SPEAKER_00: Now we're continuing our studies in Mark's Gospel this morning, and we've got to Mark chapter 13.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to pray.
SPEAKER_00: That's God's word.
SPEAKER_00: He will be speaking.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray for our responding.
SPEAKER_00: So, God, our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word that you open up your lips and you speak to us.
SPEAKER_00: Your Son, the Lord Jesus, he is with us.
SPEAKER_00: He is bringing these words to us.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray for ourselves, for hearts and minds that would receive rightly.
SPEAKER_00: And we ask that for Jesus' name's sake.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Now, to start with, I'm actually just going to read verses one to four of our chapter.
SPEAKER_00: So Mark chapter 13, and I am going to read verses 1 to 4.
SPEAKER_00: So let's listen to the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And as Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Look, teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said to him, Do you see these great buildings?
SPEAKER_00: There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.
SPEAKER_00: And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, tell us, when will these things be?
SPEAKER_00: And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?
SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks be to God for his word to us today.
SPEAKER_00: So here is a question.
SPEAKER_00: What would make you demolish your own house?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, think for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: What would make you demolish your own house?
SPEAKER_00: On the one hand, there would have to be something seriously wrong with it, wouldn't there?
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Some terrible, terrible fault in your house.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe your dad has done a DIY project and it has gone badly wrong.
SPEAKER_00: Or you would have to be building something far, far better.
SPEAKER_00: Like a grand design to end all grand designs.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here is the question in God's word today: what would make Jesus demolish his own house?
SPEAKER_00: What would make Jesus demolish his own house?
SPEAKER_00: Now, at the start of our Bible reading, we're with Jesus and his disciples, and they're coming out of the temple.
SPEAKER_00: They've been in the temple for the last three chapters, chapters 11 and 12, and now to 13.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus gave his disciples a promise.
SPEAKER_00: And that's our first heading.
SPEAKER_00: You'll see it on the handout.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus promised that he would destroy his old house.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I want you to try to imagine for a moment, if you were one of Jesus' disciples, what would that have felt like to hear?
SPEAKER_00: Because the temple was so precious.
SPEAKER_00: So the temple was God's house.
SPEAKER_00: So precious.
SPEAKER_00: It was the place of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: It's the place of sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: If you needed forgiveness, atonement for your sins to the temple, you must go.
SPEAKER_00: To enjoy fellowship with God, to eat a meal with God in his presence.
SPEAKER_00: That was the temple.
SPEAKER_00: And now Jesus says it's going to be destroyed.
SPEAKER_00: And later in the chapter, he makes it really clear he was going to destroy his temple.
SPEAKER_00: Now that shouldn't surprise us if we've listened carefully to everything Jesus said in chapter 11 and chapter 12.
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus came into Jerusalem and he saw the temple and he saw the people who operated there and he saw that there was no fruit, there was no love, there was no love for God, there was no love for neighbour.
SPEAKER_00: He saw hypocrisy, fakery, he saw false religion.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus hates such things wherever he sees them.
SPEAKER_00: And what was his response?
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember?
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember how he killed the tree, this big tree, and he killed it?
SPEAKER_00: It was a sign of how he would kill the fruitless temple.
SPEAKER_00: He went in and he threw over the tables of the money changers.
SPEAKER_00: And he told that parable, the tenants in the vineyard.
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember that?
SPEAKER_00: He walked around the temple while telling that parable about those people.
SPEAKER_00: They rejected God and his prophets, and they were going to reject God's son.
SPEAKER_00: And so God, who is the vineyard owner, he would kill them and give that vineyard over to others.
SPEAKER_00: And now he says to the disciples, as they look at this beautiful, extraordinary building, not a single stone is going to stand.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what do you make of Jesus' words?
SPEAKER_00: They're actually violent words, aren't they?
SPEAKER_00: They speak of holy judgment, of death, and destruction.
SPEAKER_00: He's warned about this for chapters.
SPEAKER_00: And now at the start of chapter 13, it's a bit like he writes a demolition notice and he pins it to the temple door.
SPEAKER_00: And these are things that Jesus did.
SPEAKER_00: He really did in real history.
