
but Jesus also says this is a bad news. There
will be an increase in catastrophic events, both natural and
man made. In verse six, Jesus says, you will hear
of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it
(13:25):
that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but
the end is still to come. Nation will rise against
nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and
earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of
birth pains. In other words, what Jesus was saying is
(13:48):
just because there's wars and rumors of wars, because there's
earthquakes and famines and natural disasters, don't be alarmed because
it's like, well, how many of you ladies have had
babies in this place. All right. Do you remember Braxton Hicks?
What that means? Those are false birth pains that you
start feeling them, and they say, no, no, no, no.
(14:11):
I've had three. I mean, my wife has had three.
I felt her pain. Really? Not as much as she
felt it, but I felt it vicariously. And it was
always difficult to figure out when should we go to
the hospital? And they say, well, time it. You know,
if you're new, as soon as you feel the pain,
(14:32):
you say, I got to go, I got to go.
And then you go and you're three days in the
hospital because they say you're not ready. Because the beginning
of birth pain doesn't mean that you're going to have
a baby right away. How many of you mothers discovered that? Yeah.
Just because you have pains, it means that. Well, the
baby's coming. It's the beginning of the end. But the
end could be 32 hours later. And so just because
(14:56):
you're starting to have pain doesn't mean the end is there.
And Jesus is saying just because there's rumors of wars
and earthquakes doesn't mean it's the end of the world.
It just means that there are, well, there contractions that
are pushing towards the end. I'm not a geologist. I'm
not a scientist. I'm not a historian. But I read
(15:19):
recently something interesting concerning concerning earthquakes. I read that someone
that tracks earthquakes and seismic movements in the earth. They
discovered that earthquakes have increased in frequency and destructiveness during
(15:39):
the 20th century. For example, between 1890 to 1950, there
were an average of 2 to 4 devastating earthquakes every
year in the world. In the decade of the 50s,
there were nine. In the 60s There were 13. During
(16:02):
the 70s there were 51. During the 80s there were 86.
Between 1990 to 1996 there were more than 115 damaging
earthquakes recorded. And I read another geologist that said be.
Between 2000 and 2009, the planet averaged 160 earthquakes per year.
(16:28):
That is a 38% increase over the recent years. Interesting.
It feels like it. But I'm not a geologist. I
tell you what. I don't know about you, but it
seems like there's so many wars going on I can't
even keep track of who's fighting with who these days.
(16:49):
This country is fighting against that country and threatening that country.
And people in Syria are being knocked out and going
to Europe. And and some Middle Eastern countries are warring
and someone's against this, and this country's invading that country.
It's like, whoa. I can't even keep it straight. Who's
fighting against who? In fact, it seems like there's a
(17:11):
escalation that's happening in the violence, the natural disasters that
are happening and the wars that are beginning to happen.
Jesus said that in the end time, there will be
an escalation, an acceleration of some of the natural catastrophes
and some of the man made catastrophes that will be
experiencing on the face of this earth. This is not
(17:34):
something to be alarmed about, afraid about. It's something that
Jesus says will naturally begin to happen as we get
closer and closer to the end of times. Number three,
I'm talking about the bad news. Some of you saying, pastor,
you're scaring me already. Okay. Come on, I'm still there.
There will be an increase in persecution of Christians. Verse
(17:58):
nine says, then you will be handed over to be
persecuted and to be put to death, and you will
be hated by all nations because of me. At that time,
many will turn away from the faith and will betray
and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear
and deceive many. Whoa! We live in North America, in
(18:27):
which we've experienced some of the longest periods of safety
and peace than any country in the world. But. But
look at me. Look up at me, because this is
really important for you to understand. We are the abnormality,
not the normality. We live in safety that's abnormal to
(18:51):
the rest of the world. But as I speak right now, today,
we are living in the most violent times against Christianity
than any history before us. We are experiencing more martyrs,
more persecution, more torture, violence, rape against Christian than practically
(19:12):
any generation that has come before us. In fact, I
read some of the stats on the violence against Christians.
And on average, every month on average, there are 322
Christians that are killed for their faith. On average, every
(19:33):
month 322. Every month, on average, there are 214 churches
and Christian properties that are destroyed every month. In other words,
violent groups come and they torch a church, burn it down,
(19:53):
ransack it, tear it apart because of their anger and
hatred towards Christianity. On average, I'm talking about today, not
100 years ago. On average today there are 772 forms
of violence are committed against Christian people in a month.
