here. And I just thought, man, I don't know how we did this for several weeks not being able to gather together. Our church, when we gather— I love what John said in worship— when we gather, it is not a production. It's not a performance. You can watch a performance online, okay?
You cannot attend a family reunion online. Amen. And this is what Cross of Grace is. It is a weekly family reunion of around the gospel of Jesus Christ and so, and around the word of God. And so we've, for the last few months, we've had a number of our members come up and read the word.
We've loved that. And so we're gonna repeat that a few times during the year coming up soon at Advent. So Advent, we'll redo family readings and then we'll also probably implement those with Easter season and some other times of the year 'cause we've just loved it. We loved displaying our family and who we are. All right, so with that, we're going to turn to God's Word.
Our family reunion is centered around God's Word. And would you stand for the reading of God's Word with me, brothers and sisters?
Mark chapter 13. This is God's Word. And as he, Jesus, came out of the temple, one of his mess— 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?'" This is God's Word. Father, we pray you bless the preaching of your Word today. Amen. You may take a seat.
Well, as the Korean War broke out on the Korean Peninsula, many Americans assumed that it would be an easy victory for the American military, especially after the dominant display of American military power in World War II. So an advance force of about 440 Americans under the command of Brad Smith went to meet the opposing forces. And were cheered on by the South Koreans as they walked through the streets as if they'd already won the battle. In other words, they saw American troops coming and thought, we got this, we're done, this thing's over. They soon realized, though, that they were woefully unprepared for the task at hand.
Equipment that the Americans were using had not been updated since World War II, and much of the equipment had fallen into disrepair or disuse. As the American military began mobilizing in Korea, they realized that some of their radios did not work. Some of their machine guns did not work. And that's a piece of equipment you don't want to find out it doesn't work when you need it, right? In addition to that, as Soviet-supplied tanks began to advance in Korea, the Americans discovered, imagine this, that their bazookas were not able to pierce the armor of the Soviet tanks, and the only thing the bazookas seemed to do was annoy the tanks.
Not good. In one instance, a squad of soldiers was so unprepared that they were forced to break into a Korean schoolhouse to steal a map of Korea so they could navigate the terrain around them. They were woefully unprepared.
Now, Jesus wants to ensure in this passage that we as Christians, in what we will face, are not similarly woefully unprepared. Jesus in this passage is gonna outline that turbulent days are coming, more turbulent than the Korean conflict.
In fact, this begins with Jesus talking about the grand temple, that was the center of the Jewish religion, the center of the Jewish cultural identity. And Jesus begins— he kicks it off by saying, "That will be so destroyed that one brick will not be left on another." So Jesus is telling them in the Gospels that his actions, his life, death, and resurrection will usher in what Jesus often refers to as the last days. Listen to Jesus. He basically has two epochs in mind as he teaches. He has the former days, what was before Christ, and the latter days, with and after Christ.
He's describing these latter days as tumultuous.
So the disciples, like us, ask two questions. "Tell us, Jesus, when will these things be? And what's the sign that these things are coming about?" And I bet you anything, if you're glancing down and looking at the next verses, you're like, "Oh, man." Here we go. Here we go.
Because this is one of those passages that people, that Christians can treat almost like a National Treasure movie, where it's like, all right, we're going to get the symbols. We're going to get the signs. We're going to take them over to this place. And we're going to put in the code. And it's going to unlock another secret.
We're going to take this back to Ezekiel. That's going to unlock another secret. We take this forward to Revelation. And then we got a map. And it's got the pope.
And it's got the Soviet Union. And if you take the third letter of every fourth verse, it spells out Biden backwards.
Right? Hey, listen, I know you're laughing, but you've probably been like me down some of those internet rabbit trails. You're like, you know, that's where we tend to go. We want Jesus to, like, back up our end times theory or not. We wanna know, is this about the coronavirus?
