End Times Part 1 (Mark 13:1-23)

So, like I said, we are in Mark chapter 13.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

We're going to be starting in verse 1.

With that, will you please stand with me for the reading of God's word?

Says, as he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Teacher, look what massive stones, what impressive buildings.

Jesus said to them, Do you see these great buildings?

Not one stone will be left upon another.

All will be thrown down.

While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, Tell us when will these things happen?

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

Jesus told them, Watch out that no one deceives you.

Many will come in my name, saying, I am He, and they will deceive many.

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don't be alarmed.

These things must take place.

But it is not yet the end.

For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be earthquakes in various places and famines.

These are the beginning of birth pains.

But you be on your guard.

They will hand you over to local courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues.

You will stand before governors and kings because of me as a witness to them.

And it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations.

So when they arrest you and hand you over, don't worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time.

For it isn't you speaking but the Holy Spirit.

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

Children will rise up against parents, and have them put to death.

You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

When you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be, let the reader understand.

Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.

A mount a man on the house top must not come down or go in to get anything out of his house, and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat.

Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days.

Pray it won't happen in winter, for those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn't been from the beginning of creation until now, and never will be again.

If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved.

For he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose.

Then if anyone tells you, see, here is the Messiah, see there, do not believe it.

For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

And you must watch.

I have told you everything in advance.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

Lord, we thank you for this passage that just has so much packed into it.

I pray that you would help me to rightly divide your word here this morning through the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, let me be your mouthpiece here this morning.

We pray.

Lord, I pray if there's any hardness in our hearts, our minds, or in our ears this morning, that you would soften those places and that we would be open to exactly what you want to teach each one of us here this morning.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

And everybody said, Amen.

You may be seated.

So before we jump in, when I say the word or words, end times, I want you to note the emotion that comes up just by saying those two words.

End times, because it's probably very different for each one of us.

But I want you to note that because that's going to come into play at the end.

So before we jump into this text and we start talking about end times events, I know that for some, just that phrase causes fear and anxiety.

And I want to remind us as we go through this chapter, as Jesus says in verse 7, don't be alarmed.

God already knows what's going to happen.

He knows the beginning from the end.

And he tells us exactly as much as he wants us to know.

We are his children, and he will never leave us and he will never forsake us.

So I want to just remind us all of that before we jump into some of this stuff that can seem a little bit scary.

Now, for some of you, you're going to be very familiar with this text and with end times events, about the passage that we're talking about here today.

But maybe for some of you, these concepts are new.

You know, and maybe you're hearing these things for the first time.

So what I want to do is I want to establish kind of a baseline that we can all start from so that we can all end up on the same page together.

And uh because when you get to the end times, you hear all these words that you don't really hear in everyday life.

Things like eschatology, antichrist, tribulation, abomination of desolation, rapture, pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, second coming of Jesus Christ, millennial reign.

You know, you hear all of these crazy words, and it's like, you know, even if we're familiar with them, sometimes we need reminders.

Oh, yeah, what's that mean again?

And when does that start and how does that come into play?

So since this is the first time that we as a church are gonna be talking about end times prophecy, I want to give us a foundation to start from.

So for the next few minutes, hang in there with me because we're gonna lay that foundation.

We're gonna talk about some definitions and how things come into play.

We're gonna talk specifically about what our church believes uh in regards to end time.

So Hannah, why don't you throw that slide up?

And I'm gonna leave this up during the sermon.

And I I apologize that it's so that it's so small, but we have seats up front if you want to move a little bit closer or run up and snap a picture that you can look at on your phone later.

But I'm just gonna go through these definitions really quick.

So eschatology, basically it's just a big word that means the theology of end times events.

It literally means the last part.

So we talk about eschatology, we're just talking about end times events.

Now, the word Antichrist, now that's a person that Satan uses to deceive the world and cause all kinds of havoc during the last seven years of this world as we know it.

And then there's the word tribulation.

That's the seven-year period that we're just talking about before Jesus' return to earth.

And it's filled with calamity and chaos and all kinds of trouble.

