This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you back to Day 2 of our look together through Mark chapter
13, this chapter about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. We're going to look at
verses 5 to 8 today. I want to remind you as we begin that Jesus' focus as he
teaches about his return is on our hearts, my heart, your heart, what God wants
to do in our hearts.

And in these verses what he's going to say to us, say to our hearts is, "Don't
let your heart be deceived. " In fact, one of the reasons Jesus teaches us these
truths about what's going to happen in the future is so that we won't be
deceived by false teachings. He knows how easily that anyone can be deceived by
end time prophets because it hasn't happened yet.

Someone can confidently state whatever they want. And Jesus doesn't want us to
be deceived by that. So he tells us the truth.

And what does he have to say to us? Well, listen to verses 5 to 8. Jesus said to
them, "Watch out that no one deceives you.

Many will come in my name claiming I am he and will deceive many. When you hear
of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen.

But the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom
against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places and famines.

These are the beginning of birth pains. " The beginning of birth pains, Jesus
says. And in talking about that, when you do a study in the Bible, in the New
Testament of the second coming of Christ, you see that it talks about three
specific types of signs of his coming again.

The first type of sign is what he's talking about here. The beginning of birth
pains. These are signs that point to the end.

These are signs that have been with us since the first coming of Jesus Christ,
letting us know he is coming again. The second type of signs we'll talk about in
the next few days, these are signs that immediately precede the end time events.
Much more serious kind of signs.

And a third kind of sign are signs that accompany the end time events. This
first type of sign, the beginning of birth pains. Signs pointing to the end.

There are a number of things that Jesus said clearly would happen before the
second coming. The beginning of birth pains. Birth, not death.

You see, he uses the word birth because what we perceive as pointing to the end
is actually pointing to a new beginning. And these are signs, but not only signs
that you see at the very end. These are signs that have shown believers for 2000
years now that this world, this world is not God's final plan.

These are signs that you and I can see right now. They're the signs of the
deterioration, the inadequacy of this world. For thousands of years we've been
able to look at these signs and say, this world is not as stable as it sometimes
seems.

Jesus could be coming again at any moment. Since Jesus first coming, these are
some of the signs that we've had with us that he talks about in these verses. He
talks about the sign of false Christs with false signs and false miracles.

People who come and say, I'm the one, I'm the Messiah. It is amazing how in
every generation there are those who claim to be the Messiah. And in every
generation there are those who are deceived by their lies.

Jesus says, don't be deceived by this. This is going to happen, he says. Don't
let it fool you.

He says there's a second kind of sign and he says it's worse. There's wars and
rumors of wars. Just think in your own mind, where are there wars right now in
the world?

Where are there rumors of wars? We've always had this with us. And it's a sign,
Jesus says, of the fact that this world will not last.

There's good in this world but there's also a lot of evil in this world. And God
needs to change things. And when I see wars, it is an example of the fact that
we need something different.

We need a different kind of world in this world. And we're looking forward to
that in the eternity that God has prepared for us. So Jesus says, when you see
this, don't be deceived by it.

Don't let people tell you that means Jesus has to come again today. He says,
it's going to be there from my first coming to my second coming. These are the
beginning of birth pains.

Another beginning of birth pains is earthquakes. He says you're going to have
these in various places. Now, I've always wondered, why are we so fascinated
with earthquakes?

I mean, in California where we live, a relatively small earthquake can become a
big story. And the scientists who measure these quakes, they're familiar faces
on the news. I think earthquakes fascinate us partly because they remind us of
how fragile this world really is.

Everything's shaking. They're a sign of the fact that this world will not last.
I can fool myself sometimes into thinking, yeah, this world is all there is.

Yeah, this world's a good world. But an earthquake is a reminder. This world is
not going to last.

There is something better that God has planned. Jesus also talks about famine
here. Now, we should do all that we can to feed the hungry.

But that does not change the fact that even in our modern age, famine is still
widespread. Jesus says this is all a sign of the fact that someday, someday
soon, I am coming again. You think, wait a minute, soon?

It's been 2,000 years. Yeah, for 2,000 years, it's been someday soon. These
signs, each of these signs that Jesus is talking about here point to an end that
is coming.

And these signs will be summed up in the end. There will be wars and they will
be summed up by a great final war. There are false Christs with false signs
summed up by a great final antichrist with great false signs in the end.

Book of Revelation talks about that. Famine in various places now. Revelation
talks about a great worldwide famine in the end.

You see, Jesus is trying to help us here to see that we can see the signs right
now. We don't have to wait for the signs at the very end. You can see them right
now.

Let me tell you something, those of you that are wives and listening to this,
that husbands don't usually like. They don't like it when their wives point out
noises that a car is making. Did you hear that?

What is that squeaky clunking grinding noise? And let me just let you in on
this. You know, one of the reasons why we don't like it, because we would rather
ignore the noise and hope that it just goes away.

That noise is a sign that there is something wrong with the engine. And if I
admit that the noise is there, it means I need to do something about it. If I
ignore the noise, the problem is if I ignore the noise, the damage and the bill
is always going to be worse in the end.

And the noise from your car can be compared to the beginning of birth pangs. For
those who will listen, you've always been able to hear there are indications for
the wise to see throughout history. And there are signs that are going to come
at the end that no one could miss.

It's sort of the difference between a grinding noise under the hood. Those are
the beginning of birth pangs and the engine falling out. Those are the signs at
the very end.

Jesus has a warning about all of these signs. Don't be deceived. Don't be
deceived.

It is so very easy for people to make predictions about the future. Don't be
deceived. False teachers appeal to our pride by telling us that we can know
something that no one else knows.

Don't be deceived. The future is a scary place for a lot of us. And we would
love to have someone tell us that they have it all figured out exactly so we'd
feel a little more in control.

Don't be deceived. Now maybe you don't think you're susceptible to this kind of
prediction. Let me ask you, have you ever even cast a glance at those
predictions of the future in National Enquirer at the checkout stand?

Earth will be invaded by Martians who look like televangelists. Oh, that's
interesting, we think. Even though we know it's a lie, these are the kind of
lies that tend to draw us in.

And so Jesus says, watch out. Don't be deceived. Now don't lose the context of
these verses.

Remember that Jesus' beginning point is a question from his disciples. They ask
him, what are going to be the signs that the temple will fall? The fall of the
temple is one of those beginning of birth paying signs.

It's a major one for these disciples. We're going to look at that tomorrow. But
as we end today, I'd like to end again with a prayer for hope.

Lord, I pray for each of us. I pray for hope in our daily lives. I pray for hope
not in our circumstances, which will change.

But I pray for hope in your promise and your plan. I pray for myself. I pray for
each of us that when our circumstances don't work out like we want, that we look
to your plan.

When our ideas don't pan out like we'd want them to, we look to your promise.
Lord, I pray you'd use those times in our lives when we realize that this world
is not going to last. This world is a place where there is evil.

This world is a place that is shaky at times. I pray you'd use those times in my
heart, in our heart, to draw us toward your plan, towards your future, because
your plan is certain. Your future is one I can depend on.

I pray that you would grow this hope in my life in a daily way. And I pray it in
Jesus' name. Amen.