The Coming Crisis! - Mark 13:14-20
The Coming Crisis! - Mark 13:14-20
By Pastor Lee Hemen
January 16, 2011AM
We can be taught things over and over so many times that we begin to think what we are being taught is absolutely true, whether it is or not. Here are several examples: In Rome a thumbs up signal meant let a defeated gladiator live, but a thumb down signal meant kill him. In reality a thumbs up meant kill the loser, however, if the thumb was concealed in a fist, it meant let the loser live. We also think, because of Hollywood movies like Spartacus, that slaves manned the oars of Roman galleys, yet most were free men who were sailors trained to row and then fight. Rowing was considered a skilled task. Can things we come to think of as true yet are false infect our Christian thinking as well? The answer is “Yes.”
Here in Mark’s gospel we find Jesus continuing to answer his disciple’s question about when the temple would be destroyed. His response and what it meant has been so analyzed that what we may think of as true may not be. Much of what is taught today comes from the unusual teachings of a man named John Darby, who never studied theology, and was a member of the Plymouth Brethren. What he taught was originally made popular by William Miller of the Seventh Day Adventists, Joseph Smith of the LDS, and later by Charles Taze Russell of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Baptist and other orthodox Christian churches of the era flatly condemned them. Much later, following WWII, his teachings would be popularized and taught at Dallas Theological Seminary, Bob Jones University, and by the authors Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye. So, where does that leave us concerning the coming crisis Jesus described? Let’s find out shall we?
READ: Mark 13:14-20
Paul would remind the early church leadership to, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." (2 Timothy 4:2 NIV) He warned them so that they could withstand false teaching and persecution. Jesus was trying to warn his disciples as well. We find him telling them that...
I. During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples should be ready! (Vv. 14-16)
1. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. (Matthew 24:44 NIV) If you saw floodwaters headed your way, what would you do? Would you simply stand there and watch them overwhelm you? Most people would get their family to safety as fast as they could, leaving everything else behind. The “floodwaters” Jesus warned his disciples about, he described as “the abomination that causes desolation.” Jesus was not referring to an Antichrist to come. Rather, he was deliberately using familiar jargon. It is a term found in the Book of Daniel with meanings such as to “devastate,” “make desolate,” “make a desert,” or “to scandalize,” with other derivatives meaning “to lay waste, horror, devastation, or distress.” It was used to describe an attitude of appalling horror due to barbaric criminal acts of deliberate idolatry and never personally referred to an individual. Daniel’s prophecy came true when in 167 BC a Greek ruler by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes set up an altar to Zeus over the altar of burnt offerings in the Jewish temple. He also sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Temple. This event was so unthinkable to Hebraic thought that it was known as the abomination of desolation. There are those who now want to count days, weeks, or speculate any number of things in order to find a specific individual that fits their ideal of the Antichrist. It comes from them pulling sections of the Book of Revelation into the mix. However, Jesus never meant for that to occur. He simply used terminology his listeners would immediately know and understand as a prophetic warning. What Daniel had spoken of was about to happen again, only it would be far worse. So much so that Jesus warned, “Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak.” Instead of staying in Jerusalem, when his disciples saw the “signs” of the Roman army marching toward them, during the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples were to be ready to get out of Dodge! If they did not, they would be killed, taken as slaves or prisoners.
EXAMPLE: Much of what is taught concerning the abomination that causes desolation was never taught before the 1840s and was not seen as credible theology until after WWII. WWI was called the Great War or the War to End All Wars. Many were therefore disillusioned when WWII occurred and longed for biblical answers. Cults had been teaching millenarian doctrines and it was seen as unorthodox by most Christian churches and denominations. But armed with a myriad of charts, graphs, and all the counting of numbers, dates, and hidden implications -- it all seemed to bring meaning to those who were disillusioned by war. It slowly gained some acceptance within Pentecostal and independent-style Christian churches. Since the 1840s there have been many false dates set for Jesus’ return, many named as the Antichrist – a term given to a supposed satanic ruler which is never mentioned in the Bible – and all kinds of various scenarios given as biblical truth. Recently, Harold Camping of Family Radio is predicting the end of the world for May 21, 2011, but Camping first predicted that doomsday would be on September 6, 1994. Camping 89, is basing his prediction, like other false teachers have, on a convoluted mathematical system to interpret supposed prophecies hidden within the Bible from the time that Israel became a nation in 1948. Unfortunately, the recent reports of massive numbers of dead birds and dead fish showing up around the globe are only helping to intensify the end of the world fear mongering. However, implicit in Jesus’ teaching is the fact that his followers, no matter what generation, are to be ready. And, here in Mark’s gospel we find him teaching them that during the coming crisis the disciples should be ready! Are you?
