The End (Times), pt 1 (Mark 13:1-13) | 11/24/19
Mark 13:1-13 11/24/19 | Will DuVal
I’ve titled this sermon “The End” because we’ve finally reached the end of our study of the Gospel of Mark together this year. If you’ve been with us from the start, back in March, you’ll recall that we began during the Lenten season in chs.14-16 with Jesus’ anointing, Last Supper, betrayal, arrest, and trial, ALL culminating in His crucifixion, and resurrection, on Good Friday and Easter, resp.; and THEN we jumped back to ch.1, and have been working our way ever since up to ch.13, where we arrive today. NEXT week will be part TWO on ch.13, and after that we’ll begin our ADVENT series on Dec.8 – “Tis the Season”, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and then I’m excited to announce we’ll be kicking off the NEW YEAR with a 10-week study of the “TOUGHEST TEXTS” in the Bible. You won’t want to miss that; more on all that to come.
But Speaking of tough texts, we’ve got a doozy this morning: Mark 13:1-13. I had originally planned to tackle all of ch.13 in one fell swoop; but I realized in preparing this week that I’d bitten off WAAAY more than I could chew in one 40 min. sermon. So this is just part 1 of 2. Would you stand with me as you’re able for the reading of God’s word; I’ll read from the ESV and you can follow along in your Bibles, or on the screen in front:
SCRIPTURE:
“And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 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.”
3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 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 beginning of the birth pains.
9 “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. 10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11 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. 12 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. 13 And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” This is the word of the Lord... Let’s pray...
BACKGROUND:
This sermon is gonna be highly INFORMATIONAL in nature. I’ve cut most of my usual jokes and personal anecdotes; my goal here is simply to explain this difficult yet important passage as best I can in our short time. I’ll warn you now – we’ll be drinking from the firehose this morning, so get your pens ready to jot down as many of these notes and Scripture references as you can manage, so you can go back and further study on your own later. And I FULLY anticipate and EXPECT that we’ll get PLENTY of good “Ask the Pastor” questions arising out of this sermon as well. So grab a card at the Info Bar on your way out and drop me a note; who knows - you COULD be featured in next week’s episode of our podcast!
Here’s your OUTLINE of the entire chapter, for the next 2 Sundays:
-vv1-2: The End of the TEMPLE
-vv3-13: The End of the PRESENT (CHURCH) AGE
-vv14-23: The End of the TRIBULATION
-vv24-37: The End of THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT
And we’ll cover the first TWO sections, through v13, this morning.
Mark 13 is commonly referred to as the “Olivet Discourse”, so named because Jesus delivers most of this teaching, we hear in v3, from the Mount of Olives, just outside the city of Jerusalem, on Wednesday of Holy Week, 2 days before his death. R.C. Sproul notes there are basically 2 schools of thought when it comes to interpreting the Olivet Discourse. You can understand EVERYTHING in Mark 13 as a prophecy referring to and finding its fulfillment IN the destruction of the Jewish Temple in the year 70 AD; OR, you can interpret these as ESCHATOLOGICAL predictions. Eschatological is the fancy theological term for END TIMES theology. How is all this – the world, history, humanity as we know it – how’s it all gonna end? Now, the reality is that many evangelical scholars, including Sproul himself, take a sort of IN-BETWEEN approach to Mark 13, and view vv1-23 as predicting the End of the Temple in 70 AD; and vv24-37 as prophesying the end times still yet to come. After studying this text in-DEPTH albeit not exhaustively this past week, I think the textual evidence favors the eschatological reading. That is the position taken by John MacArthur amongst others, and as usual, I will be leaning HEAVILY on MacArthur’s commentary this morning. And here’s WHY he argues for that interpretation:
“The Lord indicated that “the gospel must first be preached to all the nations” (v. 10), something that clearly had not occurred by AD 70... the Lord also spoke of “a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will” (v. 19). Those words cannot refer to the destruction in A.D. 70, since they speak of a time when the calamity on earth will be worse than it has ever been in all of human history, even during the time of [Noah’s] flood (cf. v. 20; cf. Matt. 24:38).” (908)
Also: “Important details from both the Olivet Discourse and other biblical prophecies were not fulfilled in A.D. 70, such as the destruction of the nations that attack Jerusalem (Zech. 12:8–9), the visible return of Christ (Zech. 14:1–11; Mark 13:24–27; Acts 1:9–11), the judgment of the nations by the Lord Jesus (cf. Matt. 25:31–46), and the establishment of His earthly reign in Jerusalem for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4–6). Those unfulfilled prophecies indicate that the horrors described by Jesus in these verses are future and cannot refer to that first-century event.” (928)
Now, since we’re discussing the END TIMES, this is a good time to pause and remind us that while ALL the Bible is equally inerrant, and inspired by God; it is NOT all equally CLEAR, OR important. YES – Scripture is ALL important, but not EQUALLY so. There are differing levels of CENTRALITY to the Bible’s contents. There are the...