I've heard some people say, this is it, it's it, it's right here. This is the coronavirus, what Jesus was talking about. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
6 · The pastor establishes the key interpretive principle: Jesus does not give the disciples a detailed timeline because his goal is not to satisfy curiosity but to prepare them
Because in this passage, Jesus does not answer the disciples the way they want an answer. The disciples want a list of clear names and dates and events handed to them so they'll be like, okay, good, thanks, we got it.
Jesus does not do that. Instead, he gives them essentially kind of themes, some specific events, but a lot of themes, a lot of generalities, because he has a different agenda than the disciples. The disciples wanna know everything that's gonna happen, just to know what's gonna happen. Jesus wants them to know a little bit about what's gonna happen so they will be prepared for what will happen. Jesus has a different agenda.
The disciples want the Da Vinci Code. Maybe we want the Da Vinci Code. Jesus wants them to be prepared. That's the agenda in this passage. So you see that agenda, and Jesus saying twice in the passages we're gonna read it, Be on guard.
That's repeated 3 times in Mark 13 in this discourse. It means to pay attention, to take heed, to stand ready, or next week we'll talk about it means wake up.
7 · The pastor clarifies that 'be on guard' means protecting the deposit of knowledge about Jesus and discipleship already given
Being on guard means this, that Jesus has given the disciples a deposit. He's given them the knowledge of who he is. He's given them the knowledge of how to follow him as disciples, and he wants these disciples to guard that deposit, to hold on to what he's given them. Notice this is important, Christians. Jesus does not suddenly lay out a different agenda of discipleship in the last days than in the normal days.
It's not as though, okay, Revelation 1's starting up. Now we're, like, now we're off the rails, and we need to, you know, gather nuclear weapons as Christians to form our nation state. Like, that's not— he doesn't say that. Discipleship is the same but will be more urgent in the last days. That's what he's saying.
So the big idea, I'm gonna sum up this way: in the turbulent last days, tighten your grip on Jesus. It's gonna get bumpy, it's gonna get turbulent, so tighten your grip on Jesus.
8 · The pastor reads Mark 13:5-9a, highlighting Jesus' first encouragement: do not be alarmed by wars, disasters, and false messiahs
Jesus is gonna give 3 encouragements toward that. First encouragement: do not be alarmed by turmoil tighten your grip on Christ. Verse 5, 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 people 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— this is key— these are but the beginning of the birth pains. But be on your guard.
9 · The pastor surfaces the central interpretive question: does Mark 13 describe only first-century events or also the end of history? He presents the tension — the temple was destroyed in AD 70, but Jesus did not return in the first century and the gospel has not yet reached all nations
Now, the question that hangs over this passage, the question we're going to need to answer, is one of the thorniest questions in the passage. When I, when I read the commentaries and scholars on Mark chapter 13, it seems as though they disagreed about a whole lot in this passage, but they did agree on one thing.
This is one of the most difficult passages to interpret. And so you're like, well, thank you. I'm glad there's agreement at least on that. This is one of the key questions of the passage. Is Jesus talking about only things that will happen in the lifetime of the disciples in front of him, or is he talking about the end of history and the end of all things?
Well, remember that he begins the speech talking about the temple, right? That's a specific thing he's talking about, the temple being destroyed. And that did happen within the lifetime of the disciples in AD 70. So Jesus is pointing ahead to the destruction of the temple. So we know, okay, that's a timestamp, we know AD 70.
But if Jesus was saying that all of Mark 13 would come true in the lifetime of the disciples, he would be a false prophet because Jesus did not return in the first century in the Mark 13 verses 24 to 27 way. So what do we do with that? Well, we also notice that some events in our text point to the future, such as in verse 10, the gospel being proclaimed to all nations, meaning the gospel being proclaimed to every tribe, tongue, language, and people. So that did not happen either in the first century. Didn't go to, uh, Far East Asia, didn't go to South America, lots of places didn't go.
Still has not gone to every corner of the globe. And as we'll see next week, Jesus has not returned in power and glory where every eye can see him. So what do we do with this text then?
