MARK 13 DO NOT BE TROUBLED2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Mark 13 Do Not Be Troubled

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Kind of got a little crazy this week, didn't it? It's like last Sunday to this Sunday, just crazy.

The world went haywire. It was early into the week, I made a quick stop into Target and, you know, heard, you know, some of the reports about things being out and that kind of stuff at Costco and the long lines and stuff. And I went to Target and I was like,

And maybe that happened, but it's nice in here. And there was plenty of water and paper goods and all those kinds of things. And then it was like the next day, all of a sudden, lines are everywhere and its shelves are empty. And it's like overnight.

over just the past few days. Things have really escalated and a lot of things have been taking place. And so we want to respond to that in a way that is biblical, in a way that honors the Lord. And so we shared an announcement yesterday and we'll continue to

be praying over our gathering together as a church. And so we'll be talking about that. But I do want to encourage you that we do have the live streaming available. So if you are not feeling well, you are able to stay home and still participate. It is a more limited participation for sure, but you get to still be part of the time with the Lord and seeking the Lord and worship together.

And I want to encourage you, if you are up to it and want to gather together, we're going to continue our services as usual, but without children's ministry, so that we don't obligate children's ministry workers to be here and to be in contact and to kind of help, you know,

do our part in working through this situation. And so that's going to be happening probably for the next couple of weeks or so, but we're, you know, just kind of taking it by day by day and seeking the Lord. And so stay tuned to our Facebook page, or if you want to, we have a messaging service called FLEEP.

And we have links to it on the website. There's mobile apps that you can get or you can log on through the website and stay up to date with any announcements. And we also use it to share prayer requests and things like that. So it's a good opportunity for you to jump onto those so you can stay connected and stay up to date with things as they change.

I do want to encourage you that if you participate in the live stream, I've seen some things posted here and there that, you know, it's a forsaking of the gathering together as brethren. And please don't take that verse into a legalistic mindset that there is a lot of freedom in the Lord to engage with him in multitude of ways. And so please, you know, be led by the Lord in the way that you do that.

I also want to let you know, especially those of you on the live stream, if you are watching and you want to follow along with the slides, the slides are available just below the video feed. You can download the slides that we'll be going through today, and so you'll have a clearer picture of those if you want.

And then also encourage you, those of you watching on live stream or those who might be watching later, to try to dedicate the time. I don't know about you, but whenever I'm watching something on a screen, usually I have a second or third screen in my lap and I'm multitasking between all of them, right? But still, honor the Lord in your time, even if it is via live stream. And so I encourage you to be led by the Lord in that as well.

Well, this morning we're going to do things a little bit different. The service is going to be a little bit shorter, and so we're going to dive into Mark chapter 13. We'll have a short time of prayer, and then I have a few thoughts to share out of Mark chapter 12 as well, and then, you know, we'll wrap up for the day and be about the Lord's business after that. So let's start with Mark chapter 13, looking at verses 3 through 7, and I'm just going to go ahead and read through the passage, and then we'll see what the Lord has for us.

Mark chapter 13 verse 3 says, Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled? And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name saying, I am he and will deceive many.

But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled, for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. Let's pray. Lord, as we devote this time to you and spend this time in your word, we pray, God, that you would speak to our hearts. Lord, that you would bring comfort, that you would bring stability and peace. Lord, that we would be able to rest in you and trust in you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, as we look at Mark chapter 13, I've titled this part of the service and this passage, Do Not Be Troubled, directly from what Jesus says there in verse 7. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled. Troubled.

This word troubled, it means to make a loud noise or a loud cry. It is used to describe the noise of a tumultuous multitude, a loud multitude that is freaked out essentially. It speaks of being alarmed and frightened. And so another way that I would perhaps put this or say this is do not panic.

It's not that Jesus is saying that we are never to have concern over something or anything like that, but he's saying, don't panic. Don't be troubled in such a way that you are in panic mode. And it's interesting to consider that because, well, he attaches it to when you hear of wars and rumors of wars. And...

I would wonder who is not troubled whenever they hear of wars and rumors of wars, especially when it hits close to home. If there was, you know, war that we were facing this morning, there would be a great temptation for us to be troubled. And yet here Jesus is saying, do not be troubled.

It's not only wars and rumors of wars that Jesus is talking about, though. We have a little bit more insight in Matthew's recording of this event in Matthew chapter 24. Verse 7 of Matthew 24, he says, And so wars, rumors of wars, kingdoms against each other, famines,

earthquakes, we're familiar with all of these things. And here also Jesus points out the issue of pestilences.

And a pestilence is a fatal epidemic disease. It's a disease like what we are experiencing right now with COVID-19 or the coronavirus. It's a disease like many others that are happening around the world continually. And sometimes it's translated as a plague or a pestilence. And so these kinds of diseases are part of what Jesus is addressing here. And he says...

Do not be troubled. And you can see as you look at the world around us, as you look at the news and the things that are happening, that there is an escalation of the trouble in people's hearts. There's an escalation of the panic and the fear, and there's a lot who are troubled. And maybe that includes you this morning, that you come here very troubled, very troubled.