CORE texts and doctrines: the gospel (1) God is Holy; 2) Man is Sinful; 3) Jesus is Savior; 4) Faith is Required); this would also include MOST doctrines found in West Hills’ statement of faith (e.g., Trinity)
CLEAR: those beliefs that are important and clear biblically, but are not SALVATION issues (ex: the Bible’s stances on things like gender, sexuality, complementarianism, even the inerrancy of Scripture – it is possible, albeit not ADVISABLE, to reject the inerrancy of Scripture and still make it to Heaven)
CONTESTED: issues that are important but less than 100% clear biblically, and therefore, they are DEBATED amongst faithful, evangelical believers (ex: infant vs. believer’s baptism; continuationist vs. cessasionist views on speaking in tongues)
Finally, there are the CONSEQUENTIAL-less issues: relatively unimportant and therefore unclear biblically (questions like “how big are angels?”; “what was Jesus’ middle name?”; the Bible doesn’t weigh in)
End Times = falls SQUARELY in the CONTESTED category. That doesn’t mean all views are EQUAL; it just means that faithful believers can and will disagree on this
And even WITHIN the contested category, we’re not all gonna be equally PASSIONATE about the same issues. Before I immersed myself in it this week, this “End Times” stuff wasn’t really my jam. Those of you who ARE all about it, when YOU saw the sermon title today you started giggling with glee, cuz you NERD OUT on this stuff, I’ll be honest: y’all kinda freak me out a little bit. Because on the one hand, as Jesus himself is going to say in v32: “concerning that day or that hour [when the End will come], no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father”; so be careful, brothers and sisters, not to let your enthusiasm turn into SPECULATION. But on the OTHER hand, many of us are guilty of just the opposite. We think this end times stuff is SO complex, SO cryptic, and frankly, so IRRELEVANT - what does the end of the world have to do with MY day-to-day?! - that we’ve completely IGNORED it. Because we’re narcissistic. We’re not GOD-centered. GOD must think it’s pretty important; as we’ll see, He included a LOT about the End Times in His word. Moreover, he emphasizes IN those passages, the importance of our HEARING it, PAYING ATTENTION, our UNDERSTANDING these things. God didn’t write His word to CONFUSE us, friends; he DESIRES our comprehension: Jesus will say in v14 – “Let the reader UNDERSTAND”. Similarly, the Book of Revelation OPENS with the encouragement: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who understand...” (1:3). You CAN understand this stuff. If you care enough to study. And if the Holy Spirit opens your spiritual eyes to see.
But why does it matter? Why bother?
MacArthur exhorts us: “The return of the Lord Jesus Christ represents the apogee [the climax] of human history. It is the blessed hope (Titus 2:12–13), sincere longing (2 Tim. 4:8), and eager expectation (1 Cor. 1:7; 1 Thess. 1:10) of every believer.” (935)
I was reminded of this at LG recently
One member, who recently lost his teenage son, remarked in our discussion: “I’m ready for Jesus to return and make all this new”...
our suffering in this life has a way of drawing our eyes forward, to something BETTER we’re waiting for, doesn’t it? Proverbs 13:12 says “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Mark 13 is Jesus’ promise that OUR hope, Titus 2:13 – “our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” – will not be deferred forever; it will one day be FULFILLED.