10 · A personal story about observing his wife's childbirth experiences illustrates the nature of birth pains: they do not ease but intensify in frequency and severity until new life arrives
Well, I think verse 8 is a tremendous help. Verse 8, notice this phrase: "These are but the beginning of the birth pains." Now, I have— we have— my wife and I have had 3 kids, and so I know— I do not know this firsthand, But secondhand, I have observed something about the childbirth process.
This is as much as I will venture to offer about the childbirth process, 'cause all the moms are getting real nervous. They're like, "You gonna give us childbirth advice?" No, I'm gonna make this observation that when the birth pains start, they do not get easier after that. Anybody agree with that? Anybody having a kid that like, it started out one way and then it just got easier? Was that anybody's labor?
I don't think so, right? Not what I've observed. In fact, this tends to be what happens. Birth pains start out rough and they get rougher and they get faster and closer together. And then my wife is looking at me like she wants to hurt me by the end and hurt the doctors around us and saying, "You did this," right?
Stuff like that. That's what happens. It doesn't get happier. It gets angrier before the new life enters the world.
11 · The pastor resolves the interpretive tension by arguing that Mark 13 describes both first-century events and a pattern that intensifies throughout history until Christ's return
So, what do we do with this metaphor? These are but the beginning of the birth pains. Well, this is what I think Jesus is saying. The events that Jesus is talking about in Mark 13, much of them will occur in the lifetime of the disciples. The temple being destroyed, wars, the abomination, as I'm going to talk about in a second. But I think he's also referencing a pattern that will continue until the to the end of history.
Meaning that these are how the birth pangs are gonna start, and through history they will increase and get worse until a final culmination at the end of history. So they're patterns that increase, if that makes sense.
12 · An analogy comparing biblical prophecy to mountains on the horizon — events that appear adjacent from a distance may be widely separated in actual history
Now, this can be a little, this illustration can help some of you. So if you've ever driven up to the Rocky Mountains in the Colorado area, right? You can see mountains in front of you, and they all look like they're kinda lined up together, kinda right behind each other.
But as you drive into the mountains, you start to see, oh wait, This mountain's actually way in front, and the closer I get, I can see this mountain getting bigger, but that one's not getting bigger. And then you drive, and then okay, that mountain, so you see these mountains that all appear like they're next to each other from the horizon, as you get close to them, you begin to see they're actually spaced apart in geography. Similarly, in biblical prophecy like Mark 13, some of these things will seem like they're right next to each other, but in the context of history, may be spaced very far apart.
13 · The pastor applies the birth pains metaphor to the congregation's life: Jesus tells us about coming turmoil not to alarm us but to prepare us
So what's the point? Why does Jesus tell us this?
Well, Jesus tells us this for a reason. He says all of this for a reason, so that we would not be alarmed by turmoil. Look, though, at the turmoil that Jesus predicts. He predicts wars. He predicts rumors of wars, meaning a pattern of either we're going to be fighting or we're going to be rumored to be fighting.
Conflict, nation against nation. Kingdom against kingdom. He talks about disaster, earthquakes will be there, famines will be there. All of this would naturally lead us to be alarmed. And at first, I didn't understand what Jesus was doing.
It's like he's saying, I'm going to say all these terrible things, but don't be alarmed.
14 · A personal anecdote about a therapist telling alarming news while insisting the pastor relax illustrates the apparent paradox of Jesus predicting terrible events while commanding 'do not be alarmed
It was like when I was doing some— one of my therapies for my back, and the therapist was talking to me and saying, okay, for this adjustment, you're going to have to relax and be quiet. "Let your body relax so that I can move your back around." I'm like, "Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool." But the therapist is just chatting with me and I was saying, "Hey, what are your plans for the fall?" And they were like, "Oh, you know, the fall's gonna be great, and I'm hoping to do this if the economy doesn't collapse." And I was like, "What was that?" And she's like, "Well, you know, the economy." And then she started, you know, "Hyperinflation, you know, the gas runs of the '70s and the Great Depression." You know, beginning to throw these comments out. And I'm beginning to be alarmed. And she's like, no, no, just relax.