And that's when the Antichrist comes on the scene in the tribulation, and then at the midpoint of the tribulation, he declares himself God.

And that is what's referred to as the abomination of desolation.

Now, the next uh word that we're gonna define is the word rapture, and that's basically the snatching up of Jesus' church, where believers in Christ living on earth and those that have already passed will be resurrected, and we're gonna be taken up into heaven with Jesus.

One of the, well, a few of the verses that kind of talk about this is 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 through 17.

And I'm gonna read that to you real quick.

It says, For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with an archangel's voice, and with a trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

And then 1 Corinthians 15, 52 says this is gonna happen in a moment, that it's gonna happen in the twinkling of an eye.

Now, the vast majority of Christians believe in the rapture.

But the big question is when will the rapture take place in regards to the tribulation and Jesus' second coming?

So that leads us to the next three definitions.

And the first one is pre-trib, and that just means we believe that the rapture happens before the onset of the tribulation.

Then there's the mid-trib, what people call, and that's the rapture happens at the midway point of the tribulation, where the Antichrist declares himself God.

That's the abomination of desolation.

And then the last one is post-trib.

And that's where the rapture and Jesus' second coming are either at the same time or extremely close together.

So those are basically the main beliefs.

There's others as well, but we don't have time to cover all of it this morning.

Um, but that's kind of the pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, that's what we're talking about.

And then we have the second coming, and that's just regarding when Jesus comes back to the earth.

He was on earth, he ascended, and this is talking about when he comes back and actually sets foot on this earth and establishes his kingdom, where he defeats Satan, he defeats the Antichrist.

And then the last thing we're gonna define here is millennial reign.

So basically, that's after Jesus' second coming, it's after the tribulation, when Jesus comes and he reigns on the earth for a thousand years, and he reigns in perfect justice.

And that's the end of the thousand years.

Um and then he, yeah, so he's gonna reign for the thousand years, and then at the end of the thousand years, then there's gonna be the new heaven, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem.

Got it all?

Yeah.

Memorized, yeah, good to go.

Like I said, I'll leave that up if you need some definitions as we go along.

So, with all of that, you may be wondering where do we stand as a church?

What is our church's eschatology, so to speak?

Now, our position as a church, and this is right out of our statement of faith that you can access on the website under what we believe.

And this is that statement.

It says, after the seven-year tribulation and prior to the thousand-year reign, Jesus Christ will return to the earth, so that's the second coming, to make his enemies his footstool.

We believe in a literal thousand-year reign of Christ on earth after the tribulation.

After the thousand-year reign, we believe that God's kingdom will be established forever on the earth, the new heaven and in the new Jerusalem.

Now, you also may be wondering, okay, that talks about the millennial reign and all of the end.

But where do we stand in regards to when the rapture takes place?

So the stance of Calvary Chapel, which also happens to be my own personal view, is that the tribulation uh is gonna be a pre-tribulation to the uh to I'm sorry, a pre-rapture to the tribulation.

So before the tribulation starts, I believe that we're gonna be taken up and raptured with Jesus.

And the nice thing is, is that we can have a mid or post-trib view and we can still be friends.

Seriously, this could get like real serious between some people.

We can all go to the same church together and we can have different views regarding the end times.

This is what we call, and it's a big word, but a non-salvific issue.

It doesn't have to do with anything with Jesus is the only way.

That's the main thing, that's the thing that's important.

My salvation and your salvation do not have anything to do with what we believe regarding end times events.

Got it?

Okay, good.

Because God didn't give us a timeline that says, on this date, the rapture happens, and on this date, we're gonna have this, and on this date, you know, it's Jesus' return.

But it's by piecing together various scriptures that we can look and kind of evaluate and figure out where we stand in that.

So, with that said, I realize that pre-mid and post-trib views, they all have their strengths and their weaknesses.

I've done a lot of studying on this over the years, and they all have their strengths and their weaknesses, but I think the pre-trib view has the most scriptural support, and it has the least amount of holes in the theory.

But again, this is this is my view on this.

And the way that I arrive at this view, I want to share with you a couple scriptures.