So, with ALL that in view, let’s work our way through Mark 13, verse-by-verse:
First we’ve got the End of the TEMPLE, in vv1-2:
“And as Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 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.””
Kent Hughes (137) notes the symbolic parallelism here between Jesus’ departure from the SECOND Temple - which had been rebuilt in the year 516 BC by Zerubbabel, as recorded in the OT Book of EZRA; and then renovated by King Herod the Great just before Jesus’ birth – Jesus’ exit from THAT Temple here... and the prophet Ezekiel’s description of the departure of God’s glory from the first Temple just prior to ITS destruction in the year 587 BC at the hands of the Babylonians. Ezekiel 10 and 11 describe God’s glory rising above the temple, departing from the city, and stopping “above the mountain east of it.” (Strauss, ECotNT: Mark, 568); this very same Mount of Olives. And wanna guess where Zechariah 14 foretells that the Lord will return in the end times? the Mount of Olives.
Now, despite being accused at his trial (Mark 14:58) of threatening to personally destroy the Temple, Jesus simply predicts here in v2 that it will be thrown down. His earlier prophecy while AT the Temple in John ch.2 - ““Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”” – wasn’t ABOUT the Temple, but rather v21 “he was speaking about the temple of his body.” His resurrection.
So it wasn’t JESUS, at least not directly, who would destroy the city of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70, but rather the Roman army under general Titus Vespasian
Which brings us to vv3-14, and the End of the PRESENT AGE. The CHURCH Age. The age in which you and I now live, that started with Jesus’ Ascension back into Heaven in the year AD 30 and will continue until the Rapture – the catching up INTO Heaven – of all believers still on earth, 3 ½ years BEFORE the events recorded in vv14-23, the “abomination of desolation”. And as we read in vv3-13, things are going to get worse and worse and worse BEFORE the Rapture. When, 1 Thess 4:16-17 “the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are 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.” Then 3 ½ years of EVEN worse tribulation. At which time the “abomination of desolation” will kick the tribulation into OVERDRIVE for the final 3 ½ years. At the end of which time, Jesus will return for GOOD, and bring us with Him – all the faithful saints who have been worshipping Him in Heaven to that point, and usher in his 1,000 reign, the Millennial Kingdom. Cast Satan into the Lake of Fire for the rest of eternity (Rev 20:10), and establish the NEW heaven and earth (Rev 21:1-4), where everything will be PERFECT. And that’s all really GOOD, at least for those of us who have been REDEEMED, saved by grace through faith, the Lord’s return IS our “blessed hope”, but FIRST, we hear, things have to get really really BAD before they get good.
vv3-4: “And as Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?””
Now, for the full context and QUESTION, we have to go to Matthew’s account of this conversation in ch.24, v3: ““Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?””
See, as MacArthur points out: “the disciples (like other first-century Jews) envisioned only a single coming of the Messiah. But God intended the Messiah to come twice—once as the Suffering Servant (cf. Isa. 53:1–12) and then again as the conquering King (cf. Rev. 19:11–19)—with an extended period of time elapsing between His two advents. In order to help them understand that reality, Jesus gave His disciples a detailed reply to their question. In fact, the response found in Mark 13 constitutes the longest recorded answer given by Jesus to any question He was ever asked. Clearly, the Lord intended it as vitally important truth for His followers to grasp.” (908)
So Jesus WARNS them, in vv5-6: ““See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.”
MacArthur again (910): “Though there have been many counterfeit messiahs and false prophets throughout history, both before and after the time of Christ, their numbers will vastly increase at the end of the age. Their work of deception foreshadows that of the ultimate false teacher who will be revealed during the time of the tribulation—the Antichrist.” Now, we’ll examine HIM more fully next week with vv14 and following, but let’s quickly consider just a FEW of the relevant passages concerning the ANTICHRIST:
Daniel 8:23-25 “At the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face... shall arise. 24 His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. 25 By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand.”