Antiochus Epiphanes, meaning “Manifested of God” ruled the Seleucid Empire. He banished the Jewish high priest Jason and sold the position. While fighting in Egypt, rumor spread he had been killed. Jason gathered 1,000 soldiers, attacked Jerusalem, and the false High Priest, Menelaus fled. Enraged, Antiochus attacked Jerusalem and restored Menelaus. The book of 2 Maccabees relates what occurred, “Raging like a wild animal, he set out from Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm. He ordered his soldiers to cut down without mercy those whom they met and to slay those who took refuge in their houses. There was a massacre of young and old, a killing of women and children, a slaughter of virgins and infants. In the space of three days, eighty thousand were lost, forty thousand meeting a violent death, and the same number being sold into slavery.” (2 Maccabees 5:12-14) He then deliberately defiled the temple. The Romans would do far worse. Jesus tells his listeners that…
II. During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples should be aware! (Vv. 17-18)
1. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. (1 Thessalonians 5:6 NIV) Jesus sternly reminds them that if a woman is pregnant or that it occurs during the winter, it would be especially rough. Why? A society that is unconcerned for their unborn will not last long. We live in a day and age where we slaughter the unborn by the millions. However, historically, most enlightened cultures protected their children, including the unborn. The Hebrews placed a high priority on life and especially their children because they were seen as a person’s heritage and God also commanded them to. The Psalmist would declare, “Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.” (Psalms 127:3 NIV) And he would later write, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalms 139:13-16 NIV) Therefore, pregnant women were highly regarded and seen as the most vulnerable. Childbirth during Jesus’ day was seen as dangerous and if it took place while the expectant mother was fleeing for her life, the worst time it could happen would be during the depths of winter! This is why Jesus sternly warns them, “How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that this will not take place in winter!” It is easy for us to forget that Jesus was trying to help his followers understand what would occur after his death, burial and resurrection, and what would occur when the temple was destroyed. Yet we find him deeply concerned. He also did not want his followers to foolishly stay behind because of nationalistic loyalty or keep their family in harm’s way by doing so. The early church needed to survive in order to spread the good news. They needed to be aware of what was happening. In fact, the early church understood Jesus’ words and fled Jerusalem to places like Petra, Egypt, and Asia Minor when the Romans attacked. Jesus knew that during the coming crisis his disciples should be aware!
EXAMPLE: I am incredulous that so many "Christians" today are so troubled by the latest end time prediction. Instead of worrying about who has been named the recent Antichrist by some slick-haired prognosticator, we should concern ourselves with whom we have not shared the gospel. We should spend less time watching the History or Discovery Channels, TBN, or devoting ourselves to reading the latest prophetic paperback. No matter how good the parsing of the Greek is, no one knows when Jesus will return. Each and every day brings us one day closer to his return. I am reminded of the startling words Jesus left his disciples when he told them, “It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:43-48 NIV) Jesus knew that during the coming crisis his disciples should be aware! Are you?
I have seen good Christian folk so consumed by what might happen during the “Tribulation,” that they neglect what is happening now! Believers are not to be concerned about what will happen, when it will happen, and who is going to bring it about. It is all in God’s timing and perfect plan. If we know Jesus we never need to fear what man can do to us. However, Jesus knew the trepidation of people. He knew they would be frightened. And in knowing that this would occur and he reminds them that…
III. During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples would be safe in him! (Vv. 19-20)
1. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. (Psalms 27:5 NIV) We now have a fuller understanding of why Jesus warns them: “because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now -- and never to be equaled again.” Again, in our thinking we often equate this with something so horrible that only verses out of Revelation fit. However, this is simply not true. For Jerusalem to be utterly destroyed and the temple hauled off, in Jesus' disciple's minds and in their thinking, it never would be equaled. I earlier described how Jesus was speaking some 200 years after the abomination of desolation described by Daniel. Jesus was therefore prophesying how another abomination of desolation would occur to the Jewish temple. We have discovered that in fact it did indeed happen. For some odd reason folks think that Jesus had to be referring to what is predicted in the Book of Revelations concerning the bowls of divine wrath. Just as we should not mix our metaphors, we should be very careful to not mingle our prophecies either. However, I do believe Revelation does describe for us the destruction of Rome and Jerusalem as well and the culmination of all things. Yet, we should not place too strong an emphasis on trying to discern what we were never meant to in the first place. Instead we should focus on what we definitely know. Far too often we forget the promise of Revelation: “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Revelation 21:7 NIV) It echoes Jesus’ promise to his followers, “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.” Notice that he shortens the time of trial for those he had elected, those he has chosen. He had chosen each and every one of his listeners, just as he chooses us now. He called them and they decided to follow him, just as all do who place their faith and trust in Christ today. Jesus always eases the trials of his saints. He wanted his listeners to take heart and know that during the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples would be safe in him!
