Mark 13:14-27

We dealt mostly with verses 1-13 last week.

I'm going to address it in brief a little bit this morning as well.

! We're going to read together all of chapter 13 just to lay out some context

and deal in definitive answers and absolutes, loves, resolution, completely right understanding,

then you just may not like the sermon this morning.

Because there are some challenges in this text.

Now, we of course believe that Scripture can mean only one thing,

but there's quite a divergent number of understandings about what Jesus means in all of chapter 13.

And there are certainly some exegetical challenges.

We avoid eisegesis.

Eisegesis altogether is a problem, reading into the text what we want it to say.

But there are certainly here some exegetical challenges.

We try to understand what does this text mean?

What did Jesus mean when he said it then?

What did Mark intend for us to understand by it when he recorded it?

And how does it apply to our living today?

So, we're going to jump into the midst of it all.

And I hope, by God's grace, we'll come out the other end of it changed from one degree of glory to another.

So, follow along with me as I read all of chapter 13 to you.

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him,

Look, teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings.

And Jesus said to him, Do you see these great buildings?

There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple,

Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,

Tell us, when will these things be?

And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?

And Jesus began to say to them,

See that no one leads you astray.

Many will come in my name saying, I am he.

And they will lead many astray.

And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed.

This must take place.

But the end is not yet.

For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be earthquakes in various places.

There will be famines.

These are but the beginnings of the birth pains.

But be on your guard, for they will deliver you over to councils,

and you will be beaten in synagogues,

and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them.

And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.

And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over,

do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say,

but say whatever is given you in that hour,

for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

And brother will deliver brother over to death,

and the father his child,

and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.

And you will be hated by all for my name's sake,

but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be,

let the reader understand.

And let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Let the one who is on the housetop not go down nor enter his house to take anything out.

And let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.

And the last for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days.

Pray that it may not happen in winter.

For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation

that God created until now, and never will be.

And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved.

But for the sake of the elect whom he chose, he shortened the days.

And then if anyone says to you,

Look, here is the Christ.

Or look, there he is.

Do not believe it.

For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders

to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

But be on guard.

I have told you all things beforehand.

But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light,

and the stars will be falling from heaven,

and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds,

from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

From the fig tree learn its lesson.

As soon as its branch becomes tender and put out its leaves,

you know that summer is near.

So also, when you see these things taking place,

you know that he is near at the very gates.

Truly I say to you,

this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Heaven and earth will pass away,

but my words will not pass away.

But concerning that day or that hour,

no one knows,

not even the angels in heaven,

nor the Son,

but only the Father.

Be on guard.

Keep awake.

For you do not know when the time will come.

It is like a man going on a journey

when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge,

each with his work,

and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.

Therefore stay awake.

For you do not know when the master of the house will come,

in the evening,

or at midnight,

or when the rooster crows,

or in the morning,

lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.

And what I say to you,

I say to all,

stay awake.

What a text.

A couple weeks before Christmas.

Let's pray together.

Father God,

we do praise you this morning for your written word.

We thank you that it has meaning and bearing for us today,

and we pray that by your Spirit,

you will help us to wrap our minds and our hearts around that meaning,

that we might understand it

and give it application in our lives

to the glory of your name.

We also thank you this morning for the word who is Christ,

the embodiment of all that you are,

the physical representation of you here on earth,

and we thank you that we can behold him in the scriptures.

And I pray,

Father,

that as this endeavor is before us,

and as we labor to know and to understand,

I pray that in all of it,

the great end will be the exaltation of Jesus.

And it's in his name that we pray.

Amen.

Now,

I hope that you picked up a little bit

as you were following along on the complexity of chapter 13,

that maybe even your mind went in one direction,

but then something else Jesus said caused your mind to go in the other.

It's certainly a prophecy.

He's talking about things that are going to happen.

He begins with an interpretation,

a prophecy that the temple will be destroyed.

So something that did in fact happen in 70 AD in the Jewish-Roman War.

It's an event that really happened.

But then he also seems to talk about the end of all things,

the end of the age,

the end of history itself.

And there's three ways in which general categories that we can understand this text.

