Two Year Gospel Study Week 65

Up To Jerusalem - Teaching 7 Scripture - Matthew 23:1-39, Mark 12:41-42, Matthew 24:1-16, Psalm 51:10, 2 Timothy 3:11 Class opens with a teaching from Jesus on humility and His warning against hypocrisy. The Seven Woes - spoken against hypocrisy:     1.    Verse 13 - roadblocks to the kingdom of heaven for people     2.    Verse 15 - produce more hypocrites     3.    Verse 16-22 - make a show of displaying how much they give to the temple     4.    Verse 23-24 - neglect justice, mercy and faithfulness     5.    Verse 25-26 - love to display outward cleanliness     6.    Verse 27-28 - do things to look good     7.    Verse 29-32 - act like they are better than others. An outward show - as good as it may look to others - does not matter at all to God. In fact, it destroys a relationship with God. The seven woes are Jesus' call to us to make sure our hearts are right with Him. This same kind of hypocrisy is just as present today as it was then. Jesus is reminding us that what God looks at is the heart - a heart committed to Him - and one that is humble before Him and humble before others. God's work is to take the hard stony parts of our hearts and replace them with a renewed heart. King David says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10. We are to come before God in humility and repentance through faith in Jesus and there we will find joy, peace and life. Jesus emphasizes humility with the story of the Widow's Offering in Mark 12:41-42. Jesus is observing the people as they drop off their offerings. The rich are making a show of how much they are giving and then a widow places only a few cents in the bowl - but it was all she had - unlike the "leftovers" the others had been making a show of giving. She gave the greatest gift as she displayed living by faith and trusting God to provide.   We pick up the Up to Jerusalem chronology with Matthew 24:1-16 with Jesus telling of the temple's future destruction. The disciples then ask Jesus 2 questions:     1.    When will the temple be destroyed     2.    What will be the sign of Jesus' second coming They didn't realize how separated the 2 events would be. Jesus answers by predicting deception, war and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines and calls these the beginning of birth pains. Implying that as the end comes nearer, these things would be more frequent and greater. Jesus also shares that there will be persecution of the believers.  Jesus ends by telling that the Gospel message will be preached throughout the whole world and then the end will come. We can see the evidence of what Jesus said as we see the Gospel message into every continent today. The time of His coming is nearer and nearer and we are called to be awake and ready! Jesus goes on to talk about the "abomination that causes desolation" and that when they see this happening to flee Jerusalem.  Pastor shares several possibilities of what the abomination may have been.  He also speaks to the question of whether Jesus' words speak to the last generation as well. We end with seeing that the early believers did as Jesus said, they escaped the judgement that came on Jerusalem by leaving and fleeing as Jesus had said - and so we learn how important it is for us to hear and to heed God's Words, not fearing the future, but facing the future in faith. Our website –  https://www.awakeusnow.com Watch the video from our website! https://www.awakeusnow.com/2-year-study-of-the-gospels-upper Watch the video from our YouTube Channel!! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTaaqrC3dMOzMkhPyiNWwlJRpV6Bwpu01 Up to Jerusalem is a study of the final weeks of Jesus' ministry concluding with His resurrection and ascension, using the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John together with material from ancient sources and recent discoveries.  Up to Jerusalem is part four of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. Up To Jerusalem is the story of the plan of God to redeem the world, and the story of a Savior willing to obey the Father's plan. As we study Jesus' final days, we will be impacted as we discover the Love of God for each one of us.  This study is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time.