And so how do we not be troubled? I mean, you tell someone to, you know, don't panic, and the first thing they want to do is what? Panic, right? It's like, that's the tendency. So how do we not be troubled? Well, what I think Jesus is saying here is not that, again, these things won't affect you, that you shouldn't feel anything regarding them, but what he's saying is don't be surprised, right?

That these things are to be expected. And so you don't need to panic, but there's an opportunity here for you to trust in the Lord. And I want to walk through a couple of points considering that here, looking at, first of all, verse 7 of Mark chapter 13. Do not be troubled because Jesus says here in verse 7, the end is not yet. Notice he says, when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.

Lena mentioned it earlier. I've had a few occasions already this week where people are asking, you know, is this the end of the world? Is this the end time? Does this mean that Jesus is coming back right now? Because, well, it's...

If speculations and projections are turning out to be accurate, it's going to be a big deal, you know, this coronavirus. And so what does this mean? You know, with so many people affected and so many families affected, and it connects to people to the end times, and they think of it in those terms. And that's exactly where the disciples were at this time. In the first few verses of Mark chapter 13, Jesus is talking about the destruction of the temple.

And the temple in Jesus' day was huge, and it was beautiful, covered in marble and gold. Some of the stones are described as being like 45 feet long, 18 feet wide, 12 feet high. Now, if you just like split the sanctuary in the middle, this room right here, like top to bottom, side to side, like that's about those dimensions. And so...

Some of those stones that were used to build the temple were massive and huge. And Jesus says, not one stone will be left upon another. And so the disciples, they could only think of this in the context of that must be the end of the world. The only way it makes sense for the temple to be destroyed, it couldn't make sense any other way. It must be the end of all things for something so important and so impressive to be brought to destruction.

And I think that's the way that we feel many times when things happen in our lives. We're so attached to things. They're so big and so important to us, and we're so impressed by them that when there's a threat to it or when those things are removed, it feels like it must be connected to the end of the world. Now, the words of Jesus about the temple were fulfilled in 70 AD. Not the end of the world, but 70 AD. Who can do math? How many years ago was 70 AD from today?

1,950 years, if my head calculator is accurate, which probably isn't, but that's okay. Almost 2,000 years that this happened, which they thought that must be the end of the world, but it wasn't. 2,000 years went on after that event. In a similar way, as we look at these things, we need to put it in perspective. There is going to be an end of the world, and there is a return of Jesus.

But these kinds of signs, Jesus says, are not the signal that that is right now. There's another sign that he'll go on later in verse 14 to talk about. That's the sign that you know the end of the times is right now. But these are signs that will happen, but don't necessarily signal the end. Pastor David Guzik puts it this way.

Things such as false messiahs, wars, famines, and earthquakes have certainly marked man's history since the time of Jesus' ascension. In effect, Jesus is saying catastrophes will happen, but these do not signal the end. They are signs. They are relevant for us to consider, but they're not the sign, this is the end. There's different signs for that.

The abomination of desolation. And what is that? Well, Jesus says, let the reader understand there in verse 14. So you can go check out Daniel chapter 9 and work through the sign. But these signs, he says, expect them. Don't be troubled by them. Don't be surprised by them. These kinds of things are going to happen. In fact, not only is it that they might happen, but the second thing to consider this morning is...

He says such things must happen in verse 7. He says, These things are going to happen. These things must happen. Essentially, Jesus is saying, look, when these kinds of catastrophes hit, you need to understand that's part of normal life.

It's not some strange, weird thing that, oh my goodness, like nothing like this has ever been heard of before. But this must happen. This is going to be a part of life. Again, in looking at Matthew 24, 7, Jesus talking about these same things includes this word pestilences. And so there's wars, famines, diseases, earthquakes, and it's going to be such a part of normal life.

And to emphasize that point, Jesus orchestrated the whole scriptures so that the verse reference would be 24-7. This is what you can expect 24-7. Worldwide, there's going to be wars and famines and diseases. There's going to be earthquakes. There's going to be, on an ongoing basis, on a normal, it's going to be a normal part of life. These things must happen. This is part of the reality that

of living in a world that is affected by sin. As man disobeyed God and turned to sin, sin dominates and sin destroys. And there is going to be these kinds of results as a consequence to the fallen nature of man and the fallen condition of our world. These things must happen. Don't be surprised. I can't believe this is happening today.

He goes on to say in verse 8 that these are the beginnings of sorrows. As he goes on to describe again all of these different conditions and catastrophes and situations, he says these are the beginnings of sorrows. These aren't the signs that the end is right now. These are the beginnings of sorrows. And that idea of beginnings of sorrows could literally be translated the beginning of labor pains. And I think that paints a good picture for us. The beginning of labor pains. It's

It's not necessarily the sign that it's time when labor pains begin. But as it gets closer to that time of delivery, then, well, the pains become more frequent and more intense. And these kinds of things have been happening throughout all of history. And as we get closer to the end, here's what we should expect. We should expect these labor pains to become more frequent and to become more intense. This...

