Good morning. Jesus leaves
the temple, and His disciples point out all of the temple buildings to Him. He
tells them that not one stone will be left upon another – they will all be torn
down. That of course really shocks them. It took over 40 years to build
everything. They ask Him a three-part question. Tell us, when will these things
be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? Now it
is possible that all three things could happen at the same time, or they could
be three separate times. It takes many verses for Jesus to answer the
questions. Sometimes it's not clear which event He is talking about. See to it
that no one misleads you. That warning is not just for the disciples. We have
to be careful today that no one misleads us. You think that it is not possible
– that we are too smart? He says that many will come in My name, saying, I am
the Christ, and will mislead many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars –
can anyone say North Korea? See that you are not frightened. That's easy for
You to say – we're talking about nukes! Those things must take place, but the
end is not yet. Of course, over the last 2000 years there have been many wars
and rumors of wars. That that length of time would take place before the end
did not even enter the minds of the disciples. That's like the length of time
between them and Abraham. Except for the fact that he was talked about among
the Jews constantly, Abraham would be long ago forgotten. Not only would there
be wars among the nations, but also famines and earthquakes. But all these
things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. All of those things happening
would easily make one forget about the promises of God at the end. One would
get to the point where he or she was only concerned about making it through
that one day. Father thank You that You have everything under control.
Sometimes it may not seem like it, but You do. Help us to keep our eyes on the
prize, and not on the circumstances surrounding us.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
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