SPEAKER_00: And then the disciples ask him, Jesus, when?
SPEAKER_00: That's their question in verse 4, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: When will you destroy the temple?
SPEAKER_00: How will we know when it's about to happen?
SPEAKER_00: Now, one really big tip before we hear Jesus' answer in the rest of the chapter.
SPEAKER_00: The events that Jesus described here, almost all of them happened in the lifetime of his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: They happened in what Jesus called this generation.
SPEAKER_00: And almost everything to hear everything we read of here, it's to do with that temple in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: So what's this got for us?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we live long after the temple's end.
SPEAKER_00: This is not just history for us, though.
SPEAKER_00: We see Jesus here, we see his holiness and his judgment.
SPEAKER_00: We're shown his power and authority.
SPEAKER_00: He has the authority to end the temple.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, to end Jerusalem and the old covenant age.
SPEAKER_00: And we get to look back on a prophecy fulfilled.
SPEAKER_00: And that helps us to trust Jesus' words.
SPEAKER_00: And that's actually the big thing that Jesus wants us to do from this chapter.
SPEAKER_00: To grow our heart's conviction that his words are trustworthy and true.
SPEAKER_00: So let's get into Jesus' answer.
SPEAKER_00: The question, remember, when will this happen?
SPEAKER_00: Let's look on to verses 5 to 13.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus told his disciples, not yet.
SPEAKER_00: The end of the temple was not yet.
SPEAKER_00: So let me read from verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus began to say to them, See that no one leads you astray.
SPEAKER_00: Many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and they will lead many astray.
SPEAKER_00: And when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed.
SPEAKER_00: This must take place, but the end is not yet.
SPEAKER_00: For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: There will be earthquakes in various places, there will be famines.
SPEAKER_00: These are but the beginning of the birth pains.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations, 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And you will be hated by all for my name's sake.
SPEAKER_00: But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Just pause there.
SPEAKER_00: Those verses, they are like a potted history of the church from when Jesus spoke, about 33 AD, down to 70 AD.
SPEAKER_00: It's history given in advance.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, it's prophecy.
SPEAKER_00: And it must have been a bit like a bucket of cold water for the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: What were the disciples expecting?
SPEAKER_00: If they had been expecting things like triumph and glory and success and victory, well, they were not going to get it.
SPEAKER_00: They were told to watch out firstly for fakes, false Christs, liars.
SPEAKER_00: And there were such men.
SPEAKER_00: History even records some of their names who came along and said, Look, I'm the Messiah, follow me.
SPEAKER_00: They were not to be alarmed when there was war.
SPEAKER_00: And in the years to come, if Jesus' disciples picked up their newspapers, they'd have read about things like Rome's war with Parthia, local wars, the year of the four emperors, the revolt in Judea.
SPEAKER_00: And there would be natural disasters, earthquakes, and there were famines, like the terrible one recorded in Acts and 1 Corinthians.
SPEAKER_00: But it's not yet the end.
SPEAKER_00: It's not yet the end of the temple.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says to them, verse 10, have a look at verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what that means.
SPEAKER_00: This judgment of mine, the destruction of the temple, it won't happen.
SPEAKER_00: The place of Israel in God's purpose is being ended, it won't happen until the gospel has gone out beyond Israel to the nations.
SPEAKER_00: Because wonderfully, the Lord was starting to build a new temple.
SPEAKER_00: Not a physical building, but the church.
SPEAKER_00: And it might sound a little bit strange to our ears, but actually in the New Testament, just a few years later, when it was nearly time for this judgment to fall, the Apostle Paul could say things like this.
SPEAKER_00: He could say, Colossians 1, the gospel is bearing fruit in the whole world.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel is being proclaimed in all nations.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 16.
SPEAKER_00: But for those disciples back then, talking with Jesus, listening to Jesus, the message was this don't be surprised by persecution.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is with you in it.
SPEAKER_00: You will have to endure and persevere.
SPEAKER_00: Keep at the work, the work of proclaiming, because the Lord has a plan.
SPEAKER_00: And actually, we should be really thankful that they did.
SPEAKER_00: Their faithfulness, through the Spirit's help, it actually meant that they did.
