WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:01.439 Good morning. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:06.240 Today's scripture is from Mark 13, 3 through 8. 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:15.759 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? 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:19.839 And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished? 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:24.480 And Jesus began to say to them, See that no one leads you astray. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:29.519 Many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and they will lead many astray. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:33.920 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:37.119 This must take place, but the end is not yet. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:41.359 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:45.359 There will be earthquakes in various places, there will be famines. 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.560 These are but the beginning of the birth pains. 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:50.000 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:51.359 Please be seated. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:56.159 Good morning. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:00:58.799 Thanks for joining us this morning. 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:00.000 My name is James Rathman. 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:02.079 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:04.079 It's great to gather together with you all. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:08.480 We are continuing through Mark chapter 13. 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:11.439 And this is our second week in Mark 13. 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:22.799 This is a section in which Jesus is prophesying to his disciples the destruction of the temple, and then he relates the destruction of the temple to his second coming. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:25.840 And so we're looking at those dynamics and how they relate. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:57.040 And I think that you'll find that the counsel that Jesus gives to his disciples in this private gathering together about the coming uh difficulties that they will face and the coming turmoil that they will face as a nation and as a people, and finally the destruction of the center of the uh old covenant in the Jewish community, which is the temple, uh, the time in between there, how how they are to live. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:00.239 And I think you'll find that it's extremely prescient for now. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.640 Um so uh before we move into today's text, let's pray. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:22.240 Father, we thank you that you are the ultimate sovereign, you are the high king of all creation, that all things belong to you and are in your hand. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:40.080 Lord, that as our creator, as we sung there, that although you laid everything in its right place, you brought the world into existence just by the word of your power and gave us life by placing your spirit into us. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:45.360 Lord, that you condescended to our level. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:53.439 Like kneeling down to speak to a child and look them in the eyes, Lord, you knelt down that we might be seen by you. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:58.719 And you understood our frame and you remembered that we are dust and you treated us with mercy. 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:06.479 Lord, I pray for our nation, over which you are the sovereign as you are sovereign over all nations. 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:16.879 Lord, I pray that you would give us leaders which would allow us to pursue you in peace and pursue right worship of you. 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:22.400 And that you would orchestrate things so that the glory of your church might be made known. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:25.919 Lord, we pray for our neighborhood. 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:42.080 Lord, we pray that people would be welcomed into our church, that there would be hope found amidst hopelessness, that amidst the great fears and struggles of life, Lord, that people would meet you through our church. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.000 Lord, I pray for all the individuals gathered here together this morning. 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.639 We are not just gathered as individuals, but as your church, which you have knit together in love. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:04:02.240 And Lord, I pray that you would equip our hearts to be able to receive your word, the teaching that you have given to your disciples, which applies to us today and which is for us today. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:07.120 Lord, we praise you for meeting us right here, right where we are. 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:08.879 We lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:09.680 Amen. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.479 So our second sermon in Mark 13. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:26.720 Now, last week we saw that Jesus was describing to his disciples after they had just walked out of the temple complex, that all of the stones of the temple would be thrown down. 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:48.399 And these are big stones, which isn't the entire point of them being thrown down, but it is still uh an almost unimaginable thing to witness is that this glorious temple, which has stood at the center of Jewish life for centuries, would be finally and completely destroyed, never to be rebuilt again. 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:55.519 And this news is this sort of stun, stunning surprise for the disciples. 00:04:55.759 --> 00:05:08.560 And it's not just a, it's not just surprising because of the physical reality of the enormity and the beauty of the temple and the temple complex and the importance of the city that the temple was in. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:18.800 It's so stunning and shocking because this is the place where God dwells, and it's where the right worship of God takes place on earth. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:25.519 God has placed himself in the temple so that his people could gather around and rightly worship him. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:31.519 So, what could it mean that the temple would be destroyed? 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:39.759 To the disciples, we'll see this week, hearing that the temple would be destroyed must mean the end of the world. 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:57.199 Because how could it be that the place in the center of the promise, the covenant that God made with his people, where he is saying, I will be your God and you will be my people, what would it mean that the central place where that was demonstrated in the world would be destroyed? 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:01.680 It must mean nothing other than the very end of the world. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:13.519 To say that it would be thrown down is to say to the disciples, the world as you know it, the structures of existence as you know it are coming to an end. 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:22.480 And so, as the disciples they hear this, what we this is an extremely provocative thing to say and a disorienting thing to say. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:31.759 And so the a few of the disciples gather together with Jesus in our text today, and they ask him, When will this be? 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:36.879 And and what will be the sign of the end of all things? 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:52.639 And so we're going to look together at these questions, and then we're going to move in to the discourse itself, the proper discourse itself, and see how Jesus provides these initial warnings regarding the end of all things. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:07:13.680 And these warnings are meant to begin to teach the disciples that the end of the temple is not the end of all things, that it is the end of the world as they knew it, but there is a new type of world that is coming, which will be shown in his death and resurrection. 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:27.519 That all of the sacrifices that had been taking place in the temple for centuries, that all of those were just pointing to this final and ultimate sacrifice of Jesus. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:33.680 And so that temple structure will come to an end, but that end will be a beginning. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:39.680 And so he teaches us how to not be led astray by what we might consider to be signs of the end. 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:52.240 So unfortunately, if you were perhaps looking forward to Mark 13, where I would tell you a story and I and I would say, this is the end time signs, and there are wars and rumors of wars, and uh look, here's a war here. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:54.720 You guys, can you guys think of any current wars? 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:59.040 Well, it's a that's then the end is coming. 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:05.759 Can you guys, are there any uh natural disasters that you've read about lately that are taking place? 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:08.399 Can you think of any of them? 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:12.639 Well, things are getting pretty rough out there, right? 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:15.680 These must be signs of the end. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:19.839 Um unfortunately, you're getting a very different type of sermon than that. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:21.439 I think fortunately. 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:29.360 What you're getting is a sermon that says, yeah, it's like that out here. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:31.519 Don't be led astray. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:34.000 The only end comes in Christ. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:37.519 Hold fast to your hope in Christ. 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:39.279 That's the whole sermon. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:45.200 But I've got more time, and it's called the weave. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:49.759 It's where I move in and out, and it's you gotta stay with me. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:51.440 That's funny. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.159 That's a non nonpartisan funny joke. 00:08:54.879 --> 00:09:10.960 Mark 13, 3, 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, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished? 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:12.799 So the temple is going to be destroyed. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:14.240 When will these things be? 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:19.200 And what will be the sign when all of these things are about to be accomplished? 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:22.320 Well, the first uh uh I put the emphasis in the wrong place there. 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:28.240 The emphasis for right now is it's Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:33.679 So this is not like the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:43.039 It is like the Sermon on the Mount because they're on a mountain, and it is a sermon, but it's not like the Sermon on the Mount because this is not a public discourse. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:54.960 This is a private conversation where he is speaking particularly to his key disciples, the closest friends that he has on earth. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:10:10.000 And in this private, in these private conversations, especially in Mark, we see this real distinction that Mark makes throughout his gospel between public spaces where Jesus is proclaiming, and between private spaces. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:16.080 And the main distinction that we see between those is that in the public spaces, Jesus often speaks in parables. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:21.519 And he speaks in parables not so that they're sticky and we can understand it and hold it with us. 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:22.559 That's not what he says. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:28.000 He speaks in parables so that some people won't understand what he's saying. 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:29.840 That's a strange way to do it. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:36.559 But when he speaks privately to his disciples, he speaks very explicitly and he speaks plainly. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:40.240 Now, this is no guarantee of the disciples' understanding. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:45.679 But he does, nonetheless, speak very plainly in these places. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:55.840 And so we should expect Jesus, when we see Mark move into the recounting of a private conversation, that we are about to hear things laid out just as plain as can be. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:00.639 So they ask him these two questions in this private space. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:03.519 Tell us when will these things be. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:06.240 So you just said the temple will be destroyed. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:09.440 When will the temple be destroyed? 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:16.320 And the second question, what will be the sign when all of these things are about to be accomplished? 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:25.440 These questions form what is the outline of the rest of Mark 13. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:36.879 So the first part and largest part of Mark 13 is dealing with the question of when will these things be when will these things be? 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:42.080 And that is this explicit question of when will the temple be destroyed? 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:44.080 You just said the temple will be destroyed. 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.240 Tell us when will the temple be destroyed. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:52.720 But the second question is what will be the sign when all of these things are about to be accomplished? 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:57.759 And we should read all of these things to be as comprehensive as you can imagine. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:02.559 It's as comprehensive as the phrase, all of these things. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:08.960 Because what the disciples are imagining is so so when will the temple be destroyed? 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:12.720 And I guess what we're asking is, when will all things come to an end? 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:22.080 And we can see that more plainly because in Matthew's recounting of this very same conversation, it was probably a longer, more meandering question than that. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:27.679 They probably didn't like put their interview notes together right after he said that and have precisely the question. 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:31.279 They were probably like, okay, so the temple's gonna be destroyed, when's the temple gonna be destroyed? 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:32.559 And that's the end, right? 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:35.519 So when are when's all when are all when are all these things? 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:41.600 I guess this whole temple thing and and I guess the world as we know it, when are all these things going to come to an end? 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:53.600 And so from that wandering, meandering dialogue, they, Matthew and Mark, uh, relay different aspects of it, but I think we get a uh more precise relaying from Matthew. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:59.360 And this is uh Matthew's take on those those very same questions. 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:08.080 Matthew says in Matthew 24, verse 3, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us when will these things be? 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:09.279 That's that first question. 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:11.279 When will the temple be destroyed? 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:16.960 And the second one, and what will be the sign of your coming at the end of the age? 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:19.840 See, when will these things be? 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:27.039 And then at the end of the age, what's going to be the sign of your coming to rule and reign over all things? 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:33.200 And there are two questions, but I think to the disciples, they thought of it as one question. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:35.919 When will the temple be destroyed? 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:38.480 And when will be the end of all things? 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:58.080 And it's if, you know, if you had Jesus for a half hour, I think one of the questions you might ask is, okay, so there's gonna be an end to this whole story of redemptive history, to this whole age of creation. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:00.240 There's going to be an end to this age. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:02.639 What when and you're gonna come back and reign. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:04.559 When are what are we looking at there? 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:08.000 What's that gonna what's that gonna kind of be like? 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:10.320 That's the type of question I'd want to ask Jesus. 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:15.200 Well, they did, and it's written down, and so we have the answer. 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:25.200 You can see that I think you can see that they were asking kind of one question, although it's phrased in these two questions, because they thought of them as sort of the same event. 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:28.960 The temple being destroyed and Christ coming at the end of the age. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:39.120 These are both like the same level of extreme and terrible and wonderful to the disciples. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:45.279 But it's actually two questions, and so Jesus answers them as two distinct questions. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:54.080 So he kind of priced the question, the single question of the disciples apart, and then he shows these are really two questions that you're asking. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:56.399 And I'm going to show you that they're two questions. