The Key to Power

 

November 8, 2020                     NOTES NOT EDITED

The Key to Power
Luke 18:1-8

SIS—Changing hearts, minds, and circumstances require a power that can only come from persistent praying.

There are numerous examples of men who were great prayer warriors throughout history, but on that list is a name that stands out as if in bold print. That name is George Mueller.  Mueller, born in 1805, grew up in Prussia, today’s Germany. By age sixteen he was a liar, a thief, a swindler, a drunkard, and in jail. (from Wikepedia). Yet, God worked a miracle in his soul. Mueller became a humble, life-long, (and long life it was, dying at the age of 93), servant of God and the poor.  The following story from Mueller’s journal is an example of how Mueller moved mountains with no shovel but persistent prayer.

The orphan children all had their dinners and were ready for bed. They always felt loved and cared for in the Bristol orphanage; little did they know that the orphanage had no money and there was no food for breakfast the next day. Though he did not know how, George Mueller was confident the Lord would provide for the orphans--after all, wasn't God a "Father to the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5)? Mr. Mueller went to bed, committing the care of the orphans to God. The next morning he went for a walk, praying for God to supply the orphanage's needs. In his walk he met a friend who asked him to accept some money for the orphanage. . . Mr. Mueller thanked him, but did not tell the friend about the pressing need. Instead, he praised God for the answer to prayer and went to the orphanage for breakfast. (Christianity.com). This would be Mueller’s modus operandi for nearly 7 decades of ministry and work with orphans.  Never in all those years of pulpit and charity work would George Mueller ever make a public appeal for money.  In fact, for the nearly seven decades of ministry George Mueller would never accept a salary but simply trust God to provide daily for his needs.

Persistent prayer makes stuff happen, and George Mueller is but one of a myriad of examples throughout history.  Perhaps the greatest quote I’ve ever read on prayer is one that has “Unknown” listed as the source:  “Prayer moves the Hand of the One that moves the universe.” How prayer moves God’s Hand is a great mystery; the fact it does move God’s Hand is the very essence of prayer.

John Wesley, the Father of the First Great Awakening, said, “God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it.”

 Oswald Chambers, a beloved preacher and author of the perennial best-selling devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, said, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.”

Indeed, there is no greater work to be done, than the work of prayer, and no great work ever accomplished, but that which is birthed and nourished with prevailing prayer. I sadly confess that my desire to be effective in prayer far outweighs my commitment to prayer.  I often grow weary and more than I want to admit, I’ve been discouraged with what perceive as an ineffectiveness in my prayer life.

I want more than anything to change this fact in my life.  I want to learn what it means to “come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16). Throughout the Bible, we are given many examples on how to “pray until something happens.”  One of those examples will serve as our guide this morning.  She is referred to as the “Persistent Widow.”  Our Bible reading earlier spoke of this Widow (LUKE 18:1-8).

In order to learn how to “pray until something happens,” you must understand several truths about prevailing prayer.  First,

1. Persistent prayer requires a measure of DESPERATION (2-4)

Verses 2-4 give the brief outline of a person in desperate circumstances.  First of all, she is a woman.  Women had very little standing in first century society.  They were slightly more than the property of a father or husband.  There is some debate as to the extent women were denied equal rights in both Roman and Jewish societies in the first century, but the inequality was quite evident.  Second, this woman was not just “a woman,” which was desperate enough, but she was a “widow.”  She was without the covering, protection, and financial support of a man in a society already slanted against women.  Third, she had a legal matter and the judge she had to bring her case to was ungodly, unjust, unkind, and from verse 4 and 5, he was unprincipled, acting out of his best interests not that of others. 

In a word, she was “desperate.”  She was, “frantic, anxious, despairing, worried, and distracted,” all synonyms for “desperate.”  her circumstances were not good.  There is an extreme danger that desperate circumstances often lead to paralyzing discouragement.  In fact “desperation, discouragement, and despair” are, as I pointed out, synonyms. 

