The Journey to the Cross, Part 13

Mark chapter 13, you'll find it on page 1019, if you're using a church Bible.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

And we'll read the whole chapter together.

Words spoken by Jesus just a matter of days before he would go to the cross.

Mark chapter 13, and let's hear the word of God together.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him,

And look, teacher, what massive stones, what magnificent buildings.

Do you see all these great buildings? replied Jesus.

Not one stone here will be left on another.

Every one will be thrown down.

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple,

Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately,

Tell us, when will these things happen?

And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?

Jesus said to them,

Watch out that no one deceives you.

Many will come in my name, claiming, I am he, and will deceive many.

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

Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines.

These are the beginnings of birth pains.

You must be on your guard.

You'll be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues.

On account of me, you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.

And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.

Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial,

do not worry beforehand about what to say.

Just say whatever is given you at the time,

for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

Brother will betray brother to death and a father his child.

Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.

All men will hate you because of me,

but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

When you see the abomination that causes desolation,

standing where it does not belong,

let the reader understand,

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

Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out.

Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak.

How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers.

Pray that this will not take place in winter,

because those will be days of distress,

unequaled from the beginning when God created the world until now,

and never to be equaled again.

If the Lord had not cut short those days,

no one would survive.

But for the sake of the elect whom he has chosen,

he has shortened them.

At that time, 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 appear

and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect,

if that were possible.

So be on your guard.

I have told you everything ahead of time.

But in those days, following that distress,

the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light,

the stars will fall from the sky,

and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

At that time, men will see the Son of Man

coming in clouds with great power and glory,

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

from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree.

As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out,

you know that summer is near.

Even so, when you see these things happening,

you know that it is near right at the door.

I tell you the truth.

This generation will certainly not pass away

until all these things have happened.

Heaven and earth will pass away,

but my words will never pass away.

No one knows about that day or hour,

not even the angels in heaven, nor the sun,

but only the Father.

Be on guard.

Be alert.

You do not know when that time will come.

It's like a man going away.

He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge,

each with his assigned task,

and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

Therefore, keep watch,

because you do not know

when the owner of the house will come back,

whether in the evening or at midnight

or when the cock crows or at dawn.

If he comes suddenly,

do not let him find you sleeping.

What I say to you,

I say to everyone,

watch.

Muriel Spark,

a 20th century novelist

who lived in,

or grew up in Morningside here in Edinburgh,

wrote a book called Memento Mori.

And the story of that book

involves a group of elderly people

receiving anonymous phone calls

repeatedly over a course of months

where the caller would simply say,

remember,

you must die.

And we then hang up the phone.

And it was interesting to chart

the response of these elderly people.

Some of them feared that voice.

Others simply put it out their mind

and lived in denial.

Others turned to anticipate

their own death

with a sense of peace.

A different kind of artist,

R.E.M.,

the music group,

one of their early songs

was called

It's the End of the World

as We Know It.

And for them,

to finish the title,

they said,

and I feel fine.

I wonder

if it's something

that we think about

at the end of the world.

And if we do,

what sort of reaction,

what sort of emotion

does it conjure up for us?

In one hand,

I guess it's an uncomfortable topic

for us to consider,

but it's an important topic.

Do we have that same sense of fear

that some of the characters

from Amento Mori had?

Denial?

Perhaps even anticipation?

Well, Jesus turns to teach

on just that,

the end of the world.

So remember,

Jesus has been on his journey.

We've seen in the last couple of chapters

of Mark's gospel

that he's arrived at the temple.

He's condemned both

the religious leaders

and the worship in the temple

for being far from what God would want.

And then if we look at chapter 13,

the first three verses,

we see he's now leaving the temple.

The disciples,

they're amazed

at this wonderful marble and gold temple.

They're really impressed by it.

And Jesus announces

ultimate judgment on the temple

because the worship there

is far from pleasing to God,

a judgment that will fall

in AD 70.