EXAMPLE: The Arch of Titus in Rome depicts what happened. Jewish Zealots beat, killed and threw out the ruling Priesthood, installed one of their own choosing, who was not even a Levite. Had him proclaim that God had declared they would eventually be victorious. Of course they were not because the Roman general Titus soon surrounded Jerusalem and besieged it for seven years. By the end, inhabitants were eating the dead and their children. The city was completely razed, so much so that even the trees around the area were uprooted. It was described as looking as if it had never been a city of habitation. Over 1,100,000 Jews were killed and another 97,000 taken into slavery by Rome when the dust had settled. It was noted that the soldiers had to climb over heaps of dead bodies in order to continue their carnage. Everything that was not destroyed was hauled off back to Rome. Many of the Temple’s stones were used to build the Roman Coliseum. The treasures of the temple were taken back and melted down in Rome and used to pay the salaries of the soldiers who destroyed it. And yet we know for a fact that the Christians of Jerusalem and the surrounding area stayed safe because they heeded the warning they learned about from Jesus and his disciples. It is just as true today as it was then. We can rest assured that during any coming crisis, Jesus’ disciples will be kept safe in him!
Conclusion:
During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples should be ready! During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples should be aware! During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples will be safe in him!
----
Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2011 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
By Pastor Lee Hemen
January 16, 2011AM
We can be taught things over and over so many times that we begin to think what we are being taught is absolutely true, whether it is or not. Here are several examples: In Rome a thumbs up signal meant let a defeated gladiator live, but a thumb down signal meant kill him. In reality a thumbs up meant kill the loser, however, if the thumb was concealed in a fist, it meant let the loser live. We also think, because of Hollywood movies like Spartacus, that slaves manned the oars of Roman galleys, yet most were free men who were sailors trained to row and then fight. Rowing was considered a skilled task. Can things we come to think of as true yet are false infect our Christian thinking as well? The answer is “Yes.”
Here in Mark’s gospel we find Jesus continuing to answer his disciple’s question about when the temple would be destroyed. His response and what it meant has been so analyzed that what we may think of as true may not be. Much of what is taught today comes from the unusual teachings of a man named John Darby, who never studied theology, and was a member of the Plymouth Brethren. What he taught was originally made popular by William Miller of the Seventh Day Adventists, Joseph Smith of the LDS, and later by Charles Taze Russell of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Baptist and other orthodox Christian churches of the era flatly condemned them. Much later, following WWII, his teachings would be popularized and taught at Dallas Theological Seminary, Bob Jones University, and by the authors Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye. So, where does that leave us concerning the coming crisis Jesus described? Let’s find out shall we?
READ: Mark 13:14-20
Paul would remind the early church leadership to, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." (2 Timothy 4:2 NIV) He warned them so that they could withstand false teaching and persecution. Jesus was trying to warn his disciples as well. We find him telling them that...
