Now, if you turn again to Mark
13. Mark 13, verse 9. Mark 13, verse 9. I want to bring a message from
Mark 13, verse 9, down through verse 13. And the title of the
message this morning is found in verse 9. The title of the
message is, Take heed to yourselves. That's a warning, isn't it? Take
heed to yourselves. The Lord of Glory is warning
us of the trials and tribulations that we must endure while we
live in this life as believers, but also of the comfort and encouragement
and grace to endure the trials that God is pleased to sovereignly
send our way. He said, My grace is sufficient
in the day of trouble. There is in the dark clouds of
God's providence a silver lining. Behind the dark cloud of God's
providence, the songwriter said, he hides his smiling face. He does all things well for his
own glory. After the Apostle Paul was stoned
at Lystra for preaching the gospel and dragged out by his boot heels
as a dead man, he went back into that same city preaching the
gospel that he was just persecuted for, preaching the same Lord
Jesus Christ, and he said these words to those believers there
in that city, confirming their souls, exhorting them to continue
in the faith, that we through much tribulation must enter in
to the Kingdom of God. We must enter in to glory in
Christ Jesus. Now, all through the Word of
God, we find strong warnings coupled with strong consolations. We find judgment, but also mercy. Seldom all bitterness without
any sweet promises. Seldom all darkness without light. He is the light of the world.
The Lord knows our frame. The Lord knows how weak we are.
And He takes care to mingle comfort with threatenings. He takes care
to mingle comfort with threatening and kind words, coupled with
hard words. And we see that in this portion
of Scripture that we have. Hold your place there. Let me
show you a good example of that. Turn to John chapter 13. John
chapter 13, bitterness and sweet promises,
darkness and light. John chapter 13, verse 36, Simon
Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? And Jesus answered
and said, Whither I go, Thou canst not follow me now, but
thou shalt follow me afterwards. Then Peter said unto the Lord,
Why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you,
for your sake. Look at verse 38. Will you? Will you lay down your life for
my sake? Verily I say unto you, The cock shall not crow till
you have denied me three times. You reckon that just stuck a
dagger in the heart of the apostle? It crushed him. It crushed him. Judgment. You're going to deny
that you even know Me. Here's the comfort. Read the
next verse. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God? Believe in Me. In My Father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare
a place for you, I'll come again and receive you to Myself at
where I am. There you may be also. Did Peter
deny the Lord? He did, didn't he? Three times. Did the Lord comfort him? Absolutely. Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord. Go feed my sheep. He didn't chastise
him. Peter, you lowdown. No, he said,
Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know. Then go
feed my people. Go feed my sheep. You see, warning
and comfort. Warning and comfort. There's
another Scripture over here. Don't turn, let me just get it
for you real quickly. You're familiar with it. In John
16, in verse 33, the Lord said, These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall
have tribulation. Expect it, but be of good cheer. I've overcome. You see, warning
and comfort. Warning and comfort. And the
same is true in our text today found in Mark 13. Mark 13. Now, I have two main points today. The first one is this, found
in verse 9. Troubles that believers are to
expect while they are waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's coming back. He is on His way. But while we
live in this life as believers, we are going to go through much
tribulation. We shall enter into the Kingdom
of God, but we are to expect Trouble, trouble. What it says
in verse 9? Take heed to yourselves, they
shall deliver you up to councils, and in the synagogue you shall
be beaten for the gospel's sake, and you shall be brought before
rulers and kings for my sake, because of what you believe and
because of what you preach, for a testimony against them. Now, no doubt, trouble is a common
portion of all of Adam's fallen race. Any of you here not experienced
trouble? We all have trouble, don't we?
Trouble is a common portion of all of Adam's ruined, fallen,
guilty race. Job 5 says, Man is born to trouble
as the sparks fly upward. Trouble, trouble, trouble. Where
there is sin, there is trouble. Where there is sin, there is
trouble and sorrow. This was pronounced, the pronouncement
of judgment after sin entered in. You remember when Adam sinned? God pronounced judgment. Judgment. And here's the judgment. Let
me just read it for you. Genesis chapter 3. Cursed is
the ground for thy sake. In sorrow thou shalt eat of it
all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles. shall it
bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field,
in the sweat of your face you'll eat bread, till you return to
the ground, for out of it you were taken, for dust thou art,
and dust you shall return." Trouble's coming. Yet, that trouble is
common to all men. But there is a specific trouble
that's common only to believers that's mentioned here. Yet the
Lord warns us about specific problems, specific troubles that
are common only to God's elect, only to God's people. Philippians
1.29 declares this, For unto you it is given in the behalf
of Christ, not only to believe on Him, we believe on Him, by
the power of God. It's faith is a gift of God.
