Signs of Danger

Mark 13

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The end of time is a very popular subject these days. The Second Coming of Christ is given a lot of air time. And rightly so – Jesus said that we should watch for His coming. But Mark 13 is a passage in the Gospels packed with  very important principles for the approach we ought to be taking towards the return of Jesus Christ.

But first lets start with an important quote from a well known Church leader. Listen to this quote. Can you guess who said it and when?

“Since the Gospel is so despised, I suppose that Judgment Day is not far away, not over a hundred years. God’s Word will decline again and fall; and because of a lack of upright and faithful servants of the Word, a great darkness will come. Then the whole world will turn wild … and (people) will live wild and abandoned lives in all security. But then the Voice will come and ring out: ‘Behold, the bridegroom cometh’ (Matthew 25:6); for God will not be able to put up with conditions any longer.”

Dr. Martin Luther said this nearly 500 years ago.

What that quote tells us is that ours is not the first generation to believe that Jesus will return in our time. In fact every generation from the apostles to today has believed the same thing – that Jesus will return before they die. And you know what, Jesus intended it to be that way.

But before I get ahead of myself, lets study this chapter of Mark within the following framework:

·                      The context

·                      The signs

·                      The time of His return

·                      The reaction Jesus expects of us

The Context

Jesus and His disciples have entered Jerusalem with Jesus riding on a donkey, being proclaimed the King. He has gone to the Temple and cleared out the people who were desecrating it with their fake self-enriching worship. He then sat in the Temple courts and gave a scathing criticism of the pride, greed and popularity-chasing teachers of the Law. Then, as He leaves the Temple with His disciples these simple Galielean fishermen look around them like the country-bumpkins they were and say to Jesus, “Woah, look Lord, what magnificent buildings, what massive stones!” And they had every reason to be amazed. When King herod had taken 46 years to extend the Temple, he had created a Temple 1 1/2 times the size of the Acropolis. he had inlaid the walls with gold and whitewashed the parapets. The historians record that as the sun rose over Jerusalem, the pilgrims travelling there to worship would have to shield their eyes as the rising sun reflected off the gold, for the Temple shone with the same brilliance as the sun itslef. The Temple Mount was often mistaken to be covered in snow as the sparkling white temple walls shone in the sun. the stones were up to 35 feet long and weighed up to 120 tons. This Temple rivalled the pyramids in its splendour.

It is no wonder then that the Israelites believed their Temple would stand for ever. They also believed that as long as the Temple was in Jerusalem, they would be safe … that God lived in the temple and so no matter what enemy threats there were, the temple would always stand. But as Jesus has just pointed out the total emptiness of the temple worship and the complete hypocrisy of its leadership … it is no suprise that he prophesies the destruction of the Temple. God is not confined to a building and God’s wrath was about to come on His people.

As we consider the context it is good to note that in AD 70 Jesus prophecy was perfectly fulfilled. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple. But after burning it, they realized that the gold had melted into cracks in the rocks and so they took it apart one stone at a time and recovered the gold. Just as Jesus had said, “Not one stone here will be left on another.”

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The disciples ask Jesus two questions. Don’t miss what they ask:

·                      When will the Temple be destroyed?

·                      What will be the signs that they are about to be fulfilled?

Jesus doesn’t only answer those questions in the verses that follow, but its very important to see what they originally asked. Jesus answers their question, but he also speaks a large amount about His Second Coming: “Men will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” (v.26)

The Signs

Jesus answers the questions in sort of reverse order, so we’ll look at His teaching like that too – and we’ll start with the signs.

As I have studied this passage what I perceive that Jesus seems to be doing is identifying signs which will begin before the destruction of the Temple and will then snowball until He returns. The same signs will be signs of the destruction of the Temple AND that His return is drawing nearer. It is just that before the destruction of the Temple they will be the “beginning of birth pangs” … and like labour pains get closer and closer and more and more intense as time goes by … so these self-same signs will increase in intensity and frequency as the end draws near.

·                      False saviours – people who claim to be the Saviour of the world (v.6)

·                      Wars and rumours of wars

·                      Earthquakes

·                      Famines

·                      Persecution of the faithful Christians

·                      Christians being brought to kings and governors as witnesses to Jesus.

·                      Families betraying Christian members of their own family

And then just before the end of the Temple …

·                      The desecration of the Temple before it is destroyed.

·                      A time of great tribulation and suffering

Jesus gave many signs. All of these signs had been fulfilled before the generation he was talking to had passed away. And many of those listening to Him would have seen the Temple being destroyed by the Romans, and would have remembered Jesus’ words.

Jesus gave many signs. All of these signs are still happening today. They are just far more intense than they were before the destruction of the Temple – just as Jesus predicted.

The Time of His return

Jesus did not tell the disciples WHEN he would return. They had not asked for that knowledge. they just asked about the Temple destruction. But becasue the signs of the temple-destruction and of the Second Coming were the same basic signs, Jesus also extends His teaching to include information about WHEN He would return.

·                      The gospel will be preached to all nations

·                      When the Heavenly father decrees that it is time. No sooner and no later

This is vitally important. No-one knows and no-one will ever know beforehand exactly when jesus is returning. That’s why I’m so confident that Jesus was not talking about His second coming when he said that that generation would not pass away before all these things come to pass. he meant that THAT generation would see ALL the various signs beginning and would witness the Temple being destroyed. And that they did!  Even Jesus does not know when the time of His return will be. He wants us to know that IT COULD BE TODAY!!

That is the point of His parable … and that is also the point of today’s sermon:

Our reaction

Let me make Jesus’ point by asking you the question: “Are you READY for Jesus to return?”

That is the whole point of His teaching. He does not want us to try to work out when He will return. He does not want us to be so caught up in the signs of the times that we miss the real point. And the real point is that you and I need to be ready at EVERY moment of our lives … because every moment could be the moment that Jesus returns.

He was warning the disciples NOT to be side-tracked by persecution … danger … famine … poverty … war … natural disasters … all of which Satan tries to use to get us off track. He warned us that these things would come and would remain; and would even intensify as the end draws near … but we are not to be side-tracked by them … rather we are to ensure that we are READY for the immediate return of Jesus Christ.

The Lord has given us a task to do while He is gone … and we need to be hard at work on that mission every moment of the day so that if he returns He will find us at our post … and not AWOL.

To explain the way to be ready, I’d like to read a parable of Jesus. Matthew 25:1-13

These virgins show us how to be ready for Jesus. And all I want to do is ask you … Are you ready?

·                      The Holy Spirit (oil) – Jesus is coming back expecting to find us living in fellowship with Him through the Holy Spirit – His Spirit Whom he has given us. Are you full of the Holy Spirit? Not only that but are you maintaining your fullness? Are you growing deeper in the life of the Spirit?

·                      The character of Jesus (light) – Without the oil of the Holy Spirit we cannot shine the light of Jesus – notice that, its very important. But when the bride-groom returns he is looking for your light and mine. he wants to see whether our lives are shining the light of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. he is looking to see if we are leading others to Jesus or driving them further away from Him. How is your light shining? Are you growing to be more like Jesus?

·                      A relationship with Jesus (know Him) – The groom drives the 5 foolish virgins away with the words: “I don’t know you.” When Jesus came they were not in relationship with Him.

Why is it so important to be ready? Well becasue you certainly don’t want to be spending an eternity without Jesus do you?