Jesus taught his disciples, as the Word teaches us today, that “prayer” is the antidote for desperation or discouragement.  Look at verse 1, which gives the context for this parable on persistent prayer:

He then told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not become discouraged.

Pray or be discouraged.  These are the choices when circumstances in life become desperate.  Jesus had in mind a very specific time of desperation between His first coming and His second coming.  Notice the little word, “then.”  This is an adverb in English that describes a chronological relationship.  In Greek it is a coordinating conjunction that ties this passage into the passage that goes before.  Here’s what Jesus says about the coming times of desperation (Lk. 17:26-36):

²⁶ “Just as it was in the days of Noah,  so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ People went on eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage  until the day Noah boarded the ark,  and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot:  People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. ²⁹ But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.  ³¹ On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back. ³² Remember Lot’s wife!  ³³ Whoever tries to make his life secure will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.  ³⁴ I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed: One will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding grain together: One will be taken and the other left. [³⁶ Two will be in a field: One will be taken, and the other will be left.]”³⁷ “Where, Lord?”  they asked Him. He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there also the vultures  will be gathered.”

Jesus presented the teaching of the Persistent Widow in the context of the desperate days before the end of the earth.  Vultures hovering were a sign of a dead body.  The vultures are hovering over our nation as I speak.  We are in these “Last Days” now.  I see desperate people everywhere I go.  I see an increasing hostility toward Christianity.  I see judges sitting on courts, like the Supreme Court, who “don’t fear God or respect man.” 

The first lesson about persistent praying is very important:  persistent praying always involves a measure of desperation.  It is often said in business, “Things will never change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing.”  It is a truth verified by human history:  people won’t persist in prayer until they perceive they are desperate.  As long as a person thinks he or she has some other place to go, they will never go to God in persistent prayer.  Oh, from time to time we may throw up a “hail Mary” prayer hoping to when the celestial lottery, but until we are desperate, until we come to realize we have no place to go BUT to God, we won’t keep “praying until something happens!”  There is a second truth to consider in regard to “persistent prayer.”

2.  It requires a measure of PERSPIRATION (3-5)

³ And a widow  in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ “For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect man, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps pestering me,  I will give her justice, so she doesn’t wear me out  by her persistent coming.’ ”

Have you ever worked at something until you were absolutely “exhausted?”  Notice that this widow not only worked so hard that she was exhausted, but she worked at it so hard that the unjust judge was getting “exhausted.”  He granted her request to get some rest!

I have learned that persistent prayer is one of the hardest activities a person can undertake.  Prayer is far from an “easy fix” for hard circumstances.  Prayer that will lift one out of desperation is prayer that results in perspiration.

Prayer is a weapon of spiritual warfare.  There is nothing “easy” about war.  Interestingly, the word translated “pester” actually refers to the area under the eye.  In common language it would translate, “she is giving me a black-eye.” Prevailing prayer has a physical component.

I’m not talking simply about physical perspiration, but more so, spiritual perspiration.  Perspiration results from exerting your physical muscles.  Spiritual perspiration results from exerting your faith.  Spiritual exertion is every bit as difficult as physical exertion, perhaps moreso.  The Word of God says (1Tim. 4:8),

the training of the body has a limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Thomas Alva Edison stands as the most prolific inventor of the modern era.  In fact, without Edison’s work, there would be no “modern industrial era,” or the “information era” we experience them today.  His greatest development would arguably be the electric lightbulb.  It is well known that much trial and error went into finding a filament that would be suitable and stand up to the flow of continuous electricity.  But, the filament was only part of the process of developing the light bulb.  Seven separate theories leading to seven necessary systems were needed to make the light bulb a success.  Edison kept trying and never gave up, even after hundreds of failures.

Edison and his assistants worked feverishly and tirelessly on his inventions.  One of his most famous quotes says, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

It takes hard work to be a success at anything—and this includes prevailing prayer.  Prayer makes stuff happen, but it is not easy.

A quote attributed to C.K.Chesterton states, “Prayer has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and never tried.”

