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It was the end of the third day of the week of Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Two nights hence, He would be betrayed and arrested. He had taken His disciples to the Mount of Olives that evening to spend the night. It was a place to which Jesus often retreated when He was in Jerusalem. It was a place where He could have long conversations with His Father in prayer. And it was a place that evening at which He chose to have a long conversation with four of His disciples – Peter, James, John, and Andrew.

Earlier, to the full group, Jesus had already begun to speak about the end of the age and the events which would signal His return. Having Jesus all to themselves, the four disciples drew close to Him and asked, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will show us that these things are about to be fulfilled?” (1)

Before we look at those next “signs” for which He instructs them to watch, let’s talk about “time”. The persecution that Jesus said would occur actually began with the apostles in just a few short weeks after that very conversation. In many respects, the coming of the end of the age began right then, early in the 1stCentury. The penultimate event of history is the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus. In God’s plan:

·      First, He created the heavens and the earth in order to raise up and gather worshipers unto Himself, through whom He would ascribe glory to His Name. But we immediately separated ourselves from our Creator through our sin and disqualified ourselves from being able to worship a Holy God, so…

·      Secondly, He unfolded His redemptive plan to reconcile His sinful creation back to Himself through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, which leads us to the final part of the plan…

·      Thirdly, through the power of His Holy Spirit, now working in and through the followers of His Son, He multiplies that multitude of worshipers from every language, people, tongue and tribe, culminating in that final day when He gathers us all together before His throne (the end of the age).

So truly, the final days began after Christ completed His redemptive work and returned to the right hand of the Father, thereby enabling the Holy Spirit to be sent to earth to be about His work. The period between the first to the second part of the plan was approximately 4,000 years, and now the Holy Spirit has been about His work for the last 2,000 years since Jesus had this conversation with His disciples. There is no question we are in those final days. Only God knows how long they will continue. “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.”(2) So, it should not come as a surprise to us that the disciples began to experience some of the very occurrences that Jesus described as being signs of the last days. Nor should it surprise us that we are today.

Jesus taught that His followers would experience persecution – “officially” from their governments, and “personally” from their families.(3) Believers will stand before local councils, governors and leaders and be beaten, persecuted, imprisoned and even executed for their faith in Christ. It began with Peter and John being arrested in Acts 4, and it continued with all of the apostles and many of the 1st Century followers being martyred or persecuted. And it has continued throughout history to this day. Today, it is estimated that there are 317 million Christians that are experiencing high levels of persecution in the “fifty most difficult countries in which to be a Christian”(4). And that persecution is not confined to “official” authorities, it continues and is often even more severely inflicted “personally” by family members and neighbors.

God has used a good friend, Nik Ripken, to open my eyes to the ever-growing reality of persecution around the globe.  Nik and co-author Kurt Nelson write, “Christians who live in nations where persecution is not a normal occurrence often cringe in horror upon hearing reports that their brothers and sisters around the globe are experiencing the atrocities of suffering and death for their faith in (and their witness of) Jesus Christ…. Admittedly, we cannot fully comprehend all of God’s purposes in allowing Christ’s followers to be persecuted. Only those purposes which are clearly articulated in Scripture may be known to us, and they are few in number. The book of Acts records the fact that the early believers left Jerusalem and scattered to other key cities as a result of intense persecution (Acts 11:19). Here, one may conclude that God purposed to use persecution to spread and multiply the Church. Persecution serves to test and strengthen one’s faith (Romans 5:3-4; James 1:3, 1 Peter 1:6-7, 4:12). There is a mysterious purpose in persecution and suffering related to bringing about the Kingdom of God (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5). Scripture tells us that Jesus was “perfected” as the author of salvation and in His obedience through suffering (Hebrews 2:10, 5:8-10). This principle has limited but valid application to God’s purposes for suffering in the lives of Christian leaders. And, finally, one of God’s purposes in affliction and suffering is to equip His servants with the ability to comfort and sustain others who endure similar afflictions (2 Corinthians 1:3-11).” (5)

Jesus said, “everyone will hate you because you are My followers.”(6) If they hated and crucified Him, why would we expect anything different? We cannot expect the world to treat us any differently than it treated Jesus. And as the end of the age draws closer, this will only increase.

Jesus went on to teach, “For the Good News must first be preached to all nations.”(7) In the first century, the Apostles and other followers of Christ scattered to the nations to proclaim the Good News to all that had not heard. Today, men and women are still scattering to the nations, having been sent out to continue that mission. Currently 4.8 billion people live in areas where less than 2% of their population are followers of Jesus, and 283 million of those live in areas where there are no known believers or churches to provide a witness.(8) We are to be witnesses in these last days. We must go, we must send, and we must undergird those who have been sent.

Lastly, in this portion of His conversation with His closest disciples, Jesus told them that His followers must endure to the end. Enduring faith is not the product of our profession of faith. Our profession of faith opened the door for the Holy Spirit to enter into our lives and indwell us. Enduring faith is then the product of God’s Spirit at work within us and through us. John Piper said it well – “’We must’ becomes ‘we will’ because ‘God will’.”(9) And the Apostles wrote these truths to those new followers of Jesus in the early church to encourage them that “God will”:

 

“He is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory.”(10) 

“He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”(11)  

“{Christ} will sustain you to the end…. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son.”(12) 

“The Lord will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom.”(13)

 

And those words are as true for us today as they were when they were written. As we take up the cross to follow Jesus – no matter where we may be walking – we must continue to be like the people of Issachar(14)– understanding our times, walking in the mission of our Master and enduring to the end – no matter how many days there are yet to come.

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You can read about this conversation that Jesus had with His disciples in the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark.

 

This post is taken from chapter 18 of my book, Taking Up The Cross. For more information about the book, click here.

 

(1)  Mark 13:4 (NLT)

(2)  2 Peter 3:8 (NLT)

(3)  Mark 13:9-13 (NLT)

“When these things begin to happen, watch out! You will be handed over to the local councils and beaten in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are My followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell them about Me.  For the Good News must first be preached to all nations.  But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit. A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And everyone will hate you because you are My followers.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

 

(4)  OpenDoors.org

(5)  NikRipken.com

(6)  Mark 13:13 (NLT)

(7)  Mark 13:10 (NLT

(8)  PeopleGroups.org

(9)  DesiringGod.org - “Will You Be a Believer Tomorrow Morning?”

(10) Jude 1:24 (NLT)

(11) Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

(12) 1 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NLT)

(13) 2 Timothy 4:18 (NLT)

(14) 1 Chronicles 12:32

 

Copyright © 2024 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

Photo of the Mount of Olives by Esther Havens on Lightstock