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:57.440 It's sort of like this. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:04.559 You lean over uh to your uh friend or spouse in church, and uh you say, Uh, when are we gonna get lunch after this? 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:08.000 And when am I finally gonna have my hunger satisfied? 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:12.080 It's two questions, uh, but it's really one question. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:22.639 And then you can imagine if the friend you leaned over to in church was Jesus, and you said, When when are we gonna uh get out of church, and when am I finally gonna have my hunger satisfied? 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:36.399 Jesus would probably say, like, um, well, we'll go to lunch at 11:30, but you will only be satisfied when you receive me as your Lord and Savior above all things. 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:40.000 And we would say, Oh, I thought it was just one question. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:42.960 I thought it was just 11:30. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:49.519 And so Jesus does that same sort of thing by prying these questions apart. 00:15:49.679 --> 00:16:08.879 Now, Jesus is doing this all the time, and I think it's important to sort of emphasize that when the disciples ask questions throughout the scriptures, uh, they what we're often seeing are not uh we're not we're not seeing right parsing of the events in their questions. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:20.879 We're seeing the parsing that you would probably do, or that any ordinary person would do if they didn't know what Jesus knew. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:29.519 And then they take those qu then Jesus takes those questions and he says, I get what you're getting at with these questions, but they're not really the right questions. 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:36.799 And so I'm going to show you the right, and they can't, these questions, in fact, expose to me that you don't really know what you're looking at. 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:40.240 One example of this is in Acts at chapter one. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:50.399 This is right before Jesus' ascension, when Jesus ascends into the heavens to be seated at the right hand of the Father, where he is to this day. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:17:00.080 It says, so when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:08.960 Jesus has died, he's been resurrected, he hasn't ascended to the Father yet, but they've seen the resurrected Jesus after they had witnessed him dying on the cross. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:12.160 And they ask, okay, I think I get a sense of like what time it is now. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:18.079 You're the Messiah, and the Messiah is the one who has come to restore the kingdom to Israel. 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:40.160 We're occupied by Rome, we're spread in synagogues all all over the known world, we have uh we're exiles everywhere, we're not really a gathered people, but you've preached this gospel of the kingdom, so now that you've died and resurrected, now you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel. 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:48.240 But Jesus says to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:18:00.240 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:08.480 Now that's pretty different than the restoration of the kingdom to the nation of Israel. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:26.799 Because he didn't just say, You'll you'll go gather people from all corners of the earth, and you will uh in gathering them bring them back to Israel, and it will be just like the return from exile the first time, and we'll restart this nation with a new level of purity or something. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.519 He does just the opposite of what they were thinking. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:33.599 He's saying, No, you're actually a part of something now that goes out. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:47.920 And the restoration of the kingdom does not look like returning it to the glory that it looked like it had under Solomon in this glorious reign of Israel as the true nation and people of God. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:54.960 What it's going to look like is the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:00.640 And so, in this same way, there's a question about okay, when are these things going to happen? 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:03.839 What is the final culmination of all events going to be? 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:08.720 And Jesus, in our text today, is going to begin to explain. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:11.039 Those are not one question, but two. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:18.640 And the shape of these events is not the way that you think it is. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.359 I do not think that word means what you think it means. 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:27.599 The shape of these events are not that the end of the temple is the end of the world. 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:29.359 It is the end of a world. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:31.920 The end of a mode of being. 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:35.359 But it is not the final end of the age. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:46.960 The final end of the age will come when peoples from all nations, tribes, and tongues are praising Jesus. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:49.039 Then Christ will come. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:51.680 This march is out. 00:19:52.880 --> 00:20:02.640 And so the destruction of the temple is not the end of all things, it is a marker of the beginning of a new age, the church age. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:09.759 So that is the shape of these two questions. 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:16.720 And now we'll enter his discourse properly, now that we have an understanding of the shape of these two questions. 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:20.640 He begins by answering the first one. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:24.400 When will the destruction of the temple happen? 