Let's turn in our Bibles to Mark
chapter 13. Now, this morning, what I want
to do is basically focus on a couple of verses. The first one is verse
12. I wanted to say a little bit
more. I talked about this last week, how opposition and persecution
comes over the gospel. Paul called the persecution of
the cross. That when we tell sinners the
truth, that unless the Lord gives them a heart to receive the truth,
to believe in Christ and rest in Him, that they will essentially
be our enemy. Now that may manifest itself
in different ways through different people, different personalities,
but it still holds true. And one of the things that he
mentions here that's so hard for us as believers to go through
is that opposition that comes from our family. Husbands and
wives and sons and daughters and our families. He says, look
at verse 12, over the gospel now, over the preaching of righteousness,
when we tell sinners that salvation is not conditioned on them, but
on Christ alone, and that righteousness must be measured by Christ. There
is no hope of righteousness for any sinner, except that which
is found in Christ, and that is His righteousness imputed.
But look at verse 12. He says, 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. Think about how awful that is.
That's the most tragic opposition of all. And it's all because
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
Neither can he know them. That's all because the world
hates the light of the gospel, which exposes their deeds, their
works that they think so highly of as being evil. And that's
what the problem is. Look over in Matthew chapter
10. This is when Christ was sending
His disciples out to preach the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is
here. Look at verse 32. He says, Whosoever
therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also
before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny
me before me in him will I also deny before my Father which is
in heaven. Think not that I am come to send
peace on earth. I came not to send peace but
a sword. For I come to set a man at variance
against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law, And a man's foes shall be those of
his own household. Look back at Mark 13. This is the opposition that comes
over the gospel. And it's hard. It's not easy. And this is why he says in verse
13 of Mark 13, He says, and you shall be hated
of all men for my name's sake. But he that shall endure unto
the end, the same shall be saved. And that's what I want to talk
to you about a little bit, enduring to the end. When we speak of endurance, we're
talking about perseverance in the faith. And that perseverance
comes by the preserving power of God. It doesn't come by our
own power or our own goodness. But against all opposition in
preaching the gospel in these last days, we're to determine
and resolve in our minds that we will never forsake Christ. And don't say that like Peter
said it. You remember when Christ said
that they'll all reject him? Peter said, not me, Lord. These
other fellows may reject you, but I won't. Peter said that
out of pride. And of course, the Lord already
told him, you'll reject, you'll forsake me, you'll deny me three
times. And Peter did. But we're to resolve,
not like Peter, but in humility, in our minds that we will never
forsake Christ. But we're to resolve this knowing
full well that if the Lord does not preserve us, we will forsake
him. We will fall. Like all of salvation,
and I mean all of salvation, our endurance, our perseverance
is totally by the grace of God in Christ. It's totally by the
power of God in Christ. And even though we're to resolve
to give all our strength and to endure in the faith, and to
endure in goodness and truth, following Christ, the justified
shall live by faith, I'm resolved to live my life looking to Christ
for my salvation. Looking to Christ for the forgiveness
of my sins. Looking to Christ and Him alone
for my righteousness. I have no righteousness but that
which is in Christ. And that's the righteousness
that God has freely and fully imputed to me. And this endurance,
it's not by my power, it's not by our goodness or resolve that
will bring us to glory, it's God's power. It's God's grace
and goodness and power and His resolve because He promised to
keep us to the end. And this endurance is not a condition
we must meet in order to attain final glory. It's evidence of
God's grace and power within us by which we're certain to
attain final glory because of the covenant of grace that's
been fulfilled in Christ. Next week, I'm going to deal
with some issues that have been brought to my attention from
some questions that came to me on the internet concerning this
subject here in Mark 13. Is Christ talking about His second
coming here, or is He talking about the time of the destruction
of Jerusalem? Well, mainly He's talking about
the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. That
happened in AD 70, but I'm gonna get into all that next week,
okay? But my point here is this, for this, he says, look at it,
verse 13, he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall
be saved. Now, as that applies to you and
me, living in 2022, what is this end referring to? Well, it's
either referring to one of two things. It's either referring
to the second coming of Christ. For us now, if we're living at
that time, I don't know when he's coming again. It may not
be in our lifetime. Maybe in the next generation. But if he comes again, if he
comes in our lifetime, we want to be found faithful, don't we?