Firstly, that the entirety of the text is referring to the end of this age,

that it is an eschatological text.

It's all about the end,

and quite a few people hold this to be true.

Secondly, we can believe that the entirety of the text is referring to this Jewish-Roman War

and the things that would happen in that time.

This is the year 70 AD, if this takes place.

And many people hold that view as well.

So the third option is to understand the text is referring to both things.

And that's the position I'll attempt to argue for today,

although I don't know how well I'm going to do that for you.

And let me again reiterate to you that I may be totally wrong.

I'm going to do my very best to give you the evidence

as of why I think this is the case,

and then give us an application for this.

But I'm certainly willing to talk about this afterwards.

Some of you may already know all the answers to this

and can inform me on the matter.

I will tell you, I started way too late in this week doing my studying on this.

The reason that I think it refers to both,

there are some evidences,

and I just want to kind of give you through the chapter,

some evidences that it's talking about the end of this age.

Like in verse 7, there will be wars and rumors of wars.

Jesus tells the apostles,

do not be alarmed.

This must take place, but the end is not yet.

Seems to be talking about something further out and beyond

what will happen in 70 AD.

In verse 8, he says,

these are but the beginning of birth pains.

The wars themselves are just the beginning of the birth pains.

And then in verse 10, he says,

and the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations,

which is not something that had happened by 70 AD.

In fact, it's still not a thing that has occurred.

And so I think we can rightly understand that this chapter,

at least in part, is about the end of all things,

the end of ages.

I also see some evidence that it is, in fact,

about the Jewish-Roman war.

The apostles ask a very specific question

about when they'll know that the temple is about to be destroyed.

And it seems to me that he doesn't just leave them without an answer.

He doesn't say,

well, let me talk about something else altogether.

You're looking for a sign.

Let me give you a sign of something that's beyond

what I've already predicted would happen.

So we see that prediction in the beginning of the chapter.

And then in verse 29 and 30, he says,

so also when you see these things taking place,

you know that he is near at the very gates.

Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away

until all these things take place.

Now upon some study, the phrase translated here in ESV

and probably in most of your translations as he is near

is a single Greek word,

and it is a gender-neutral adverb.

It's not a masculine adjective.

It's a gender-neutral adverb which forces the pronoun

to be drawn from the context.

So a translator who rightly thinks that this is about the end of all things

thinks that this is referring to Jesus' return

when in fact I believe,

and many other commentators do believe,

that it's referring to the destruction of the temple.

It could be rendered,

it is near.

And I think verse 30 is the evidence of that.

Truly I say to you,

this generation will not pass away

until all these things take place.

Those who believe that the entire chapter

is about the end of all things

believe that this generation is the generation

that sees this begin to happen,

sees the abomination of desolation come onto the scene,

and then all of this will complete it

in that generation's time frame.

I believe a much simpler reading of it

is that he's referring to those he's speaking to.

This generation will see this come to pass in 70 AD.

So I think it's talking about both.

And then the task before us then is to figure out

which is talking about what

and how this could be the case.

I think that the way he presents this

is from a very broad sense at the beginning.

They ask a specific question.

He broadens his answer to speak about the end of all things

and the experiences that are going to happen

in the process of getting to that end.

So the suffering that will take place,

certainly the destruction of the temple is part of that.

So he broadens it out.

And then our text before us today,

verses 14 through 27,

he narrows it down to talk specifically

about the Jewish-Roman War

and what will happen in that time

before once again broadening back out

to talk about long-term end of all things.

Everybody with me?

All right.

I'm sure you are.

So let's start looking in verse 14.

We see a very interesting character presented to us

when you see the abomination of desolation

standing where he,

and the pronoun is in the original,

where he ought not to be,

and then Mark's parenthetical statement,

which is in the original text,

let the reader understand.

So Jesus didn't say this.

When Mark's writing it down,

he adds,

let the reader understand.

So this is something that people beyond

just the apostles were meant to understand.

Now I'll tell you,

I quickly scrambled to remember

when it was that Mark's gospel was recorded

because if it had been recorded after 70 AD,

that would be very interesting, would it not?

It seems that he would be giving us some future information

out beyond the Jewish-Roman war,

but that's not the case.