1 Thessalonians 5, 2 through 4 says, For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

When they say peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman.

And they, meaning those not looking for Jesus, will not escape.

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief.

And then 1 Thessalonians 5 9 says, For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I see wrath throughout the whole tribulation when I read Revelation.

And so that's one of the reasons why I personally don't think we're gonna be here for it.

And then Revelation 3, 10 through 11, and this is Jesus uh in the letter to the Church of Philadelphia, and he says, Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

I am coming soon.

Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown.

And then there's a few other things that kind of help me form my belief of a of the pre-trib view.

Things like the word church is used 19 times in the first three chapters of Revelation.

And then it's not mentioned again all the way through the tribulation, and then it's mentioned again in chapter 22, and that's post-trib, we're all in our glory, and it mentions the church again.

The other thing is that the word church does not appear in any passage having to do with tribulation in the entirety of the Bible.

So, like I said, we're just skimming the service here.

We could honestly spend months of Sundays going through all of this and looking at every detail.

But this I think is just enough to give us a foundation where we can all kind of launch from the same place, and you can kind of see where I'm coming from as we jump into our text here today.

So let's jump in.

Verse one.

It says, as he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Teacher, look what massive stones, what impressive buildings.

So his disciples are sitting here and they're admiring the temple buildings, the adornments of this beautiful structure that's before him.

And it was an absolute sight to see.

So this is the second temple that they're looking at.

It's the one that was finished in Ezra's time.

But King Herod started a renovation and expansion of the temple in 19 BC, so before Jesus came, and then it lasted all the way through 63 AD.

So it's like an 80-year renovation that they're doing.

So at this moment, the temple was still being worked on, it was still under construction.

So these disciples may just be pointing out some of the new stuff that had been done since the last time that they had seen it.

And they're just pointing out, oh, look at this, and look at that, and look at everything that they're doing to it.

And the historian Josephus tells us that the majority of the exterior of the temple was either gold plated or it was overlaid in white marble.

He said that when the sun would shine on it, that it was absolutely blinding to even try to look at this temple.

But even with all of that, and they point it out, we just see that Jesus is not impressed.

Because as we've been talking about, he sees the things of this earth for what they are.

He sees them as temporary.

And as much as the disciples try to pull his focus to the temporary, to the temporal, as much as the Jewish leaders try to pull his focus to the temporary, he never loses his eternal perspective.

And we see this in the next verse.

Look at verse 2.

Jesus said to them, Do you see these great buildings?

Not one stone will be left upon another, all will be thrown down.

He's saying, This is temporary.

And he admits they're great buildings.

These are great, beautiful buildings.

But then he immediately points out that the temple would be absolutely obliterated and destroyed.

Again, referring to Josephus in his book, Wars of the Jews, he tells of the Israelites rebelling against Rome and having some early successes in that rebellion.

But then Rome shows up in its full power in 70 AD, and the Jews did not have a chance.

And the story goes that the last surviving Jews held up in the temple as their last defense.

And one of the soldiers, one of the Roman soldiers, lit a torch and set the building on fire.

And it got so hot that the gold melted off of the temple and it seeped into all the cracks that, in between all the stones and the stones that were on the ground, so that they literally took the temple apart, stone by stone, trying to receive all of the gold that had melted into those cracks.

So just like Jesus said in verse 2, not one stone would be left upon another.

And what Jesus is getting at here is that no matter how good it looks, it's not eternal.

No matter how impressive it is to us in the moment, and in the case of this temple, literally, it's going to burn.

This temple will be destroyed.

And I think the heart of Jesus in this is things that take our time, things that take our attention that are not eternal.

They're not worthy of our adoration, and they're not worthy of our admiration.

And don't get me wrong, we should enjoy beauty and art and architecture and good food.

But all of those things that are on this earth are temporary.

We're going to have a new heaven and a new earth that's much more glorious than where we're living right now.

And that's why, as we've been talking about over the weeks, loving God and loving others should be what we're focusing on.

Because those are the things that are eternal.

God and each other.

Look at verse 3.

It says, While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, tell us when will these things happen?

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

So the setting changes.