I. During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples should be ready! (Vv. 14-16)
1. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. (Matthew 24:44 NIV) If you saw floodwaters headed your way, what would you do? Would you simply stand there and watch them overwhelm you? Most people would get their family to safety as fast as they could, leaving everything else behind. The “floodwaters” Jesus warned his disciples about, he described as “the abomination that causes desolation.” Jesus was not referring to an Antichrist to come. Rather, he was deliberately using familiar jargon. It is a term found in the Book of Daniel with meanings such as to “devastate,” “make desolate,” “make a desert,” or “to scandalize,” with other derivatives meaning “to lay waste, horror, devastation, or distress.” It was used to describe an attitude of appalling horror due to barbaric criminal acts of deliberate idolatry and never personally referred to an individual. Daniel’s prophecy came true when in 167 BC a Greek ruler by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes set up an altar to Zeus over the altar of burnt offerings in the Jewish temple. He also sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Temple. This event was so unthinkable to Hebraic thought that it was known as the abomination of desolation. There are those who now want to count days, weeks, or speculate any number of things in order to find a specific individual that fits their ideal of the Antichrist. It comes from them pulling sections of the Book of Revelation into the mix. However, Jesus never meant for that to occur. He simply used terminology his listeners would immediately know and understand as a prophetic warning. What Daniel had spoken of was about to happen again, only it would be far worse. So much so that Jesus warned, “Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak.” Instead of staying in Jerusalem, when his disciples saw the “signs” of the Roman army marching toward them, during the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples were to be ready to get out of Dodge! If they did not, they would be killed, taken as slaves or prisoners.
EXAMPLE: Much of what is taught concerning the abomination that causes desolation was never taught before the 1840s and was not seen as credible theology until after WWII. WWI was called the Great War or the War to End All Wars. Many were therefore disillusioned when WWII occurred and longed for biblical answers. Cults had been teaching millenarian doctrines and it was seen as unorthodox by most Christian churches and denominations. But armed with a myriad of charts, graphs, and all the counting of numbers, dates, and hidden implications -- it all seemed to bring meaning to those who were disillusioned by war. It slowly gained some acceptance within Pentecostal and independent-style Christian churches. Since the 1840s there have been many false dates set for Jesus’ return, many named as the Antichrist – a term given to a supposed satanic ruler which is never mentioned in the Bible – and all kinds of various scenarios given as biblical truth. Recently, Harold Camping of Family Radio is predicting the end of the world for May 21, 2011, but Camping first predicted that doomsday would be on September 6, 1994. Camping 89, is basing his prediction, like other false teachers have, on a convoluted mathematical system to interpret supposed prophecies hidden within the Bible from the time that Israel became a nation in 1948. Unfortunately, the recent reports of massive numbers of dead birds and dead fish showing up around the globe are only helping to intensify the end of the world fear mongering. However, implicit in Jesus’ teaching is the fact that his followers, no matter what generation, are to be ready. And, here in Mark’s gospel we find him teaching them that during the coming crisis the disciples should be ready! Are you?
Antiochus Epiphanes, meaning “Manifested of God” ruled the Seleucid Empire. He banished the Jewish high priest Jason and sold the position. While fighting in Egypt, rumor spread he had been killed. Jason gathered 1,000 soldiers, attacked Jerusalem, and the false High Priest, Menelaus fled. Enraged, Antiochus attacked Jerusalem and restored Menelaus. The book of 2 Maccabees relates what occurred, “Raging like a wild animal, he set out from Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm. He ordered his soldiers to cut down without mercy those whom they met and to slay those who took refuge in their houses. There was a massacre of young and old, a killing of women and children, a slaughter of virgins and infants. In the space of three days, eighty thousand were lost, forty thousand meeting a violent death, and the same number being sold into slavery.” (2 Maccabees 5:12-14) He then deliberately defiled the temple. The Romans would do far worse. Jesus tells his listeners that…
II. During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples should be aware! (Vv. 17-18)
1. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. (1 Thessalonians 5:6 NIV) Jesus sternly reminds them that if a woman is pregnant or that it occurs during the winter, it would be especially rough. Why? A society that is unconcerned for their unborn will not last long. We live in a day and age where we slaughter the unborn by the millions. However, historically, most enlightened cultures protected their children, including the unborn. The Hebrews placed a high priority on life and especially their children because they were seen as a person’s heritage and God also commanded them to. The Psalmist would declare, “Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.” (Psalms 127:3 NIV) And he would later write, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalms 139:13-16 NIV) Therefore, pregnant women were highly regarded and seen as the most vulnerable. Childbirth during Jesus’ day was seen as dangerous and if it took place while the expectant mother was fleeing for her life, the worst time it could happen would be during the depths of winter! This is why Jesus sternly warns them, “How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that this will not take place in winter!” It is easy for us to forget that Jesus was trying to help his followers understand what would occur after his death, burial and resurrection, and what would occur when the temple was destroyed. Yet we find him deeply concerned. He also did not want his followers to foolishly stay behind because of nationalistic loyalty or keep their family in harm’s way by doing so. The early church needed to survive in order to spread the good news. They needed to be aware of what was happening. In fact, the early church understood Jesus’ words and fled Jerusalem to places like Petra, Egypt, and Asia Minor when the Romans attacked. Jesus knew that during the coming crisis his disciples should be aware!
