Sermon Tone Analysis

After the extravagant display of apostate religion on that Monday in the temple [questions to trap Jesus, the failure of the leaders to acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah, and the pretense in giving to attract the attention of men by the rich], Jesus and His disciples leave the temple and Jerusalem for the day.

They cross the Kidron valley to the Mount of Olives that overlooks the temple grounds.

As they leave, one of the disciples asked Jesus what He thought of the temple, its beauty and the offerings.

Jesus’ answer was a shock to the disciples, “it will be completely destroyed.”

So the disciples asked Him the all important questions that any would ask after His response, “When will this happen and what signs will we need to look for to know it is here?”

That is the question that we all want the answer to.

When is the end coming and how will we know?

This morning I want to look at “The Signs of the End Times”

Text: Mark 13:1-13

In response to the disciples question, Jesus reveals the beginning of the end.

A snapshot of prophesy to be fulfilled that man can see and understand.

Those signs are given for two purposes.

One, for believers to be tested in their faith by sharing the gospel with the lost, and two, for the lost to have the opportunity to hear the gospel and be saved.

1.

The Destruction of the Temple; 3

Jesus used the destruction of the temple as a sign of the beginning of the end.

Herod’s temple was one of the architectural marvels of the ancient world.

Built of polished white stone, its eastern wall covered in gold, the temple’s main structure gleamed in the evening light as if it were a massive jewel.

It covered 1/6th of the land area of Old Jerusalem.

Though the temple was magnificent and beautiful, a place of worship for Jehovah, it had become a monument of apostasy.

Many church houses have become nothing but a monument of apostasy, falling away from the faith and teaching traditions and ways of men instead of the doctrines of truth!

The temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed in AD 70 by the Roman military commander Titus Vespasianus.

A Sign Fulfilled!

2. The Claim of False Christ’s; 5-6

Jesus warned the disciples not to get up in the signs that they would be deceived.

For many will come claiming to be Him.

People have been caught up in signs for centuries and have not used the spirit of discernment and the Word of God to know what is from the Lord and what is from Satan.

If you read the letters from Paul, Peter and John, which is a majority of the New Testament, they all warn of false teachers creeping into the church to lead people astray from the faith.

In our own era many so-called Messiahs have come and gone.

Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, Mary Baker Patterson Glover Eddy, Sun Myung Moon and David Koresh.

Remember Jim Jones, the founder of The People’s Temple, and the nearly 1,000 people he led to commit mass suicide in 1978.

No one knows when Christ will return, only the Father does.

Don’t be deceived!

Signs continually fulfilled!

3. Wars, Earthquakes and Famines; 7-8

Jesus gives the disciples another sign of the end times.

This sign covers troubles on the earth through wars, earthquakes and famines.

There have always been situations on earth that have brought devastation whether it be from natural causes or by the conflict of men.

But Jesus uses a phrase in verse 8 that gives us a better understanding of the times.

“Beginnings of Sorrow” [birth pangs].

A woman doesn’t have birth pangs during the entire pregnancy.

She might have some discomfort, but when the baby is getting ready to come that woman goes into labor, then the pangs really start.

[Ills.

Molly giving birth to Wesley with me watching the labor monitor]

The escalation of wars, famines and natural disasters are not the end, but beware, the baby’s on the way!

4. Persecution of the Saints; 9-13a

Jesus warned the disciples that one sign of the end times will be the persecution of the saints for His name sake.

Jesus says that the saints [disciples, believers in Christ] will be delivered to the authorities [religious and secular/civil] to be tried and beaten and many will be put to death.

Even your own family will turn against you and you will be hated by all men for My sake.

When Jesus started His earthly ministry after his temptation in the wilderness by Satan, he went to Galilee and begin to call his disciples.

And He began to teach them what we call the Sermon on the Mount.

As Jesus begins teaching, He gives a listing of the character needed for a disciple of Christ called the “Beatitudes.”

Persecution should be an expectation of every true believer!

But don’t worry!

You preach the good news of the gospel to all the nations!

I will give you the words to say and the strength to say them in those trying times through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Everyone of the apostles was martyred for their faith in Christ, except the apostle John who was banished to the Isle of Patmos, as they spread the gospel to the then known world.

In every generation that the gospel is preached, the saints will be persecuted.

So has the gospel been preached to all nations?

Yes and no!

The gospel has circulated the globe several times and has been preached in all nations upon the earth.

But the gospel has not been heard by all people of all generations.

So what does it mean when Jesus said, “that the gospel must first be preached to all the nations and then the end will come?”

The gospel will be preached till the end.

In Rev. 7:4-17 there are 144,000 Jewish preacher boys sealed by God to preach the gospel during the Tribulation.

In Rev. 14 you see these preacher boys standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb of God and they sing a song of praise to God that only they could sing.

In Rev. 14 there is another pronouncement of the gospel, this time by an angel.

For preachers to preach and teachers to teach that the gospel has to get to this 10/40 window [between 10 and 40 degrees north latitude where 2/3rds of the world population lives] before the Lord will return is misleading.

If you were to look at that window [10/40 Window is a rectangular geographic area stretching from North Africa through the Middle East to Asia, covering 68 countries] you would notice that most of the area’s in that box was evangelized by the disciples and the first century church.

Signs continually being fulfilled to the end!

5. Endure; 13b

Jesus is not saying that we must work for our salvation [it is a gift from God], nor can one who is saved lose their salvation [eternal life shall never perish] What Jesus is saying here is “bear patiently through the trials and be faithful till I come, demonstrating the genuine salvation of Christ in you”.

Perseverance is the proof that our profession is real.

Trials and tribulation will sift true Christians from fair weather believers.

Vance Havner used to say, “Faith that fizzles before the finish was faulty from the first.”

Another sign only you can fulfill

Close;

I don’t know when the Lord will return but I do know it’s closer today than it was yesterday.

I do know that “The Signs of the End Times” are more than just persecution, they are the apostasy and falling away from the faith but also the faith to endure.

I believe, based on the Word of God, we are getting closer to the end than we’ve ever been.

My question to you this morning is very simple, “Are you ready for the end?”