SPEAKER_00: They did testify before kings and councils.
SPEAKER_00: Just think of the story of Acts.
SPEAKER_00: These were the people who authored the New Testament, who gave the church its foundation.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Jesus goes on.
SPEAKER_00: Next few verses, verses 14 to 23, Jesus then says to them, Here are some signs for you to watch out for.
SPEAKER_00: All of those other things, they are not signs of this coming judgment, but here are some signs of this judgment to come, to help you spot when the temple's end is near.
SPEAKER_00: So grab your Bible again, please, and I'm going to read from verse 14 down to verse 23.
SPEAKER_00: Have a look.
SPEAKER_00: But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be, let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
SPEAKER_00: Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house to take anything out, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.
SPEAKER_00: And alas for women who are pregnant, and for those who are nursing infants in those days, pray that it may not happen in winter.
SPEAKER_00: For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of creation that God created until now, and never will be.
SPEAKER_00: And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved.
SPEAKER_00: But for the sake of the elect whom he chose, he shortened the days.
SPEAKER_00: And then, if anyone says to you, Look, here is the Christ, or look, there he is, do not believe it.
SPEAKER_00: False Christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
SPEAKER_00: But be on guard.
SPEAKER_00: I have told you all things beforehand.
SPEAKER_00: Now there are some strange words and some strange phrases in that passage, but you cannot miss the feel of those words.
SPEAKER_00: What does it feel like?
SPEAKER_00: It feels like this.
SPEAKER_00: It is foreboding.
SPEAKER_00: Something bad was about to happen.
SPEAKER_00: And you can't miss the purpose of Jesus' words here.
SPEAKER_00: They were not given so that Christians can argue about what this means.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the purpose.
SPEAKER_00: The purpose is really obvious.
SPEAKER_00: Something terrible was going to happen, and Jesus' purpose was a really kind one.
SPEAKER_00: It's as if he says to his disciples, I'm telling you this in advance to protect you.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to do two things.
SPEAKER_00: Firstly, he says, I actually want you to flee.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, anyone who lives in Judea who believes these words of mine, verse 14, flee.
SPEAKER_00: Run away to the hills and pray.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord shortened this time of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: It's all in God's plan and purposes, but for any Christian people caught up in it, it would be terrible.
SPEAKER_00: So flee and pray.
SPEAKER_00: But what was going to happen?
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, this is the signpost telling you that the end of the temple was near.
SPEAKER_00: So he says, doesn't he, look out for, verse 14, look out for this abomination of desolation.
SPEAKER_00: Now that sounds like something from a horror film.
SPEAKER_00: It has to do with the defilement of God's temple, with the dirtying of God's holy house.
SPEAKER_00: And it was part of God's judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Back in the Old Testament, the prophet Daniel had said this abomination was coming.
SPEAKER_00: It happened once before under a pagan king who took control of the temple.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said, something like that, it's going to happen again.
SPEAKER_00: Now, loads of bad stuff happened in and around the temple just before the year 70 AD.
SPEAKER_00: This abomination that Jesus speaks about, likely, it's what happened when a Jewish group called the Zealots, they staged a revolt.
SPEAKER_00: They actually set up a mock high priest in the temple.
SPEAKER_00: It was a literal mockery of God's things.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said to his disciples, When you see that, run and pray.
SPEAKER_00: Because it's going to get really hideous next.
SPEAKER_00: And it did.
SPEAKER_00: Human powers.
SPEAKER_00: Just think about our newspapers, even.
SPEAKER_00: Human powers.
SPEAKER_00: We have done some terrible things across human history.
SPEAKER_00: But when those Roman armies besieged Jerusalem 69 AD, well, the historians wrote of cannibalism, of blood running knee-deep, of total barbarism, wicked acts by wicked men, but also the sovereign judgment of God.
SPEAKER_00: And really kindly, the Lord warned his young church ahead of time.
SPEAKER_00: So you're going to have to live through this judgment.
SPEAKER_00: That was the message.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to have to live through this time when the old covenant age is very violently going to be ended.
SPEAKER_00: And the climax of it took place in the year 70 AD.
SPEAKER_00: The temple, Jerusalem, it was destroyed.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what Jesus told his disciples about next.