(20:13):
Every day. We live in a accelerating time of violence
against Christians. In fact, in an article of Christianity Today,
during the last two years, there have been reports of
terrorist attacks against Christians that have steadily emerged in the world.
(20:33):
For example, seven Egyptians were executed in Benghazi beach last year,
165 Christian girls were kidnapped from a Christian school by
a group called Boko Haram, and 21 Coptic Christians were
beheaded near the Mediterranean Sea, among other incidents, just in 2014.
(20:57):
We have seen that same escalation began to happen in 2015.
Groups like ISIS, for example, have forcibly displaced hundreds of
thousands of people, conducted mass executions and kidnapped, sold, enslaved, raped,
and forcibly converted thousands of women and children, all on
(21:18):
the ground that these people stand in opposition to their
religious dogma. We are living in a season of unprecedented
persecution against Christians at a massive scale. The news does
not report it often because they treat violence in the
Middle East and in other countries, much like they treat
(21:41):
murderers in some of the neighborhoods in Chicago. Oh, just
another gang banger that got killed. It's a blip on
the news because they just assume, well, there's a lot
of violence in that area. But hey, since when did
it become just another gang banger? That's a son or
daughter that we love and raise and believe. It's a
(22:02):
kid with a name. The Middle East and some of
these countries in Africa and other places seem so far
away that they seem so to not touch your existence
and my existence. But I want to tell you something.
Those men and women, those girls that have been raped,
(22:23):
forcibly converted, those pastors that are being executed, put in jail,
they are not just a victim of a undeveloped country.
They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We live
in a shielded society, in a society that by and large,
we are not seen what's happening in other parts of
(22:44):
the world. But Jesus predicted that in the end times,
the aggressive violence against Christians would begin to escalate. In fact,
he predicted that many would be persecuted and that many
will turn away from the faith and will betray and
hate one another. Because let me tell you what happens
when persecution starts up, when you have to pay a
(23:06):
high price. Those that are truly authentic believers step up
to the plate and say, I will not deny my Savior.
Those that are just culturally Christians run away as quickly
as they can because they don't want to pay a price.
S1 (23:28):
You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe on
Bold Steps weekend. Now stay with us, Mark. This is
part two of the message today. But next weekend, part three.
And there's some good news coming.
S3 (23:39):
Yeah. You know, people get concerned when we talk about
the end times. And it is it can shake us
when we think about the end times. But the great
news is this is that God has given us all
that we need to prepare. And God does have a plan.
And that plan involves salvation of many people and the
(24:00):
power to sustain his people during this time.
S1 (24:02):
He's not willing that any should perish. Thank you Mark. Well,
you know, it's fair to say the past few years
have been somewhat unpredictable and filled with lots of change.
The world we live in today looks much different than
it did even just a few decades ago. And sometimes
it feels like everything we knew about leadership and ministry
no longer applies. That's why the book A Non-anxious presence
(24:24):
is such a timely resource. Author Mark Sayers helps us
understand how to lead effectively in a world where the
old rules no longer work. He explains how periods of
disruption often prepare the way for spiritual breakthrough, and shows
us how to spot signs of renewal even in the
midst of turmoil. Request this bold step gift today and
(24:46):
discover a fresh approach to leadership in changing times. We'll
send you a copy of this relevant book. When you
give a donation of any amount, call 800 D.L. Moody.
That's 803 566639 or give online at bold steps. Org
and you can also send your gift through the mail.
Write to us at bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago,
(25:10):
Illinois 606 ten. And real quick, before we close, I
want to invite you to download the new Bold Steps app,
now available in your App store. We've got a range
of interesting videos and insightful teaching series available for you there,
so be sure to download and check out this Bold
Steps app today. I'm Wayne Shepherd inviting you to join
(25:30):
us next weekend when Mark concludes this message titled How
Close are We? We'll be looking at the fourth sign
of the time, along with the good news that's coming.
It's a message from our series Beyond Now, and you'll
hear it next time right here on Bold Steps Weekend
with Mark Jones. Bold Steps Weekend is a production of
(25:51):
Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Today on Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe, we're learning
how we can prepare for the end times.
S2 (00:06):
The day will come where you will have to tell
between the true and the counterfeit. And unless you're grounded
in the Word of God, you will not be able
to tell the difference between what is real and what
is false, what is deceptive, and what is authentic, and
many will fall away. The Word of God. Know the word.
