Today on Bold Steps, Mark Jobe shows us how to stand strong in the face of persecution and adversity.
Practice the habits of standing firm, of standing alone. Get grounded in your faith. Know who your God is. Know what you believe. And no matter what the culture around you says. Understand that you have a compass that's different than the culture that surrounds you.
Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is the senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago and president of Moody Bible Institute. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Well, over the past couple of programs, we've been discussing the end times. And Mark, you often say, as believers, we should be following a different compass and going in the opposite direction of the culture around us.
Yeah, Wayne, you read this passage and it stirs you up because you As you understand, times will get more difficult. And you know, we don't want you to be surprised as a believer that things will get more difficult. However, people often ask me, What is God waiting for? And we answer that question because it really is found in
the patience of God. In fact, Wayne, some people may be surprised to know that I've heard that there have been more people that have come to Jesus in the last decade than in the three centuries prior to that.
Isn't that encouraging?
So the patience of God is there because there's a harvest happening right now.
Well, let's get into today's message again. It's part three of the message titled How Close are we? Here's Mark Jobe.
We live in a accelerating time of violence against Christians. Groups like ISIS, for example, have forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands of people, conducted mass executions and kidnapped, sold, enslaved, raped and forcibly converted thousands of women and children, all on the ground that these people stand in opposition to their religious dogma. We are living in a season of
unprecedented persecution against Christian at a massive scale. The news does not report it often because they treat violence in the Middle East and in other countries, much like they treat murderers in some of the neighborhoods in Chicago. Oh, just another gang banger that got killed. It's a blip on the news because they just assume, well, there's a lot of violence in that area. But hey, since when did it become just another gang banger? That's a son
or daughter that we love and raise and believe. It's a kid with a name. The Middle East and some of these countries in Africa and other places seem so far away that they seem so to not touch your existence and my existence. But I want to tell you something. Those men and women, those girls that have been raped, forcibly converted, those pastors that are being executed, put in jail, they are not just a victim of a undeveloped country.
They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. I was in Nairobi, Africa this past summer, and Nairobi, which is a fairly peaceable country in Africa at the edges of Kenya that borders with Somalia up in that area. There were 150 college students that were executed, targeted as Christians. Ask, are you a Christian? Yes. Boom, 150 of them. And then in the city of Nairobi, there was a mall that was attacked by an extremist group targeting people that
especially were non-Muslim people targeted and killed. When I went to preach in this large church in Nairobi, it was I was shocked when I went to the compound of this church because the entire church was surrounded by ten feet wall with electrical fence on the top. And I thought, wow, that's pretty extreme. When I went to the gate, I was met with armed guards with rifles. This was to enter the church compound. They searched the trunk, looked in the car to get in the church, and I thought, wow,
that's pretty extreme. And they said, well, there's been a lot of bombings, a lot of killings, a lot of targeting of Christians. I went to get a coffee in the morning to the equivalent of a Starbucks. Thought it'd be a simple process, but there was a lot of Western Westerners that go there. And when I went in to go to the parking lot, there was a there was a railing to get in there. They stopped our car.
Armed guards looked within our car, popped the trunk, had a mirror where they looked under our vehicle to make sure there was no bombs. This is to get my latte. I drove into the parking lot. Once I got in there, I thought it was all done with. To get into the cafe, I had to stop, put my arms up, and there was a metal detector that they searched me to make sure there was no weapons on me before I could go in, just to get a cup of coffee.
The violence targeted Christians. We live in a shielded society, in a society that by and large, we are not seen what's happening in other parts of the world. But Jesus predicted that in the end times, the aggressive violence against Christians would begin to escalate. In fact, he predicted that many would be persecuted. And not only did he say that many would be persecuted, but he said that many would be hated by all nations, and that many will turn away from the faith and will betray and
hate one another. Because let me tell you what happens when persecution starts up, when you have to pay a high price. Those that are truly authentic believers step up to the plate and say, I will not deny my Savior. Those that are just culturally Christians run away as quickly as they can because they don't want to pay a price.