And as Jesus' disciples

are processing this truth,

they recognize here is an event,

the destruction of the temple,

here is an event so huge

that they wonder to themselves,

will this signal the end of the world?

Verse four,

tell us when will these things happen

and what will be the sign

that they are all about to be fulfilled?

And so Jesus is going to begin to teach

for the rest of the chapter.

Remember, effectively,

the world must end.

And in this chapter,

he gives both a sense of reality

and a sense of hope

for life in the last days.

Reality and hope too

for facing the last day,

the second coming of the Lord Jesus.

You can find lots of books

written on the topic of the end days

and the last day,

dates and times and speculation.

It's really important

to hear Jesus on this topic.

So that's what we're going to do.

Before we really get going,

just as a little side note,

it's really important

to get our timing right

in Mark chapter 13.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

I wonder if you've had the experience

in a holiday car journey,

if you've ever traveled with children,

and maybe you were that child

who would ask,

just after you pulled out of the driveway,

are we nearly there yet?

You know the question.

Usually, by the time

that question is getting asked,

there's usually still

a really long stretch of the journey,

sometimes a hard part

of the journey still to go.

Often, if you're going a long way,

you're not even sure

when you're going to arrive.

The disciples are asking,

are we nearly there yet?

Is the end of the world nearly here?

Well, Jesus doesn't give them a time.

He doesn't say in so many years.

What He does say multiple times,

four times in this chapter

is watch out,

be on your guard,

be ready.

And He says to them,

and He says to us,

our journey of faith,

it may be long,

and it may be hard and difficult.

And we don't know

when the end of the world is.

So what Jesus is trying to do

is He's trying to prepare us

to persevere

for that long, hard journey.

He wants us to persevere

in our walk of faith.

When we find ourselves

under pressure,

when we find that life

is really hard,

to find hope from Him.

The timeline of Mark 13.

It's important to get this right

because some of it is immediate.

He'll talk about some things

that will be fulfilled

within His generation,

but some of it is very much future.

So in verse 5,

all the way to verse 23,

Jesus is describing the last days.

That's the period of time

between the first coming of Jesus

and the second coming of Jesus.

So that's describing the last days.

And what Jesus says

is that these things

that He's talking about,

they're happening now.

Verse 28 to 31

are talking about the last days.

And He's saying,

some of the things

that I'm talking to you about,

talking to the disciples,

they will be fulfilled

in your own generation.

Do you see that in verse 30?

I tell you the truth,

this generation will certainly

not pass away

until all these things have happened.

So He's talking about the last days.

These are signs

of the end of the world.

So you've got that time frame,

but then there's also

Jesus teaching on the last day,

on the judgment day,

on the second coming.

Lots of different ways

the Bible talks about it.

And we find that

in verses 24 to 27.

So there's events

that lead up to the second coming,

but then there's separate teaching

on the return of Jesus.

And that time is unknown.

It's unexpected.

Verse 32,

no one knows about that day or hour,

only the Father.

And so in light of these two timelines,

Jesus is saying,

watch out, be ready,

be on your guard.

Okay, so let's look at the text.

Let's look first of all

at the last days.

What is Jesus saying to us?

He's saying to us

that these last days

are dark days.

And he gives us warnings

and promises.

So remember,

this is spoken first

to his disciples.

So what I want to do

is to look at the two warnings

that are applied specifically

to Jesus' generation.

The disciples

and those who would live

at the time

shortly after the death

and return of Jesus to heaven.

So verse 14

speaks about

the desecration

of the temple.

That's the first warning.

When you see

the abomination

that causes desolation

standing where it does not belong,

then let those

who are in Judea

flee to the mountain.

Now,

in the Old Testament,

book of Daniel,

Daniel had visions

about the abomination

that causes desolation.

In short,

something would happen

to make the temple

unfit for worship.

Something would happen

within the temple

such that God

would leave the temple

such that the people

would no longer

be able to worship God

in the temple.