Current pandemic could be the worst pandemic that we ever see in our lifetime. But at the same time, I would pull back a bit and say, that's not actually saying that much. Here's a quick look at some of the pandemics the world has faced. Back in 1968, there was a flu pandemic that swept the world and 1 million people died as a result. A few years before that, 1956, another flu pandemic.

Two million people died as a result of that. In 1918, that was a big one. I think it's called the Spanish flu. There was 20 to 50 million people who died as a result of that. In 1910, there was a cholera plague or a pandemic that hit about 800,000 people. More people were affected, but 800,000 died as a result.

1889, another flu cost about 1 million people their lives. And then back in the 1300s, there was a big one, the Bubonic Plague, which hit the whole world. And again, 75 to 200 million people died as a result of that. There were many people in Europe and Asia. Yeah, this is worldwide. That's possible, yeah.

So these things are part of history. And if the things took place that people are speculating about, we might see something similar. But at the same time, it's not, well, Jesus said, it's not the end. This is the kind of thing that must happen. Such things must happen.

And what we need to understand is that there's a lot of history that God is working through even in the midst of these things. And sometimes we live in a fantasy sometimes in our head. The interesting thing about all of these things, right? All of these things, they don't change the statistics on death because it's still that, well, one out of every one person will die. It doesn't change our mortality statistics.

It changes time frames, of course, but the reality is this is the kind of thing that must happen. We are mortal and we face diseases and issues. This is the kind of thing that must happen. If 100 million people die from COVID-19, it's not necessarily a sign of the end. If the entire U.S. collapses...

That's not necessarily a sign that this is the end. It's hard for us to imagine that, right? Because it's so big. Like the temple was so impressive to the disciples. It's so big to us. Like we can't imagine. It would have to be, you know, that that would be attached to the end of the world. But it could happen. And 2,000 years could progress after that before the end if that's the Lord's will. Again, the point is these are the kind of things that must happen. Don't be troubled. Expect these kinds of things. Now, going on into chapter 13.

Jesus goes on to teach, not only are we not to be troubled about this, understanding some of the perspective and having some of the perspective on it, he goes on to give us some instruction on what we can do. There's a lot of things that we can't do about all of this. We can't change these scenarios. But what can we do? Well, verse 32 and 33 here of Mark chapter 13 gives us the third thing to consider, and that is take heed, watch, and pray. Here's things that we can do right now.

In verse 32, it says, Jesus is saying, all of these things are signs, but the end is not yet. Here is the main sign, the abomination of desolation. And

You don't know when that's going to happen. You don't know when the Lord is going to return. So here's what you can do in the meantime, in anticipation of, as you work our way through time to this point, you can take heed, and you can watch, and you can pray. Jesus goes on to talk about watching in the next couple of verses, but then jumping to verse 37, he says, what I say to you, I say to all, watch. You disciples, what I'm telling you, here's what I tell to every disciple, every believer, every believer.

Here's what you need to do. You need to be watching. What does it mean to be watching? Does it mean to be an expert in infectious diseases? Does it mean to, you know, be an expert in prophecy and have, you know, all of those things memorized? What does it mean to be watching? I like to think of it as being ready to go. Watching is being ready to, your bags are packed, your things are done. So if you go to be with the Lord, you're going to be ready to go.

today or if the Lord comes to collect his church today, you're ready. Your bags are packed. You're prepared for his return. Jesus says, take heed, be alert, pay attention to what's going on, watch, be ready to go, and be in prayer. And as we move forward in this way, God's going to help us to not be troubled.

We talked about this verse yesterday at the men's Bible study as well. Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 and 7. Paul tells us, Jesus said, don't be troubled. Paul said, be anxious for nothing. They're saying the same thing.

And the instruction that Jesus gives is to pray in addition to watch and take heed. Pray. Paul says, look, if you will pray and present your requests to God, then God is going to give you peace. He's going to guard your heart and your mind through Christ Jesus. And so this is how we need to navigate this and how we need to deal with the trouble in our hearts over the news and events and the things that are transpiring today.

We need to take heed, to watch, and to pray. And so we want to take a few minutes now and have some time of prayer. And I think...

just personal quiet time with the Lord is appropriate for us right now. And so I'm going to pray, but then let's just, in our hearts before the Lord, you present your requests. And I would encourage you to present maybe some specific family members to the Lord. Maybe mention some specific situations to Him. Maybe lift up whatever's, you know, troubling your heart. It may not even be related to coronavirus at all, but whatever makes you anxious, whatever troubles you, let's

Let's take a few moments now and just present our requests before the Lord. And so, God, we do lift up our requests. Lord, there's things that are heavy upon our hearts. There's people that we love. And Lord, we want you to be with them. We ask that you would protect them. And we pray, God, that you would cover us with your spirit. Lord, that we might have your wisdom to walk through the situations that we're facing in this day.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.