Lenten Devotions for 7 April 2011 Anno Domini

Lenten Devotions for 7 April 2011 Anno Domini

And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?
And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. And the gospel must first be published among all nations. But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (Mark 13:1-13)

When the disciples remarked about the excellence of the Temple, Christ gave a woeful prophecy that was fulfilled to the letter 37 years hence: “Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
“After furious fighting inside Jerusalem, the Temple Mount finally fell to the Romans. According to Josephus, Titus had
ordered that the Temple itself be spared (though some historians doubt this), but one of the Roman troops hurled a burning firebrand through a window of the Temple and it went up in flames anyway. The date, August 30 in the year 70, was the very day on which Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the Temple in 586 B.C. What was left was torn down by the victors, almost in literal fulfillment of Jesus’ famous statement, “Not one stone here will be left upon another” (Matthew 24:2). This was the catastrophic end of Temple.” Judaism. Paul L. Maeir, Christian History Collection, 2010. Other historians tell us that the Romans removed every stone in a search for the rumored gold of the Temple.

“Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?” These four disciples felt themselves privileged to receive ‘inside information’ on prophecy. Actually, the modern church desires to know much more regarding the future than God has cared to reveal explicitly. The present moment in our journey presents challenges enough for the Christian without trying to pry open the gate of prophecy to determine precisely when Christ will return. He may return for you today!

“Take heed lest any man deceive you.” The airwaves are full of deceptive money-grubbers seeking to achieve what Christ has warned against. I have two books in my library which clearly provide the exact date of Christ return: both dates passed more than twenty years ago after the deceiver’s bank account was expanded remarkably. Millions in Asia and America were deceived by this false prophet who, thankfully, is serving prison time in Korea today. I read one newspaper account of a wicked and air-headed woman in San Francisco who even had an abortion in order to make her ‘rapture’ on the given date more expeditious!

“For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” This has happened repeatedly in the years since Christ rose from the Tomb. It is happening today as pseudo-evangelist remake Christ into a market-researched and neutral figure. Of course, we have the Rev Sun Myung Moons of the Unification Church claiming that Christ failed in His mission and Rev Moon is the new Messiah. LORD, spare me from such wicked men.

“And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. ” Has anyone heard of a war someplace of late? Are the nations raging against one another? Do we know of earthquakes in diverse places, and are there famines about in the world? Yes, we see all of these events proliferating about the globe, but this is only the “beginning of sorrows” and not the end.

“But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.” We are not to act as innocent fools, but as Christian soldiers in these times. We must take precaution as evil mounts in the name of God or allah! “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service”. (John 16:2) God reserves His judgment against the wicked until such time as there can be no question of His justice. The coming evil does not suggest that the righteous shall be ‘raptured’ prior to it.
Next, Christ outlines a precondition for His Coming: “And the gospel must first be published among all nations.” Actually, this has probably already happened. There are only a handful of tribal languages in remote jungle areas lacking translation of God’s Word.
“But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
The word here is ‘saved’ – not ‘raptured’ - beforehand! Are you ready day-by-day, or are your trying to outwit God Almighty?