September 13- Day 13, Chapter 13 in the Book of Mark
Mark 13
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14 “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18 Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again.
20 “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. 21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
24 “But in those days, following that distress,
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
9 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14 “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18 Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again.
20 “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. 21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
24 “But in those days, following that distress,
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The Day and Hour Unknown
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
note: full text is on this link--
A blessed day to all (".)
We are all forwarned.....Be alert!.....Be on guard!.....Watch!
Many may take this with a shrug of the shoulder, others may fear and some may just let this pass..... I hope that those who will take this seriously will prepare.
When the end of time comes, we will all see the Son of God coming in clouds with great power and glory, and this will be the time of great rejoicing for all Believers because the time of redemption has arrived. (read and contemplate the Book of Revelation)
My question is?..... Is everyone ready?
This event has become known as the rapture. The word “rapture” appears nowhere in the Bible, but the event does. Rapture is from the Hebrew word harpazo, which defines the event described here in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
The sudden nature of this event is described in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 as “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye.” There will be no warning, just as a thief comes in the night without warning. Therefore, Matthew 24:44 tells us, we must “be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
For the believing and obedient Christian, this will be a very welcome event, but for everyone else it will be a time of great tribulation. Imagine being left behind while millions of believing Christians all over the world suddenly vanish without explanation or further warning. We have been sufficiently warned by the Bible and the testimony of God’s own Son so that we can be prepared. We must be vigilant at all times, and we must be protected by the full armor of God against the devil’s attacks (Ephesians 6:10-18). We are warned that the devil roams the earth looking for Christians with a chink in their armor, those who rest their gaze on seducing temptations, giving way to evil thoughts and desires of the flesh that lead to sin. Sin is compared to leaven or yeast in the Bible, and it just takes a tiny bit to quickly spread through the whole person like a little yeast spreads in a batch of flour (Galatians 5:9). Do not be fooled into believing the devil only focuses on sinners. He already owns them and has no reason to bother with them unless they begin to spiritually awaken to Christ Jesus. The devil’s concern is the believing Christian. We are the ones he wants to corrupt and destroy, and that is why Christians must be ever watchful and ready for the hour of our Lord’s return.
We have ample warning of coming events and we have the Word of God to lead us and protect us. We have the presence of God’s Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us in this life. We have everything we need to live godly lives in obedience to God’s Word, leaving no excuse for being unprepared. Those who remain unprepared when our Lord Jesus returns will be separated from Him forever. We see hate and violence enough in the world today with God’s presence. Just imagine how terrible an existence would be completely separated from God for eternity.
We thank God that He loves us enough to provide a way for us to escape such a terrible fate and that way is Jesus Christ. By accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and by the grace of God, we are granted forgiveness of sins, mercy and salvation with the promise of everlasting life (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9). This covenant in Christ provides us the means by which we may be prepared and rejoice in His return.
(ref: Got Questions: the return of Christ)
Remember, believing Christians are the one who truly believe that Jesus Christ alone is the Living God who can save us from God's incoming wrath. There is no purgatory. There is only heaven and hell. What will we choose?
May we all sing to the Lord with all preparedness- "I am Yours". No one can snatch me away from Your hands (".)
Psalm 119:94
Save me, for I am yours;
I have sought out your precepts.
John 10:28
I have sought out your precepts.
John 10:28
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Glory to GOD!
Glory to GOD!
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