THE END IS NEAR

This message was preached on September 28, 2008 at Grace Baptist Church in Westlake, OH. As I preach through Mark, it was the toughest passage I had to preach. The commentators all agreed that is one of the most difficult passages to interpret in the New Testament. I say Amen to that. So, I gave it to God and did the best I could. It ended up being an encouragement to my own heart and a great challenge to my life as well.

THE END IS NEAR
Mark 13

Please open your Bible to Mark 13. In the Bible in front of you, it is page 879 or 897.

Commentator William Barclay says it at the beginning of his statements on Mark chapter 13: “Mark 13 is one of the most difficult chapters in the New Testament for a reader to understand.” And I would agree with him. He continues: “That is because it is one of the most Jewish chapters in the Bible. From beginning to end it is thinking in terms of Jewish history and Jewish ideas. All through it Jesus is using categories and pictures which were very familiar to the Jews of his day, but which are very strange, and indeed, unknown to many modern readers.” So, as we face this challenge together, this morning, let’s pray.

Prayer

The first thing we need to do is give you a future event context to put Mark chapter 13 into. If you have your outline from your bulletin, please take it out and look on the backside of it. At the top, you see the words: The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25). Mark chapter 13 is a parallel passage to Matthew 24,25, as Jesus is speaking on the Mount of Olives. So, this chart before you gives a biblical future timeline, in which you can put the context of what we are reading in Mark 13.

We are currently in what is called “The Church Age”. Near the beginning of this frame of time, you see the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70. That will play a prominent role in today’s passages. The Church age will end when the Rapture occurs. The Rapture is described in I Thessalonians 4 as the moment that could happen at any time. A trumpet will sound, Jesus will come to the clouds, and all of the true believers still living will rise to meet Jesus in the air; and go to Heaven to be with Him.

That event will bring in the next future time frame, referred to in the Bible as The Tribulation period, which will last for 7 years. The final 3.5 years of that period is sometimes referred to as the Great Tribulation because it is when the most intense suffering will take place for all who are on Earth. There will be people saved during the Tribulation time and they will be persecuted for their new faith. We will be reading about this in these passages.
And then, just as the next time period begins, The Millennium, which is the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ on Earth, you see “Christ’s Glorious Appearing”. That is often referred to as the Second Advent or the Second Coming of Christ (Christ came first, as He was born in Bethlehem; and now, He will not just come to the clouds, as He did for the Rapture; but He will come all the way down to where man dwells, to set up His 1,000 reign). This event of the 2nd coming is also highlighted in Mark 13.

I hold in my hand an article that I have kept for 16 years now. The headline reads: RAPTURE: October 28, 1992. JESUS IS COMING IN THE AIR. This article then goes on to describe why they knew the Rapture would happen on this date. Quote: “This prophetic message did not come from men nor any other wrong vision. Many testimonies and signs prove that it is really the revelation of the Holy Spirit.”
And yet, October 28, 1992 came and went – without the Rapture.

The end of the World has always been a popular topic, for preachers, as well as writers and movie producers. Everyone seems to be interested in it. Everyone has questions about it. And the big question is normally this: When will the world end? Jesus’ closest followers were no different.

Mark 13:1,2 – “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.”

Jesus talks to them about the things He wants them to know about the future. These things will bring incredible changes, as well as bring into play the events predicted in the Bible. Some of these events would be seen by those hearing Jesus. Other events would be experienced by future Jewish readers. The first event Jesus predicts is this:

The Temple will be destroyed (1,2)

They are leaving the temple area, and one of the disciples makes a comment about how incredible the buildings were. You need to understand, that the temple structures were not just buildings to people; they were a representation of the presence of God; and gave the people security and pride. The temple complex was huge, with forty foot high columns, 18 feet wide. According to the First Century historian, Josephus, the temple would become known as an architectural wonder of the ancient world. It was built with large white stones, polished and generously decorated with gold.But, Jesus then says: “Do you see these great buildings? They are all coming down.” That’s exactly what happened - in 70 A.D. when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem. The temple represented that God’s presence, in power and majesty, was with His people. So, the destruction of the Temple was judgment for rejecting Jesus, even as the same thing happened hundreds of years earlier when God judged the Jewish nation, sending them to Babylon and destroying the Temple.