It was pinned somewhere in the mid-50s to 60s,

depending on the opinion out there.

Likely the mid-50s is when it was pinned.

So those beyond the apostles were meant to see

and understand this very thing he's about to tell us.

So the abomination of desolation

is an individual,

a person that's being drawn from the book of Daniel.

9.27, 11.31, and 12.11.

These are the mentions of them.

Let me just read to you the first two.

Daniel 9.27,

And then Daniel 11.31,

And then Daniel 11.31,

And then Daniel 11.31,

Now those who think that the entire text

is about the end of all things,

suggests that the abomination of desolation

is what we know as the Antichrist.

I don't think so.

I can't tell you exactly who he is,

but here are some suggestions for you.

And I think that as Mark says,

let the reader understand,

I think the implication he's making,

again, I think my opinion,

is that he's making the implication

that these people already knew

who the abomination of desolation was.

He adds that parenthetical to go,

uh-huh, pay attention reader,

we already know who this is.

I think, more than likely,

it's Antiochus Epiphanes,

right, who is the ruler of the Seleucid Empire.

This man, his name,

he changed his name,

actually means God manifest.

And he, in 168 BC,

erected an altar to the pagan god Zeus

over the altar of burnt offering.

And then to add insult to injury,

he sacrificed pigs on it,

which was a horrible desecration

of what was meant to happen there.

You remember back in Daniel 11, 31,

forces from him shall appear

and profane the temple and the fortress

and shall take away the regular burnt offering.

There are some other suggestions, too.

It could have been,

the Roman emperor Caligula

had planned to build a statue of himself

on the same altar.

It never came to pass,

but it was a project in the works

before the Jewish-Roman war took place.

And two years before the temple was destroyed,

Jewish zealots,

who was the kind of political group

that started the war,

committed various atrocities in the temple

and actually put in power

as the high priest,

kind of a joke of a man named Fanny.

The pun is certainly intended in this case.

So these things seem to be things

that are leading up to the Jewish-Roman war

and likely, it's my suggestion,

that that's what he's referring to.

He goes on in the rest of verse 14

to give some very real,

like very modern,

for their day,

things to do.

Then let those who are in Judea

flee to the mountains.

He's predicting this war that's about to come,

this tribulation that's about to happen,

a judgment on apostate Israel,

and he's saying to them,

flee.

Those who are in Judea,

in this region,

flee to the mountains.

Let the one who's on the housetop

not go down or enter his house.

He's saying,

don't take any time to pack stuff up.

Let the one who's in the field

not turn back his cloak.

Alas for women.

It's going to be a horrible,

horrible thing

for women who are pregnant

or nursing infants

who are slowed down by that process.

Pray that it doesn't happen in the winter.

It's going to be this atrocious judgment

that's going to come.

Verse 19,

For in those days,

there will be such tribulation

has not been from the beginning of creation

that God created until now

and will never be.

Now I believe,

as I said,

that this tribulation

he's referring to

is not what many would call

the tribulation

at the end of all things,

but rather a tribulation.

Such a horrible tribulation.

And I believe this is brought on

at the Jewish-Roman war.

The Roman army,

under command of the future emperor Titus,

killed approximately

one million Jews.

They besieged the city

for five months.

There were hundreds of thousands

of crucifixions,

spearing,

all kinds of killing.

Many people died

of starvation

in the process of this.

It was a difficult,

difficult time

for the Jews.

And Jesus is warning them,

flee.

Get out of the city.

Go to the mountains.

Get away from

this judgment

that is coming.

But there's an interesting

little phrase there

in verse 19,

is there not?

Even as I'm speaking,

if you're an astute listener,

the level of tribulation

seems to be heightened

at first,

as Jesus says,

and has not been

from the beginning

of the creation

that God created

until now.

That means that there's

nothing worse

that's ever happened,

this tribulation is,

and never will be.

This seems to be

the great height

of trouble

for the world.

And so most of us,

for our upbringing

in church,

would run quickly

to what we call

the tribulation

at the end

of all things.

However,

a little bit of study,

you can find

that this phrase

found at the very end

and never will be

is an Old Testament

stock expression

of great suffering.