SPEAKER_00: How he would actually end the old order and gather in his church.
SPEAKER_00: So have a look down at those next few verses.
SPEAKER_00: We'll pick it up at verse 24.
SPEAKER_00: So look again in your Bibles where Jesus says, But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens shaken.
SPEAKER_00: And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
SPEAKER_00: And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when we read those verses, I wonder what you think they are talking about.
SPEAKER_00: Many of us, I guess, would instinctively think Jesus is talking about the end of the world, not talking about the end of Jerusalem and the temple back in the year 70 AD.
SPEAKER_00: But I think that is actually what Jesus is speaking about.
SPEAKER_00: And there's one very big clue in our passage.
SPEAKER_00: Just look a little bit further on, down to verse 30.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
SPEAKER_00: So in other words, Jesus was talking to his disciples, and he said to them, All of this stuff I'm talking to you about, up to that point, you will live through it.
SPEAKER_00: It's not going to be very nice, but you will live through it.
SPEAKER_00: You will see it.
SPEAKER_00: This generation will experience it.
SPEAKER_00: And when Jesus talks about the sun being darkened, so imagine the sun switch being turned off or stars falling, he wants us to read the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Just an encouragement.
SPEAKER_00: Go home and read the whole of Isaiah 13.
SPEAKER_00: And in that chapter, God describes his judgment on a real-life empire.
SPEAKER_00: And he describes the death of Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: He used another earthly army to kill that empire.
SPEAKER_00: And he said that this ending of one great power, it was like the sun and the stars dimming and so on.
SPEAKER_00: It was not just a little bit of history, it was a cosmic event.
SPEAKER_00: It involved not just kings on earth but powers in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: So there was a regime change going on on a cosmic scale.
SPEAKER_00: And that is what Jesus is talking about here.
SPEAKER_00: Not the death of a pagan empire, but actually the death of Jerusalem and Judea and the temple.
SPEAKER_00: There's actually going to be a cosmic change, a new world order.
SPEAKER_00: And it's all going to be done by this Son of Man.
SPEAKER_00: That's the Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He comes to judge with all power and glory.
SPEAKER_00: But there is something really beautiful here, too, in the Son's work.
SPEAKER_00: He's not just destroying his old house, he's also building his new house.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what verse 27 is talking about.
SPEAKER_00: It's a really beautiful picture.
SPEAKER_00: Christ sending out his angels, servants of the church, to gather together his people from all nations.
SPEAKER_00: And that's actually the story of the church, which is not yet finished.
SPEAKER_00: Well, then Jesus, he goes back to the garden, doesn't he?
SPEAKER_00: He gives the disciples this lesson about the fig tree in verse 28.
SPEAKER_00: From the fig tree learn this lesson.
SPEAKER_00: So when you see leaves on the tree, that's a sign that summer is nearly here.
SPEAKER_00: When you see the temple defiled and this terrible suffering, that's a sign that Jesus the judge is about to do all of his work.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the disciples, again, just try and put yourself in their shoes for a minute.
SPEAKER_00: I guess they must have felt pretty rocked by all of this.
SPEAKER_00: He warns of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he promises gospel growth, but those things are going to go hand in hand, aren't they, according to Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: And if I'd been with them, I think I'd have wanted to sit down.
SPEAKER_00: And so he gives this really lovely double reassurance to them.
SPEAKER_00: He says, verse 30, yes, I truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
SPEAKER_00: You'll see it happen.
SPEAKER_00: But then verse 31 heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
SPEAKER_00: Now just stop and think on that sentence for a minute.
SPEAKER_00: That is actually the most important message that any person could ever hear.
SPEAKER_00: It means that you can safely build your life on the words of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: They are the most solid thing that you can think of.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus says, take my words very, very seriously, but you can take my words very, very seriously, and you can build your life on this most solid of all ground.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what he wants for each one of us.
SPEAKER_00: Now the final words that Jesus gave his disciples, and we'll pick it up at verse 32.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does now change his time frame.
SPEAKER_00: He had been looking just a few years into the future.
SPEAKER_00: He now has got something in mind different when he will come again to his house on a day that no one knows.
