PRAY THAT THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN IN WINTER. MARK 13:18 FOUR OF JESUS DISCIPLES- PETER, JAMES, JOHN AND ANDREW ASKED HIM ABOUT THE END OF THE AGE. JESUS RESPONSE IS COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE OLIVET DISCOURSE; IT CAN BE BROKEN DOWN INTO FIVE MAJOR SECTIONS. FIRST, JESUS PROPHESIES THAT THE TEMPLE WOULD BE BROUGHT DOWN. THEN HE WARNED AGAINST FALSE TEACHERS. THIRD, HE TALKED ABOUT THE RETURN OF THE SON OF MAN AND THEN HE GAVE THE LESSON OF THE FIG TREE. BUT IN THE FOURTH SECTION, AS JESUS DESCRIBED THE VARIOUS ATTROCITIES THAT WILL OCCUR, HE OFFERED ADVICE TO HIS DISCIPLES THAT THEY SHOULD PRAY THAT THIS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE IN WINTER. THE REFERENCE TO WINTER IS NOT A REFERENCE TO A SEASON OF THE YEAR, BUT TO THE STATUS OF THE SOUL. WINTER SYMBOLIZES A HEART THAT DOES NOT KNOW JESUS CHRIST. WINTER REFERS TO A LIFE THAT HAS NOT YIELDED ITSELF TO THE LORD. WINTER REFERS TO THE ONE WHO DOES NOT KNOW THAT THERE IS REALITY IN SERVING A TRUE AND LIVING GOD. PRAY THAT THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN IN WINTER. PRAY THAT YOU DONT DIE OUT OF FELLOWSHIP WITH THE LORD. THIS IS MORE THAN AN EVANGELICAL APPEAL TO THE LOST, BUT THIS VERSE SERVES AS AN ADMONITION TO THOSE WHO ARE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. THROUGHOUT HIS TEACHING; JESUS WAS TALKING TO AND TALKING ABOUT RELIGIOUS PEOPLE. YET, HE SAYS PRAY THAT THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN IN WINTER. WHAT MESSAGE IS THERE IN THIS FOR US? JESUS IS WARNING US AGAINST SPIRITUAL HYPOCRISY. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WINTER? WINTER IS CHARACTERIZED BY COLDNESS. JESUS IS SAYING TO US, DONT LET THESE THINGS HAPPEN WHILE YOUR HEART IS STILL COLD. THERE ARE A LOT OF COLD CHRISTIANS. WE ARE COLD IN OUR LIVING, IN THE WAY WE TREAT ONE ANOTHER, IN OUR SPEECH, IN OUR BEHAVIOUR. WE ARE COLD TO ONE ANOTHER AND WE ARE COLD TO GOD. WE ARE COLD TO HIS WORK THAT REMAINS UNDONE. GOD WILL NOT OVERLOOK A COLD HEART. HE WILL NOT OVERLOOK MEANNESS, HE WILL NOT OVERLOOK PETTINESS; HE WILL NOT OVERLOOK SELFISHNESS AND LAZINESS. DONT LET YOUR FLIGHT COME IN THE WINTER. THE OTHER CHARACTERISTIC OF WINTER IS THAT, IN WINTER, THERE IS NO FRUIT ON THE VINES. WE SHOULD NOT WANT TO LIVE AND LEAVE NOTHING BEHIND THAT LETS SOMEBODY KNOW THAT WE ARE CHILDREN OF THE KING. WE SHOULD WANT PEOPLE TO HONESTLY SAY, HE DID THE BEST THAT HE COULD FOR THE LORD... HE TRIED TO FEED THE HUNGRY; HE TRIED TO CLOTHE THE NAKED; HE TRIED TO TELL SOMEBODY THAT JESUS IS A ROCK IN WEARY LAND AND SHELTER IN THE TIME OF STORM. SOMETIMES HE FALTERED, SOMETIMES HE WAS MISUNDERSTOOD, SOMETIMES HE WAS TALKED ABOUT, BUT HE TRIED THE BEST THAT HE COULD. A HYMN WRITER SAID, A FEW MORE YEARS SHALL ROLL, AND A FEW MORE SEASONS COME, AND WE WILL BE WITH THOSE THAT REST AND SLEEP WITHIN THE TOMB. DEATH IS STILL RIDING. ONE DAY HES GOING TO RIDE OUR WAY. WE SHOULD WANT TO BE ABLE TO SAY, I FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT, FINISHED MY COURSE AND KEPT THE FAITH. THERES NO WINTER IN MY SOUL, NO COLDNESS IN MY HEART, THERE IS FRUIT IN MY VINE. THE LIGHT OF JESUS IS SHINNING IN MY HEART. AMEN. I LOVE YOU ALL.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 04:06:27 +0000
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