When Paul is summing up his message to the Church at Colossae, he lists several who were stellar champions in the cause of Christ.  One person Paul mentions is the devoted soldier of Christ, Epaphrus. 

^{Col. 4:   12} Epaphras,  who is one of you, a slave of Christ Jesus, greets you. He is always contending for you in his prayers,

The word translated, “contended,” comes from the word meaning, “pain.”  We get the word, “agony,” from this Greek word.  Prayer is referred to as “agony.”  The word can mean, “fighting, racing, or struggling,” among other things.  The KJV describes prayer as “laboring fervently.” 

3.  It requires most of all, INSPIRATION (6-8)

In order to “pray until something happens” you need faith, which only comes from the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in your life (Rom. 8:9).  “Inspiration” literally means, “In the Spirit” or the “Spirit within.”  This is the essence of “faith.”  Look at verses 6-8

⁶ Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ Will not God grant justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night?  Will He delay to help them?  ⁸ I tell you that He will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find that faith on earth?”

Will the Lord find faith?  How would the Lord recognize we have faith, according to this passage?  The Lord would find faith by finding his disciples involved in “persistent, prevailing, importunate praying.”

Notice that “inspiration” is related to intensity.  Verse 7 says,

  Will not God grant justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night?

The word for cry is an intense word, sometimes describing a death cry, or even the loud shrieking of demons as they are forced to exit a human host.  The intensity of the cry is compounded by the words, “day and night.” Persistent prayer is intense in quality and duration. 

The Apostle Paul describes the deepest level to which one can press  into the valley of prayer.  Romans 8:26:

²⁶ In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should,  but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us  ^e with unspoken groanings. 

There are those times, and those matters, that are so urgent, and so pressing, that words fail us in our time of prayer.  In all times we need the Spirit’s guidance in our prayer, but in these moments of such intensity and urgency, the Spirit actually prays for us in “groanings too wonderful for words.”  It’s this type of “Spirit-inspired” prayer that “makes stuff happens.” Prevailing prayer moves mountains. 

In these times of deep need and desperate urgency our prayers are like the woman with an issue of blood (Lk. 8:43).  When she touched the hem of the Lord’s, virtue, or power, flowed from His life into hers.  That’s what happens when a saint gets ahold of God through prayer—power begins to flow and stuff begins to happen.

There is a big difference that must be noted between God in heaven, and this unjust judge.  God’s character is perfect and His ways are always just, but beyond that, God is infinitely compassionate and eternally gracious.  Unlike the unjust judge in this story, God delights in granting justice and giving great gifts.  At a point when the prophet Jeremiah faced bitter disappointment and discouraging circumstances because of the disaster into which his people were about to fall, Jeremiah concludes:

^{Lam. 3   22} Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. ²³ They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!

Above all else, persistent prayer, requires faith which comes only from the Spirit of God taking up residence in the human heart.  Only when God’s Spirit has filled a person, can that person truly experience prayer that makes stuff happen.

Without true, transforming faith through a relationship with God, provided by Jesus Christ on the cross, and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13), any real power through prayer is an illusion. The only true prayer that “makes stuff happen” must be Spirit inspired

Prevailing, persistent prayer requires a measure of desperation, a measure of perspiration, and mostly a large measure of inspiration.