Ultimately,

it would be destroyed.

Now,

that happened in history,

168 BC,

and Jesus is saying

it's going to happen again.

In actual fact,

Jesus has said

this has already been happening

in his own day.

Remember people buying

and selling

in the marketplace?

Remember the false worship

that's been going on?

God is not pleased with that.

Bear in mind too

that Jesus said,

I am the temple of God.

And how did the people

of his day treat the temple?

Well,

many rejected

and killed him.

And so,

Jesus is warning

the temple

is going to be

desecrated

and then destroyed.

And that would happen

as Rome came to attack

in 70 AD.

So,

that happened

in that generation.

Tied up with that,

Jesus goes on

to speak about

the distress

that would come

following those events.

Verse 15 to 19

speak about distress.

Verse 19 in particular,

because those will be

days of distress

unequaled from the beginning

when God created the world

until now.

So,

here is Jesus' warning

of intense suffering

to come.

He's saying to them,

don't waste a minute

gathering your possessions.

You better hope

the weather is good

because you need to run

because suffering is coming.

Rome's revenge,

as history would play out,

would be terrible

on Jewish rebellion.

And there was a time

of great suffering

for the city of Jerusalem

and the nation.

And so,

they are told

to watch out.

Desecration is coming.

Distress is coming.

So,

those are spoken

to Jesus' disciples

referring to

his own generation.

But he gives

three other warnings

that are more general

that we see played out

in life

in our days,

which are also

the last days.

The first thing

to pay attention to

is the deception

that comes.

So,

in verse 5,

Jesus said to them,

watch out

that no one

deceives you.

Many will come

in my name

claiming I am he

and will deceive

many.

And then in verse 21,

at that time,

if anyone says to you,

look,

here is the Christ

or look,

there he is,

do not believe.

For false Christs

and false prophets

will appear.

So,

there are false claims.

There are some people

saying,

I'm the Christ

claiming the position

of God

and the honor of God.

Or they're saying,

Christ is here.

The return has come.

There are those

who are deceiving

the church of God

towards false worship.

So,

Jesus is warning

of this dangerous

deception

that takes place

in the last days.

What does that look like

for us?

Well,

maybe it's that

teaching that we hear

that says,

well,

ultimately,

all roads lead to God.

All religions

are equal.

There's no absolute truth.

So,

it doesn't matter

which God you believe in

so long as you're

religious.

Taking away

the unique place

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Or perhaps,

it's the teaching

that we hear

that says,

well,

for me,

Jesus is life.

Jesus is my buddy.

Jesus is my guru.

Jesus is whatever

that strips us

away from the revelation

that we find

in the Bible

to the Jesus

of one's imagination.

Or it might be

the teaching

that you hear

from those

that claim

to be Christian churches

that denies

the virgin birth

of Jesus,

that denies

the atoning death

of Jesus for sin,

that deny

the resurrection

of Jesus,

that deny

that Jesus

will return

in glory.

There are ways

for God's people

to be deceived

and so Jesus says,

watch out.

He says,

stand firm

in the truth.

Here's a call

to us

as a local church

to remain committed

to the Bible

as the Word of God

with full authority,

to be committed

to the gospel.

There's not just

deception

in the last days,

though there's also

disasters.

Verse 8

makes that plain.

Verse 7,

also,

when you hear of wars

and rumors of wars,

do not be alarmed.

Nation will rise

against nation

and kingdom

against kingdom.

There'll be earthquakes

in various places

and famines.

These are the beginnings

or the beginning

of birth pains.

These are not the end.

These are signs

that this is life

in the last days.

A survey

was conducted

in the UK

asking people

about their

greatest fears.

Not phobias,

they do separate

surveys for phobias,

but when it comes

to those sort of

big overarching fears.

In the UK,

we are afraid

of international

terrorism.

We are afraid

of armed conflict.

We are afraid

of climate change.

We are afraid

of global pandemics

that will sweep

through the world.