To the Jewish people, who knew the Old Testament prophecies, they felt that if the temple was destroyed, then all the end time events would take place right away; even including the Messiah coming to set up His Kingdom. So, this prediction from Jesus so disturbed His disciples, that they looked for an opportunity to ask Him for more details. It wasn’t just about the temple, in their minds; but this would signify the time they had been waiting for; when Jesus would come and take over the rule on Earth.

Mark 13:3,4 – “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?”

They ask 2 questions here: When will the destruction of the temple (and thereby the rest of the future events) take place? And secondly: What will be the sign that these things are about to be fulfilled? As they sit on the Mount of Olives, they can see the temple across the valley. Jesus begins by answering the 2nd question first: Another thing Jesus says will happen in the future, as these events begin to unfold:

There will be false signs of the end (5-8)

That is: Jesus is going to talk about things that would happen in their day and ours, that will make people falsely assume the end has come. First, Jesus says there will be:
· False Christs
Mark 13:5,6 – “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.”

Here in verse 5, Jesus begins a theme that will run throughout these passages: Be on the look out! Be on your guard. Watch out! Don’t let anyone deceive you, He says. There will be many people who will come and claim to be the promised Messiah. They will try to take my place. They will arise in times of crises, and people will try to put them in a position that only I can fulfill. And…they will attract many followers; and lead them to destruction.

You probably know that this didn’t just take place in the days of the disciples. Even within the last 30 years, we have seen examples of this:
· In 1978 the Reverend Jim Jones, claiming to be the reincarnation of Christ, moved from the US to South Africa with his followers. On November 18, 1978, he ordered his followers to drink from a tub of grape-flavored Fla-Vor-Aid laced with potassium cyanide and tranquilizers. All 900 plus people died.
· I have another article here, an advertisement that appeared in the New York Times on April 25, 1982. The beginning lines read: The world has had enough…of hunger, injustice, war. In answer to our call for help, as world teacher for all humanity (and then the huge headline): THE CHRIST IS NOW HERE. And the ad goes on to describe (very generally of course) the fact they believe that the Messiah had come back to set up His Kingdom in the coming 20 years (by 2002).
· David Koresh, the cult leader of the Branch Dividians at Waco, Texas, claimed to be Jesus Christ. On April 19, 1993 he refused to surrender to the FBI and the ATF and around 90 people died in a fire at the compound.
· On March 26, 1997, 39 members of “Heaven’s Gate” cult decided to “shed their containers” and board spacecraft hiding in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet. This resulted in a mass suicide of 21 women and 18 men, ages 26 to 72.

Many other false religions have begun, since the time Jesus said these words, where people claimed have special revelation from God, that they alone had the truth; and then they attracted followers. Today, there are religions that count millions of people as disciples, who decided to believe the words of a man who claimed to come from God. Jesus continues to warn His followers and us about the false signs of the end. And another of those warnings is about:

· International destruction and pain

Mark 13:7,8 – “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.”

Jesus was warning them not to get carried away with the so-called “signs of the times” that would be continual. He assured them that they would hear about battles that were close and battles in far-away places. However, that did not mean the end had arrived. Yes, Jesus said: nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes and famines; but this is just the beginning.

All of these things are going to happen with sinful people living on this Earth; but they don’t mean that the end of this age and the establishment of God’s rule on earth is here. It is still to come, Jesus said.

He uses the idea of birth pains, that time just before a woman gives birth, to describe this period of time, this age, that comes with great human pain that happens with wars, earthquakes and famines. In this case, however, we are talking thousands of years of birth pains, unlike our human experience with giving birth. Keep in mind here what the Bible says about the huge difference between how we see history and time and God’s perspective:

II Peter 3:8 – “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

It is important, as we study end things described in the Bible, that we keep in mind that God’s perspective of time is different and complete; whereas we interpret everything according to what we are seeing in our very short time here on the Earth.

Every generation of people will experience these pains (wars, famines, earthquakes); and it all points ahead to the time when the end will come, and Jesus will return to set up His Kingdom. Jesus then warns His followers, that over all of the years to come of these pains, before the end, His followers were going to experience suffering.

There will be suffering for the followers of Christ (9-13)
Mark 13:9,10 – “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.”