A few years ago I came across a fascinating lesson from God’s creation, on perseverance or persistence.  Perseverance or persistence is really the out-working of one’s trust in God. I have used the lesson of the Moso Bamboo Tree before because it illustrates the virtue of perseverance and the practice of prevailing prayer so well.  The story of the Moso Bamboo begins when a farmer plants a tiny shoot completely in the ground.  Then, every day that tiny shoot must be watered—365 days of the year.  If you miss a day, nothing will happen.  Then after carefully watering the tiny shoot for 365 days, suddenly—nothing happens.  You must water it, fertilize it, and weed it for another 365 days.  Then . . . nothing happens.  You can inspect the spot from every angle and you will see no evidence of any growth.  You must water, weed, and fertilize it for another 365 days.  That’s a total of 1095 days.  Then you will see that . . . nothing happens!  Another 365 days of weeding, watering, and fertilizing must be given.  Then, after the fourth year . . . nothing happens.  By now, it would be quite easy to give up, as there is absolutely no evidence that your efforts are producing anything, but personal frustration and disappointment.  But, you press on another year.  Another 365 days of watering, weeding and fertilizing and then, after about 1825 days, something happens.  The Moso Bamboo shoot sneaks up above ground.  That tiny shoot will grow two to three feet every 24 hours, until it grows to a height of 90 feet in about six weeks.  So, how long does it take a Moso to grow to 90 feet?  Some would say, six weeks.  But, it really takes five years.  All those times that it looked like the farmer’s efforts were wasted—even foolish—the tree was putting down roots that would allow it to grow tall and majestic.  The Moso Tree Farmer persists and something happens—and when it happens, it is marvelous, even miraculous.

The key to success for a Moso Bamboo farmer is “persistence.”  This is the key to real success in any venture, but most certainly it is true of spiritual success.  Like the story of the Moso Tree, the story of the “persistent widow” shows us that the key to spiritual victory is persistent, prevailing prayer.  Someone clever has described this type of prayer with the acrostic, P.U.S.H:  “Pray Until Something Happens!” All great men and women of faith throughout history, whether the great benefactor of children, George Mueller, or Susannah Wesley, the mother of the great preacher, John Wesley, or missionaries like David Brainerd, the key to spiritual victory is “persistent prayer.”

Let me summarize the teaching of the Persistent Widow as it relates to unlocking the power of prayer.  First, the ANALYSIS:  In life, circumstances are seldom going to be what we’d like them to be (v2). Second, the ALTERNATIVE:  “We can pray, or we can be discouraged (v1).” Third, the APPLICATION:  “Just pray . . . and don’t stop until something happens!”

 

 

 

Covid--The Twelfth Plague

 

November 1, 2020
The Eleventh Twelfth Plague
Luke 21:10-37                           NOTES NOT EDITED

 

SIS – No one can say for sure that any plague IS the “eleventh” plague but we can say for sure that any plague COULD be the “last” plague, so we must always be ready.

Is Covid a “Biblical Plague?” Is it a sign of the “End Times?”  These questions are in the back of many minds.  Does the Bible tell us anything about when the End Times will come?

Why is so much of the Bible prophecy?  According to “The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy” by J. Barton Payne, there are 1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament and 578 prophecies in the New Testament for a total of 1,817.  These prophecies are contained in 8,352 of the Bible’s verses.  Since there are 31,124 verses in the Bible, the 8,352 verses that contain prophecy constitute 26.8 percent of the Bible’s volume.  That’s about 1 out of every 3 verses.  If you do the math by the book instead of by the verse, they that figure could easily double.  God clearly intends for us to have a basic—I said, “basic” as opposed to exacting—understanding of where the story of humanity is heading.  Plagues, catastrophes, tribulations all play into this picture in a big way.  The story of the exodus of Israel from bondage in Egypt gives us a picture of man’s deliverance from the bondage of sin.  As most of you know, ten plagues were needed to convince Pharaoh, the god of Egypt, to let the Israelites go.  These plagues included:  blood, frogs, lice, flies, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and finally, the slaying of the firstborn of every house not protected by the blood of the lamb.  Now, these plagues are perhaps the most famous such acts of God in the Bible, but they are not the only ones.  Throughout the Bible the rebellion of man often brought (and continues to bring) judgment upon man—many times in the form of plagues.  The final “bowl judgments” in the Book of Revelation are seven final plagues upon the earth because of the continued rebellion of man.  Revelation 16:21 gives us insight into why there have been plagues in the past and will continue to be right up until the “last plague”:

²¹ Enormous hailstones, each weighing about 100 pounds,  fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God  for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.