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:30.799 When will yeah, when will the destruction of the temple happen? 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:34.880 And he'll make clear that it's not the same thing as the end of the age. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:37.440 It's not the same thing as the second coming of Christ. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:46.960 So, in Mark 13, verse 5 through 6, and Jesus began to say to them, See that no one leads you astray. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:53.839 Many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and they will lead many astray. 00:20:55.599 --> 00:21:17.680 The first thing that Jesus wants to put in place is that he wants to, and we'll see this throughout this first paragraph that we're looking at, is that he is setting their uh he's taking this eternal horizon that they have, or this this horizon that is the final culmination of all things. 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:28.799 And he's he's going to bring it into a more present place, and he's going to say, look, this is the way that you're thinking about this, these are this is not the final end of all things. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:35.759 This is not when justice will be completely known in the world. 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:52.160 This is not when I will come and I will judge the living and the dead, and at my coming I will remove all false worship from the world, only true worship will remain, and I will make all things new. 00:21:54.160 --> 00:22:06.240 The first thing he's saying is see that no one leads you astray, because many will Come in my name, saying, I am He, and they will lead many astray. 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:14.559 Many will come in the name of Jesus to the disciples and say, I am him. 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:21.599 I'm in the name of Jesus, and I'm actually the one who is going to bring this whole story to an end. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:24.319 I'm going to be able to overthrow the Romans. 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:27.839 I'm going to be able to bring Israel back united. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:34.960 And I am the one who is going to remove all of these problems of tyranny and division that you are experiencing. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:45.759 And on the other side of this project that I'm doing, you will finally experience and we will see together the peace that has been promised. 00:22:45.920 --> 00:23:03.920 And we see in Acts, Gamelel is recorded as describing there this was a common thing in between the time of Jesus speaking to his disciples now, his death and resurrection and ascension, and finally the destruction of the temple, which takes place about 40 years later. 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:21.839 In Acts 5, 36 through 37, Gameleel, who is one of the high priests, says, For before these days, Theodus rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about 400, joined him. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:23.839 Do you guys remember hearing about Theodus? 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:25.200 Reading about Theodus? 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:26.720 Yeah, exactly. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:33.119 He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:36.559 So that's one guy, one example. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:39.519 I'm the one who's going to bring the final end. 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:41.519 The next. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:47.839 After him, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:49.359 He too perished. 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:52.319 And all who followed him were scattered. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:24:00.880 Paul, when he's arrested later in uh he's mistaken for this Egyptian who led a rebellion against Rome as well. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:04.480 And uh Paul's like, I am not him. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:26.240 Now these men didn't claim to be Christ himself, but they there are men who will come in the name of Christ and say, I am the one who will be able to bring the end of the age, and I will be able to establish a true kingdom of peace here on the earth. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:30.640 If you follow me, you will be able to experience that. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:36.960 And Jesus' warning with regards to that is don't be led astray. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:47.440 Don't be led astray by anyone who is saying, I am the one who will be able to bring about the glorious reality of the kingdom. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:50.480 They won't be able to. 00:24:51.920 --> 00:25:01.839 Now, I think he says this because he knows that the times that are coming are going to be more t more tumultuous than anyone had experienced in their living memory. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:05.680 Rome was in a time called the Pax Romana. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:07.599 It's the Roman peace. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:12.240 And it had it's one of the lar longest stretches of peacetime. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:19.839 It's the longest stretch of peacetime for Rome, but it's one of the longest stretches of peacetime that anyone would have experienced in world history. 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:34.319 And so nobody in this generation has an has a memory of the the wars and turmoil that would have been a constant feature of most people's lives throughout world history. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:40.079 And they're about to come into a time of it that's very tumultuous. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:43.039 So close. 00:25:52.400 --> 00:26:02.559 And in those times of clear change, where we know that the way that we had been living has come to an end. 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:10.079 And where it hasn't been explained or articulated yet what the new world we're going into will be like. 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:22.240 Well, that time is ripe for our hearts to be seduced by men who say, I am the true solution to these problems. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:32.240 And I will be able to usher in in an ultimate and authoritative way a final and true solution to all of these problems that you're facing. 