It's given on the behalf of Christ, the sovereignty, the sovereign
Christ of God, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for
His namesake. Do you see that? To suffer for
His namesake. Now the Lord tells us about the
sources of these troubles. in these verses here. He tells
us from whence these troubles will come. We are to expect trouble
from the people of this ungodly religious world. That's what
he mentions there in verse 9. They shall deliver you up to
their councils, religious councils. They'll even take you in their
religious assemblies, the synagogues, and you'll be beaten And you'll
be accused before the rulers of religion, before the kings
of men, because of the gospel. And it'll be a testimony against
them in that day. We are to expect trouble from
three sources, I think I've got here. We are to expect trouble
from the people, from unbelievers in this ungodly world. He says in verse 13, you shall
be hated of men for my name's sake. Turn back to John, find
John chapter 15 this time. John chapter 15, look at verse 18. John 15, 18, he said,
if the world hate you, he's talking here about the ungodly world,
religious or otherwise, unbelievers. If they hate you, be sure you
know this, that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of
the world, the world would love His own, but because you're not
of the world, I've chosen you. I've chosen you. What is that
election? Therefore, they hate you. They
hate you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
persecuted me, they will persecute you. If they kept my saying,
they'll remember what you said. But all these things will they
do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that
sent me." You can read the rest of that at your leisure. Trouble
from religious people. The gospel of God's grace and
the gospel that we preach here, the sovereign God that we preach
and the sovereign God that we worship, is despised by this
unbelieving, God-hating world. If you don't think so, just be
bold enough to declare it. Our gospel exposes their righteousness
as sin, their tradition as idolatry, and condemns it for what it is,
foolishness in the sight of God. Our Lord said to this same religious
crowd that persecutes those who preach the truth, He said, that
which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the
sight of God. Ananias told these words to the
Apostle Paul, if you want to turn and read this with me in
Acts chapter 9. Remember when God saved Saul
of Tarsus and God sent him a gospel preacher? And he said to him
these words, recorded in Acts chapter 9, verse 15, But the
Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto
me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and the kings, and
the children of Israel. For I will show him how great
things he must suffer for my name's sake." Must suffer. Well, read the record. Paul was
beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, stoned, whipped. Why? What did he do? He dared
to tell the truth. The truth about salvation in
Christ. These things were certainly true
in the case of the apostles. All of them died the death of
a martyr. Certainly true in the early church.
in the Apostles' Day, certainly true in what we call in the Day
of Reformation. You remember a man by the name
of Martin Luther? Hated and hunted all over Europe
because he dared to preach Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone,
the Word of God alone. Men like Hus, Latimer, Ridley
burned to the stake because they would not retent. They would not change their message. I want that kind of courage,
don't you? I want that kind of boldness. God will bless it. He will bless it. Many were beaten,
persecuted, imprisoned, burned to the stake for no other reason
than plainly declaring the gospel of God's sovereign grace through
Christ Jesus. These were men who refused to
compromise to please men. If we preach the gospel just
so as to not ruffle any feathers, don't upset the apple cart, make
sure you don't offend anybody, don't step on any toes. I wasn't
shooting for the toes, I was aiming for the heart. You know, my friend, if we preach
to please men, we're not the servants of Christ. That's just
so. That's just so. Look what he
says there in verse 9. Take heed. Take heed. You stand for the gospel, it'll
cost you. Friends, family, influence, maybe even income. Maybe they'll
just fire you because they'll find some reason to fire you
because you're a believer. I've seen it happen. I've experienced
it myself. Second thing is this. Notice
carefully the words found in verse 12. Brother shall deliver
brother to death, father turn on his son, and the son on the
parents, and shall cause them to be put to death." Now notice
carefully these words. We must even expect persecution
from those who are our own family. Those who are opposed to the
gospel who may be my blood brother. Now I've experienced a lot of
this on both sides of my family. My wife's side and mine as well.
Don't be surprised when family members turn on you for standing
for the gospel of God's grace. I'm not just saying, I'm just
not saying because you're religious. I'm saying for the gospel of
grace. Sovereign grace. That's been
declared here since this pulpit and those front doors were opened.