Take note of mankind’s reaction to this plague of the Seventh Bowl.  Instead of softening their hearts and surrendering to God, they harden their hearts and “blaspheme God” further insuring their condemnation and judgment.  This is exactly how Pharaoh reacted to the Ten Plagues in the time of the Exodus.  The Bible tells us in Exodus that Pharaoh, “changed his mind” (14:5) and his heart was hardened just like after each of the first nine plagues.  Pharaoh pursued the Israelites and in his rebellion against God his entire army was drowned in the Red Sea.

Plagues are the result of man’s continuing rebellion against God.  The Bible speaks of plagues from the beginning to the end. In fact, so frequent are these types of occurrences that even the insurance companies refer to “acts of God” to explain (and get out of paying for) tragedies and disasters.

Many of you remember the “Black Plague” that struck Europe in the the mid 14^th century (1346-1353).  In just under a decade the estimates are that 30%-60% of Europe’s population was wiped out.  The estimate is about 100 million people—in less than 10 years!

There was the “Flu Epidemic of 1918?”  The AIDS pandemic sprung onto the scene about forty years ago and has claimed at least 30-40 million lives and continues to kill millions each year.  We all remember the Ebola outbreak in 2014?  Ebola was unknown to most of us until popped up as a pandemic.  Ebola is an extremely brutal disease that is also extremely deadly.  Basically, your body just liquefies internally with severe bleeding.  Ebola is between 30% to 90% fatal with the average being 50%.  Scattered in among the pandemics of modern day was “Bird Flu, Swine Flu, and SARS.”

I named Ebola, “The Eleventh Plague” in 2014 to point to the fact that if mankind continues to ignore the previous plagues, we will certainly experience additional plagues, and they will likely increase until Jesus Christ, Himself, returns to rule over the earth.  And . . . that’s my point—God has told us over and over and over again in the prophecies of His Word that “horrible things” are headed mankind’s way and we need to know what to do with about it.

And yet, . . . here we are today in 2020 battling yet another deadly plague.  We call this pandemic Covid-19.  Even as I speak, the world is on “lockdown” cowering like scared children in a basement during a tornado.  How many will die?  Is this the “end?”  So, today, I am naming Covid, “The Twelfth Plague.”  I am preaching on it for the same reason I preached on Ebola, The Eleventh Plague. At some point, some plague is going to be the “Last Plague”—or actually, the first plague of the Last Seven plagues in Revelation—and it will be “too late” for those who have resisted God’s warning with previous plagues.  I’ll say it again as I did with Ebola:  “God has told us over and over and over again in the prophecies of His Word that ‘horrible things’ are headed mankind’s way and we need to know what to do with about it.”

One chapter in the Bible (and there are many as I said) gives us some helpful information that will help us process horrible news like the Ebola plague. Matthew, Mark and Luke all speak to the End Times. Let’s examine Luke’s prophecy of the “Last Days”.  LK 21:10-36

There are two parts to my message this morning, drawing from this passage in Luke and other important passages.  ❶First, “what we need to KNOW” about the Last Days of earth; and ❷Second, “what we need to DO” about it.

WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW (Overview Slide)

❶ The Coming of the Lord is CERTAIN

Somebody counted that there were at least 333 prophecies fulfilled exactly by the First Coming of Jesus Christ.  The Bible predicted when He would come, the circumstances of His birth, the issues of His life, the details of His death, and of course, His resurrection, just to name a few.  Every detail unfolded exactly the way that the Bible said it would.  Therefore, we have every reason to believe that the Second Coming will happen just exactly as the Bible says it will.    Look at verse 20 again: ²⁰ “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that its desolation has come near.

Let me remind you that from 70 AD to 1948 AD, these words would have had little meaning to anybody looking at a map.  In 70 AD Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus Flavius and Israel was scattered among the nations—to the far corners of the world. It wasn’t until 1948 that Israel was again established a “geographical” nation.  Now, look at the map.  What do you see?  You see a tiny little nation barely 263 miles long, and 70 miles wide at the broadest point (9 miles wide at the narrowest point).  For comparison, California is 350 miles long and about 250 miles at the widest point.  So Israel is about 4 to 5 times smaller than California and it sits in the vast expanse we call the Middle East.  The Arab nations occupy about 325 times more space than Israel.  If Israel was the first floor of a high rise, there would be over 300 floors above her. Israel is literally “surrounded” (v20).