It purges the church. I don't know what would happen on Sunday morning, or how full this place would be if we knew that we had to look over our shoulders to see if a secret or the Secret Service was following us. Or if that to come to a place like this, our name may go on a list, and we may be targeted by some government agency or some radical group that would be seeking to fire us from our job or make us pay a price. Not not sure who would remain in this congregation. Well, I
know there'd be some. I know there'd be some that would stay away. And I know there'd be some that says no matter what the cost, no matter what the price, I have chosen to follow Jesus. Come what may, Jesus predicted. In other words, this is not to scare you. It's to prepare you. Jesus predicted that there would be persecution.
Jesus predicted that there would be falling away, that many would be deceived, that the church is no longer going to be popular, or have a main place in society, that we are going to experience an aggressiveness against the church more and more as we approach the end times. And so Jesus did not say that to scare us. He simply said it to prepare us. He said, I want you to stand firm because I know the destination. But the route to there may be tough at times.
And then the last thing that Jesus says when it comes to the end times. Aren't you glad? It's only for the last thing that Jesus says is that there will be an increase in spiritual coldness. Notice what he says in verse 12 because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, the love of most. What kind of love is he talking about? He's talking
about the normal human warmth of heart. What Jesus says is that we, as we gather closer to the end times, there'll be a coldness about society, a lack of consciousness, a violence and a cold heartedness that has not existed until this time. In fact, in another passage in Second Timothy chapter three, verse seven, it says, Mark this, it's talking about the end times. There will be terrible times
in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness but denying its power.
We'll continue our message in just a moment here on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. But first, Mark, if you'll permit me, I want to share something that's been weighing on my heart lately. I've been thinking about how throughout history, God has always raised up people who prioritized his mission, even during some very turbulent times. Whether it was the early church during persecution or believers during world wars, or
missionaries and hostile territories. There have always been those who kept their focus on advancing the gospel despite everything happening around them. And we've got a lot happening around us right now.
And Wayne, oftentimes it's in the midst of a lot of turbulence and turmoil that people start looking to the heavens in special ways. And I believe, like we live in a moment like that. And I just want to say that as a pastor, I've been a pastor for over 30 some years in the city of Chicago. I have never seen the openness that I've seen now.
That's incredible.
I'm having these conversations, especially with young people we've seen at our church. Over a thousand people come to Christ and get baptized in the last 24 months, mainly under the age of 35. Many that had no religious background and are just hungry for God. And I think the turbulence of the world has caused them to say, I need something. And many of us as believers, we're getting too distracted by what's happening and not focused enough on the gospel. And so I want to bring your attention
back to the opportunities that you have around you. That's what Bold Steps is all about. Regardless of what's happening in our world, we believe that the greatest news that needs to be proclaimed is the good news that Jesus Christ is here. He's the Savior, and we do not want to miss this window of opportunity of so many people being open. So join us as we continue to boldly, passionately, powerfully, 24 hours a day through moody radio, proclaim the good news of Jesus.
And at Moody, we're sending workers into that harvest, aren't we?
We are. And so excited about that as well. Uh, we're sending people focused on the gospel. Bold steps, as you know, is making sure that we include a call to the gospel on a regular basis. and so excited to see people coming to Jesus.
Well, you who are listening can invest your resources in sharing God's life changing truth. To make a gift, simply go online to Bold steps. Org or our phone number is 800. That's (800) 356-6639 and your partnership makes an eternal difference. We'll send you, by request, a special bold step gift as a token of our appreciation. We'll talk more about that gift later in today's message, but consider partnering with
bold steps. All right, back to the message. Now on the End Times, it's titled how close are we?