Be grounded in your foundation.
S1 (00:39):
Welcome to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe. Mark is
president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New
Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today, as
we proceed on our series about the end times, Mark
will be taking us to the Book of Matthew, chapters
24 and 25, to give us the good news and
the bad. Mark started this message last weekend. So if
(01:01):
you missed the exciting open or if you'd like to
hear the complete message, listen online at Bold steps.org. The
message is titled how close are we? And it starts
right now.
S2 (01:13):
The temple in those days was a magnificent structure. It
was a wonder of the world. People would come and
be flabbergasted at the magnificence, the beauty, the architecture, the
enormity of these buildings. The temple itself was between 10
to 16 stories high, gold plated on the outside, so
(01:36):
that when the sun shined on the building, it was
almost like you had to cover your eyes because of
the the reflection of the sun on the gold exterior
of the building. So the disciples were amazed at the
beauty of this temple. And yet Jesus said, not a
stone of this temple will remain upon stone. This will
(01:59):
be utterly destroyed when they said, when will this happen?
Jesus had already seen it in the future. In fact,
40 years after the death of Jesus, 40 years in
70 A.D., there was a rebellion that came in the
in Jerusalem by the Jews against the Romans. Rome had
(02:21):
occupied Jerusalem. And to squelch the rebellion, the Roman armies
marched on Jerusalem and destroyed the entire city, um, burning, ransacking,
killing thousands upon thousands of people in Jerusalem. And when
they came to the temple, they set the temple on fire.
As the temple was burning, the gold that was on
(02:44):
the roof and the gold that had been plated on
the walls began to melt, and it melted in the
crevices of the rock. So the Romans, in order to
get every single piece of gold they destroyed rock by rock,
the temple so they could get the melted gold within
the crevices of the rock. So every one of the
(03:05):
rocks was torn down and the prophecy of Jesus was
fulfilled 40 years after his death. This is a historic
fact collaborated by many historians. In fact, I've been to
a place called Masada in Jerusalem, where the rebels ran
(03:28):
to a thousand of the rebels, ran to after the massacre,
and hid in this fortified place called Masada. The Romans
surrounded this place called Masada, which was like a fortress,
and for three years tried to get the rebels out
of this place. Finally, when they were breaching the wall,
960 of them committed suicide because they'd rather die than
(03:51):
fall into the hands of the Romans. The disciples had
no idea that their temple would be destroyed. But Jesus,
being the Son of Man seen in and prophetically he
saw a vision of Jerusalem being destroyed. And when Jesus
came into Jerusalem, he wept not just because of the
condition of people's souls, but because he saw that in
40 years from then, the entire city would be destroyed.
(04:15):
When Jesus is answering, when will these things happen? He
was talking about when Jerusalem would be destroyed, but he's
also talking about when the end of humanity will come
to be. And so I want you to keep that
in mind as you look at the answers given in
Matthew chapter 24 and Matthew chapter 25. So Jesus is answering,
(04:39):
when will this happen and what will be the sign
of its coming? So I want to give you the
bad news and the good news. I don't know about you,
but sometimes I'd rather hear the bad news first, so
I could be encouraged by the good news later. How
about it? I'm going to give you the bad news first.
Are you ready? Bad news. So, as Jesus describes what
(04:59):
the end will look like. He gives us a description,
and there's four primary descriptions of the end times. And
it's pretty much bad news. Number one, he says there
will be an increase in people being deceived. Look at
what Jesus says in verse four. Jesus answered when they said, what?
(05:22):
What will be a sign of the end times? And
when will this happen? Jesus says, watch out that no
one deceives you. For many will come in my name,
claiming I am the Messiah, and will be deceived by many.
So the first thing that Jesus says is that one
(05:43):
of the characteristics of the end times is that they
will be many people that will fall away from the faith,
deceived because they're not grounded. They can't tell the counterfeit
from the real. They can't tell the truth from the false.
They can't tell that which has contained truth, but is
(06:03):
primarily a lie from the authentic truth. Uh, in Second Timothy,
the Apostle Paul also talking about the end times in
Second Timothy chapter four, verse three through four says, for
the time will come. Talking about the end times, when
men will not put up with sound doctrine, instead, to
(06:25):
suit their own desires, they will gather around them a
great number of teachers to say what their itching ears
want to hear. They will turn their ears away from
the truth and turn aside to myths. Over and over
in Scripture, it tells us that in the end times,
there will be many people that will be led astray.
