A Love Story of Grace

Recap Series

we have seen Jesus do great things; Healings, casting out demons, miracles

last few chapters, we have seen him really make the religious rulers mad

they want him dead,

he cost them money,

causing people to follow him and not them

Today

We are doing an overview of this book, and there is a lot to cover in this chapter

we cannot get in the weeds of this chapter…

there is an overall theme I believe

A Love Story of Grace

Illustration - Man and Halmark movies...

Some Like it, some lie and pretend, some will not watch no matter what, some are blessed like me whose wife would rather watch the chiefs game or college basketball!

I have never been asked what I wanted to watch while the f

Chapter 13 is about the end times when you read through it…

Eschatology is something that people love to study, hear about and hate to preach on

I am a coward, I am not preaching on it today…

When going through this chapter there are a few verse that jumped out at me

v2 Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another—all will be thrown down.”

v11 So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time, for it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

2 Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another—all will be thrown down.”

So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time, for it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

v20 If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved. But he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose.

v33 “Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming.

“Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming.

These verses reveal his love for us… How? I am glad you asked!

Illustration - speak of the word awesome… it is overused!

Disciples were amazed by man created things

tell of why they were amazed… not something they see often, unless they had been in Jerusalem

We are warned not to be like the world

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

yet this is what so many Christians do… I have been as faulty of this as anyone…

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

we attempt to take worldly things; music, movies, and make “Christian” alternatives.

we think that this means we are not to be of a certain political party, or that we must stand for certain political agendas

We are called to be different.... we should look and act different.

We are warned not to love the world (1 John 2:15-17)

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

you cannot love this world and the things in it and love God… the things of the world are contrary to God

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

v16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.

For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.

Jesus warns that this world will not last

v2 Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another—all will be thrown down.”

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

1John 2:17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

Jesus died for you though you continue to be amazed with this world

Jesus who created all things according to and left heaven and died for you though often you love his creation more than you love him.

the creator came and died for the created so that we could spend eternity with him

His warning to the disciples here is simple… do not be amazed at this, none of it will last.

same goes for us… none of this is awesome.

God and what is has done for us is the truly only awesome thing there is

Trials will come

We cannot be fooled into thinking that because we belong to God that trials will not come; bad things will happen

trials of our own making

we do dumb things every once in a while

illustrate with story of Dustin saying he hasn’t done anything stupid for people to tell stories on him about DO NOT USE NAME!

trials because of our faith

says that we should rejoice in various trials… meaning trials of all kinds

This is where the apostles were… told that you are going to face problems because you belong to me; because of my name…

All were martyred except John, who was boiled in oil and exiled to Patmos

We will be persecuted, especially as time draws near to the end, if we stand with and for Jesus.

We must decide if Jesus is worth it

chapter 10, story of the rich young ruler, we talked about that Jesus is the Prize.

We must decide if he is worth going through persecution for...

just a warning, if you say that Jesus is not worth it, can I lovingly tell you that you do not know him

that if you do not know Jesus, according to , you are not saved,

Jesus does not leave us to endure alone

we have the church; this is why in the book of Hebrews, the writer tells us that we must continue to meet together.

we need the fellowship of the church

we are here to lift each other up, to encourage one another!

we have the Holy Spirit

So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time, for it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

not an excuse to not be prepared for evangelism

proof that God will not leave us or forsake us

We are not left here to battle on our own and try harder,

in the grace of God, he has given us the Holy Spirit to help us through this battle

lean into him!

often we think that we are abandoned because we are going through a trial…

This is a reassuring promise that he loves us through the trials…

Illustration - good news bad news

I did this to one of my kids and they did not think that the bad news was that bad. That I had made it worse by telling them that I had bad news.

The tribulation is not like that… Nobody is going to go through the tribulation and think, “ah… it wasn’t that bad.”

Jesus gives a explanation of the severity of the tribulation

14 “When you see the abomination of desolation, standing where it should not be” (let the reader understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. 15 A man on the housetop must not come down or go in to get anything out of his house, 16 and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat. 17 Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days! 18 “Pray it won’t happen in winter. 19 For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn’t been from the beginning of creation until now and never will be again. 20 If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved. But he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose. 21 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘See, here is the Messiah! See, there!’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 And you must watch! I have told you everything in advance. 24 “But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; 25 the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

18 “Pray it won’t happen in winter. 19 For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn’t been from the beginning of creation until now and never will be again. 20 If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved. But he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose. 21 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘See, here is the Messiah! See, there!’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 And you must watch! I have told you everything in advance. 24 “But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; 25 the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

21 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘See, here is the Messiah! See, there!’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 And you must watch! I have told you everything in advance. 24 “But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; 25 the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

I believe that this is given as a warning as how severe it will be, not as something that we are to figure out.

THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN

abomination of the desolation goes back to the book of Daniel in the later chapters where the end times are prophesied about

24 “But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; 25 the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

not that we are to try and figure out who this will be… I believe that we are going to know it when we see it.

simply know that when it does happen, then things will get bad.

Jesus gives reason that it will be cut short

v20 If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved. But he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose.

God’s elect - His chosen people - You!

this shows that this is planned, that you were thought about, and that God loved you enough to not leave you in this miserable situation that nobody would be able to endure!

That when the judgment that the world deserves comes, God has loved you

Like Noah and his family saved at a time of Judgment, or Lot and his family saved at a time of Judgment

God’s people will be saved, pulled out when judgment comes to the earth

God loved you in beginning when everything was created, loved you at the crucifixion of Jesus and loves you to the end

We need not worry about when and focus on His love

This should cause us to love him more...

there are so many that cry out, “What is God doing for me now…”

simply look at what it is that God has, is and continues to do and you cannot do anything but love him in return

drive us

This should cause us to love others more… evangelism

when we understand this love that he has for us and the grace that he has shown, and continues to show to us, how can we do anything else but tell others?

this is the ultimate way to love them

we cannot love others anymore than to share the love of Jesus with them.

understanding chapter 13 should drive us to live out what you have hopefully been praying over the last week.

To love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself.

A Love Story of Grace

Introduction

Jesus Loves in the World (v1-2)

Jesus Loves in the Trials (v. 3-13)

Jesus Loves in the End (v. 14-37)