SPEAKER_00: So let me read this last part of our chapter.
SPEAKER_00: But, verse 32, but concerning that day or that hour, no one knows.
SPEAKER_00: Not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Be on guard, keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come.
SPEAKER_00: It's like a man going on a journey when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock grows, or in the morning, lest he comes suddenly and find you asleep.
SPEAKER_00: And what I say to you, I say to all.
SPEAKER_00: Stay awake.
SPEAKER_00: So you see, Jesus is talking about something different now.
SPEAKER_00: He was talking about the days, plural, he's now talking about the day, that day.
SPEAKER_00: Before he was talking about things that you could know, that you could look out for, you could spot.
SPEAKER_00: He's now talking about things that you do not know.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, no one knows.
SPEAKER_00: So the Lord Jesus is here looking forward to his future and his final judgment, which we are still awaiting too.
SPEAKER_00: And it'll be like a master or a great lord coming back to his own house.
SPEAKER_00: Just like Jesus came to his house before, he came to his temple, and he did not find the people there ready.
SPEAKER_00: So he wants us to imagine, well, the Lord of this house, he has gone away, and he has left servants behind.
SPEAKER_00: So we are servants.
SPEAKER_00: And each has his own work to do.
SPEAKER_00: And this is a word to Jesus' servants.
SPEAKER_00: So he's speaking to all of his servants.
SPEAKER_00: Did he notice in verse 37?
SPEAKER_00: So what I say to you disciples, I say to all.
SPEAKER_00: This is the first point in the chapter, actually, where he turns away from his disciples and he turns to every Christian in every place and time.
SPEAKER_00: He's looking down the history of the church until the day he returns.
SPEAKER_00: And he says that to all of us.
SPEAKER_00: Stay awake.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see that?
SPEAKER_00: Stay awake.
SPEAKER_00: He actually says it four times.
SPEAKER_00: Stay awake, stay awake.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know when he's coming back, so be ready.
SPEAKER_00: Even God the Son does not know.
SPEAKER_00: John Calvin commented on that mystery, and it is a mystery, how Christ in his divine nature chose not to exert that divine nature.
SPEAKER_00: God the Son even does not know.
SPEAKER_00: So how could we possibly know?
SPEAKER_00: And he's coming back as the same judge.
SPEAKER_00: He hasn't changed the Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Remember those things he hated in his old house?
SPEAKER_00: Remember the withered fig tree, the overturned table, the wicked tenants, the hypocrisy, the fake religion.
SPEAKER_00: And remember the pile of rubble that now stands where the first house was.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the challenge for all of us is the same as they faced back then.
SPEAKER_00: There is work to do, isn't there?
SPEAKER_00: Godly speaking, godly living, being on our guard.
SPEAKER_00: There are still plenty of false teachers, and there is much need for endurance.
SPEAKER_00: So there's the encouragement.
SPEAKER_00: It's a long chapter.
SPEAKER_00: There are some puzzles in it, but actually the outbox is pretty simple, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Stay awake.
SPEAKER_00: And remember this as we finish.
SPEAKER_00: That second coming, that future coming, it's not really an event.
SPEAKER_00: It is a person.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord Jesus is coming.
SPEAKER_00: So are we ready for him?
SPEAKER_00: When we love a person, when we love the Lord Jesus, we will think about him, spend time with him, listen to him and his solid words.
SPEAKER_00: We'll put our desires second and behind in order to put his first.
SPEAKER_00: We'll study in order to please him.
SPEAKER_00: Because we love him and we do not want to meet him unprepared.
SPEAKER_00: Let's bow our heads.
SPEAKER_00: I'll pray.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus Christ, we read that heaven and earth will pass away, those most solid of all things, and yet your words will really not pass away.
SPEAKER_00: Give us your help, we pray, to build our lives upon your word.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to put sin to death while we wait.
SPEAKER_00: Please help us not to fall in love with this world.
SPEAKER_00: Give us your gift of repentance and faith each day.
SPEAKER_00: You've made us your servants, you've given us wonderful work to do.
SPEAKER_00: Fill us with your Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to wait well.
SPEAKER_00: We ask that for Jesus' name's sake.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.