Many people that will fall away from Christianity. Many people
(06:49):
that will be deceived by false teaching. Let me tell
you this. We in America, in the United States of America.
Christianity is by and large suffering a bleeding of sorts,
(07:10):
because many people that were born in traditional Christian homes
have never truly been grounded in their faith, and many
of them are falling away and not continuing on in
the faith of their parents because they have not been
grounded in the truth of Christianity. By and large, there's
(07:31):
swaths of our world. If you go to Europe now,
a lot of the continent of Europe is considered post-Christian.
It was a nation at one time where the churches
were filled. It was considered the cradle of Christianity, where
the great majority of the population were believers. Now in Europe,
(07:54):
including the town where I grew up in Burgos, there's
a beautiful Gothic cathedral that took 400 years to build.
It's in the center of the city. It's beautiful, ornate.
But now it's a museum, not a church. There are
churches in the UK that are turned into rock climbing
courses or pubs. The massive buildings that once were there
(08:19):
now are empty buildings. A testimony to a Christianity that
once was flourishing, but a population that is veered away
from their roots and left their Christian heritage behind. The
the the percentage of people that go to church in
Europe under the Christian flag is a small, small percentage
(08:43):
of the population. Because Europe has become, by and large,
a post-Christian nation. The United States of America is not
far behind. We're tracking on course. Our society is becoming
more secular. Many of the people that at one time
(09:05):
people were expected that you move into a neighborhood, you
find a Christian church and you go to that church.
By and large, a huge percentage of our population in
North America does not go to church anymore. Um, the
20 somethings of our generation are being lost. Many of
them do not believe in organized religion. Many of them
no longer go to church anymore. There are there are
(09:28):
entire segments of our population that are falling away from
Christianity and oftentimes embracing other isms, relativism. My truth is,
whatever I make it. Hedonism, whatever makes me happy is
what I pursue. And so I pursue the pursuit of happiness. Pluralism.
(09:49):
Every road leads to the same place. Doesn't matter if
you believe in a tree, if you believe in Buddha,
if you believe in Hindu, if you believe in Muhammad,
we all end up in the same place. That's pluralism.
All religions are the same. Paganism. A sense of a
sense of pursuing other gods. Secularism. Science is chief humanism.
(10:14):
All humanity is good and there's really no need for God.
There's a lot of isms that have led us astray,
deceived us away from the course of Christianity, and we
are fighting for the soul of our nation when it
comes to Christianity. Should that surprise us? No. Jesus predicted
that the closer we get to the end times, the
(10:36):
more we will see a massive falling away of people
that claim to be Christians, but will be deceived by
a lack of teaching, a lack of grounding, a lack
of faith, a lack of passion, a lack of knowledge
of the word. Let me tell you something. If I
could reiterate something, listen to me. You need to know
(10:58):
your Bible. You need to study, read. Be grounded. Understand
the truth, pastor. No, I'd just like to come and
listen to you. Now. That's not good enough. One of
these days, I'll be dead and gone. I can still
(11:18):
listen to your podcast. No, no, no, not good enough.
You need to know the truth. You need to know
the word. You need to study. Because the day will come.
Where you will have to tell. Between the true and
the counterfeit. And unless you're grounded in the Word of God,
you will not be able to tell the difference between
what is real and what is false, what is deceptive,
(11:41):
and what is authentic. And many will fall away. The
Word of God. No, the word be grounded in your foundation.
S1 (11:55):
You're listening to Bold Steps Weekend with Mark Jobe, who
will continue his lesson in just a moment. If you
haven't been to our website yet, we really encourage you
to visit and see all the faith building resources, opportunities,
and sermon series we have available. Just go to Bold Steps.
Org be sure to catch up on any messages you
might have missed here on the radio. You can even
(12:15):
have these daily lessons downloaded automatically to your phone or
mobile device by subscribing to the Bold Steps Weekend Podcast.
Open up your podcast app and search for Bold Steps
Weekend with doctor Mark Jobe. And if you'd like to
get even more connected with us, and perhaps tell us
a little about your testimony, and maybe how Bold Steps
has played a part in your spiritual growth, we'd love
(12:35):
to hear from you. You can send us a message
online at Bold Steps. Org or give us a call
and leave your message on a recorded line by dialing (312) 329-2011.