It was a common way

people referred to

great suffering.

Two examples

from one book

in the Old Testament.

You can also find it

in Joel 2.2,

I believe,

if I'm remembering

that correctly.

Exodus 10.14,

the locusts came up

over all the land

of Egypt

and settled

on the whole country

of Egypt.

Such a dense swarm

of locusts

as had never been

before nor ever

will be again.

Exodus 11.6,

there shall be

a great cry

throughout all the land

of Egypt,

such as there has

never been

nor ever will be

again.

So it seems to be

just this stock

expression

to really heighten

the suffering.

Suffer,

they're going to suffer,

they're really,

really going to suffer

is what he seems

to be expressing

as he says this.

In verse 20,

he goes on to say,

And if the Lord,

speaking of God the Father,

had not cut short

the days,

no human being

would be saved.

And upon some word study,

this saving is not

speaking of the

spiritual saving

that we're so familiar

with as a term

in our church today,

but of physical salvation.

He's referring in verse 20

directly back to verse 19,

this great tribulation

that would take place

that's cut short

so that people are saved,

so that people live on.

But in the rest of the verse,

he says,

But for the sake

of the elect,

those who God has chosen,

whom he chose,

he shortened.

The days.

The Jewish-Roman War

lasted about five months,

as I previously mentioned,

and it would seem

that God cut short

the days of this

so that all of Israel

wasn't destroyed,

so that the gospel itself

could be carried

outside of

this smaller circle,

this smaller people group,

to all nations.

You remember what verse 10 said,

that the gospel

must be preached first

to all nations.

And so,

God stayed his judgment

over Israel

so that not everyone

would be destroyed,

and so that the gospel

could be preached

out and beyond.

Are you tracking with me?

Let's keep moving.

Verse 21 through 23,

he gives once again

some warning

that people are going to come

and claim to be him.

And this has happened

all throughout history.

This is not just a thing

that will happen

at the end of all things,

but this is something

that has been happening.

people claiming

to be Christ.

Antichrist,

lowercase a.

It's the repeated warning

of chapter 13,

verse 5 and 6.

He says,

see that no one

leads you astray.

Many will come

in my name saying,

I am he,

and they will lead

many astray.

All right,

we get to verse 24 through 27.

Are we ready for it?

And all this has

real application,

I promise I'm getting there.

But in those days

after the tribulation,

the sun will be darkened

and the moon will not

give its light

and the stars will be

falling from heaven

and the powers in the heaven

will be shaken,

which has such imagery

of the world

coming to an end,

does it not?

And so,

on our first reading of this,

that's where my mind

immediately goes,

but we have to recognize

that Jesus was speaking

to a Jewish audience.

A Jewish audience

that would have had

a good understanding

of the Old Testament Scriptures.

Sadly,

we really don't

as American Christians,

and so,

we have to study

and we have to go

and look

and figure out

what is he saying here.

This language,

again,

being borrowed

from the Old Testament.

Two places,

let me show you.

Firstly,

in Isaiah 13,

Isaiah 13:10

verse 10,

speaking of the judgment

of Babylon,

for the stars

of the heavens

and their constellations

will not give their light.

The sun will be dark

as it's rising

and the moon

will not shed

its light.

Speaking simply

and specifically

about the judgment

of Babylon.

And then later

in Isaiah 34,

speaking of the judgment

of all nations

in verse 4,

all the hosts

of heaven,

the stars

in the heaven,

shall rot away

and the skies

roll up

like a scroll.

All their hosts

shall fall

as leaves fall

from the vine

like leaves

falling from the fig tree.

So,

I believe that in verse 24,

what Jesus is trying

to communicate

is there going to be

a great disruption

in world power.

We've already talked

about wars

and rumors of wars.

There's going to be

a great turning over

of world power,

which we certainly

saw happen

with the Jewish-Roman war.

Verse 26.

And here's our kicker.

And then they will see

the Son of Man

coming in clouds

with great power

and glory.

Now, Jesus has established

that He is the Son of Man

repeatedly

all throughout

the New Testament.

In Mark's Gospel account,

nine times already

it's been recorded.

