End times.
Last days.
These are the days we live in. The time between Jesus’ ascension to heaven and his imminent return.
And these days are marked by three things: false religion, wars and threats of wars, and earthquakes and famine and other natural disasters.
All these things are sings that we live in the last days, the days of chaos and confusion and upheaval as we, the human race, rebel against our creator God. That is what Mark 13 is all about. It is a time of chaos and upheaval as we try to throw God off, as we try to “free” ourselves and follow our own path. Look around! The chaos in the world today is because of us. Our rebellion. Our casting aside God. We are trying to reject our Creator and it is not going well!
God is at war with us and we are at war with each other. We live in terrible times.
But there is hope. It will end well. The future is secure. If you are in Christ.
But if you stand against him, then your future is very, very insecure. What did Jesus say would happen to the Pharisees, the religious leaders who rejected God, rejected their Messiah, and killed the son? Mk 12:9–11 “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others. 10 Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. 11 This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’”
Jesus is that cornerstone. He is secure. Everything else will be shaken.
1. False religion is religion without knowing Jesus. And it is worthless rubble
2. True religion costs us everything. But Jesus is with us
3. Terrible judgement is coming – and only Jesus can shield us from it
4. So stay alert and live for Christ every minute of every day!
1. False religion is religion without knowing Jesus. And it is worthless rubble.
2 Jesus replied, “Yes, look at these great buildings. But they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”
The discussion about the future starts because of the disciples adoring their Temple building. They were proud of their spiritual heritage. It seemed immovable, secure, indestructible – like their relationship with God. They were God’s chosen race, God’s favour would forever rest upon them.
13:1 “Teacher, look at these magnificent buildings! Look at the impressive stones in the walls.”
They were probably shaken by the arguments between Jesus and the religious leaders. Jesus clearing out the Temple. Jesus cursing the fig tree. Uncertain times. So they look to their great building. Well at least we’ve got that.
Oh, Jesus says, that may look impressive – but soon it will be rubble. Israel have rejected their cornerstone, the foundation stone, the very basis of their religious life!
Understandably that answer would have worried them, so a little while later they ask him 4 “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will show us that these things are about to be fulfilled?”
Now the disciples got a lot more than they bargained for! Now Jesus doesn’t just say “oh, in 35 years or so” – no because the destruction of the Temple is a picture of the judgement to come. It is a sign or symbol of all that is happening in these “Last Days”.
So Jesus tells them of life in the last days. He starts off with the church history in verses 5-13 (the “birth pains” of the new Creation), then zooms in to the destruction of Jerusalem and Israel in AD70 in verses 14-18, then uses the destruction of Israel as a warning of the final judgement to come in verses 19-27.
The world before Christ’s return is marked by three things: false religion, human conflict, and natural disasters. And Jesus uses the fall of the Temple in AD70 – judgement on the false religion of Israel (they worshiped themselves instead of God while outwardly pretending to be God) - and that judgement foreshadows the final judgement on the whole earth.
You know, my great-granny was once a little bit foolish. She decided that she wanted to more space downstairs, so she decided to lower the basement floor. So she merrily started digging away the foundations! As you can guess the house started leaning alarmingly to one side. And still does. If you go into the corner of the lounge in the old house on the farm, you’ll notice the floor slopes away to the corner. Thankfully she had the presence of mind to stop digging, unlike one poor fellow I heard who carried on digging until his whole house collapsed!
If you dig away the foundations, the house cannot stand. Israel has rejected its foundation, and the Temple cannot, will not, stand. Their religion is empty, false, a waste of time. And the church is not immune to the rot that set in in Israel. So Jesus warns us
5 Jesus replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 6 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many.
And
21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.
Look! They will even perform signs and wonders! So be on your guard!
There’s lots of false teaching about these days, and your ONLY defence is to know the Bible. You must know the truth yourself. You must know the character of God. Even signs and wonders are no guarantee of truth.