Those that heard Jesus’ words would experience this suffering (read about it in the book of Acts). Those of us living in the Church Age some 2,000 years later hear of this kind of suffering. And those who will be saved during the Tribulation period will experience this kind of suffering. But, it is all connected to spreading the gospel: the good news of Jesus Christ. God has used this kind of suffering, and will in the future, to proclaim the truth of who Jesus is; and the salvation He offers.

And also keep in mind, that just a few days after Jesus spoke these words, He Himself would be beaten and whipped and murdered, for speaking the truth about who He was. If God in the flesh was going to be rejected and suffer, then you can be sure, Jesus said, that His followers would.

In fact, that remains true today. The Apostle Paul, who would be persecuted himself, wrote this in the Word of God:

II Peter 3:12 – “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

They experienced that in the First Century. And even though, we who are believers here in America do not experience it to this extent, this type of suffering is going on throughout the world, even today. If you want to keep up to date on this constant spiritual battle, and pray more effectively, you can keep up to date, through ministries such as: Voice of the Martyrs

For example, just a few years ago in Indonesia, 3 Christian girls were attacked and then beheaded by professing muslims who targeted Christians. These are not isolated events; and they are all a part of the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy. However, don’t lose sight of this: Jesus said these that are being persecuted are those who are bearing witness of the truth. In fact, He said: the gospel must be proclaimed to all the nations.

A part of God’s overall plan does include the suffering of His servants. However, this all brings glory to God because it brings the good news of Jesus Christ to the world. It is God’s goal that we would proclaim salvation through Jesus Christ alone to everyone. That is why Jesus left His followers with these words:

Acts 1:8 – “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

John Piper, in his book: Don’t Waste Your Life, encourages us, today, to think and pray for the people in places that still need to hear the gospel:

He writes: “Think about the people in places like:
· Libya with its six million people and perhaps ten indigenous believers
· Bhutan, a hermit Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas, cut off from Christian witness for millennia with only a handful of indigenous believers among its two and a half million people.
· The Maldives, off the southwest coast of India, and one of the most closed countries on earth.
· North Korea, a pariah nation gradually starving to death under its crazed Communist leadership, with no open witness or church life for fifty years.
· Saudi Arabia, the headquarters of Islam where Saudi believers, if found, are executed.
· India, perhaps the greatest challenge of all, with its vast Ganges plains that contains the greatest concentration of un-evangelized people in the world.
· Turkey, the secular, mainly Muslim state with an ongoing Christian witness of only 3,000 believers out of 70,000,000 people.”

Of course, taking the gospel to all places in the world does not guarantee that it will be accepted.

Mark 13:11,12 – “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.”

There will be suffering. People will turn on their own family members who have turned to Jesus Christ; even having them killed. This sounds impossible; but it is happening in our world, even today. But, in the midst of all the persecution God’s people would go through, He also promised that the Holy Spirit would be with them, to help them know what to say. It didn’t mean that they would escape more persecution or death, but it meant that God’s presence would be with them throughout the suffering. And then Jesus gives the bottom line:

Mark 13:13 – “And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Jesus is saying that you will be hated by all kinds of people, not just the hostile authorities or family members. Jesus had predicted:

John 15:18,20 – “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you…if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you…

Then Jesus added, here in Mark 13:13: “but the one who endures to the end will be saved.” The one who endures is the one who has remained faithful to Christ, demonstrating that he is a true believer. It is the true believer, which, when life is completed (signified by the term “the end”), he will be saved. That is – he will experience the completion of His salvation, as He receives His new body and new life in Heaven. This is the end of everyone who has trusted in Christ. But Jesus makes it clear that a sign of a true believer is that he will endure persecution and remain faithful when it comes.

Don’t get confused here. It doesn’t mean that if you fail to share Christ when you should or if you are afraid of suffering for Christ, that you aren’t saved. If that were true, then the Apostle Peter wouldn’t make it to Heaven. He was so afraid that He denied that he even knew who Christ was, let alone admit that He was a follower of His. But, this doesn’t change the message: that those who are Christ’s followers are to demonstrate that by living faithfully, even during persecution.