I need you to relax so I can do it. And I'm like, OK, I'm cool. I'm relaxed. And then she kind of goes on. And then she goes, well, you know, and also, obviously, they're not telling anybody, but the Taliban got a nuke.
There's a nuke over there. And they got it now. And they're going to be running around. And I'm like, what? The Taliban have a nuke?
She's like, you know what? I need you to relax. Just be cool. And I'm like, I am not relaxed. Now, anymore, you have alarmed me, right?
And that's what it feels like with what Jesus is doing. He's telling us these things and then going, just relax, don't be alarmed. And you're like, why are you telling me this then? I would have been unalarmed if you had just not talked to me about it. What is Jesus doing?
15 · The pastor resolves the paradox: Jesus predicts turmoil so that when Christians encounter it, they will recognize it as evidence that they are on the path, not off it
Here's what he's doing. He says this, when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed, this must take place. Take place, but the end is not yet. What, what is Jesus doing? He's saying this: as you go into the future, you will encounter this, Christians.
You will encounter wars, you will encounter pandemics, you will encounter disasters and earthquakes, you will encounter conflict in countries and outside of countries and between countries. You will encounter all of this. But I'm telling you this so that when you see these conflicts happening, these this turmoil happening, you don't think we're off the path, we're off the rails, God is no longer in control, the world is insane, we don't know what to do. He's saying, no, no, no. These are signposts that you are marching toward the inevitable conclusion of history, which is the victory of Christ and the restoration of all things.
16 · A personal story about hiking in the Franklin Mountains and fearing being lost until spotting trail markers illustrates how Jesus' predictions function as reassuring signposts rather than evidence of chaos
Right? Have you ever been hiking in the Franklin Mountains? I'm not a great, like, outdoorsman, if you picked that up from, being around me. And so when I'm hiking in the Franklin Mountains, I really depend on those little things that are like the trail markers, right? Sometimes it's just like a little stick with like a little flag or something.
But man, there are times between trail markers that I think, now I've done it. The only ending to this day is me being on the news at 5:00 PM having to be rescued by helicopter because I'm probably gonna die of dehydration within the next hour or two. And you begin to think, am I on the right trail? Is this the trail? 'Cause there's parts of the Francis, especially lately, where the foliage and growth has happened and you're like, is this a trail?
Or is this like something else? And yet, when you come around the corner and there's that little marker and you're like, okay, okay, we will not die this day, family. We will continue on. That is what Jesus is doing. He's saying, look, these are trail markers.
Don't assume that if you see these things, things are out of control. Assume things are in control. Don't assume that things are off the rails. Assume they're on the rails, 'cause I told you this is what you'll encounter.
17 · The pastor applies the signpost principle directly: alarm should not be the Christian's default posture
So this is what Jesus wants for us.
Christian, ask yourself, is your heart normally in a state of alarm? Because alarm should not be the default posture of the Christian heart. Sometimes I think even in the church, we almost, say, like, man, the most informed Christians are the ones flipping out and the most alarmed, right? Did you see this? You see that?
Dude, everything is going on in America and Australia, you know, and the Russia— Russia's coming back and everything, you know. And you think, man, that's the most informed guy. He is definitely the most alarmed. The most informed Christians are the least alarmed because the events of the world that they see in turmoil around them are only signposts saying this must take place Jesus is guiding this toward the end. And the end of history ends in the good of his people and the glory of God.
So as you see this, as you hear this stuff on the news, Christian, be encouraged.
18 · The pastor reads Mark 13:9-13, introducing Jesus' second encouragement: do not be anxious about opposition
Second, don't be anxious about opposition, tighten your grip on Christ. You're like, it gets better? Oh, it gets worse. Verse 9, but be on your guard, for they will deliver you over to councils, you will be beaten in synagogues, 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. 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.