00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:35.039 And Jesus is saying, don't be led astray. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:38.000 Now we're on the cusp of a change. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:40.240 November 5th is just around the corner. 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:41.519 Remember, remember. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:48.880 And as it's uh that's but you know, symbolism happens. 00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:55.200 Um not that I'm worried that we're gonna burn it all down or that it's all gonna be burned down. 00:26:59.359 --> 00:27:03.759 Um but they are sold out of Guy Fox masks on Amazon. 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:05.440 They're not really. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:12.720 This whole thing just became this whole thing just became an inside joke about a comic book and a movie from like 2005. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:16.480 And I apologize to basically all of you. 00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:36.240 Our hearts in these times are particularly are able to become seduced into a hope that is that that uh cannot be borne by anyone becoming president. 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:41.200 And the way that that happens is we what does it mean to be led astray? 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:46.319 Well, they're you're being led astray because they're coming, perhaps in the name of Christ, perhaps not. 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:58.880 And they are, what what happens to your heart is you begin to fit, you begin to forget that, oh yeah, you know what happens right after November 5th, November 6th. 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:02.720 This will not be a final end. 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:10.720 It will not be that, oh, all of those promises will just come true. 00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:13.359 That is not the world we live in. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:19.680 That is not the capability of a human to be able to provide. 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:33.200 And it and we become seduced by all by all sorts of uh types of foolish optimism that we are able to bring about the end outside of Christ. 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:40.400 And that's what our hearts get seduced by, because there is loads of suffering in this life. 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:55.119 There is unexpected and painful conflict that happens at every scale of reality, at the at the national political scale, at the local political scale, in your work, in your families. 00:28:56.319 --> 00:29:04.880 And no one will be able to take the hearts of the people of our nation and turn them towards the Lord. 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:17.119 No one will be able to create a move of repentance towards Jesus that we might honor and love him. 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:24.319 Because you know, what, and this is maybe just like a practical note, our nation is about 50-50. 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:25.839 Isn't that weird? 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:38.000 It's about 50-50, and when at the on the other side of November 5th, 50% about will will win the election. 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:40.160 And you know what happens to the other 50%? 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:42.960 They vanish from the earth. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:58.400 And they no longer have to be dealt with or engaged with in any way, and they're uh not your neighbors anymore, and you the the all everything will just be able to, you know, do whatever the other 50% uh wanted to do. 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:00.960 No, that's a that's of course not true. 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:04.880 But this is what this is where I want what does it mean to be led astray? 00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:13.359 It doesn't mean like there's a foolish aspect of Christianity, which is Jesus is Lord, therefore vote for Jesus. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:15.039 Don't vote for Jesus. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:17.279 Vote vote Christianly. 00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:21.119 You've been delegated a responsibility, and we live in this world. 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:26.400 And we we are not meant to resent the world that we live in. 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:31.680 We're meant to participate in love, to see good things for the church take place. 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:38.960 In uh I'm referencing too many things. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:43.119 Like too many movies. 00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:56.640 Uh it there's this great joke in 30 Rock where Kenneth uh says, it's a sin to choose it's a sin to choose, so I always just write in Jesus. 00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:00.400 And then Jack Donegie goes, Those are Republican, we count those. 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:04.480 That's a good joke. 00:31:06.880 --> 00:31:14.720 Uh so so there's this tendency where you can hear this, like, don't be led astray, and you and uh what I don't want to have happen is like, yeah, yeah, you're right. 00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:17.039 Nothing matters, nothing matters here. 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:18.960 That's not what I'm saying. 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:20.160 Think things really matter. 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:27.279 You're you're delegate, you know, we as citizens of this type of nation, you're delegated this particular type of responsibility. 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:32.000 You should think of that through the lens of your Christian framework. 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:35.119 You should vote for things that are good for Christians. 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:39.599 Because you would think those will be good for the world. 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:45.279 Unless we're just like, you've got some other goodness that you know you don't know about or that I don't know about. 