They were in the temple looking at it, but then they head over to the Mount of Olives, which is just east of Jerusalem, and it sits at a higher elevation than Jerusalem does.

And in between is what's called the Kidron Valley.

So in verse 3, as they're talking about this, they have this magnificent view of Jerusalem and specifically of the temple.

You want to throw that picture up?

No, that's not it.

That's the one.

Okay.

So basically, this is the view that they have.

And this picture was actually taken by Jesus.

2000.

Just making sure you're all away and see some people.

This is a modern picture that I was taken not that long ago.

But this is basically the view.

And right now we have the Dome of the Rock that's up there.

But this all here was all the temple grounds.

And it's covered in gold and in white marble.

So as they're looking, as they're having this conversation, this is the view that they have of this glorious structure that's just probably beaming with light at the time.

This section of scripture that we're in right now is referred to that as the Olivet Discourse.

And we see it in Matthew, we see it in Mark and in Luke as well.

And so we see Peter, James, John, and Andrew come to Jesus and they broach this question.

They're wanting clarification on when the temple would be destroyed.

When will this happen?

And what do we look for to know that these things are on the way?

Verse 5.

Jesus told them, Watch out that no one deceives you.

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

We've talked about this before, how many prophecies that we see in the Bible have a fulfillment or partial fulfillment that takes place near the original prophecy, but that is also fulfilled much later as well.

And the disciples are asking about the temple destruction specifically, and Jesus addresses that.

But he also is talking about end times events here as well.

And he will address specifically what his disciples will face from his ascension until his second coming.

So that includes us as well.

We're part of those disciples of Jesus Christ that are living in between his ascension and his second coming.

So the first thing Jesus says in verse 5 is, watch out that no one deceives you.

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

So watch out for false prophets and for false messiahs.

That's what Jesus is saying.

If anyone claims to be me, he's saying, It's not me.

You know, a quick Google search.

Search of Does anyone claim that they're Jesus is very disturbing.

There's a lot of people right now in our current day that are claiming to be Jesus.

That are claiming, I am Jesus, this is my second coming, I'm here.

There's one in particular that lives in a compound behind an electric fence that rides around on a platform on wheels that his followers push him around on.

That was the pick we saw earlier.

Can you want to throw that up?

And I honestly don't throw this up to make fun of the guy or anything.

Like I feel really bad for this guy and really bad for his followers as well.

This is just pure deception.

And I know that Jesus doesn't need electric fences to keep him safe.

But I throw that picture up and I want to keep it up because I want to compare what this is compared to what we see happening when Jesus comes back in Revelation 19, 11 through 16.

This is what it's going to look like when Jesus comes back.

It says, Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse.

Its rider is called faithful and true.

With justice he judges and makes war.

His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head.

He had a name written that no one knows except himself.

He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.

So I look at this picture and think that's not anything like what we're seeing here.

In verse 14, it goes on The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen.

A sharp sword came from his mouth so that his might so that he might strike the nations with it.

And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

You know, it's not going to be some guy walking around trying to convince you that it's Jesus' second coming.

And if somebody does ask, you know, where all you have to do is say, where's the army following you?

And the white horses and the white, you know, how come your eyes aren't on fire?

Open your mouth.

Let me see if there's a sword in there, you know.

We're not gonna have to wonder, is this really Jesus or not?

We're going to see all of this happening.

We're gonna see him descending from heaven in this way.

We will know if it's the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Verse 7.

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don't be alarmed.

These things must take place, but it is not yet the end.

So Jesus is saying bad things are going to take place.

And I think this message is just as much for his disciples that day as it is for his disciples today.

But he says, but don't be alarmed.

These things have been happening from the beginning of time, and these things are going to continue to happen.

Look at verse 8.

It says, For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

This is normal.

There will be earthquakes in various places and famines.

Again, normal fallen earth stuff.

These are the beginning of birth pains.

So, as you know, and you've probably noticed quite often, we live in a fallen world.

And that just means that since Adam and Eve, we have all been sinners.

And therefore, we live in a world that constantly suffers the consequences of our sin.