Looking to Christ, resting in Christ. But it could be the end
of our lives here on earth. as we go to meet Him. And when
I die, I want to die in the faith. How about you? I want to die
in Christ. I want to be found in Him, as
Paul wrote, not having my own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faithfulness of Christ. And
what I want you to see is, once again, this enduring. He that endures unto the end,
the same shall be saved. Those who don't endure will not
be saved. But what does the Bible say about
those who do not endure, those who leave the faith, those who
turn against Christ whom they once professed? The Bible tells
us that they were never saved to begin with. They were never
blessed with the grace of God. And this endurance in which we
are set our minds to, I'm not going to leave Christ. You say,
well, don't be bragging. Well, I'm not bragging, because
I know if I don't leave him, it's because he will not let
me go. But this resolve in our minds
to look to him alone, who gave us that mindset? Who gave us
that faith, that knowledge, the desire to endure? God gave that
to us. That's a gift from God, did you
know that? Apart from the gift of God in salvation, we would
have none of these things, none of these desires. We'd be like
the world and go through life without the true grace of God
by which we endure. So again, perseverance, endurance,
is based upon the preserving grace of God. And He brings us
to persevere with the assurances of faith, the assurances of His
Word. And let me give you just several
things, and I'm gonna read some scripture with it, that we need
to think about when we think about this endurance unto the
end. This is the truth of God's grace.
Now, I read Hebrews 10, 38 and 39. where the writer said, the
justified shall live by faith. What is it to be justified now?
It means to be forgiven of all our sins based on a right ground,
a just ground. And what is that ground? The
blood of Christ, the death of Christ. And it's to be declared
righteous in the sight of God on a just ground. And what is
that just ground? The imputed righteousness of
Christ. So those who are justified by the grace of God in Christ
live spiritually, having been born again by the Spirit, having
been given spiritual life, having been given faith, knowledge,
repentance, and even perseverance. The justified shall live by looking
to and resting in Christ, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. He started it in me and he'll
complete it. He'll do it. And so Paul, who
I believe was the human writer of Hebrews, he says, we are not
of them who draw back. Well, let me give you these things.
Think about this in our endurance. Number one, did you know that
before the foundation of the world, our names Our actual names
were written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Before the world began. Now what does that mean? That
means God chose us. He elected us. And He gave us
to Christ. I don't believe there's a literal
book and God sat down with pen and ink and wrote our names down.
But our names was on His mind and in His heart. Think about
that. Revelation 21-27 talks about
the new Jerusalem, the glory of heaven. And it says, And there
shall in no wise enter into it, that holy city, anything that
defileth, neither whatsoever worketh in unbelief and abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life." That's something, isn't
it? Over in Revelation 13, 8, he
speaks of the earth, meaning the cursed earth, and all that
dwell upon the earth shall worship him, talking about the beasts
that come out of the sea, false prophet, whose names are not
written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world." Isn't that something? My name written in the Lamb's
Book of Life. How do I know that's true? Because
God has brought me to rest in Christ. Believe in Christ. I have no hope of salvation but
in Christ. Let me give you this one, number
two. We're predestinated to everlasting salvation in Christ. Look over
at Romans chapter eight. This is so familiar to you, you
can probably quote it, or most of it. What is this thing of
predestination? Well, it speaks of the nature, the
mind, the purpose of God, who brings all things to pass. I know people don't like that
and they don't understand it, but it's true. Ephesians 1.11
says that God is the God who works all things after the counsel
of His own will. And God determined all things.
But here it's specifically saying, listen to this, look at Romans
8 and look at verse 29. It says, for whom He did foreknow. Now that word means foreordain. What does that mean? It means
our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We've been given
to Christ. That's who owns us. But who He
did foreknow, foreordain, He also did predestinate. That's our destiny. You see that? Who determined our destiny? God
did. And what did He predestinate
us to? To be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Well, how do you know that we've
been predestinated to be conformed to Christ? Well, look at verse
30. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called. Have you
been called? What is that calling? That's
the calling of the Gospel and the power of the Spirit. That's
that irresistible, invincible calling. Where the Gospel was
made the power of God unto salvation. To bring us to faith in Christ. And to live by faith. He called
and whom He called them He also justified. Our calling unto Christ
is evidence that we've been justified. And whom He justified them, He
also glorified." Now, we haven't been glorified yet, but we're
predestinated to be glorified. And God's the one who did it. Most people think that they're
the captain of their own fate, the bringer about of their own
destiny. Well, if that's the truth, we're
all doomed. The God, the God of all grace, who wrote our names
in the Lamb's Book of Life, who chose us in Christ, made Him
to be our surety. He predestinated His children
to be conformed to Christ. And you know what? That's what's
going to happen. Here's another thing, number three. God does
not charge our sins to us. He charged them to Christ, our
surety. Look at verse 33 of this same
Romans chapter 8. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. God
gave us to Christ, made Christ our surety. He does not impute
our sins to us. And if God does not impute our
sins to us, we cannot perish. His justice will not let us perish. He's imputed us with Christ's
righteousness. Go on, here's the fourth one.