19 · The pastor connects Jesus' prediction to the historical reality faced by the apostles — three of the four present were martyred and Acts records the pattern of opposition, beatings, and Stephen's martyrdom
Now, this has a particular meaning as we're talking about the first birth pain, the particular meaning for the disciples that Jesus is talking to, for Peter, James, John, Andrew. Out of this group of 4 disciples, tradition holds that 3 of them are martyred. The 4th one, they attempt to martyr by putting him in a boiling thing of oil, and he survives. And that's why he goes to Patmos and writes the book of Revelation, because they couldn't figure out how to kill him. Right?
It's rough. It gets rough for these disciples. You read the book of Acts. This is what happens in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 4, the gospel goes out.
All of a sudden, there's opposition. All of a sudden, the Jewish leaders are against them. All of a sudden, they're being beaten. In Acts 7, Stephen is the first martyr for the Christian faith. And God indeed does give him words to say, and he powerfully proclaims the gospel as he is stoned to death.
This, Jesus says, is what Christians will experience.
20 · The pastor applies the persecution theme globally, reminding the congregation that many Christians worldwide face the kind of opposition Jesus predicted — including Ethiopian pastors whose identities must be concealed because naming them would be a death sentence
And brothers and sisters, one of the applications is we must be aware of our brothers and sisters around the world for whom this experience would be absolutely foreign. The ability to freely gather, proclaim the name of Jesus, invite anyone with no fear of repercussion in the community, is a treasure. In our family of churches, we're— one of the things I've been encouraged by lately is that we're starting a pastor's college to train pastors in Ethiopia. It's happened just in the last year or two.
And so I got this email describing, like, oh, the pastor's college is starting up, and it had the pictures of the students. I'm like, oh yes, I'm going to take these guys, want to pray for these guys over this next year. And I get to the bottom, and there's like 4 or 5 guys that are just like the blank Facebook profile picture and a first name. And you read further and basically these brothers are brothers operating in Muslim areas. They're trained, they're from and are going back to Muslim communities for whom their picture and name being out there would be a death sentence.
This is occurring, this is happening right now in our world. We must be faithful and prepared and understand that some of us in America will be called to go there.
21 · An unscripted pastoral aside challenging those who pray for Christ's return: Jesus has made clear that the gospel must reach all nations first, so praying for his return should lead to missionary action, not passive waiting
This isn't even in my notes, but the one thing— people are always like, "Oh, come, Lord Jesus, come, Lord Jesus." The one thing that we're real clear on that has to take place before Jesus comes back is that the gospel must be proclaimed in all nations, every tribe, tongue, language, and people. So if you're like, "Come, Lord Jesus," maybe Lord Jesus is saying, "All right, get out there." We know that's going to happen, and then Jesus will return.
22 · The pastor shifts from global persecution to the American context, arguing that the last two centuries of cultural Christianity have given American believers a false expectation of cultural neutrality or approval
But in America, how should we do that?
Respond to this? Well, I think in America, the last century or two has not served us completely as Christians in this way. We've begun to think at times that the default cultural view of Christianity is generally positive or at least neutral, right? Like, we're surprised if we, you know, we do something and everybody in America doesn't clap or get excited about it. I think we We cannot think of America as neutral.
We must, according to these words, be prepared for America to be in opposition to Christ. And if you talk to sociologists, one of the things that's happened is in previous decades and times in American society, there were probably genuine Christians and then there was kind of a layer of cultural Christians on top of that. Meaning there was a cultural pressure, like you had to kind of go to church if you were gonna be a member of the community in many eras of America and places of America. And so people went to church, Maybe we didn't know where they were in their heart, but they went and, you know, they were positive toward Christianity. But that layer is burning or has quickly burned off.
And I think the coronavirus thing has probably burned off the last layer of it. Because now in our society, there is no advantage to being part of a Christian community. There is a disadvantage in many ways.
23 · Two cultural examples — celebrities interrogated about their beliefs and the Mozilla CEO fired for a pro-life donation — illustrate the cultural cost of Christian belief in America
I mean, just watch the latest celebrity that comes out saying, hey, I'm gonna try to follow Jesus, and all of a sudden the immediate attack is, what do you believe? What do you believe about this?