Grace. Grace alone. Don't be surprised
when your own family members turn on you for standing for
the gospel. We must not be surprised that those whose hearts are at
enmity with God are also at enmity with us. Don't be surprised. I give you some scriptural examples
in the Word of God. Way back in Genesis chapter 4,
Abel brought the blood offering of the Lamb. He had a brother
named Cain. who brought the sacrifice of
his own hand and presented it to God. God had respect to that
blood offering, typical of the Lord Jesus Christ. God had no
respect. He disrespected that offering
that Cain brought, the labor of his hand. You remember what
happened? The first murder ever committed
was over the issue of how God saved sinners. Grace or works? Well, Cain got angry. Remember
what he did to his brother? Killed him. He was killed over
the argument how sinners approach God. So don't be surprised when
your own brother turns on you. Esau will always despise Jacob
because of God's sovereign mercy. God declared, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. How do you reckon that made Esau
feel? He despised Jacob for it. He despised him for it. The seed of the serpent will
always despise the seed of the woman God's elect in Christ Jesus. In John chapter 9, you remember
the Lord Jesus was preaching the gospel to those Jews, in a way of preaching exposed
their depravity and their sin, and they came back with this
smug idea, we're Abraham's sons. We're not born of fornication.
We're just a little bit better than what you think we are. You
remember what the Lord said to them? You are of your father
the devil. And the work of your father will
you do." He was a murderer from the beginning. He abode not in
the truth. He is a father of lies. You see,
the seed of a serpent will always despise God's elect. Mark it down. If you've not experienced
this, hold on, you will. You will soon find out enmity
against God is stronger than flesh and blood. It's stronger. Who was it that persecuted the
apostle Paul and all the apostles? Their own kin, the Jews. Who was it that persecuted the
Lord Jesus Christ and killed Him? His own family. We must learn as believers to
put up with laughter, Ridicule, slander, and mockery. I've experienced
much of it. We must bear hard words, unkindness
of our nearest kin, and even our friends, for His namesake,
for our faith in the true and only saving gospel of God's grace. To say that we can get along
with this ungodly religious world and not be alarmed over what
goes on in the name of God is to deny the gospel of grace altogether. If it doesn't upset you what
goes on in religious circles today, I would take alarm. It is ungodly
idolatry. to say or even slightly indicate
that God Almighty uses lies and a presentation of a false Christ
and a false gospel to save sinners is a denial of the gospel of
grace. Though we or an angel from heaven
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached,
let him be damned is the word. You say, preachers, that's hard.
No, it's just so. It's just so. It's time that
somebody started declaring the truth. I want to do it in love.
I want to do it out of compassion. But my friend, God is my helper. God is my witness. I'm not going
to back down or compromise on these issues that are vital to
our salvation. This is eternal life that you
might know thee the only true God. This is eternal life knowing
the true God. And the true Christ, not this
Christ who wants to and can't. Not this God who is trying, but
you won't let Him. That's another God. That's another
gospel. That's not the gospel of grace.
That's not the truth, my friend. I know the offense of the cross
has not ceased. Paul said that in Galatians 5,
when he warned those Galatians to turn from Judaism, to turn
from the ceremonies of the law, and go back to Christ. They were looking for assurance
in the law, and Christ said, if righteousness is by the law,
Paul said, if righteousness is by the law, Christ is dead in
vain. I know there's an offense in
the Gospel. When you tell men they're sinners and totally shut
up to God's sovereign mercy, that offends their pride. When
you tell them they're ignorant, Of God? That offends their wisdom,
I understand that. But we have to declare the truth,
do we not? God help us if we don't. The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. Those who are born after the
flesh, now listen to this. Those who are born after the
flesh will always persecute those born of the Spirit. Remember
what I said in this verse, brother shall rise up against brother,
father against son, son against father. Those who are born after the
flesh will always persecute those born after the Spirit. Ishmael
will always be at war with Isaac. There's another example. It says
in Galatians 4, but as then he that was born after the flesh
persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so, Mark
it down, it's right now, it's the same. Hasn't changed. Ishmael
still hates Isaac. Esau still hates Jacob. And Cain
would still murder the way of grace in Christ Jesus. Notice what the Lord said in
verse 13, You shall be hated of all men for My name's sake. Paul's dying words to Timothy
as he sits rotting in jail in Rome. He writes these words,
all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution
for contending for the gospel. What makes this place different
here? Why didn't you come to Zebulun
to worship here? Why not somewhere else? I know there's nothing here to