EXAMPLE: I am incredulous that so many "Christians" today are so troubled by the latest end time prediction. Instead of worrying about who has been named the recent Antichrist by some slick-haired prognosticator, we should concern ourselves with whom we have not shared the gospel. We should spend less time watching the History or Discovery Channels, TBN, or devoting ourselves to reading the latest prophetic paperback. No matter how good the parsing of the Greek is, no one knows when Jesus will return. Each and every day brings us one day closer to his return. I am reminded of the startling words Jesus left his disciples when he told them, “It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:43-48 NIV) Jesus knew that during the coming crisis his disciples should be aware! Are you?
I have seen good Christian folk so consumed by what might happen during the “Tribulation,” that they neglect what is happening now! Believers are not to be concerned about what will happen, when it will happen, and who is going to bring it about. It is all in God’s timing and perfect plan. If we know Jesus we never need to fear what man can do to us. However, Jesus knew the trepidation of people. He knew they would be frightened. And in knowing that this would occur and he reminds them that…
III. During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples would be safe in him! (Vv. 19-20)
1. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. (Psalms 27:5 NIV) We now have a fuller understanding of why Jesus warns them: “because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now -- and never to be equaled again.” Again, in our thinking we often equate this with something so horrible that only verses out of Revelation fit. However, this is simply not true. For Jerusalem to be utterly destroyed and the temple hauled off, in Jesus' disciple's minds and in their thinking, it never would be equaled. I earlier described how Jesus was speaking some 200 years after the abomination of desolation described by Daniel. Jesus was therefore prophesying how another abomination of desolation would occur to the Jewish temple. We have discovered that in fact it did indeed happen. For some odd reason folks think that Jesus had to be referring to what is predicted in the Book of Revelations concerning the bowls of divine wrath. Just as we should not mix our metaphors, we should be very careful to not mingle our prophecies either. However, I do believe Revelation does describe for us the destruction of Rome and Jerusalem as well and the culmination of all things. Yet, we should not place too strong an emphasis on trying to discern what we were never meant to in the first place. Instead we should focus on what we definitely know. Far too often we forget the promise of Revelation: “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Revelation 21:7 NIV) It echoes Jesus’ promise to his followers, “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.” Notice that he shortens the time of trial for those he had elected, those he has chosen. He had chosen each and every one of his listeners, just as he chooses us now. He called them and they decided to follow him, just as all do who place their faith and trust in Christ today. Jesus always eases the trials of his saints. He wanted his listeners to take heart and know that during the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples would be safe in him!
EXAMPLE: The Arch of Titus in Rome depicts what happened. Jewish Zealots beat, killed and threw out the ruling Priesthood, installed one of their own choosing, who was not even a Levite. Had him proclaim that God had declared they would eventually be victorious. Of course they were not because the Roman general Titus soon surrounded Jerusalem and besieged it for seven years. By the end, inhabitants were eating the dead and their children. The city was completely razed, so much so that even the trees around the area were uprooted. It was described as looking as if it had never been a city of habitation. Over 1,100,000 Jews were killed and another 97,000 taken into slavery by Rome when the dust had settled. It was noted that the soldiers had to climb over heaps of dead bodies in order to continue their carnage. Everything that was not destroyed was hauled off back to Rome. Many of the Temple’s stones were used to build the Roman Coliseum. The treasures of the temple were taken back and melted down in Rome and used to pay the salaries of the soldiers who destroyed it. And yet we know for a fact that the Christians of Jerusalem and the surrounding area stayed safe because they heeded the warning they learned about from Jesus and his disciples. It is just as true today as it was then. We can rest assured that during any coming crisis, Jesus’ disciples will be kept safe in him!
Conclusion:
During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples should be ready! During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples should be aware! During the coming crisis Jesus’ disciples will be safe in him!
----
Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2011 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
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