Mark 13:1-37 - Pay Attention
Notes
Transcript
A word of warning is a good thing.
Though it may produce an intense moment, a warning is designed to give a notice of danger or an unpleasant situation.
I was going to change the oil in my van and I didn’t have my jacks available.
So I was going to drive it up onto a pallet and knock it out.
Hilary however came out to give me some cautionary advice.
Jesus is giving them words of warning.
Big Idea: Pay Attention!
Big Idea: Pay Attention!
Things this week are growing more tense with every debate, tensions are rising, things are growing more and more unclear for the disciples
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1 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?”
Leader: This is God’s Word
Everyone: Thanks be to God.
Context:
The disciples are marveling (tourists) at the architecture and the significance of the Temple.
View from Mt. of Olives
The Jewish people believed it to be the very sanctuary of God.
Profoundly beautiful and sacred space
This was a Jewish fortress.
They believed the Temple was indestructible and would stand until the end of time.
So when Jesus says it’s going crumble, that’s super shocking to the disciples.
Jesus begins with a warning to “See that no one leads you astray” (v. 5)
Pay attention to deceivers.
He’s giving them a heads up of what will happen.
“Watch out! They’re coming!”
Many will claim to be God. (V. 6)
They will deceive many.
“Wars and rumors of wars” (v. 7)
These are evidences that we live in a broken world
Nations and kingdoms are going to come against each others. (V. 8)
These types of events and conflicts will intensify as history draws to a close.
Passages like these can send some people into a tailspin of bad theology and doomsday prepping.
Jesus isn’t saying this to scare us, but to prepare us.
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.
People are only going to grow more hostile to Jesus.
Animosity is only going to grow between culture and biblical worldview.
Jesus’s is telling us that:
We must guard ourselves with the gospel
We must guard ourselves with the gospel
Pay attention, because these things will happen!
It’s going to get darker
But the gospel must be proclaimed because it’s our only hope!
The world is absolutely broken and at odds with the Kingdom of heaven.
But it’s through the gospel of Jesus Christ that we endure to the end!
What is the gospel?
Gospel presentation
God created this world to be radiant with His glory.
Each of us have sinned against God
But He doesn’t leave us in our hopeless condemnation
Instead He sends us His Son!
Through faith in this Jesus, we can be saved and brought into the Kingdom of God as sons and daughters!
If you’re not a Christian, you can be saved through faith in Jesus today!
Repent and believe the good news!
If you’re a Christian, you must guard yourself with the gospel.
The gospel is our only hope for joy and abundant life in Christ!
We are called to proclaim the gospel to all nations!
Yes, disciples of Jesus Christ will be hated, but that’s the power of the gospel!
We all started as hates, but many become worshippers!
And when we endure to the end, we’re saved (v. 13)
No, we won’t be saved from hard times and trouble, but we know that the Lord is with us and will deliver us!
How can I know that?
Because He’s set us free from sin.
Only by hope in the gospel can we be on guard when the devil attacks us through the world.
Jesus is warning His disciples that the antichrist will come and claim to be god.
14 “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.
He’s making this appeal for them to be on guard because there is a real enemy, a devil who desire to lead people away from life in Christ.
A time will come when the evil one will stand where he ought not stand and manny will turn to him.
Things will get really bad.
The enemy is a ferocious liar who’s only objective is to steal, kill, and destroy!
He wants to wreck your love for God and for people
He want to lead you away into darkness
Jesus is telling us that when we see this, we must flee to safety!
When temptation and sin come creeping to take us from God, we must avoid this at all cost!
Because this the enemy is tricky! We can’t believe the lies!
21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.
Jesus is getting ahead of the enemy and tells us that this is coming, watch out!
We must guard ourselves with the gospel, but from what?
This tells us that,
We must guard ourselves from evil
We must guard ourselves from evil
Hardships are going to come, because we have an enemy that wants to destroy us.
He wants to rob us of eternal life with God forever.
So Jesus is calling us to be on guard!
Sin creeps into our lives with great stealth and draws us in.
Before we know it, we’re engrossed into darkness and guilt and shame will not let us go!
I have a strong desire to be healthy, but I also have a strong desire for pop.
I can easily crush several pops per day.
I get into health kicks where I limit my pop intake, but then I easily get the craving and get sucked right back in.
I won’t even pay attention to how much pop I’ve had.
My wife is a great accountability partner—she graciously reminds me of how many I’ve had.
Jesus doesn’t want us to be surprised when sin sucks us in.
This requires us to keep a close watch on our hearts and on our souls, because the devil is.
If we’re not guarding ourselves with the gospel and guarding our hearts from evil, we’ll fall right in.
Jesus is warning us: Pay attention to these things! Watch out!
Then Jesus gives us a glimpse into the final days and gives us this amazing promise!
There will be a magnificent victory.
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 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.
Jesus uses end-times vocabulary and imagery to show that after so much cosmic upheaval, heaven and earth will be shaken and God will prepare to come in judgement.
Jesus says that He will gather His people to Himself!
In the last days, Jesus will display His glory for all to see!
He will not come again as a baby, but as the ruling and reigning, sovereign King of all.
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Jesus gives us this amazing promise that we should take absolutely seriously!
When is this going to happen?!
This has been debated in culture and history since Jesus left.
Yet, He told them before that we don’t know, nor will we know.
We will know everything about the second coming of Christ, when it gets here.
We may not know when, but we know that He’s coming and what to do until He does.
33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is 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. 35 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 rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
We must stay awake and watch!
Watch what we believe
Watch how we live
Watch how we think.
We must stay awake because Jesus is coming soon.
We must stay awake because Jesus is coming soon.
Three times in four verses He commands us to stay awake.
Bottom line, He’s going to return.
It could be evening, midnight, when the rooster crows, morning.
But He’s going to return.
This is the promise of the gospel.
That He will return to bring His Kingdom and make all things new!
I don’t want you to miss this.
Church, we must hold fast to the gospel!
If we’re going to spend eternity with Jesus, we must live for His Kingdom now!
So many people have fallen asleep and do not believe the gospel!
The enemy has lulled them to sleep in their sins, but Jesus is coming!
He said that the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.
That’s where we come in now!
We guard ourselves with the gospel and we stay awake to guard ourselves from sin
But we take this life-changing gospel to our neighbors.
One of our values is that we Share the Hope of Jesus.
By knowing our neighbors stories and telling them about Jesus.
Who will you go to this week that needs to hear the gospel?
Who will you invite to church to join in on what God is doing here at Graceland?
Challenge: Pick one lost person to pray for and begin thinking of how to make intentional steps toward them to introduce them to Jesus.