Some of you, although not suffering like some around the world for your faith, are struggling with some opposition to it. Some of you are feeling the effects of living in a post-Christian nation. Although the United States claims a history that honors God, the current reality is that we basically ignore Him or try to re-create Him in our image. Some of you struggle with this inside the school system, that either ignores God or teaches lies connected to Him. Some of you face opposition in the work place, where those who stand up for Christianity and the Bible are mocked or even at risk of losing some career opportunities. Others of you face intense opposition within your own family. They don’t want to hear about your dedication to Christ. At some point, in the faithful living out and proclamation of your faith, you will face opposition.

These next verses talk about the destruction of the temple and the suffering to follow. They would see some of it in their day in 70 A.D.; but it would be in the distant future, even from now, that all of these things will be fulfilled in the way He describes. The desecration of the temple will begin intense suffering for the believers.

Jesus will return to set up His Kingdom after these signs occur

Mark 13:14 – “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

About 40 years after Jesus spoke these words, Jerusalem would be destroyed and some of the things he spoke of would take place, like the destruction of the temple. However, many of the things he references will not fully take place until He returns again, following a 7 year period of Tribulation (incredible pain and suffering for those who do not know Jesus Christ here on Earth) and then the return of Jesus Christ to the Earth, where He will take control and set up His 1,000 year reign on Earth. When Jesus speaks these words, there are some things that those people would see and understand; and some things that we have not yet experienced and are still waiting for.

So, what was the abomination of desolation all about? Well, prophecy spoke of it concerning the temple. Jesus included: “Let the reader understand” so that those who believed would be able to put it in the Old Testament context of what was taking place.

The abomination would include pagan idolatry with its corresponding sinful practices. Because of ungodly leadership and practices, the worship of God would be abandoned, including the temple where worship was to take place. The prophet Daniel had used these words, and part of their fulfillment was in 167 B.C. (before the time of Christ) when the temple was desecrated by a Syrian ruler and the pagan Greek god Zeus, Josephus tells us, was worshipped.

When Jesus referred to this abomination of desolation, certainly followers of Christ would recognize what took place 40 years later in 70 A.D. with the destruction of Jerusalem. Also, this is predicted still to come in the future. The abomination can refer to a person, and one day, that person will be the Anti-Christ, who will make a covenant with the Jewish people at the beginning of the 7 year period known as the Tribulation. The temple will be rebuilt and worship will take place.

However, in the middle of that period, The Antichrist will break his promises, stop the worship that is taking place, and proclaim himself to be the Christ. That is when the major persecutions will increase and those who had turned to Jesus Christ even during the Tribulation would need to get out of there; because many will be martyred at that time. Jesus, in trying to express the seriousness and extent of the coming persecution, says it this way. What Jesus talks about next is what happened in around 70 A.D. and is a foreshadowing of what will take place in the future before Jesus Christ returns to the Earth.

Mark 13:15-19 – “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.”

The suffering for everyone will be tremendous, and for those who trusted in Christ during those days, the persecution will be intensified. Jesus says, this will be worse than any disaster or suffering since the beginning of creation. So, although 167 B.C. was bad; and 70 A.D. was worse; and there have been disasters and tragedies ever since; the worst one is still to come.

Mark 13:20 – “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.”

This verse is a challenge, to put it in the context of what He is referring to. The action here happened past tense (if the Lord had not cut short the days); and yet the practical outworking of this is all future (including the fact that when Jesus spoke these words originally, the destruction of 70 A.D. was still decades away).

Jesus is saying this from His perspective, which is again, different than ours: God determined in the past the exact timing of this Tribulation in the future (which would include their suffering in 70 A.D. with the destruction of the temple.) But, the future events also predicted here would culminate with the 7 year Tribulation time. He said that if that time was not cut short by God’s sovereign plan, then they would all be destroyed; but because of those He had chosen to be a part of His family, it would only last a “short time” (from God’s view).

The suffering those first Christians would experience, the suffering of those alive during the desecration of the temple in 70 A.D.; and eventually, those who will receive Christ during the Tribulation and are enduring it, would all receive grace by that time of suffering being “cut short” so to speak, by God’s sovereign will.

This is really, believe it or not, a positive part of the message. Suffering will come. Yes, there will be tribulation; but when God’s people are involved, there will also be grace, so that they will not be completely wiped out.