It's easy

to be afraid.

You switch on

the news

and it's easy

to be afraid.

So there are

disasters going on

out there,

but also

we are aware

of our own

personal disasters.

Those heartaches

that we have,

those sorrows

that we endure,

those struggles

that we have

with our health

or in our workplace

or with family

relationships.

And it can be easy

to give in

to despair

as the people

of God.

And what does

Jesus say?

He says,

watch out.

He says,

stand firm.

He says,

trust.

Let me read

from Psalm 46.

How wonderful words.

God is our

refuge

and strength

and ever-present

help in trouble.

Therefore,

we will not fear

though the earth

give way

and the mountains

fall into the heart

of the sea.

The Lord Almighty

is with us.

The God of Jacob

is our fortress.

That's what our trust

and our confidence

must be

because

deception will come

and disasters

will come.

And not only that,

division

will come.

Division in the form

of opposition

and persecution.

Verse 9.

You must be

on your guard.

There's the warning again.

Be on guard.

You will be handed

over to the local

councils and flogged

in the synagogues.

Verse 12.

Brother will betray

brother to death

and a father his child.

Children will rebel

against their parents

and have them put to death.

All men will hate you

because of me.

William Lane

commenting on this passage

says that Jesus' life

is the cruel

prototype

for his followers.

How is Jesus treated

in the gospel of Mark?

What have we seen so far?

We've seen many people

oppose him.

Many reject him.

Many be hostile to him.

We've seen that Jesus

divides opinions.

Jesus divides communities.

Jesus divides families.

And just as it was

for Jesus,

he says,

so it will be

for his followers.

It was Dietrich Bonhoeffer

in Germany

in the 1930s

who said,

when Christ calls a man,

he bids him

come and die.

Die to self.

There is a sacrifice

involved in following

Jesus.

And here,

we are reminded

that Christians

may face opposition

from authorities

and from our own families.

How do we see that today?

We see it in

state-sponsored persecution.

We see it when

community leaders

surround

and intimidate

and destroy churches

in different parts

of the world.

We see it when

Christians find themselves

sidelined at work.

When we feel

the squeeze

on our

faith values.

Perhaps

you know

the experience

in your own family

of being the only Christian,

of being misunderstood

or mocked

or feeling

isolated.

division comes.

There is a cost

to discipleship.

It's another reminder

why membership matters

because we need each other.

This might be

the only family

that we have.

Opposition

is normal

so we need

community

for strength.

We just

recently finished

watching

a documentary

following the

travels

of a British

adventurer

called

Levison Wood.