attract the flesh. We have not choirs. We have not
all the programs and social activities that go on. Why do you come here? If you come here for any other
reason than to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the truth of salvation in Christ Jesus, you're coming for the
wrong reason. You just as well stay home. Say, well, you shouldn't say
that. My friend, I want you to come. I want you to believe the
gospel. But I tell you, I want you to come because you're motivated
to come. Because God burdened your heart
to be here. Don't think in your heart, well,
you know, I've got to go. I've not been for a while. What
will those folks think about me? Forget that. Come because, man,
I've got to hear more of that gospel of God's grace. I've got
to hear more of how Christ put away my sin by His own blood. I've got to hear how He obtained
righteousness for us by His doing, not mine. Now, if you come on
that basis, in your heart, I tell you, you've come ready to worship
God. If you come any other way, you're
just going through the motions. You're just going through the
motions. What sets this ministry apart here at Zebulun? What sets
us apart here? What sets us apart here? One
thing. The Gospel. The Gospel of God
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what sets us apart. It's
not that I'm a good preacher. It's not that I'm a charismatic
person. I'm not. I am what I am by His
grace. Come because you love Christ,
the Christ that's preached here, the Christ of God. Don't come
for any other reason. Now, if you don't have that burden
in your heart, I pray God to trouble you greatly. Trouble
you greatly. The second thing is this, the
fullness of God's promise. The fullness of God's promise. Verse 10, the fullness of God's
promise, and the gospel must first be published among all
nations. These are some of the exceeding
great and precious promises that Peter and Paul and the others
wrote about. The Lord holds forth before us His rich Word and eternal
promises, all that God has promised He is able to perform. He said
the gospel must first be published among all nations. Notice these
sweet promises in the face of these warnings. The gospel must first be preached. Everything else is side issues.
The issue is the gospel. This trouble the Lord brings
about is for the furtherance of the gospel. Did you know that?
Turn to Acts chapter 8 this time. Acts chapter 8. The Lord brings this trouble
upon his church to further the gospel of God's grace. The gospel must be preached first. Look at Acts chapter 8. Saul
was consenting unto his death at the death of Stephen. And
at that time there was a great persecution against the church
which was at Jerusalem. They were scattered abroad throughout
all the region of Judea, Samaria, except the apostles. And devout
men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over
him, weeping. As for Saul, he made havoc of
the church, entering into every house and hailing or dragging
men and women and committing them to prison. Therefore, you
see the trouble? Look at verse 4, they went everywhere,
scattered abroad, went everywhere, doing what? Preaching the word. Philip even went down to Samaria
and preach Christ unto them. You see how the Lord used trouble
to spread the gospel? He does the same today. I would
have you understand the Apostle said in Philippians 1.12 that
the things which happened to me have fallen out to the furtherance
of the gospel. The gospel must first be preached.
It must be, it shall be. Woe is unto us, woe is unto me
if I preach not the gospel. The Lord has ordained this as
a means to call out His people. The Lord has ordained this as
a purpose to teach His people and to feed them through the
preaching of the Word. In spite of all opposition, in
spite of the rage of devils, and the persecution of ungodly
rebels, the Lord continued to call, to equip, to raise up a
mighty army of redeemed sinners to go and preach the gospel of
Christ, who can say with Paul, I am not ashamed. Who can say
with Isaiah, here am I Lord, send me. You think of all the persecution
that men have suffered for preaching the gospel. And yet God keeps
raising men up, keeps raising men up, keeps raising them up. Remember the words of the Lord
to Peter. He said, Thou art Peter upon
this rock I'll build my church and the gates of hell cannot
stop it, cannot prevail against it. So the gospel will be preached. It must be preached, and God
help us. God is my helper. I intend to
keep on preaching Christ in this pulpit as long as He'll have
me. Now, if you want to fire me, that's another story. If
you want to fire me and hire somebody that won't compromise,
go at it. I'm going to preach Christ, come
flame or flood. That's what my pastor used to
say, come hell or high water. Preach Christ. The second promise
is this, the Lord assures us of His special help when it's
needed in these times of persecution. Verse 11, but when they shall
lead you and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what
you shall speak, neither do you premeditate for whatsoever shall
be given you in that hour you speak that. It's God who speaks
through you. The Lord assures us of His special
help and need for persecution. Now, admittedly, verse 11 has
been widely misunderstood and abused by many lazy preachers. Not God's preachers, but lazy
preachers who think they can carry on a pulpit ministry without
proper study and preparation. That verse is not talking about
a pulpit ministry. He's talking about when you're