Chapters 2, 8, 9, and 10.

He has called Himself

the Son of Man.

And what He's doing

is He's connecting

all of His listeners' minds

to the book of Daniel.

So, turn with me,

if you will,

to Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

Alright, Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

I'm going to set up our text,

which is going to be

verses 13 and 14 specifically,

by reading to you

before that,

beginning in verse 9.

This is Daniel's vision.

As I looked,

thrones were placed,

and the Ancient of Days,

which is God the Father,

took His seat.

His clothing was white as snow,

and the hair on His head

like pure wool.

His throne was fiery flames,

its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued

and came out before Him.

A thousand thousand served Him,

and ten thousand times

ten thousand stood before Him.

The court sat in judgment,

and the books were opened.

So, this picture is God the Father,

seated in a heavenly place,

reigning over all things,

a throng serving Him.

And then verse 13,

I saw in the night visions,

and behold,

with the clouds of heaven

there came one

like a son of man.

And He came

to the Ancient of Days

and was presented before Him.

And to Him was given

dominion and glory

and a kingdom

that all peoples,

nations,

and languages

should serve Him.

His dominion

is an everlasting dominion

which shall not pass away,

and His kingdom one

that shall not be destroyed.

Now, the thing that's really important

for us to see here

is that if we take this text

as an eschatological text,

as an end-of-all-things text,

then what that's referring to

is Jesus coming back,

coming in clouds,

coming back to the earth

to judge the earth.

But that's not what the text says

in Daniel 7, 13, and 14, is it?

We see the Ancient of Days

seated in heaven,

and then we see

the Son of Man

presented before Him,

brought up to Him.

He comes to the Father,

not coming from the Father,

but going to the Father

in Daniel 7, 13, and 14.

And so my suggestion to you

is that what Jesus is saying here

is that while the world

is going to be going

through this great tumult,

like world power

is going to be shifting,

things are changing,

don't worry

because my kingdom

is being established forever.

I have come as the Christ,

I have ushered in the kingdom of God,

and I'm going to go sit

at the right hand of the Father,

and I'm going to reign over

everything that happens.

I think that's what Jesus

is trying to communicate

to us here.

And what will He do

when this happens?

Not that He'll judge all things,

as we know He'll do

when He returns,

but rather,

verse 27,

He will send out the angels

and gather His elect

from the four winds,

from the ends of the earth

to the ends of the heaven.

Now, interestingly,

the Greek word used here

for angels

is translated using

its secondary meaning.

Its primary meaning in Greek

is simply messengers.

Simply messengers.

And so I would argue

that part of what

He's communicating here

is that when He goes

and ascends

and He's with the Father

is that He'll send out

messengers,

which includes the apostles,

and now includes us.

To do what?

To travel to the ends

of the earth

to gather the elect,

to build the church,

to advance the gospel.

Now, I wouldn't exclude

angels from that number.

In fact, the Greek word

is most often translated

angels throughout

the New Testament,

and I believe rightly so.

I wouldn't exclude that.

In fact, I think that God

in many ways,

by angels,

is still about the work

of advancing the kingdom.

Hebrews 1.14,

speaking of angels,

are they not all

ministering spirits

sent out to serve

for the sake of those

who are to inherit salvation.

So it seems that angels

have this place still

as the heralds of God.

He says that He'll send out

the angels,

His elect from the four winds,

the farthest reaches

from the ends of the earth

to the ends of heaven,

which would have drawn

the apostles' minds

to a text like Deuteronomy 30,

Deuteronomy 30:4

verse 4.

If your outcasts are

in the uttermost parts

of heaven,

from there the Lord your God

will gather you,

and from there He will take you.

So it doesn't matter

how far you go.

Imagine the furthest place

the elect of God

could possibly travel to.

It doesn't matter.

Even to that place,

God will gather them.

We're about to send,

if you don't know,

2030, I think they're saying,

possibly,

manned mission to Mars.

There's a big test

that achieved that.

Even there, right,

we get men on Mars

that are the elect of God.

God will gather them

to Himself.