Our surety. Now think about this. This is the foundation, the motivation
for our endurance. Our surety, Christ Jesus, has
already settled our account. He's already obtained the purchased
possession. Look at verse 34 here. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh the intercession
for us. You see that? Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without works. Christ sat on that cross. He said, it's finished. What
did he finish? What Daniel prophesied. What
did Daniel prophesied? That the Messiah would finish
the transgression, make an end of sins, make reconciliation
for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up the visions,
the prophecies of the Old Testament, and anoint the most holy. And
when he gave up the ghost, the veil was rent in two from top
to bottom. Here's another thing. Turn to
Ephesians. Look at this verse, Ephesians
chapter one. Here's the fifth thing. If we
know Christ, if we're living by faith, the just shall live
by faith, If we're looking to Him, that's an evidence that
we are sealed unto eternal life. Sealed by the grace of God in
Christ. Look at Ephesians 1 and verse
13, talking about the work of the Spirit, in whom you also
trusted, that is, trusted Christ. after that you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after
that you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." That sealing is irrevocable. It's a stamp. It's a permanent
identifying mark set forth by the Spirit upon the hearts of
His people. And not only that, the Spirit
not only seals us, but He enters into our hearts. He dwells within
us. Look at verse 14. This Spirit
of promise, Ephesians 1, 14, is the earnest, the down payment,
the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession under the praise of His glory." All the way under
glory. We have that pledge. We have
that earnest of heavenly glory within us. That's the sixth one. But here's
another one. Number seven, we are kept by
the power of God in His grace through Christ. We're kept. We're
a kept people. Peter spoke of that. We're kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. That's why I had brother David
read Jude. The last two verses of Jude. Listen to it again.
Jude 24 and 25. Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling, to present you faultless before the presence
of His glory and with exceeding joy, To the only wise God and
our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now
and forever. He's able. That's what Paul said
in 2 Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded
that He's able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against
that day. Isn't that a marvelous thing to think about? We're not
able, but He is. Here's the eighth thing. We have
a promise from our Savior. And you know what He promised?
Well, He said, My sheep hear My voice, John 10, 27. I know
them. They follow Me. He said, I give
unto them eternal life. That's a gift, see? We didn't
earn it. Didn't deserve it. Still don't. But He gave it anyway. on the ground of His righteousness,
imputed to us, and He said, they shall never perish. He says, neither shall any man
pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
My Father's hand. Well, here's the ninth. He told
us. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God in Christ. Look back there one more time
at Romans chapter 8. You know where I'm going on this.
Romans chapter 8, verse 35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, I mentioned
last week how we're going through the tribulation right now. I'm
going to deal with that a little bit more next week when we get
to the abomination of desolation. Well, tribulation won't separate
us from the love of Christ. Distress, persecution, we've
already mentioned all those things, haven't we? Mark 13, this is
what's going to happen. Now, it did happen before 70
AD. That happened to believers. But
it's happening now. Persecution, famine, nakedness,
peril, sword. Verse 36, as it is written, for
thy sake we are killed all the day long. We're accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. You see that?
We're victorious. We've won. More than conquerors. But how? Not because of our goodness
or our power, but because of our Savior who loved us and gave
Himself for us. And who is now seated at the
right hand of God making intercession for us. And so he says in verse
38, I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus
Christ." That's the promise that our Savior
has given to us. That's the promise of God to every justified born-again
person. And the question we have to ask
ourselves Is Christ really my only hope of salvation? Or am I looking elsewhere? Am
I looking to myself? To my experiences? My works? If I am, let me tell you something. If that's what you're doing,
you've never been born again by the Spirit. Because if you're
born again by the Spirit, you look to Christ alone. This is
all my hope and peace. This is all my righteousness.
And you cannot ignore it, you cannot deny it, and you cannot
leave it. That's enduring to the end by
the grace of God.