That's 312329 2011. All right, let's get back to our
message now. Here's Mark Jobe.
S2 (13:03):
Secondly, Jesus says, not only will many people fall away,
but Jesus also says this is a bad news. There
will be an increase in catastrophic events, both natural and
man made. In verse six, Jesus says, you will hear
of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it
(13:25):
that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but
the end is still to come. Nation will rise against
nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and
earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of
birth pains. In other words, what Jesus was saying is
(13:48):
just because there's wars and rumors of wars, because there's
earthquakes and famines and natural disasters, don't be alarmed because
it's like, well, how many of you ladies have had
babies in this place. All right. Do you remember Braxton Hicks?
What that means? Those are false birth pains that you
start feeling them, and they say, no, no, no, no.
(14:11):
I've had three. I mean, my wife has had three.
I felt her pain. Really? Not as much as she
felt it, but I felt it vicariously. And it was
always difficult to figure out when should we go to
the hospital? And they say, well, time it. You know,
if you're new, as soon as you feel the pain,
(14:32):
you say, I got to go, I got to go.
And then you go and you're three days in the
hospital because they say you're not ready. Because the beginning
of birth pain doesn't mean that you're going to have
a baby right away. How many of you mothers discovered that? Yeah.
Just because you have pains, it means that. Well, the
baby's coming. It's the beginning of the end. But the
end could be 32 hours later. And so just because
(14:56):
you're starting to have pain doesn't mean the end is there.
And Jesus is saying just because there's rumors of wars
and earthquakes doesn't mean it's the end of the world.
It just means that there are, well, there contractions that
are pushing towards the end. I'm not a geologist. I'm
not a scientist. I'm not a historian. But I read
(15:19):
recently something interesting concerning concerning earthquakes. I read that someone
that tracks earthquakes and seismic movements in the earth. They
discovered that earthquakes have increased in frequency and destructiveness during
(15:39):
the 20th century. For example, between 1890 to 1950, there
were an average of 2 to 4 devastating earthquakes every
year in the world. In the decade of the 50s,
there were nine. In the 60s There were 13. During
(16:02):
the 70s there were 51. During the 80s there were 86.
Between 1990 to 1996 there were more than 115 damaging
earthquakes recorded. And I read another geologist that said be.
Between 2000 and 2009, the planet averaged 160 earthquakes per year.
(16:28):
That is a 38% increase over the recent years. Interesting.
It feels like it. But I'm not a geologist. I
tell you what. I don't know about you, but it
seems like there's so many wars going on I can't
even keep track of who's fighting with who these days.
(16:49):
This country is fighting against that country and threatening that country.
And people in Syria are being knocked out and going
to Europe. And and some Middle Eastern countries are warring
and someone's against this, and this country's invading that country.
It's like, whoa. I can't even keep it straight. Who's
fighting against who? In fact, it seems like there's a
(17:11):
escalation that's happening in the violence, the natural disasters that
are happening and the wars that are beginning to happen.
Jesus said that in the end time, there will be
an escalation, an acceleration of some of the natural catastrophes
and some of the man made catastrophes that will be
experiencing on the face of this earth. This is not
(17:34):
something to be alarmed about, afraid about. It's something that
Jesus says will naturally begin to happen as we get
closer and closer to the end of times. Number three,
I'm talking about the bad news. Some of you saying, pastor,
you're scaring me already. Okay. Come on, I'm still there.
There will be an increase in persecution of Christians. Verse
(17:58):
nine says, then you will be handed over to be
persecuted and to be put to death, and you will
be hated by all nations because of me. At that time,
many will turn away from the faith and will betray
and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear
and deceive many. Whoa! We live in North America, in
(18:27):
which we've experienced some of the longest periods of safety
and peace than any country in the world. But. But
look at me. Look up at me, because this is
really important for you to understand. We are the abnormality,
not the normality. We live in safety that's abnormal to
(18:51):
the rest of the world. But as I speak right now, today,
we are living in the most violent times against Christianity
than any history before us. We are experiencing more martyrs,
more persecution, more torture, violence, rape against Christian than practically
(19:12):
any generation that has come before us. In fact, I
read some of the stats on the violence against Christians.