He was walking

from the

top of Mexico

through

Central America

and he was just

passing through,

just about finished,

passing through

the Darien Gap,

one of the most

inaccessible

jungle forests

in the world

and there

he met

some

men

from Pakistan

who were

journeying

as illegal immigrants

from Pakistan

all the way

to America

and they'd spent

days

trekking through

the mountains

totally unprepared

trekking through

mountains

going through

these really

dangerous forests

because they were

hoping for

the better life

the promised land

of America

and you know

in so many ways

that sort of

journey

well represents

the Christian

life

there is

struggle

there is

battle

sometimes we

feel like

immigrants

where nobody

else understands

us

where our

culture is so

different from

the people

around us

and so Jesus

is providing

realistic warning

for us

some of us

are reading

Pilgrim's Progress

this night

a spiritual

classic

from a bygone

age

it's a great

book to read

for a reminder

of the reality

of spiritual

battle

Jesus is saying

watch out

watch out

because in one

hand for us

there's the

pool of the

world

that's telling

us chase

your best

life now

what Jesus

is offering

sounds really

difficult

so why not

live for ease

and leisure

and pleasure

watch out

because there's

also that

internal war

going on

in our

heart

sin is

defeated

but still

wants to

fight

wants to

drag us

away

from

God

as John Owen

the Puritan

said

be killing

sin

or it

will be

killing

you

and then

there's

the temptation

of the

devil

constantly

saying to

us

well look

at your

sin

you call

yourself

a Christian

and you

did that

or he'll

point to

your

circumstance

and say

well look

how hard

life is

where's

this God

who made

all these

wonderful

promises

or maybe

just tempt us

to look at

the rewards

now and forget

about the fact

that there is

an end of the

world that Jesus

is coming

there is eternity

to look forward

to

the last days

are dark days

difficult days

given all that

is there any

hope for us

well Jesus

says absolutely

yes there is

and he points us

to it

in his teaching

first of all

we have the

promise that God

works despite

the darkness

let's look at

verse 9

in the middle

of all this

persecution

Jesus says

on account

of me

you'll stand

before governors

and kings

as witnesses

to them

and the gospel

must first be

preached to all

nations

so there's going

to be people

that want to

destroy the church

but God is

stronger than

that opposition

and the gospel

is going to

spread

maybe we feel

that all the

people around

us are either

opposed or

apathetic to

the gospel

but you know

what God

is stronger

he can change

hearts and

transform lives

he will

continue to

build his

church until

Jesus returns

so God

works despite

the darkness

verse 11

we're reminded

that God is

with us in

the darkness

whenever you're

arrested and

brought to trial

don't worry

beforehand about

what to say

say whatever

is given you

at the time

for it's not

you speaking

but the Holy

Spirit

so when you

feel most

isolated

most opposed

most persecuted

remember

the spirit

is there

God

is there

helping us

to testify

for Jesus

helping us

to stand

firm

in our

faith

God is

with us

in the

darkness

and God

calls and

keeps us

through

the darkness

verse 13

all men

will hate

you because

of me

but he

who stands

firm to

the end

will be

saved

and in

verse 20

speaking

about days

of distress

but for

the sake

of the

elect

whom he

has

chosen

he

has

shortened

those

days

this is a

reminder

that God

is working

in history

for his

church

for his

people

God never

abandons

his people

not one

of his

chosen ones

will be

lost

we will

be

saved

and remember

Jesus is

speaking these

words while

he's on

that journey

to save

his own

reminding us

that trust

in Jesus

is never

misplaced

he is

our only

hope

in life

and death

so we

seek to

stand firm

trusting

in our

saviour

so the

last days

are

dark

days

but there

is hope

now let's

look briefly

at the

last day

the second

coming

let's look

at Christ's

return

and again

let's see

warnings

and promises

here

Jesus

turns from

signs

that the

end of

the

world

is

coming

to

drawing

our

attention

to

the

end

of

the

world

itself

there

is a

warning

here

that

judgment

day

is

coming

verse

24

in

those

days

following

that

distress

the

sun

will

be

dark

and

the

moon

will

not

give

its

light

the

stars

will

fall

from

the

sky

and

the

heavenly

bodies

will

be

shaken

this

is

Jesus

speaking

from

the

book

of

Isaiah

Isaiah

13

and

Babylon

and

then

judgment

on

the

nations

because

of

their

rebellion

against

God

and

his

people

and

his

purposes

for

their

continued

hostility

and

refusal

to

submit

to

God

their

refusal

to

honor

God

as

king

therefore

judgment

would

come

so

there's

a

warning

against

unbelief

and

rebellion

but

there's

also

a

word

of

hope

because

here

is

a

promise

that

though

the

world

is

dying

God

will

come

back

and

one

day

will

put

everything

right

it's

one

of

the

great

hopes

of

the

persecuted

church

that

Jesus

will

come

and

bring

justice

in

Jesus'