I don't know about you, but it feels like the stories I hear of just in Chicago, parents treating of children seems to be every other news item. There seems to be a coldness and a violence Perpetrated against children. That shocks you. That seems like it's done by psychopaths. Like, where has this gone? Why has this become epidemic? The violence, the heartlessness, the coldness. It seems like it's escalating. It seems like it's getting worse. It seems like moral consciousness
is fading. And the coldness and the violence and the behavior that marks a decent civilization seems to be waning away. And the brutality of a uncivilized generation. Civilization seems to be emerging within us. Jesus predicted that that restraint that has existed on society, that consciousness that has held us, that it will be lessening its grip and that we will be seeing a coldness that begins to escalate more and more in our society. But thank God that there's
good news. Some of you saying, pastor, I thought you'd never get there. Like, whoa! So let me tell you the good news. So the bad news is not to scare us. The bad news is just to prepare us. It's like when. When you're about to have a baby, you. The doctor tells you you're going to have birth pains. It's not to tell you not to have a baby. It's just to prepare you. It's going to get bad before it gets good. How many of you didn't believe
how bad it was going to get? And then once you went through it like this was worse than what they told me. I think Jesus is doing that a little bit. He's telling us, but unless you live through it, you can't really fully understand it. But nothing takes away from the joy of that baby coming, and nothing will take away from the great powerful day of the coming of Jesus. Again, nothing takes away from that. It's coming.
It's accelerating. And so the good news is this in verse 13 it says, but the one who stands firm unto the end, they will be saved. In other words, there's going to be many fall away. There's going to be a backlash of persecution. It's going to be hard. But I want to tell you something. There's going to be a remnant of people that do not back away from their commitment to follow Christ, that they're going to stand firm no matter what comes, and they will be saved. Yeah,
those that endure to the end will be saved. Now, I want to say, without heavy persecution, it's hard enough, isn't it? Yeah. It's like, man, I'm not even experiencing persecution, but just the culture and the temptation and the pressure from people. It's hard to stand firm. Start practicing standing firm now because it's going to get harder. Get grounded
now because it's going to escalate. Practice the habits of standing firm, of standing alone, of accepting the fact that you're not always going to be in the in crowd, that some will ridicule you, that you will be the odd man out sometime. Get used to it. Get okay with your own skin. Being a follower of Jesus, that's not always on the in crowd. You need to start being comfortable with that because that will only escalate. Stand firm.
Get grounded in your faith. Know who your God is, know what you believe, and no matter what the culture around you says, understand that you have a compass that's different than the culture that surrounds you. Hebrews chapter three verse 14 says, for we have become partakers of Christ. If we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. And lastly, the last part of good news and I love this. Oh man, I love this. Is that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached
to the whole world. Listen to what it says. Verse 14 Jesus says about the end times and the gospel. What is the gospel? Good news, the good news that says, if you call upon the name of the Lord and embrace the message of the cross and repent and invite him to be your Savior and Lord, then the power of the Holy Spirit will indwell you, and you will be transformed from the inside out by his power. Your
past washed away and your future redeemed for him. That message of the gospel that has power in its simplicity to change the hardest of hearts, that gospel, the gospel of the Kingdom of God. That Jesus is coming again, that gospel will be preached to the whole world as a testimony to the nations, and then the end will come. The Bible says that every tribe, tongue, and nation will hear the gospel. That as this time gets worse, the
acceleration of the gospel will become stronger. In fact, I love the fact that in revelation at the end, the last book of the Bible tells us that John, the revealer, he saw and he looked, and there before him was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, and people and language, standing before the throne and before the lamb. And they were wearing white robes and were
holding palm branches. This is this means that when you see the end times, the people that have come to Christ, there will be people that are from the jungles of Africa and from the cities of Asia and from the tribal groups in, in, in Brazil. And there will be people that you have never heard of and can't pronounce their name. People from every tribe, tongue and language will
be a part of the redeemed of the Lord. This great multitude of people that have said, Jesus is my Lord, that have been washed and cleansed by the power of the blood of the lamb. Now let me close with this. I have people all the time that say, pastor, why is God waiting? What's taking him so long? Why hasn't he come earlier? Look at the violence of the world, the bigotry and how dark this world is coming. Why doesn't God do something? Why is he letting it go? On and on and on and on. How many of
you have thought that? Sometimes I know exactly why the Bible says that God is not slow, as some people would call slowness, but he is patient. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. The reason that God has not
come yet. The end has not come yet, is that there are practically 7 billion people on the face of this earth, and this incredible heart of God is saying, I want as many of those 7 billion people to come and know me and bow down and experience my power and my grace before I bring the end of times. How many of you in this auditorium have come to Christ in the last ten years? Raise your hand. High, high, high. Wave it at me. All right. A whole bunch of you.