So, that's why

all these things

that I've said,

I believe He's speaking

specifically of this time,

and then He'll get

here in a moment

as we move on in the text,

next week,

He'll advance it

back out again

to the end of all things.

Kyle has the job

of doing that next week,

and I've already told him

he has permission

just to get up

and say I'm crazy,

and I don't know

what I'm talking about

and set me straight

in these regards.

But I think

that's the trajectory

of this text.

If that bothers you,

I want you to know

it bothers me too.

I really, really want

all of the scholars

and the commentators

to agree on what

these things mean.

I really want to wrap

my mind around it

and get it in its completion.

I believe the Word of God

is incredibly valuable to us.

Every single word in it

is valuable to us,

so it confounds me

a little bit

when I can't quite

understand something

like this.

But there are some things

we can understand

from the text,

and here's our application.

This is why it's important

that we don't just neglect

a text like this

altogether.

Here's our application,

and I want you to

take special note

of three things

from the text

this morning.

First of all,

note the reign of Christ.

When exactly

is he referring to here?

We're not sure.

Maybe some of you are.

I'm not sure

exactly what he's talking about

in this case,

but something we know

to be sure,

without a doubt,

is that Jesus Christ

does in fact reign,

and will in fact reign supreme

forever.

We looked at verse 24-26

to see that.

Some other texts.

Hebrews 1-3

says,

After making purification

for sins,

he, being Jesus,

sat down at the right hand

of the majesty on high.

He was given the place

of honor to reign

and to rule

at the right hand

of God the Father.

Colossians 1,

Colossians 1:13–14

verse 13-14.

Paul writes,

He has delivered us

from the domain of darkness

or the kingdom of darkness

and transferred us

to the kingdom

of His beloved Son

in whom we have redemption,

the forgiveness of sins.

It's a kingdom that exists now

that if you've placed

your faith in Christ,

you are part of.

And it is a kingdom

that He reigns over.

Hebrews 12-28.

At least the very first part of it.

It says,

Therefore,

let us be grateful

for receiving a kingdom

that cannot be shaken.

A permanent kingdom.

A kingdom that has been established.

The kingdoms of the world

are being shaken.

The kingdoms of the world

are being all mixed up.

There's lots of tumult.

There's lots of turmoil.

There's lots of war.

But we have received a kingdom

that cannot be shaken.

Why?

Because Christ reigns supreme.

In fact,

the writer of Hebrews

is likely referring to

another text from Daniel.

A fulfillment of a prophecy

in Daniel 2-44.

And in the days of those kings,

the God of heaven

will set up a kingdom

that shall never be destroyed,

nor shall the kingdom

be left to another people.

It shall break in pieces

all these kingdoms

and bring them to an end,

and it shall stand forever.

Let's say to you, beloved,

that this kingdom

has already been established

and Jesus Christ

reigns supreme over it.

So firstly,

Christ's reign.

Secondly,

notice in our text

and previous to our text,

the love of God

for us.

Those who are part of His church,

the elect,

the ones whom He has chosen.

Right?

In spite of us,

not having done anything

to deserve His favor,

He has called us His own.

Look at verse 5.

The warning.

See that no one leads you astray.

Jesus is prepping us

for the challenges

that will face us.

Verse 9.

Be on your guard.

Verse 14.

Flee to the mountains.

And just as an aside

at this point,

God has given us common sense.

He has said to us

that there will be suffering

if we desire to live

righteous lives,

we will be persecuted.

But He hasn't taught us

that we should seek it out.

We should thumb our noses

at those who may persecute us.

In fact,

in this case,

He says,

flee to the mountains.

It's okay.

Get away from such a thing.

Verse 20.

For the sake of the elect,

He shortened the days.

For our sake,

for our good.

Verse 23.

Again,

the warning to be on guard.

In verse 27,

He's sending out the angels.

And whether you want this

just to be heavenly beings

or that's us

or both combined,

He is sending out ones,

messengers,

heralds,

to gather us

from the farthest reaches

of the earth.

He loves us

so incredibly.

Even as He's invited us

into His kingdom,

which brings so much trouble

because the world

has hated Jesus,

He pours out

a great deal

of compassion on us,

gives to us instruction

for how we should live.