What do you believe about transgender people? You gotta give us an answer, and if you don't say what we want you to say, you will be exiled. I mean, a few years ago, the company Mozilla, who runs the Firefox browser that a lot of us use, they appointed a new CEO to their company, and everybody loved him, perfectly qualified, perfectly good man in the company. What came out was one of the employees discovered on a public database that this man new CEO had given $1,000 to a pro-life cause to care for kids in California. And the response of the employees was an immediate walkout.
So this guy was dismissed not because he was a bad CEO, not because he'd done anything wrong, not because of MeToo or whatever, just because he donated to a pro-life cause.
24 · The pastor calls Christians to be eyes-open about coming opposition, specifically naming biblical views on gender, sexuality, and the exclusivity of Christ as flash points where cultural toleration will break down
I think we have to be prepared, we gotta be, eyes open, Christians. We got to be eyes open that this— listen, if it gets better, we'll all be happily surprised. But I think in light of Jesus' words, we must be prepared that there will be opposition for following Christ in our generation and beyond. We already face opposition and being ostracized if we hold a biblically orthodox view on gender and sexuality.
We will face opposition and continue to face opposition for saying that we have an exclusive source of truth that is true for everybody. It's not true for me. Yes, it is, it's true for you. If you say that, that's offensive. Our culture is okay with any belief and any view except for people saying, hey, there's only one way to heaven and we know the truth.
Like, and all of a sudden the culture gets real intolerant of that. So, Be prepared, Christians.
25 · The pastor outlines the countercultural cost of Christian belief: Christians will be seen as crazy for advocating grace over cancellation and for believing that racial reconciliation requires the gospel
There's many implications for this. We're gonna be the crazy people, and when our culture is like, okay, this is how we treat enemies, and these are the people we treat, and we cancel people, Christians are like, what about grace? What about people who get a chance to repent?
And they're like, no, no, no, they're exiled. Or, for Christians who believe the insane thing, according to our culture, the insane belief that true racial reconciliation is only possible through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And cannot be fully achieved by any other means. Right, these things will cost us friendships. These things can cost us jobs.
These things can cost us stability. And we, according to Jesus' words, must be willing to put it on the line for the sake of Jesus.
26 · A direct pastoral word to those under 30: abandon the assumption that cultural niceness will be reciprocated
So let me just encourage you. I just want to encourage you, especially people under 30.
How do I want to say this?
If you under 30 believe that if you are just nice to the culture as a Christian, they will be nice to you back, I think your eyes need to be opened. Because Christianity means being nice to people that will not be nice to you back. And so if you assume, like, well, if I'm just living nice and I'm doing the right thing, everybody will like me. No, it will not happen. Look at Jesus' words.
What we're called to do is to love the people who hate us back. We gotta be prepared for that.
27 · The pastor resolves the anxiety produced by his warning: Jesus provides the Holy Spirit, who transforms opposition into gospel opportunity
And yet again, Jesus gives us this encouragement, don't be anxious. I don't know about you, but I'm anxious now. I'm thinking about the future of America, and I'm thinking about school, and my heart's going, ah!
Jesus says, no, no, no, don't do that. Don't be anxious, because Jesus actually provides a specific hope, a specific help. He says the Spirit of God, the same Spirit Spirit of God that was there at the foundation of the world will be sent by God to be with us, to dwell in us, so that in these moments of opposition, the moments of opposition become opportunities for gospel witness. The Spirit of God changes opposition moments to opportunity moments for the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is exactly what you see with Stephen.
That's exactly what you see with Paul. Paul's like, "Bring on the rulers. I get to preach the gospel to them." There's one guy in particular in Acts, he starts— they ask him, "Hey, what's your story? You're in jail. You're in chains." Paul starts preaching the gospel to him.
And the guy says, "In such a short time, are you going to try to convince me to become a follower of Jesus?" And every Christian everywhere says, "Yes. Yes." Every moment of opposition can, in God's timing, be an opportunity for countercultural love and wit.