Let’s go to the NT; 2 Thess 2:3-4 “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness[b] is revealed, the son of destruction,[c] 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”
This “man of lawlessness”, the Antichrist, is symbolically deemed by the apostle John in the Book of Revelation as a “BEAST”: “the beast that rises from the bottomless pit[a] will make war on them and conquer them and kill them...” (11:7)
But remember, the disciples have asked here for the SIGNS of the end of the age; how will we know that the Antichrist is soon approaching?
Well, in addition to false messiahs and prophets, vv7-8: “you [will] hear of wars and rumors of wars, [but] do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 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 beginning of the birth pains.”
People have been predicting that the end times are upon us since the early CHURCH did it 20 years after Jesus ascended! That’s why 1 Thessalonians was WRITTEN! To assure the saints of Jesus’ imminent return. And more recently, eschatological fervor broke out over WWI, WWII, the Cold War, ALL the ongoing wars in the Middle East; in fact, I’m not, but some of y’all are old enough to remember Hal Lindsey’s famous book “The Late, Great Planet Earth”, from 1970, in which he understood a biblical generation to be exactly 40 years, and thus dated the Rapture to 40 years AFTER the re-establishment of the state of Israel in 1948; asserting that the Rapture MUST occur by 1988. This is nothing new. Jesus says: “don’t believe it”. NO ONE, not even the Son, while Jesus was on earth, knew the day or the hour. Moreover, even when wars and natural disasters DO break out, don’t be alarmed; “these are but the BEGINNING of the birth pains.” All of human history is just STARTING to go into labor.
One sign, v8, will be “earthquakes in various places”; Revelation describes THREE of the largest quakes that the world will ever see:
Rev 6:12-14 “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth... The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”
Then a second in Rev 11.13 “And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city [Jerusalem] fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
Then finally, a third in Rev 16:18-20 “There was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.” the islands and mountains now not only MOVED, but GONE / destroyed!
Similarly, v8: “there will be famines”
MacArthur notes (912): “During the tribulation, famine will contribute to billions of deaths as one-fourth of the world’s population perishes (cf. Rev. 6:5–6, 8). The various natural disasters that are part of God’s judgment during that tumultuous time, including the poisoning of a third of the world’s freshwater supply (Rev. 8:11), will severely affect the vegetation and ecosystems of the earth. The result will be a massive loss of human life.”
Now remember, those are the earthquakes and famines AFTER the Rapture, during the 7 years of Great Tribulation. But there will be smaller wars, quakes, and famines leading UP to that time, that believers will have to endure.
One last sign of the coming Rapture, vv9-13: persecutions
Now, this is nothing NEW for Jesus’ listeners here, his disciples, even when he sent them out in Matthew 10:16-17 for their PRE-Great Commission test run, Jesus had warned them “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues...” Similarly, John 16:2-3 “They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.” Indeed, the entire book of ACTS records the 1st c. FULFILLMENTS of Jesus’ predictions, of the persecution that awaits his disciples.
But that persecution doesn’t END with his 1st c. disciples, friends. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:12 ““All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”
And Revelation reveals that the worst persecution in history is still yet to come, as hatred of God and His gospel intensifies under the reign of the Antichrist. In those days, many will die for the sake of Christ. Here’s the vision God gave John in Revelation 6:9–11: “I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. (Rev. 6:9–11; cf. 7:9–10, 14)”
Perhaps you’ve heard the quote: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” And it’s true. Persecution, might kill Christians, but it doesn’t kill Christianity; paradoxically, it SPREADS it. God used persecution to export the gospel in the book of Acts, the time of the greatest evangelistic EXPLOSION in all church HISTORY: “there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria...” (Acts 8:1) Persecution was God’s MECHANISM for sending the first missionaries to all the nations.
And Jesus PROMISES even more persecution here in Mark 13, vv12-13: “you will be hated by all for my name's sake.”