I said that to say this:  as far as the size of Israel the nation is absolutely insignificant to the region of the Middle East.  Yet, the entire Middle Eastern world crouches like a lion to pounce on and devour this little nation.  Have you ever wondered why?  Look at verses 29-33:

²⁹ Then He told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. ³⁰ As soon as they put out leaves you can see for yourselves and recognize that summer is already near. ³¹ In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is NEAR. ³² I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all things take place.  ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

Israel is the thermometer that indicates the rising temperature of tensions in the Middle East leading to the boiling point we call the Last Days. The pot has been at a boil since 1948 when Israel became a nation again.  The plagues and catastrophes will continue and increase in intensity as we plummet toward the precipice of the “Last Days.” The Bible prophesied the First Coming of Jesus and hit the historical nail squarely on the head.  The same is true of the “Second Coming” and the End of the Age.  It is absolutely CERTAIN!

❷ The Coming of the Lord will be SUDDEN

Look at verses 34-35:  ³⁴ “Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness,  and worries of life,  or that day will come on you unexpectedly  ³⁵ like a trap.

I read somewhere where a man described the “gradual suddenness of the Second Coming.”  What he referred to is the fact that the exact day that all this takes place is unknown to man, but the events leading up to it have been outlined for us in the Word.  You can be ready, if you realize that the Second Coming could be upon us at any time—either the rapture for he saved, or the tribulation for those who persist in their rebellion.  The very word, rapture—harpadzo—means “to  snatch away suddenly.”  An old Larry Norman song spoke of this:  There’s no time to change your mind // The Son has come and you’ve been left behind.

❸ The Coming of the Lord will be SEVERE

Many passages in the N.T. describe the severity of the events leading up to the Second Coming:  both before the rapture and continuing on through the Great Tribulation.  Notice Luke gives us a hint as to what the Last Days will be like in verse 10-12:

¹⁰ Then He told them: “Nation will be raised up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  ¹¹ There will be violent earthquakes,  and famines and plagues in various places, and there will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven.  ¹² But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you. They will hand you over to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of My name.

 Natural disasters, famines, persecution of the saints, and plagues will characterize our world as we get closer to the Last Days.  We see all of these things taking place now and they will continue and even intensify as the Day of the Lord draws near.  Like the contractions of a pregnant lady increase in both frequency and intensity as the birth grows closer, so the plagues and catastrophes will increase in both frequency and intensity—same events—just more and more intense.

This is just a brief outline of what we know about the last days:  they are certain, they are severe, and they will be sudden.  Now, that we know what to expect we need to ask ourselves:

WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO? (Overview Slide)

❶ First, we must Prepare

There is an idiom, or common expression, in the English language that says, “to be forewarned is to be fore-armed.”  That is exactly why God has given us so much information about where the story of mankind is heading.  God is merciful.  The foundation for His prophecies is “mercy” not “wrath.”  If God simply wanted to punish and destroy mankind, he never would have given us the many warnings in the prophetic Scriptures.  Look at all the warnings in Luke 21:  v8—“Watch out!”; v29—“Look at the fig tree (Israel); v34—“Be on your guard”; and v36—“Be alert.” 

While we cannot know the exact day and time the end will come we can prepare for some very rough weather.  We live in a day when it would be wise to have some extra food and water on hand.  I cannot say how much, but common sense will help you a great deal.  You need to also prepare financially.  If you are in debt—get out of debt as quickly as possible—especially with credit cards.  As the saying goes:  “TO BE FOREWARNED IS TO BE FOREARMED!”  The Bible says:

^{Pvb 22:3} A sensible person sees danger and takes cover,
but the inexperienced keep going and are punished.