Mark 13:21-23 – “And then if anyone says to you, Look here is the Christ! Or Look, there he is! Do not believe it. 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.”

In the midst of those days, Jesus said, others will be claiming to be the Messiah or point you to the Messiah (the Christ). Don’t believe them. They will have the ability to do miracles, even leading others to follow them. If it was possible, and its not, even those chosen by God would follow. There will be people, who have decided to follow Christ, during the Tribulation time. They are the elect; but will not fall away, since they are true believers. But, Jesus warns everyone to be ready for such a time of deception. The fact was, that those listening to Him would not experience the tribulation time, but they would experience many signs of it, including intense suffering; and people who would claim to be the Messiah. These warnings applied to them in that day; just like they apply to us now; and those that will go through the Tribulation in the future.

Now, Jesus gives a contrast with what will be happening during those days of Tribulation with what will take place when the Tribulation ends and the true Messiah will come:

Mark 13:24,25 – “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.”

This shows that He is not primarily referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. because these other things did not happen and Jesus did not return. Although that time would be what they were going to go through, these events are still future for us. There will be incredible changes in the heavenly lights. No one will miss that something new and unique is taking place.

Mark 13:26,27 – “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.”

And this is what will signify that the Messiah has come the second time and has come this time…to rule. And by referring to Him as the Son of Man, He is making it clear that He speaking of Himself. Those on earth at the time will see Him coming after all of those signs in the heavens; and He will be coming with great power and glory. His angels will gather all those who have accepted Christ (the elect) to join Him.

Jesus then uses an illustration to enforce his warning to keep their eyes open to the true signs of these things taking place; even things that will not happen until the future. Jesus answers their first question about :When will this happen:

Mark 13:28,29 – “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.”

He uses the idea of a fig tree to talk about the timing of when these things will happen. He notes that the fig tree, unlike the other trees in that area, would blossom in the spring. So, when that happens, you know that summer is getting close. Jesus said, so when you see these events that I have just described to you taking place, then you also know I am getting ready to come. The he of verse 29 can also be translated “it”. If “it” is the better translation, then this could refer to the abomination of desolation, the destruction of the temple that the disciples would see fairly soon. Either way, they would see some of these signs and know that things were set in motion for the end to come. Just remember that God’s view of time and ours is very different.

Mark 13:30 – “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

This sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? What is he saying? He couldn’t have meant that everything described earlier would actually happen before those people listening to Him died, could he? Because if that was true, Jesus would be a liar; because we are still waiting for some of these things to happen; and those people died over 2,000 years ago. So, what was he saying?

This is one of those times when we are looking at a “both/and” in Scripture. In other words, He is referring to those disciples - that some of them would see the abomination of desolation with the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. But, He was also speaking to the future Jews, during the time of the Tribulation, who would understand then what Jesus was referring to, because they would be living it. The term generation can be used to refer to a narrow (those living now) and a broader (those who are your descendants) focus concerning those in the future.

Mark 13:31 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

Jesus said: Yes – all you see here on Earth and in the heavens (not Heaven itself but the heavens – the skies) will pass away, but everything I am telling you, will certainly come to pass. Now, of course it would not come to pass in the way they thought or in the time frame they thought – we still struggle with that today – but it will come to pass.

These things are not easy to interpret; and that is why so many people have made the mistake of trying to set specific times. And when they have done that, they have make rash decisions based on their predictions; and they have caused others to do so as well. Let me just give you a few more examples from history (from the time of Jesus even until now):
· In 247 A.D., Christian prophets declared that the persecutions by the Romans were a sure sign that Jesus was returning at any moment
· In AD 380, The Donatists, a North African Christian sect, predicted the world would end in 380.
· In AD 500, the theologian Irenaeus predicted the second coming of Jesus in the year 500.
· In AD 1000 Christian authorities from all over the known world predicted the second coming in the year 1000 (and you can probably understand why – the same thing happened as we approached the year 2000 AD – remember?)
· IN AD 1284 Pope Innocent II predicted the end of the world in the year 1284, 666 years after the founding of Islam.
· In AD 1500, Martin Luther gave a general prediction, that Jesus would return within 300 years (AD 1800)
· Jonathan Edwards, in AD 1700, was reported to have predicted that the Antichrist’s rule would end when the papacy ended in 1866, and that the Devil, would be finally defeated in the year 2000, when the Millennium would begin.
· Isaac Newton, in AD 1700 predicted the Jews would reclaim Jerusalem in 1899, and that the second coming of Christ would occur precisely 49 years later.
· Mormon founder Joseph Smith, in AD 1832, said the New Jerusalem temple would be built in Missouri before another generation of people lived.
· Charles Taze Russell, founder of what would become the Jehovah’s Witnesses, first announced that the Last Days had begun in 1874 and the world would end in 1914.
· Radio evangelist Harold Camping, in 1994 believed the world would end by September 6, 1994.