of you. Let me ask you this question. How many of you are super grateful that Jesus did not end it ten years ago? Because in this decade you've come to know him, you've experienced him, you've felt the power of the Holy Spirit. You've been changed and washed and transformed because the patience of God had you in mind. Your name was on his list, and the angels and people have cried out in their desperation and persecution and said, come, Lord Jesus, come. The angels push for it. People cry
out for it. But the heart of God saw you and said, I'm going to wait a little bit because they're coming. I'm drawing them. I'm pulling them. I'm asking them my Holy Spirit is drawing them. I'm going to wait just a little bit longer, because I see him and I see her and I see them, and I know that they can transform. And the blood of the lamb is going to be poured on this place. So
he waits and waits and his patience. And so that is our job, to preach the gospel with greater Creative passion than we've ever experienced before, because there's a lot more people that need to hear about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Come, Lord Jesus, come. But in your time, Lord.
The final part of Mark job's message how close are we? God's timing is perfect in all situations and circumstances. I've been thinking a lot about Christ's return, Mark and I really appreciate this message, and I hope our listeners really understand the importance of knowing Christ in these times.
Yeah, the biggest takeaway that any person listening to this message can have is you need to be personally ready. And by personally ready, I don't mean generators in your basement and storage of canned food.
Spiritually ready.
Spiritually ready. And that's what Scripture emphasizes. Being spiritually ready for the coming of Christ. And so I want to challenge you if you are not ready. One of the scariest things on earth is that Jesus would come tomorrow and that, well, you would be left behind, right? And there's only one way to prepare for that, and that is to understand and receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. Um, it's as simple as that is that you need to
understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if you're here and you say, I'm not sure I understand the gospel. I don't know if I truly have made a decision to follow Christ like God wants me to, according to the Bible, then I would encourage you to check out a video that I made explaining the gospel more clearly. For all those of you that need to understand it a bit more concisely, you can find that video by going to npr.org and clicking on my next step.
Mark, thank you for doing that. I know how strongly you want to see people come to know the Lord, so that's a very important step. Go to my next step in faith. It's right there when you click the connect tab at bird-stamps.org. And then on our home page, be sure to request a copy of our latest bold step gift. We mentioned earlier a book called Lies Girls believe today's tween girls are navigating a complex world filled
with confusing messages about identity, relationships, and faith. Dana Gres's book, Lies Girls Believe, offers a biblical roadmap through this confusion. Helping girls ages 7 to 12 identify and counter 20 common lies with God's liberating truth. Beautifully designed with colorful illustrations and relatable stories, this bold step gift engages young readers while equipping them with the truth that will last a lifetime. So let us know where we can send
you a copy by requesting this book. When you give a donation to Bold Steps. Just go online to Bold Steps and request lies. Girls, believe. Or call us at 800 Moody. That's (800) 356-6639. And if it's easier, you can also send your donation and request the book in the mail. Our address is bold. Steps 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. We'd love to connect with you beyond the radio program. Be sure to follow us on social
media for more inspiration and updates. You can find Mark on YouTube for uplifting video content and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok by searching for Bold Steps radio. Well, that's our time for today. We'll see you again tomorrow, though, when Mark addresses the question, how ready are you? That's coming up Tuesday right here on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.