That advice is repeated in Proverbs 27:12 word for word. 

Do all you can to learn all you can about what is taking place in our world and what the Bible says about what is taking place in our world.  Preparation will dispel panic.  Knowledge is power.

❷ Second, Proclaim the Word!  Look at verses 12-15:

¹² But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you. They will hand you over to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors  because of My name. ¹³ It will lead to AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO WITNESS.  ¹⁴ Therefore make up your minds not to prepare your defense ahead of time, ¹⁵ for I will give you such words and a wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 

Notice also that Jesus modeled for us how we should conduct ourselves as plagues, famines, persecution, trials, and tribulations fall upon our world.  Look at verse 37:  ³⁷ During  the day, He was teaching in the temple complex.  Jesus did not let the troubles of life deter Him from “teaching the word of life.”

This passage tells us that people will find the message of the gospel convincing and compelling in light of what the Bible says about what people are seeing in the news.  These Last Days are not times for the church to don ascension robes and retreat onto a mountain to wait the arrival of the Lord.  These days of plagues should be days of proclamation announcing the only real hope anybody can have in this world.

❸ Most importantly, PRAY!

Notice what the Lord says about being prepared and praying in v 36:

³⁶ But be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength  to escape  all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man.”

The Mount of Olives was a quiet place of retreat.  Jesus would “lodge” there, meaning “sleep in the open air.”  It was a place of rest and reflection.  It was also a place of prayer

Look back again at verse 37:   During the day, He was teaching in the temple complex, but in the evening He would go out and spend the night on what is called the Mount of Olives.

The Bible tells us that Jesus often sought a quiet place to pray—especially when He was about to make an important decision or face a hard trial.  Luke 5:16 tells us:

¹⁶ Yet He often withdrew to deserted places and prayed. 

One of the Lord’s best known times of prayer—and most agonizing—took place at the foot of the north slope of the Mount of Olives in a Garden called, “Gethsemane.”  This would be just a few hours after His discouse on the Last Days.  Look at verses 39-42:

³⁹ He went out and made His way as usual to the Mount of Olives,  and the disciples followed Him. ⁴⁰ When He reached the place,  He told them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”  ⁴¹ Then He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and began to pray,  ⁴² “Father, if You are willing, take this cup  away from Me—nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Listen very carefully:  if you do not know how to pray fervently and effectively you are not prepared for what is coming in the very near future.

It was prayer—a passionate relationship with His Heavenly Father—that sustained Our Lord on the blackest, most brutal night in the history of the world.  Jesus did not “begin His prayer life” when they nailed Him to the cross—as would be the case with most of us.  Prayer prepared Him more than anything else to face everything the Devil and the minions of hell had to throw at Him and still be able to cry in victory:  “It is finished!”

Preparation, proclamation, and prayer are what we MUST be doing as we see the Day of the Lord quickly approaching.

I title this message, “Covid: The Twelfth Plague” to point out that even after  ten horrible plagues, Pharaoh still persisted in his rebellion against the will of Almighty God.  As a result, his army drowned in the Sea of Judgment—the Red Sea.  Ten plagues and he still did not surrender to God.  Even with an “eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth . . . on down to the umpteenth” plague, famine, disaster, or devastating event in life mankind still persists in rebellion against Yahweh.

What about you and me?  What is it going to take to really get our attention?  Ebola?  AIDS?  Financial ruin?  Heart attack?  What “plague” will be the “Eleventh” plague that finally gets our attention as people of God so that we get serious about the work of God?

I would hope that God does not need a “Thirteenth Plague” to get our attention—but I fear, I know, He will.  As bad as Covid is—or may become—it is not the worst that God has to offer against those that persist in rebellion against him.

Let’s think deeply about what is taking place in our world and prepare accordingly.

No one can say for sure if this “Twelfth Plague,” Covid, is the “Last” plague--or the first of the Seven Last Plagues of Revelation--but we do know that “Some” plague WILL be the “Last” plague, so we must always be ready.