And on average, every month on average, there are 322
Christians that are killed for their faith. On average, every
(19:33):
month 322. Every month, on average, there are 214 churches
and Christian properties that are destroyed every month. In other words,
violent groups come and they torch a church, burn it down,
(19:53):
ransack it, tear it apart because of their anger and
hatred towards Christianity. On average, I'm talking about today, not
100 years ago. On average today there are 772 forms
of violence are committed against Christian people in a month.
(20:13):
Every day. We live in a accelerating time of violence
against Christians. In fact, in an article of Christianity Today,
during the last two years, there have been reports of
terrorist attacks against Christians that have steadily emerged in the world.
(20:33):
For example, seven Egyptians were executed in Benghazi beach last year,
165 Christian girls were kidnapped from a Christian school by
a group called Boko Haram, and 21 Coptic Christians were
beheaded near the Mediterranean Sea, among other incidents, just in 2014.
(20:57):
We have seen that same escalation began to happen in 2015.
Groups like ISIS, for example, have forcibly displaced hundreds of
thousands of people, conducted mass executions and kidnapped, sold, enslaved, raped,
and forcibly converted thousands of women and children, all on
(21:18):
the ground that these people stand in opposition to their
religious dogma. We are living in a season of unprecedented
persecution against Christians at a massive scale. The news does
not report it often because they treat violence in the
Middle East and in other countries, much like they treat
(21:41):
murderers in some of the neighborhoods in Chicago. Oh, just
another gang banger that got killed. It's a blip on
the news because they just assume, well, there's a lot
of violence in that area. But hey, since when did
it become just another gang banger? That's a son or
daughter that we love and raise and believe. It's a
(22:02):
kid with a name. The Middle East and some of
these countries in Africa and other places seem so far
away that they seem so to not touch your existence
and my existence. But I want to tell you something.
Those men and women, those girls that have been raped,
(22:23):
forcibly converted, those pastors that are being executed, put in jail,
they are not just a victim of a undeveloped country.
They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We live
in a shielded society, in a society that by and large,
we are not seen what's happening in other parts of
(22:44):
the world. But Jesus predicted that in the end times,
the aggressive violence against Christians would begin to escalate. In fact,
he predicted that many would be persecuted and that many
will turn away from the faith and will betray and
hate one another. Because let me tell you what happens
when persecution starts up, when you have to pay a
(23:06):
high price. Those that are truly authentic believers step up
to the plate and say, I will not deny my Savior.
Those that are just culturally Christians run away as quickly
as they can because they don't want to pay a price.
S1 (23:28):
You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe on
Bold Steps weekend. Now stay with us, Mark. This is
part two of the message today. But next weekend, part three.
And there's some good news coming.
S3 (23:39):
Yeah. You know, people get concerned when we talk about
the end times. And it is it can shake us
when we think about the end times. But the great
news is this is that God has given us all
that we need to prepare. And God does have a plan.
And that plan involves salvation of many people and the
(24:00):
power to sustain his people during this time.
S1 (24:02):
He's not willing that any should perish. Thank you Mark. Well,
you know, it's fair to say the past few years
have been somewhat unpredictable and filled with lots of change.
The world we live in today looks much different than
it did even just a few decades ago. And sometimes
it feels like everything we knew about leadership and ministry
no longer applies. That's why the book A Non-anxious presence
(24:24):
is such a timely resource. Author Mark Sayers helps us
understand how to lead effectively in a world where the
old rules no longer work. He explains how periods of
disruption often prepare the way for spiritual breakthrough, and shows
us how to spot signs of renewal even in the
midst of turmoil. Request this bold step gift today and
(24:46):
discover a fresh approach to leadership in changing times. We'll
send you a copy of this relevant book. When you
give a donation of any amount, call 800 D.L. Moody.
That's 803 566639 or give online at bold steps. Org
and you can also send your gift through the mail.
Write to us at bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago,
(25:10):
Illinois 606 ten. And real quick, before we close, I
want to invite you to download the new Bold Steps app,
now available in your App store. We've got a range
of interesting videos and insightful teaching series available for you there,
so be sure to download and check out this Bold
Steps app today. I'm Wayne Shepherd inviting you to join
(25:30):
us next weekend when Mark concludes this message titled How
Close are We? We'll be looking at the fourth sign
of the time, along with the good news that's coming.
It's a message from our series Beyond Now, and you'll
hear it next time right here on Bold Steps Weekend
with Mark Jones. Bold Steps Weekend is a production of
(25:51):
Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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