He's going to tell us

in the coming text

to be on guard,

to be aware,

to be awake,

to be waiting

and watching,

prepared for His return.

So secondly,

the love of God for us.

Thirdly,

notice the mission

we've been given to.

Notice the mission

we've been given to.

Now,

I say that intentionally

in that way

because I think it's wrong

for us to think

that we exist

as the church

and God has granted

to us a mission

because it's His mission

ultimately

and He's really given

us to the mission.

Right?

It's a thing that

He'll accomplish.

If you've been here

long at all,

you've heard me say

that God doesn't need you.

Don't belittle God

so much in your mind

to think that He needs you

to accomplish

His will.

But you're precious to Him

and He loves you

and because of His great love

for you,

He's given you

to His mission.

Right?

The things that He cares

most about,

He's invited you into

to work within,

to pray prayers

and to share your faith,

to minister

to the needs of people.

This is the things

that God cares about

and He wants you

to be part of that

so that you'll experience

Him.

Right?

So,

He's given us

to the mission.

Note that mission.

Verse 27,

as I said again,

He'll send out the angels,

gather His elect

from the four winds,

from the ends of the earth

to the ends of the heavens.

Verse 10,

and the gospel

must first be proclaimed

to all nations.

God has chosen

to use His church

as the means

to that great end.

Could He have done it

another way?

He sure could have.

But He's chosen

to use us

to accomplish

that goal.

Why?

Why?

Do we not join Him?

Why do we not

make our joy complete

in pursuing the things

that God cares about?

We pursue

pithy things

compared to the greatness

of what we can pursue

that God has for us.

The mission

that He's given us to.

Turn to 2 Corinthians 5.

I'll begin reading

in verse 17.

Therefore,

if anyone is

in Christ,

that is,

has placed

saving faith

in Him,

His person

and His work,

He is

a new creation.

The old

has passed away.

Behold,

the new

has come.

This is that picture

of us.

Our citizenship

has changed.

We're no longer

citizens of the world.

We're just sojourners here.

Now we're citizens

of the kingdom

of heaven.

The old,

our identity

has changed

completely.

Verse 18,

All this

is from God

who through Christ

reconciled us

to Himself

and gave us

the ministry

of reconciliation.

Reconciliation

is the making right

of a schismed relationship.

A relationship

that's been torn apart

and it's been torn apart

in this case

because of sin,

because of our rebellion

against God,

totally separated from Him.

The ministry

of reconciliation

has brought us

back together

because what of Christ

has accomplished?

Verse 19,

That is,

in Christ,

God was reconciling

the world

to Himself,

not counting

the trespasses

against them

and entrusting

to us

the message

of reconciliation,

the gospel,

the good news

of Jesus Christ.

Verse 20,

Therefore,

we are ambassadors

for Christ,

God making His appeal

through us.

We implore you

on behalf of Christ,

be reconciled

to God.

And there,

Paul gives us

this great gospel message

at the very end

of verse 20,

We implore you

on behalf of Christ,

be reconciled

to God.

If you have been

reconciled to God

in Christ,

you should want

to share

that good news

with others.

Beloved,

what's going on

in our hearts

that causes us

to do the things

we do

and talk about

the things

we talk about?

Out of the outflow

of your heart,

your mouth speaks.

Do you love

the gospel

of Jesus Christ?

Have you been

reconciled by it?

Have you understood

the schism

and the relationship

that existed

and the way

in which Christ

has brought that

back together?

That ought to well up

in us a great deal

of joy

and we ought to share it

every opportunity

we get.

We can't simply

act it out,

display it.

We have to

proclaim it.

It's necessary.

This message

comes by our mouths.

Not because God

needs us,

but because

He loves us.

So we've been

given

to a mission,

a wonderful mission,

the greatest

of missions.

Some people call it

the Great

Commission.

In Mark 16,

Mark 16:15

verse 15,

we see a very short

record of it.

Go into all the world

and proclaim the gospel

to the whole creation.

Beloved,

this is our high calling

in Christ.

Christ who reigns

over all things

and loves us

immensely,

has given to us

this task,

made us ambassadors,

given us the ministry

of reconciliation.

Let's pray together.