00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:50.960 But I I think the Bible is the place we find those sorts of things. 00:31:54.240 --> 00:32:07.519 But to be led astray is to say, yeah, once this is cast, once that person's in office, it'll finally be done. 00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:09.680 It won't be. 00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:12.000 It won't be done. 00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:19.920 It'll just be another chapter in our history. 00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:25.440 The problems that we have are they they cannot be solved. 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:40.240 Not not at any level where where someone could say in the name of Christ, I am he, and that that I am he, we've got to get it in the context, is a I can bring all of these problems to a final conclusion. 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:44.400 And you won't have to live in the pain of them anymore. 00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:53.119 You will have to live in the pain of the problems of sin that plague you and all of humanity. 00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:55.279 There's no way out of that. 00:32:56.319 --> 00:32:58.480 So don't be led astray. 00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:14.880 There's only one who can actually bring us out of the truest problems in our hearts, who can actually take our hearts of stone and make them hearts of flesh, who can return the hearts of the fathers to their children and the children to their fathers. 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:16.799 It's Jesus. 00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:26.000 It I it it really is just Jesus who can do that. 00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:30.640 It really is just Jesus. 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:43.440 So I I say that to say that the being led astray by, you know, various first century zealots is probably not your problem. 00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:50.000 And so you might think, yeah, yeah, if somebody comes and they say they're Jesus, like I'm gonna know that they're not. 00:33:51.759 --> 00:34:02.400 Uh but we need to recognize the the patterns of the seduction of our hearts, and that we really do recognize just the reality. 00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:09.199 Consider the world you live in, know that the only hope for this world is Jesus. 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:19.679 And Jesus began saying to them, Mark 13, verse 5 through 6, and Jesus began saying to them, whoops, scrolled to the wrong spot. 00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:23.440 Jesus continues, Mark 13, 7 through 8. 00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:28.639 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. 00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:33.679 This must take place, but the end is not yet. 00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:41.119 Okay, wars and rumors of wars are not a sign of the end. 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:42.239 Okay? 00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:45.679 Let me read it again so that you know that Jesus says it. 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:50.320 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. 00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:54.800 This must take place, but the end is not yet. 00:34:55.039 --> 00:35:08.559 So when you hear people, of which they're out there, that are that are able to piece together prophetically the movements of the world and then say this is the end, they're they're wrong. 00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:14.239 For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. 00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:16.239 Isn't it a strange thing to say? 00:35:17.199 --> 00:35:20.960 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. 00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:24.159 That's a strange thing to say. 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:32.719 Those are, if there's anything that's like cause for alarm, I would say wars and rumors of wars are. 00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:39.679 And wars, you know, kingdom rising up, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom. 00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:42.400 These are an end. 00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:48.400 These are the these are types of a, these are things that come to an end. 00:35:48.639 --> 00:35:53.760 At the end of a war, there's a border that's changed, at least. 00:35:54.480 --> 00:36:01.599 There's the sometimes there's nations that that cease to exist and then have become other nations because of the war. 00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:04.400 There's ends in wars. 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:22.000 But the way that Jesus says this, and that he is saying this with the language of Scripture, is showing us that the what Jesus is trying to show this is that these things that will feel like signs of the end to you, this is just what it's like out here. 00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:24.320 This has always been happening. 00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:36.559 In Isaiah 19, verse 2, it says, And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight each against another, and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. 00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:38.880 Jesus is just quoting that. 00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:46.639 And you guys don't think of the fall of Egypt as the end of the world, do you? 00:36:48.880 --> 00:37:09.519 In fact, when you read through the Old Testament and you read about the rise and fall of nations, and you read through Isaiah the woes that he pronounces on the nations, and you hear how God has been in control of the rise and fall, and he has been orchestrating all nations together according to his will, since let me check the time forever. 00:37:10.960 --> 00:37:13.599 He's always been doing this. 00:37:13.920 --> 00:37:15.360 There's always been wars. 00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:17.519 There's always been rumors of wars. 00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:19.280 There will be. 00:37:20.559 --> 00:37:23.840 So to the disciples, he's saying, This is going to look like the end. 00:37:23.920 --> 00:37:28.639 There's going to be wars and rumors of wars when you're headed towards the destruction of the temple. 