The End of the World

Introduction

Last week we say Jesus illustrating the greatest commandments and how the religious leaders were far from following it but the poor were following it well. How we personally follow the greatest two commandments directly pertains to tonight's passage. Tonight we are talking about the end of the world but through it all is a message to follow the teaching of the Bible, the greatest commandment. To love God with all that you are and to love your neighbor as yourself. If your faith is not in Christ and you are not following what the Bible teaches, you are not ready for the end of the world.

Now you may have noticed that chapter 13 is not a short chapter and are wondering why we are going to cover all of it at one time here tonight. I am doing this because people often get led astray when it comes to thinking about the end times. There is speculations and debates and all sorts of other stuff regarding it that we need to be cautious of. Jesus in this passage though frames how we should think about the end times. He gives us signs of the times but more than that there is a call to be faithful and to be prepared. So remember that when you read about the end times, more than speculation and time frames we need to focus of our faithfulness and being prepared.

It’s a long one but I want to read this entire chapter as we start tonight then we will revisit some verses that are in it. Read with me starting in verse 1.

Mark 13 ESV

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 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.” 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?” And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 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. “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. 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. 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. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. “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. 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. 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. For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. “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 will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 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. “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 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. 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— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

As they leave the temple they marvel at it’s beauty. Many historians of the time note this in their writings. Whenever they mention this to Jesus though he tells them that it will be destroyed. This is an event that took place around 70 AD. They then ask Jesus more about this but their question refers to the destruction of the temple but also the return of Christ. Jesus tells them the signs that they will see that will let them know that the end is near, these are signs that we too can heed. Along with the signs though there is a call to action for us. Jesus reveals that we cannot know when this will take place and since we cannot know this then we must always be ready.

The question I have for you is are you ready? More than just thinking about the return of Christ, we are not promised tomorrow. Are you living in a way that is honoring to Christ? Are you following the greatest commandment? Do you even know Christ? Have you ever put your faith in him?

These are the questions that we need to be asking ourselves. As we ask ourselves these questions tonight we are going to look at this call to be faithful and to be prepared so lets pray then we can begin.

Be Faithful

Faithfulness is unfailing loyalty. As we go through life we need to be faithful to God. People might slander and bully us for it but we must not waver from it. There will be challenges that come but we must be firm. As we think about faithfulness to the end the passage gives us two areas to think about specifically.

deception

Mark 13:5 ESV

And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray.

The first is to be faithful through deception. A characteristic of the end times is that there will be people trying to deceive you and lead you astray. False teachers that draw you away from Christ under the disguise of drawing you closer. People trying to cast doubt in your mind.

We must not fall for their tricks but must remain steadfast through them. Not being swayed from our beliefs but holding strongly to the truths of the Bible. If we are easy to be led astray we will be easy to lead astray. We must remain faithful in the midst of deception.

persecution

Mark 13:9 ESV

“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.

The second area that we are called to be faithful in is persecution. The Bible promises us many things and persecution is one of them. We can know that persecution is coming and we must be faithful in it.

Persecution is where there will be physical and societal affliction against us. This is not a pretty thing to think about but it is a reality that we will have to face. if we are going to be faithful to God we are going to have to be faithful through persecution.

Be Prepared

Along with the call to be faithful is the call to be prepared. I think being prepared in general is a good thing. Take for example for things like tornadoes, I keep some food and water in my basement as well as some blankets so that me and Court are prepared. I have my ham radio license in case the cell phones quit working again. I value preparation.

Here though it is talking about a different type of preparation. So in what regards is he talking about being prepared in this passage if it is not to store some food in your bunker?

deception and persecution

Mark 13:23 ESV

But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.

The first area we are to be prepared in is to be prepared to be faithful through the deception and persecution that we just talked about.

When we think about being prepared to remain faithful through deception we need to think of how to do this. To do this we need to know the truths of the Bible to the best of our ability so that when they try to deceive us we know the truth and are not easily fooled. We need to be firm in our beliefs and this is done by knowing our beliefs and why they are our beliefs. The starting place for this is regular Bible reading, just open it up and read a few minutes a day. If you want some accountability get on a plan on the Bible app of your choice and turn on notifications.

To prepare to remain faithful through persecution is not much different. We need to be so firm in our beliefs that no amount of physical pain can sway our beliefs. To add to what we discussed though would be prayer. Prayer builds our relationship with God and is strengthens our faith. It is this strong faith that is founded in the truth that will carry us through.

the coming of Jesus

Mark 13:33 ESV

Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.

The second thing that we need to prepare for is the coming of Christ. Really this encompasses all of this stuff but we must truly be ready. He said it himself, we do not know when he is coming. This gets back to our lives. Are we living in a way that is honoring to him?

This day is imminent. We must be ready. Jesus is coming whether you like it or not and you better get ready for it.

Conclusion

One commentator I read put all this information in this way; “Mark’s theology of the advancing kingdom is much more like a relay race in which persecution for the sake of the Gospel is the baton passed on from each runner to the next as they take their round on the track … or (to stick closer to Mark’s imagery), it is the cross passed on from shoulder to shoulder as new recruits travel the “way” from Galilee to Jerusalem.

The baton passes from John the Baptizer to Jesus, to his disciples, to us. We are in the next leg of the race. We do not know if we run the last leg or not, and it should make no difference how we run the race. Running in a race requires giving it one’s all.”

The baton is in our hand and we see the signs that Jesus describes, we should run as though we are running the last leg of the race.

Today though some of you probably are not in the race at all. See you cannot remain faithful without faith, you cannot be prepared without this faith either. It is faith that saves us, it is faith that lets Jesus forgive us of our sins. If you have never put your faith in Jesus then you have never been forgiven. If you have never been forgiven this coming of Christ is a coming judgment for you. Trust in Jesus today, make him the boss of your life, put your faith in him. Then and only then you can begin to run your leg of the race, whether it is the last or not I do not know. I do know this though, you should run as though it is the last.

Everything will pass away but the word of God will never pass away, stay awake so that you are not found sleeping when Christ returns.