Jesus is saying this stuff is normal.

Don't be alarmed.

And look at how he ends verse 8.

He says, These are the beginning of birth pains.

So birth pains, they start off with discomfort.

So I'm told.

Okay?

I just got to watch it happen twice.

But they start off mild and they start off far apart.

But as they go on, the contractions get closer together and they become more intense.

And then they intensify and intensify over the course of the birth.

So Jesus is saying the earth is fallen, all this stuff is bad, but it's when the wars and the rumors of wars get closer together and they intensify.

It's when nation rising against nation happens more frequently and with greater intensity.

When earthquakes and famines increase and intensify.

It's when we see those things on a worldwide scale, not just on the Central Coast, not just in California, not just in the U.S., but when we see those things on a worldwide scale growing closer together and intensifying, that's when we will know that his second coming is growing nearer.

Now, verse 9, and this is the next section.

Um, it's actually, like I said before, as we read this, just remember this is for all disciples of Jesus Christ, including us here today.

Verse 9.

But you be on your guard.

They will hand you over to local courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them.

And it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations.

So when they arrest you and hand you over, don't worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time.

For it isn't you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

So this is just a truth.

If you follow Christ, we need to be ready for persecution.

And this isn't a scare tactic, I promise, or something that we should fear.

It's just something that we need to expect.

If the world treated Jesus with such contempt, we shouldn't expect anything different than what Jesus experienced himself.

And Jesus is telling them to use those times of persecution for his glory, to share the gospel, to share the good news of all that Jesus is.

The persecution is going to allow us to stand before governors and before kings, just like Jesus did.

And we see his apostles doing throughout the book of Acts as well.

And I love the instruction in verse 11.

It says, Don't worry about what you're going to say.

Depend upon the Holy Spirit, and he will speak for you.

We don't have to have some eloquent speech that's practiced when these times come.

Just depend on the Holy Spirit, and He's going to take care of the rest for us.

Basically, here, Jesus' instruction is to just be available.

To be the vessel that He can place anywhere in which He can flow through.

Be available, and He will take care of the rest.

Even if we come to a time in our own country, and I hope we realize how blessed we are to live where we do and to not suffer the persecution that we see in other countries.

But even if we come to a place and time in our own country where that happens, where we're thrown in jail, for example, for our faith, we need to remember that Jesus used his disciples in incarceration to do amazing things, to bring people to himself, to write a lot of the letters that we see in the New Testament.

And he used John to write the whole book of Revelation while he was in exile on the island of Patmos.

Jesus is saying, things are going to get worse, but don't worry about it.

I have you.

Don't worry about what to say.

I'm gonna take care of it.

And I love in verse 10 how Jesus says, and it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations.

Jesus doesn't say, if you experience persecution, go live in a commune.

It's the opposite.

He says, when you get arrested.

And he says, the gospel needs to be preached.

And if Jesus needs the gospel preached in jail, are we prepared to do that?

If Jesus needs it preached to judges and councils, are we prepared to do that?

We basically need to be prepared for the method in which Jesus is gonna get us that audience to preach the gospel.

And I know when we talk about things getting worse, when we talk about followers of Christ going to jail, that can make us fearful of what's ahead.

But as we can see here, that's not something Jesus wants us to be fearful of.

If we remain in a place of abiding in Christ, trusting in the Holy Spirit, we have everything that we need for that moment.

He's never gonna leave us or abandon us.

He'll be our strength in those moments.

He'll be our peace, our courage.

And right here it says he will even be our voice in those times.

And we need to heed the voice of Jesus specifically here to don't be alarmed.

He doesn't want us living in that place of fear.

So Jesus tells us what the beginning of this age will look like.

And then in verse 12, Jesus goes on to explain what the end is going to look like.

Look at verse 12.

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

Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

This is how bad it's going to get.

Where family members are sentencing each other to death because one of them is following Jesus.

And then we're going to see followers of Christ just being hated just because of the name of Jesus.

I think we're already seeing that in our own country today.

We're seeing the signs of that.

But I love how Jesus ends verse 13, and he does it with a hopeful promise.