00:37:28.800 --> 00:37:43.760 In fact, there will be in the year 66, finally, a rebellion of the Jews, a response of the Romans, where they they will crush them in Jerusalem in one of the most horrific wars that there is. 00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:58.239 In fact, the plunder from that war will be so fruitful and there will be so much wealth gained by the Romans from that occupation that they will use it to build, you've all seen it, the Colosseum. 00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:01.280 This is pretty wild, huh? 00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:03.199 That's a lot of money. 00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:06.719 It seems like a lot of money to build one of those back then. 00:38:09.840 --> 00:38:12.880 It's no like Sofi Stadium or something. 00:38:17.519 --> 00:38:20.400 Jesus is very clear, this is not the end. 00:38:20.639 --> 00:38:32.639 The rise and fall of nations has always belonged to the Lord, and that will continue to happen, and it is not the finality of the end. 00:38:35.119 --> 00:38:51.760 And when God does that, when God raises nations up by blessing them and brings nations down and cursing them and their destruction, God always does that with perfect justice. 00:38:53.039 --> 00:38:56.480 It is always accomplished with perfect justice. 00:38:56.639 --> 00:39:00.800 Now it is a justice that we often aren't able to understand. 00:39:02.559 --> 00:39:22.400 This is part of the wrestling that we see in the minor prophets how could you take a nation like Assyria, that is plainly horrible and wicked, and use it to punish a nation like Israel, which is not great, but we're not that bad? 00:39:23.119 --> 00:39:26.880 And God's answer is because I can do whatever I want. 00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:36.079 And I am allowed to punish precisely something that is less wicked with something that is more wicked. 00:39:36.239 --> 00:39:42.079 I can use whatever tools I would like to do that, because justice belongs to Him. 00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:53.440 And so when these things rest so perfectly in the hand of the Lord, as Jesus understands them to, that they always have, and that he even says they must take place. 00:39:53.840 --> 00:39:57.360 This must take place, he says, but the end is not yet. 00:39:57.519 --> 00:39:59.440 Why must it take place? 00:40:00.559 --> 00:40:01.840 I don't know. 00:40:03.360 --> 00:40:12.559 I'm not able to draw the line of necessity from the American Empire to whatever comes next. 00:40:13.119 --> 00:40:21.360 And show uh from that thread, here's how it ties up towards the culmination of all things in Christ Jesus. 00:40:21.599 --> 00:40:29.199 And here's how the war in Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Iran, here's how these all tie into that narrative. 00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:32.800 I I don't know how they do, but they do. 00:40:35.760 --> 00:40:37.760 So don't be alarmed by them. 00:40:38.880 --> 00:40:41.119 This is not the end. 00:40:42.079 --> 00:40:44.000 The Lord does these things. 00:40:44.239 --> 00:40:46.880 He's always been doing these things. 00:40:47.119 --> 00:40:54.239 Then he continues, he says in Mark 13, 8, there will be earthquakes in various places, there will be famines. 00:40:54.960 --> 00:40:58.719 These are but the beginning of the birth pains. 00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:02.159 Earthquakes and famines. 00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:08.559 Now during this uh 40-year period, there are a lot of earthquakes and famines. 00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:13.760 But there's also a lot of earthquakes and famines all the time. 00:41:14.880 --> 00:41:17.280 There's lots of earthquakes and famines. 00:41:18.400 --> 00:41:24.960 And a way to think about earthquakes and famines is the earthquake is the ground beneath you goes away. 00:41:25.760 --> 00:41:28.639 And you are not on stable ground. 00:41:29.039 --> 00:41:32.559 And a famine is the rains from the heavens don't come. 00:41:33.199 --> 00:41:39.519 And so you're surrounded by evident despair to where it looks like things are going away now. 00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:42.880 Because I look to the heavens for help and it doesn't it doesn't come. 00:41:43.039 --> 00:41:45.920 I look to the ground beneath and it gives way. 00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:51.360 I have nothing to stand on, and I'm in this middle space of hopelessness and despair. 00:41:54.719 --> 00:42:06.800 Now those are these are in that same category where Jesus is saying, these are not signs of the end. 00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:09.920 These are not signs of the end. 00:42:12.719 --> 00:42:18.559 Saying you you aren't going to be able to take these events and extrapolate them. 00:42:20.079 --> 00:42:22.559 To then know, okay, Jesus is coming back. 00:42:22.719 --> 00:42:23.920 This is the end. 00:42:25.840 --> 00:42:27.119 We're done here. 00:42:28.559 --> 00:42:40.320 Or to be taken advantage of, to where somebody points out these signs and they're like, look, I can read these signs, and um, you know, these b all these bizarre weather events, I think I can stop them. 00:42:42.400 --> 00:42:44.320 Yeah, I don't believe them. 00:42:44.960 --> 00:42:46.719 Don't be led astray. 00:42:48.320 --> 00:42:51.760 Towards these hopes of utopia. 00:42:55.360 --> 00:42:59.360 These things look like the end, but Jesus plainly says they're not. 00:42:59.679 --> 00:43:04.159 He describes them as the beginning of the birth pains. 00:43:06.239 --> 00:43:07.599 Birth pains. 00:43:08.880 --> 00:43:37.519 That means that all of these struggles and difficulties and pains that you see at every level of reality, the struggles and difficulties and pains that you see on a national scale, on a global scale, struggles and difficulties that you experience, these groanings that you experience in your family or in your town or in your own heart, these are groanings. 00:43:38.400 --> 00:43:40.079 They're birth pains. 00:43:40.559 --> 00:43:44.159 Now, birth pains accomplish something. 00:43:44.960 --> 00:43:48.239 What comes at the end of birth pains? 00:43:48.719 --> 00:43:50.639 A new life. 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:56.559 That means that all of these struggles and terrors that they will see, don't be alarmed by them. 00:43:57.920 --> 00:44:18.159 They are part of this story that the Lord Is telling and weaving, which will give birth, weaving, it's gonna mean that forever now, that the Lord is telling, which will all always find its culmination in the glory of the kingdom of Christ. 00:44:18.400 --> 00:44:20.719 I don't know how to draw from here to there. 00:44:21.920 --> 00:44:37.119