taken on the spot, before persecutors, that you won't have time to think
and premeditate, but God, He said, I'll promise you, I'll
be with you, and I'll give you the Word, just like He did to
Peter and John, as we read in Acts chapter 4. This verse has
nothing to do with the pastor preaching from the pulpit. I
must study. I must premeditate. You wouldn't
want to listen to me any other way. For me to get up and ramble? and carry on without study and
preparation and prayer, seeking God's face? I've worked on this
message for two days. I just don't get up here and
shoot off at the mouth. I come here with preparation
and study and anguish in my heart and begging God, Lord, give me
the message for your people. But what he's saying here, the
Lord has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. He said, Lo,
I'm with you always, even to the end of the earth. Many times
I've experienced this in my life. Be out somewhere and meet someone,
and the gospel issue will come up, how God saves sinners by
grace or by works, and God oftentimes blesses with an abundance of
recall of Scripture, The abundance of His liberty to declare His
truth, I've experienced this over and over and over again. I didn't plan that meeting. I
didn't seek that meeting. God in His providence brought
that to pass, and He blesses it. He blesses it. Isaiah said
this, God writing to Isaiah, He said, Fear not, I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I'll strengthen thee, I'll help
thee, I'll hold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Lastly, verse 13, God's promises. God's promises. The gospel must
be preached. Verse 11, He said, I'll be with
you, I'll bless you, I'll give you the words to speak. Verse
13, those who endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Here's the fruit of perseverance.
Perseverance. He that endureth to the end shall
be saved. Here we see both sides of faith.
Both sides of faith. Perseverance, keeping on, and
preservation were kept by the power of God. Believers do persevere
in the faith. They will not desert the only
hope of salvation in Christ Jesus. And those who do forsake the
gospel never did really believe it, did they? John talks about
those. They went out from us, but they
were not of us, for if they had been of us, they no doubt would
have continued with us. But they went out that they might
be made manifest that they were not all of us." Paul said, forgetting those things
which are behind. Those putting their hand to the
plow, starting in the way of salvation in Christ. Those putting
their hand to the plow and looking back are not fit for the kingdom
of God. Remember, the Scripture says, remember Lot's wife? She went out of Sodom and Gomorrah,
but in her heart she never left. And she turned back. God turned
her to a pillar of salt. Looking back. Forget back there. It's looking to Him now in the
heart. Those putting their hand to the
plow and looking back are not fit to the kingdom of God. We
must hold our way. We must cleave to Christ. We
must take up the cross daily and follow Him. This is what
we call perseverance. Hebrews 3, Take heed, therefore,
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. You remember
the last part? In departing from the living
God. That's how it's manifested. The believer's perseverance.
Now listen to me. The believer's perseverance is
a matter of personal accountability and responsibility unto the Lord. For the believer, he's accountable
to God. Here's the flip side. We also
know this to be true. We are preserved by the mighty
power of God. We are kept by the power of God.
We do persevere. We are kept by the power of God.
Now let me give you a verse that sums this up. Perseverance and
preservation. Jeremiah 32. Don't turn, let
me just read it to you. Mark it down if you want to read
it. Jeremiah 32, 38 and 40. And God said, they shall be my
people, I will be their God. I'll give them one heart and
one way that they may fear me forever. For the good of them
and for their children, after them I will make an everlasting
covenant with them. I will not turn away from them
to do them good, but I'll put fear in my heart and they shall
not depart from me." You see what he's saying there? I will
not turn away from them and they shall not depart from me. There's
perseverance and preservation, both are so. All who die in faith
will be raised in glory. The same shall be saved, justified. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved. Paul said in 2 Timothy 4, I've
kept the faith. I've fought a good fight. I've
kept the faith. While those who hate our God
and despise our gospel are cast into everlasting torment, We,
by His grace, shall enter into everlasting glory to be with
Christ forever. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved." Our Lord on one occasion, recorded
in John chapter 6, there was a multitude of people that followed
Him because of the loaves and fishes. Remember, He fed the
thousands, and then He clearly, Define the gospel, no man can
come unto me except the Father which sent me. Draw him. And
many that followed him, most think that those four or five
thousand people turned and walked away. The Lord said to them, will you
also go away? He turned to the disciples and
said, will you also go away? Lord, Lord, can we go? We believe and we're sure that
you're that Christ. That one now, not another. That
Christ. The Son of the Living God. Nowhere
else to go but to Him.