He says, Those who endure to the end will be saved.

And endure, specifically the definite the Greek definition here, it means to remain and not flee.

Those that remain under persecution for the sake of the gospel, that don't compromise or deny their faith, they will be saved.

Just like it tells us in 2 Timothy 2.12, if we endure, we will also reign with him.

If we deny him, he will also deny us.

Those who endure to the end will be saved.

And then Jesus goes on in verse 14.

He says, When you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be, let the reader understand.

So Matthew adds in his account, and I'll read that to you.

So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place.

Now, if you remember Daniel 9, we looked at the prophecy, and this was a couple weeks ago, of the 173,880 days, you know, the gap that we saw between the rebuilding of Jerusalem and Jesus' triumphal entry.

That period in Daniel 9, it's just a quick recap.

It was 69 of the periods of seven that we looked at.

That's the 483-year period that we looked at.

Well, what we didn't look at that day was that last period of seven.

That completes the 77s.

And those were years as we were talking about, that last period of seven.

Because that last seven years is the tribulation period that is referred to back in Daniel.

And then two chapters later in Daniel 11.31, which, if you want to go back, you can read that uh on your own.

There's another prophecy that Jesus brings up here called the abomination of desolation.

And it talks about this king that is bent on evil.

And it says uh Daniel 11.31, his forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress.

They will abolish the regular sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.

And like I already mentioned, oftentimes prophecy can have an earlier fulfillment or a foreshadowing fulfillment, and then the later fulfillment to come.

And oftentimes we'll see that foreshadowing happen, you know, closer to when the prophecy comes and then something way later.

Now, the early fulfillment of this prophecy was in 167 BC.

I know I'm getting technical.

Is everybody still following?

Everybody's still awake?

Okay, good.

So the first foreshadowing, I guess you should say, is in 167 BC by Antiochus Epiphanes.

So almost 400 years after Daniel, but 160 some odd years before Jesus, this all took place.

And Antiochus fulfilled the abomination of desolation by bringing a statue of Zeus into the temple and demanded that that statue be sacrificed to, brought it into the holy place.

And he went as far as to sacrifice pigs on this altar of Zeus in the temple of the Lord.

So it looks as though, okay, that prophecy looks like it's pretty much fulfilled.

But notice what Jesus says in verse 14 when you see the abomination of desolation, standing where it should not be.

So Jesus is speaking of a future event that has not happened yet.

And if we look at the end of Daniel chapter 9, specifically verse 27, it says, He will take a firm covenant with many for you.

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

Or for one week, speaking of the Antichrist.

But in the middle of the week, so in the middle of the tribulation, at three and a half years in, he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.

And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator, on the Antichrist.

So what this is saying is that right in the middle of the seven-year tribulation, there's going to be an abomination of desolation.

This is all future stuff that we still haven't seen yet.

2 Thessalonians 2, 3 through 4 sheds some light onto this, and I want to read it to you.

It says, Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness, so the Antichrist, is revealed.

The man doomed to destruction.

He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship, so that he sits in God's temple proclaiming that he himself is God.

So standing in the temple and not just setting up an idol, but actually proclaiming that he is God.

So this raises the next question.

What temple?

The temple was destroyed 70 AD and it hasn't been rebuilt since.

Well, we're talking about the third temple that hasn't been built yet.

You know, there's an organization called the Temple Institute.

Any of you heard of that?

Okay.

And it's been making preparations for the third temple.

They're even trying right now to crowdfund the breeding of the perfect red heifer by bringing in donations from people.

They figure it's going to take over$100,000 to breed this perfect red heifer.

But they're breeding it to be sacrificed in the third temple.

They're making the utensils and the various aspects of the temple preparations already.

They basically have everything that they need for the temple, except for a place to build it.

So Jesus is giving a heads up here of what's coming, confirming that what Daniel the prophet predicted, it's still in the future for his disciples.

And then also confirming what we see throughout the book of Revelation as well.

Now Jesus is going to give further instruction of what's going to be happening after the abomination of desolation.

Okay, so look at the second half of verse 14 with me.