Jesus has already told us in Matt 10:34-36 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. ”
And in John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
How’s that for an “invite to church” pitch? We’re talking about making a big push to invite your non-Christian friends to church with you in January; Thad’s like: “Let’s make cards that our people can hand out to invite people.” I think they should say: “Come be a Christian; everyone will HATE you.” The church marketing company we’ve been working with keeps telling me: your website needs a BENEFIT statement. A catchy line that answers the question for someone checking out your church: “What’s in it FOR ME?” I think that should be our benefit statement: “Come to West Hills; you’ll get PERSECUTED.” Not by us, by the world. Friends, if you’re looking for a “what’s in it for me” faith, you picked the WRONG one in Christianity. At least in THIS life! Jesus PROMISED “In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”” (John 16:33) OUR hope isn’t in the perks of church membership; as Paul said, “If our hope is in this life only, we [Christians] are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor 15:19). Because you should EXPECT hardship in this lifetime, as a believer. And we’re just experiencing the BEGINNINGS of the labor pains now. Losing our bakeries to the LGBT machine. Chick-Fil-A selling out and cutting funding for the Salvation Army; it’s just the start. Churches WILL lose our 401(c)3 status, in my lifetime. You can BANK on it. Meanwhile, our brothers and sisters are routinely imprisoned and SLAUGHTERED in China, India, Africa, the Middle East. And the BAD news, according to Jesus, is it’s only gonna get WORSE, before it gets better. But the GOOD news, v13, is that “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
As MacArthur reminds us: (918) “Motivated by their love for Christ, true disciples willingly suffer for His sake, considering it a joy to do so (cf. Acts 5:41), knowing that their suffering will one day be rewarded in heaven by the One who first loved them (cf. 2 Cor. 4:16–18). As noted earlier, believers’ ability to endure comes not from their own resolve but from the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, who enables them to stand firm in the midst of adversity. Thus, they can face hardship with unwavering resolve armed with a divinely granted faith (Eph. 2:8–9) that holds firmly to the promise that God will preserve and protect those who are His (cf. Rom. 5:8–10; Phil. 1:6; 2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 7:25; 1 Peter 1:3–8; Jude 24).”
Now, here’s where we’ll end today, friends, and we’ll pick up in v.14 next week: in the middle of that section on persecution, Jesus subtly drops in one MAJOR clue about when the end will come; did you catch it? v10: “the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.”
So I can’t tell you when the Rapture will occur and kick this giant end-of-the-world party off. But I’d bet you my paycheck that it won’t be tomorrow; why? Because according to the Joshua Project, there are 17,094 people groups, “ethne”, the Greek word here for “nations”, in the world today, and approximately 7,165 of them are considered “unreached” with the gospel. That means an estimated 41.6% of the world’s population today have not heard the gospel, and don’t even know a single Christian who might SHARE the saving news of Jesus Christ with them.
So here’s where we’ll leave things today: if you’re like me, and you’re like the brother in my life group, who would prefer the NEW heaven and the NEW earth, to all this brokenness, chaos, persecution, heartbreak - failed adoptions, miscarriages - the JUNK we deal with in this life, on THIS earth, then do your part, and go tell someone about Jesus this week. Because we don’t know when he’s coming back, but according to Mark 13:10, we know it WON’T be before everyone at least has a chance to hear the good news.
So we’re gonna pray in a moment, then we’ll take communion to CELEBRATE that glorious good news, that sinners like us can actually look FORWARD to the day of judgment, because we’ll stand dressed in CHRIST’S righteousness, not our own UN-righteousness, the good news that we believers DON’T get what we deserve!, but then after communion and singing, we’ll recite our usual Benediction charge, from Matthew 28: that we’ve been left here to “Go make disciples of all nations.” And MY prayer is that our reflection this morning on our blessed hope to come – “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” – might give you and me EXTRA motivation this week, to actually go and DO it. Make disciples. Preach the gospel. Because our days on this earth are too few. And the need is too great. To waste ANY more time. Amen?
Let’s pray...