And there are many more. But Jesus made it clear:

Mark 13:32 – “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

People would see some of the things happening and know what is coming; and yet no one, not even the angels or Jesus in His human form, would know exactly when Jesus would return. Jesus has equaled Himself to God saying that His words will never pass away. That is only true of God. Now, He is reminding everyone that He is also fully man, as he says that He at that moment, did not know when He would return one day.

This is all very important, being fully God and fully man, as he would die in just a few days for mankind. He had to be fully man AND fully God in order to do so.
What is the Day He is speaking of here? Certainly, the day He will return is in view; but also the Old Testament context of The Day of the LORD is in view. This includes the Tribulation, the Second coming and the 1,000 year reign of Christ. This will all begin suddenly. The Rapture of the church, which could happen at any moment, will set all of these things in motion without any more time for preparation.

Since no one knows when, exactly everything will happen, Jesus continued:

Mark 13:33 – “Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.”

It had implications for the people listening to Him that day; and it still has implications for us today, and everyone who lives in the future, up until Jesus returns. I believe that the Apostles believed Jesus would come again in their lifetime. I believe, if you read Paul’s writings, he thought Jesus would return soon. If you read historical writings of scholars and pastors and teachers down through the last couple centuries, everyone has believed that they have seen the signs of the times, and that certainly Jesus would come in their generation.

We all would say that is also possible in our generation. Many talk about these signs as though they are happening now; when they have really been happening ever since Jesus talked about them. I believe the reason is this:

Mark 13:34-37 – “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 cock 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.”

Jesus sums up the So What for everyone listening then and everyone who would read this in the future, with a story. I remember a professor of mine in college telling us the story of when he was in college. A teacher of his had allowed him and his friends to use his house while he was going to be gone for a weekend. So, they did what their college friends were doing – they partied and left a huge mess at this man’s house. In their thinking, they had plenty of time. He had told them he would return sometime on Monday, so they could easily clean it up Monday morning. However, as you can probably guess, the man’s plans changed, and he returned on Sunday instead. He came in to find the boys on the couch, watching football, with food and drink everywhere and garbage all over the apartment. The boys were completely embarrassed as they assumed when the teacher would return; and they were not ready.

Jesus gives this story to remind us all of this spiritual reality. Jesus, our Lord and master, will return one day and we don’t know when. So, don’t let your house (your life) go to waste. Make the most of your time. Be ready, Be alert, be on your guard. Jesus said, I could come any day, and any time of day. He used the four watches of the night to refer to the Roman system of measuring time. The evening was 6-9 pm., the midnight watch was 9 pm.-12 midnight; the rooster crows was the third watch from 12 a.m.-3 a.m. and the dawn was the fourth watch (3-6 am..) Mark used the Roman system for his readers benefit; and to make this point. It could happen at any time. 2,000 years have since past; and yet Jesus’ words have not passed away. They are still true.

SO WHAT?
1. Be a student of the Word of God
2. Be aware of spiritual deception
3. Be prepared to suffer for the gospel’s sake
4. Be ready for Christ’s return.
· Don’t make predictions – just be prepared.
· Trust in Christ for eternal salvation
· Live for God’s glory, knowing he could come for you in the Rapture; or your life could end.

Don’t get so caught up in the details of the study of future things; that you forget what was most important to Jesus as he spoke these words. He doesn’t want us obsessing about setting dates for the end of the world. He wants us focusing on living faithfully, each moment; as we seek to make disciples around the world. And as we do that, we live as though this life could end in the next moment.

SO WHAT changes do you need to make?