Says, then those in Judea, now this is for Israel after the abomination of the desolation.

Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.

A man on the housetop must not come down or go in to get anything out of his house.

And a man in the field must not go back to get his coat.

Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days.

Pray it won't happen in winter, for those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn't been from the beginning of creation until now and never will be again.

So this is speaking of the Israelites after the abomination of desolation, three and a half years into the tribulation, having to flee for their lives.

After the abomination of desolation, the Jews are going to be in great danger of the Antichrist.

They'll have to flee.

And Jesus is basically saying in this text, don't wait around and fill up your U-Haul.

When this happens, you just need to sprint for those hills.

Just run.

And it'll be so bad that Jesus says, woe to those that are pregnant and those that are nursing mothers.

Because the next three and a half years, the second half of the tribulation, is going to be worse than anything that's ever been seen on the face of the earth.

And when I think of that, I think about some of the things that we've seen in history and how bad some of those things are.

Things like world wars and plagues, the Holocaust and the natural disasters, like volcanoes and earthquakes and hurricanes and things like that.

And Jesus said it's worse than all of that.

A kind that hasn't been from the beginning of creation until now and never will be again.

He goes on in verse 20.

If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved.

But he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose.

That word saved in verse 20, it means safe and sound.

It's not referring to salvation in this context.

Basically, if God had not cut the second half of the tribulation down to three and a half years, there would be no survivors.

That's how bad it's going to be for those that are still on the earth.

And a question that arises out of verse 20 is who are the elect?

Who's Jesus referring to as the elect here?

You know, and I have pastors that I respect deeply that completely disagree on who the elect refers to right here, which is totally fine.

But as I study it and as I look at it in context of this chapter, I think it's in regards to the Jewish people.

God's chosen people that he chose to reveal himself through, dating all the way back to Abraham.

And then some people think that maybe this is just followers of Christ that are being spoken of here as the elect.

And you'll find convincing arguments on both sides.

But I personally think that this is in reference to Israel.

Because in verse 14 it says those in Judea.

And Jesus is continuing on with that same thought.

So context tells me that the elect means Jews.

But I also believe, and you can feel free to disagree with me, that God is going to turn his redemptive focus back to Israel in the end times.

That they're still God's chosen elect people in which he still wants to reveal himself through.

And that when the abomination of desolation takes place, that the Jews will realize that the Antichrist is an absolute phony and realize that Jesus actually was the Messiah and they've just been missing out for 2,000 years.

And then so the Jews will flee from Judea, and then God will supernaturally protect them for those three and a half years on the second half of the tribulation.

Also, if you remember when Jesus cursed the fig tree, remember we had that that we went through a couple weeks ago?

He cursed that fig tree on his way in to cleanse the temple.

And we talked about how the fig tree represents Israel in Scripture.

And Jesus' curse on the tree was representative of the temple destruction that was coming in 70 AD.

And this is going to be dipping into next week's text.

This is a two-part sermon that we're doing here this morning.

But we're going to see the parable of the fig tree next week in verse 28.

And it's talking about that particular parable is talking about as soon as you see new growth in Israel again, you will know that the end is near.

That's why Bible scholars kind of flipped out a little bit in May of 1948 when Israel.

Israel came back into existence.

They became a nation after 1900 years of not being a nation because it made so much sense of the end times Bible prophecy.

It made so much sense of both of the parables of the fig tree.

But again, that's for next week, so I don't want to dip into it too much.

But those are just a few of the reasons why I believe that when we're talking about the elect in this chapter, that we're specifically talking about those in Israel.

Let's look at verse 21 now.

It says, Then if anyone tells you, see, here is the Messiah.

See, there, do not believe it.

For false messiahs and false prophets will arise, will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

Again, you will know the true Messiah when Jesus comes again.

Do not be deceived if somebody claims that they are.

Verse 23, and you must watch.

I have told you everything in advance.

Keep an eye out.

Be ready.

You know, we might not know the day or the hour of Jesus' return, but we can sure know the times and the seasons of it.

And as Joe Fosh says, I'm not looking for an undertaker, I'm looking for an uppertaker.