Are you impressed by the conmen in white suits on “Christian” TV because they do miracles and wave the Bible about and occasionally throw the name of Jesus about? Their words are poison, not truth! Man-centred salesman, selling you the lie of “Your Best Life Now” which is all about money and status rather than picking up your cross and following our Lord Jesus, claiming that you can be “Dreaming with God” or say “Good Morning, Holy Spirit” while, like Macedonius, treating the Holy Spirit like the Force from Star Wars whom we can channel to do our bidding, rather than the Almighty God. It is ugly. It is empty. And it will be destroyed.
Don’t be fooled by the false teachers, especially those like Jehovahs Witnesses or Iglesio ni Christo who claim that Jesus has already returned! Listen instead to Jesus. 5 Jesus replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 6 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many.
Listen to Jesus. He is the secure rock, the cornerstone. Without Christ as our foundation, everything we do is worthless. Religious duties, whipping yourself, doing good deeds, saying positive things to yourself in the mirror, sending out thoughts into the universe, praying toward Mecca or anything else we do to try and be in control of our lives and win Gods favour is like the Jews looking to their empty Temple. We have that. God is on our side.
But it will soon all be rubble.
Religion without knowing Jesus Christ is worthless rubble. So trust him. Follow him. No matter the cost. Because it will cost.
2. True religion costs us everything. But Jesus is with us
9 “When these things begin to happen, watch out! You will be handed over to the local councils and beaten in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.
And this is what we read about in Acts. The disciples were handed over and beaten, standing trial – and preached! The proclaimed the truth boldly, this same truth handed to us.
11 But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
Remember that Jesus is talking to his disciples here, and that promise is specifically for them. V11 is not an excuse for lazy Christians not knowing the Bible, but expecting the Spirit to give us the words! The Spirit gave His words to the disciples, and we are to use those inspired words to endure to the end. We need to watch out! And that means being armed with the words of the Spirit.
Jesus gave the disciples the words to say, as he promised, and he’s given us their words so that we know what to say. And you know what, the more I read the Bible, the more I know what to say in tricky times.
The golfer Gary Player had just hit a hole in one, and a journalist said “wow, Gary, that was a lucky shot”. He replied “you know, the more I practice, the luckier I get”. It’s a bit like that with us. The more we know the Bible, the more we will experience the Holy Spirit telling us what to say.
The Spirit is with us, and we will need him. For the cost of following Jesus can be very high indeed as v12-13 tell us.
12 “A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. 13 And everyone will hate you because you are my followers.
Many of our Christian brothers and sisters have been beaten, received death threats, or even been murdered by their families. Wahab who was here last year had to flee from his family – and if they ever meet up again, they will kill him. He can never see his father, his brother again – they hate him because he follows Jesus.
So why keep following Jesus?
v13 continues But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
He is with us. His Sprit is with us. We are not alone. And he will save us in the end from the terrifying judgement to come.
True religion: following Jesus costs everything. But he is with us. And he will save us.
3. Terrible judgement is coming – and only Jesus can shield us from it
24 “At that time, after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.
It is worth following Jesus because one day he will return. On the day when the sun fades and the moon falls we will see him. And how will we react then? In joy because we belong to him? Or in terror because we do not know him?
Jesus’ return is certain. As certain as the trees putting out new leaves and buds tells us that summer is near, the false religions, the wars, the threats of wars, the earthquakes and famine all tell us that Jesus could come at any moment.
We live in an age of Immanence – there is ONE THING left to happen: the Return of Christ. And that could happen at any moment.
Until then, we are in the “birth pains”. And these things are not out of God’s control, but v7 “must take place”.
So v5 don’t panic when you hear of war and earthquake and famine. Instead, keep preaching! Because people need to hear the true truth. Not false christs, but the real Christ.