day

we've

seen

it

throughout

Mark's

gospel

many

rejected

him

they

denied

his

power

and

authority

they

said

we

don't

trust

you

we

don't

want

you

and

Jesus

saying

that

attitude

will

bring

judgment

to

make us

recognize

how

serious

this

is

imagine

coming

face

to

face

with

our

queen

as an

example

we're

being

invited

to a

nice

fancy

ceremony

and

the

queen

is

shaking

lots

of

hands

imagine

when it's

your turn

to shake

hands

with the

queen

and you

turn your

back on

her

face

or

you

cover

your

ears

so you

don't

listen

to her

nice

words

or

worse

still

as she

comes

to shake

your

hand

you

turn

and you

slap

her

face

what a

shameful

thing

to do

what a

dishonorable

thing

to do

but the

bible

says

that's

how by

nature

we

choose

to

treat

god

and

just

as

if we

were to

treat

the

queen

that

way

there

would

be

significant

consequences

so the

consequences

of

treating

our

father

in

heaven

shamefully

will be

far worse

there is

judgment

and there

is hell

the bible

says

refusing

to receive

jesus

as lord

and saviour

so there is

warning

about the

last day

but there is

also promise

here too

the promise

of salvation

that comes

when the

king returns

jesus's

second coming

the bible

says will be

totally different

to the

first

verse 26

at that

time

men

will see

the son

of man

coming

in

clouds

with

great

power

and

glory

and

he

will

send

his

angels

and

gather

his

elect

from

the

four

winds

from

the

ends

of

the

earth

to

the

ends

of

the

heavens

when

he

comes

back

it

won't

be

quiet

in

weakness

humility

of a

stable

he

will

come

with

all

power

and

glory

and

every

eye

will

see

him

and

what

does

this

mean

for

his

church

for

his

people

did

you

see

verse

27

he

will

send

his

angels

and

he

will

gather

his

elect

he'll

come

back

in

other

words

for

his

chosen

ones

the

ones

he

loves

the

one

he

has

died

for

he

will

gather

them

wherever

they

are

heaven's

earth

he

will

gather

them

in

a couple

of

days

after

this

Jesus

would

be

talking

to

his

disciples

who

were

troubled

about

the

fact

that

your

hearts

be

troubled

in

my

father's

house

are

many

rooms

I'm

going

there

to

prepare

a

place

for

you

and

I'll

come

back

and

take

you

to

be

with

me

when

Jesus

comes

back

in

glory

he

will

call

the

elect

to

himself

so

we

can

enjoy

his

glory

for

all

eternity

that's

the

final

goal

of

salvation

to

enjoy

being

in

the

presence

of

our

God

and

our

Savior

to

enjoy

life

in

his

kingdom

to

enjoy

forever

being

children

in

his

family

to

enjoy

life

of

that

wonderful

feast

that is

spoken

of

to

be

the

bride

of

Christ

united

to

him

in

love

forever

the

Bible

is

full

of

these

pictures

of

security

and

love

and

joy

and

peace

that

never

end

to

sustain

our

hope

in

the

last

days

which

are

dark

days

there's

one

final

watch

out

one

final

be on

your

guard

from

verse

33

to

verse

37

Jesus

tells

that

short

parable

a

master

goes away

and the

servants

are supposed

to be

busy

and then

the

master

comes

back

at an

unexpected

time

and the

point

is that

the

servants

should

be

ready

the

master

will

come

back

they

don't

know

when

therefore

they

should

be

serving

they

should

be

showing

him

that

honor

now

Jesus

has

very

clearly

said

to

us

that

he

will

return

he

will

come

back

in

power

and glory

one day

and so

the question

for us

then is

will

he

find

us

ready

he is

the

master

will

he

find

us

ready

for

that

day

when

we

stand

at

the

judgment

seat

of

God

are

we

ready

for

that

day

how

are

we

to

be

ready

we

get

ready

by

trusting

in

Jesus

by

trusting

in

his

saving

work

by

resting

in

him

alone

by

recognizing

that

he

is

on

this

journey

to

save

his

own

people

that

he's

on

the

way

to

the

cross

in

order

to

face

the

judgment

for

the

sins

of

his

people

to

secure

salvation

for

his

people

by

forgiving

our

sins

so

we

can

be

reconciled

to

God

the

last