We need to keep our eyes fixed on the uppertaker of Jesus coming for his bride.

And I want to close with this.

You know, admittedly, and I confess this, I have a little bit of end times fatigue.

I've been in Calvary Chapels for the last 25 years of my life.

And I love the prophecy aspect of Calvary Chapels.

But I've been convinced on multiple occasions by a few different pastors that within the next 12 months Jesus was coming back.

The first one was 23 years ago at a prophecy conference, and I'm still here.

And here is what I've seen over the years.

You know, people will get all worked up that Jesus is coming.

And then they run out with the attitude of, I need to share the love of Jesus that I should have been sharing my whole life with this whole list of people, and I need to do that right now.

And instead of sharing the love of Jesus out of love for God and out of love for that person that they want to share Jesus with, they go and they do it out of guilt and out of fear and out of panic that this has to happen right now.

And kind of try to scare the person into a loving relationship with Jesus Christ.

And here's where I stand.

I think we are living in the end times.

I think everyone here has a good chance of seeing Jesus before we actually die in these bodies.

And I don't know how bad it's going to get before Jesus takes us home, but I imagine we're not currently at the level of labor pains that will mark the beginning of the tribulation.

But I think we're heading in that direction.

So here is what I think we should do.

We need to stay in an abiding relationship with Jesus.

And abiding meaning we hear his every whisper and obey his every command and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We won't need to be motivated by the threat of Jesus' return to do the things that we should have already been doing all along, anyway.

You know, I've seen too many times where end times motivation just leads to fear and legalism.

Where abiding in Christ leads to loving God and leads to loving our neighbors.

You know, right now, as the labor pains are increasing, as they're intensifying, and we can see that on a worldwide scale.

What the world needs to see in us is not fear and legalism.

They need to see the hope that lies within us.

We will be known by the hope that lies within us, 1 Peter tells us.

When everyone else is freaking out, it's the hope we have in Jesus that's gonna set us apart.

That people are going to notice.

Jesus also says that we're gonna be known for the love that we have for one another.

By the love that we have for the person sitting right next to us.

That is also what's going to be setting us apart.

How we love each other and the hope that we have in Jesus that lies within.

The world needs to see our hope.

It needs to see our love for God, it needs to see our love for each other, not our fear of the end of the world, and not legalism and evangelism.

If we are really loving our neighbor, we're gonna be sharing the love of Jesus with them regardless of how close we think we are to the end times.

And I want to end with this.

I want to read to you, you don't need to turn there.

But I want to read to you 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 13 through 18, because I feel like it sums up everything that we just talked about so well.

1 Peter 3:13–18

It says, Who then will harm you if you are devoted to what is good?

But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed.

Do not fear them or be intimidated, but in your heart regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

Yet do this with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame.

For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God.

He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

And if you're here today and you don't know Christ, and all of this in time stuff freaks you out because you don't know that you are safe and that you are secure in him, I want to give you the opportunity today to receive Christ for the first time as your Lord and Savior, to confess with your mouth, to believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord.

So with all heads bowed and all eyes closed, that is you, would you pray with me?

Jesus, I recognize that you are God.

But I recognize that you are not God over my life.

Lord, I give myself to you.

Jesus, I ask that you would come, that you would be my Lord and Savior, that it would be your cleansing blood that would wash me and cleanse me from the filth of this world and the filth of my flesh and my pride.

Lord, would you come and wash me, make me new and whole again?

Lord, I want to follow you with my whole life.

And Lord, for all of us, as we talk about end times, as we look around and watch the news and just see how things are imploding, I pray that we would never lose hope.

Lord, but that we would have that hope that lies within us that anybody can recognize, that something's different.

Lord, help us to exude your love to everybody.

Help us to walk in an abiding way in which we are spreading your love all the time to all the people in our lives that need that.

That we would never hold back, that we would listen to your every whisper, that we would allow the Holy Spirit to live inside of us and to speak through us at all times.

Lord, show us how to abide even closer to you.

Help us to cling to you with all that we are as the things around us seem to be falling apart.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.