Because only Christ can shield us from the judgement to come. And we know it is coming because Jesus says in this chapter two things were coming: The Temple will fall, and Judgement Day. Both were in the future. Both after this death and resurrection. Both even after Mark wrote this book. One has already happened. v14-18 happened exactly as Jesus said it would. In AD70 the Roman army smashed a Jewish rebellion, and destroyed the Temple, planting their standards at the Temple altar, proclaiming allegiance to the Roman Emperor-God. 14 “The day is coming when you will see the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing where he should not be.” (Reader, pay attention!) – Mark is alerting his readers to the fact that he’s talking about the Romans without actually writing “the Romans” since he was writing this in the Roman Empire in a time when the Romans were not happy about these Christians!
(If you want to know the “sacrilegious object that causes desecration” is a phrase from the book of Daniel and refers to when the Roman Antiochus Ephiphanes put an idol up in the Temple).
So, when you see the Romans coming: run! “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 15 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 16 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat.
It was a terrible time when the Romans came and wiped out Jerusalem. According to Josephus, the Jewish historian, over 600 000 people died just from famine (lack of food). Two things caught my eye as I read about the events of AD70 – one was that the Jews fought among themselves. Yes, they had a full on civil war while the Romans were marching towards them! How many times in the Bible have we seen God throwing his enemies into confusion so they fight themselves. God’s judgement was upon the people of Israel – he was fighting against them! However, I also read that many Christians were saved because they did actually flee to the mountains. They listened!
But as terrible as the fall of Jerusalem was, it is nothing compared to what is coming.
24 “At that time, after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.
The “anguish of those days”, literally “troubled times”, is how the Bible talks about the world we live in. But there will come an end, when the world will be shaken, and Jesus returns.
So do not be fooled. One day, at an hour we do not know, not even the Son know, but only the Father (V32) – so all the fools trying to figure it out and proclaiming set dates can stop right now, that’s not the point! – one day he WILL return. So be on your guard.
29 when you see all these things taking place, you can know that his return is very near, right at the door.
Look at our world. Read the newspapers. What do you see? Wars and rumours of wars. Earthquakes and famines. False teachers performing miracles to lead astray the elect, if that were possible. See the signs. And know that he is near, right at the door.
So what do we do? Repent! Serve him! Listen to him! If you’re sinning, stop sinning and turn to him. He is coming.
Terrible judgement is coming – and only Jesus can shield us from it.
So what are we do to?
4. Stay alert!
33 And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert! 34 “The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. 35 You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return—in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. 36 Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. 37 I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!”
What does it mean to “stay alert” and “watch for him”? It is this: to live as servants of the king, each busy with his own work. We are called to obedient service, service like the disciples are called to. For they were called to live as Christian people in a hostile world, and called to proclaim the gospel no matter what the consequences.
Endure to the end. Trust Christ. Do not give up.
Stay awake by reading the Bible, praying, telling others about Jesus, and living like a loved son or daughter of God. You are a servant of the Master. Live like it! Every moment of every day, that is your identity. You belong to him. You are his.
When Jesus returns do we want to be found looking at porn? Being unfaithful to our spouse? Nagging our husband? Angrily shouting at our kids? Do we want to be found drunk or high on drugs or stealing money or cheating on our taxes or writing angry posts on Facebook calling everyone who disagrees with our political views idiots? How embarrassing. Or just doing nothing. Not serving. Not attending church. Not sharing the gospel. A lazy Christian.
My father in law has a “five minute rule”. He asks himself “if I knew Jesus was to return in five minutes, how would that change what I do now?”
Live before the audience of one – only his opinion matters.
False religion is religion without knowing Jesus. And it is worthless rubble. So do not be lead astray by false teachers. Know your Bible. Only Christ holds the truth, no-one else, and only he can hold you secure against the judgement to come.
True religion - following Jesus costs- costs everything. But Jesus is with us. So do not be anxious. His Spirit is with us.
Terrible judgement is coming – and only Jesus can shield us from it. The Temple fell! So Judgement Day is coming. If you belong to Jesus, the day will come when he will gather you from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. You will meet him face to face. Secure. Safe.
So be alert, and serve him with joy. Read the Bible, pray, tell others about Jesus, and stop sinning, instead live like a loved son or daughter of God, secure, unshakeable, in Christ. Amen.
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