28 · A cultural reference to Bob Vance from The Office — a character who relentlessly names his business in every appearance — illustrates how Christians should relentlessly proclaim the gospel in moments of opposition, making Christ their primary identity before any political or cultural allegiance
Like this should be the thing. When we are opposed as Christians, our response should be to more loudly proclaim at every opportunity that we love people and we love Jesus and Jesus loves us, and Jesus loves people and lays down his life, even for his enemies. Look, this is a stupid illustration off the cuff here.
But you guys, if you have watched the office, there's this one character that occurs every once in a while. Bob Vance. Vance Refrigeration. Anybody know Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration? Every time he appears in The Office, he shakes somebody's hand and says, "Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration." And you're just like, what is the deal with this weirdo?
Every human he's introduced to, he's just like, "Vance Refrigeration." And then I read this thread of like, what is going on with Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration? Those are the rabbit trails I go down. And this one person is like, it's really simple. This is a documentary, quote unquote, And so every time he appears in the documentary, he wants to get the name of his refrigeration company out there, right? Thinking, okay, eventually people are going to watch this.
So I want to make sure anytime I appear, Vance Refrigeration, right? It's out there. That's the way the Christian should be with the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we're opposed, when we get an opportunity, what should come out of our mouths is Ricky Christian, Ricky saved by grace, Ricky enemy of God, now friend of God, Ricky recipient of insane Ricky, recipient of a future and a hope he does not deserve, right? Not Ricky, then political party.
Not Ricky, then cultural identity. Not Ricky, then national identity. Ricky, Christian, saved by Jesus. That is what Jesus is encouraging us to think about. So we need to hold tightly to Jesus so in those moments he's the first thing we give to those who oppose us.
29 · A historical example from the first century: the gospel spread in Rome because pagans watching Christians die in the arena were provoked to wonder what could enable such unbreakable witness
And by the way, side note, this works. In the first century, one of the ways Christianity spread in Rome was Romans watching Christians be fed to the lions week after week. They're clapping, they're clapping, and then week 3 or 4, all of a sudden they're like, what am I missing? 'Cause this is the third week in a row that we fed people to literal lions and they have not broken. And they've pointed to Jesus.
And that actually historically was one of the ways the gospel spread in Rome. People were just, "I don't understand what these people are. What are these people? Why would they stand there and tell the people killing them about the love of Jesus?" Like, "Well, let me tell you about a guy named Jesus. That's exactly what he did for us."
30 · The pastor reads Mark 13:14-23, Jesus' third encouragement: do not be deceived by false messiahs
All right, third, third encouragement from Jesus: Don't be deceived by false messiahs.
Tighten your grip on Christ. Now, I'm just going to tell you, man, in this next session we're going to read, you're going to have a lot of questions. We're not going to have time to get to them all. Get to all of them, and I'm going to try to be loud about the stuff I'm sure about and not as loud about the stuff that I'm not sure about. Okay?
So all humility, that's where I'm at as a preacher today. Verse 14. Oh, by the way, you're going to love this. Verse 14, "But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be," Mark throws in, "let the reader understand." And all of us go, "Oh, of course. I got it.
Sure." Nobody has a question about that. He continues, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who's on the housetop not go down nor enter his house to take anything out. Let the one who's in the field not turn back to take aside his clothes. 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 did not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. 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've told you all things beforehand.
31 · The pastor provides background on 'abomination of desolation,' explaining its origin in Daniel and its historical fulfillment in the 2nd century BC when Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple
Now, there's a lot here, but I think I can offer a little bit of help, and then you can, you could go down the study trail of your study Bible and dig into this. So first thing you should know, the abomination of desolation, that's a really interesting term.
That term occurs 3 times in the book of Daniel. In the book of Daniel, it's used to predict that a great, horrific, kind of abhorrent, gag-worthy sin is going to take place in Israel that will cause desolation. And by all accounts, this is what happens in the 2nd century BC, so about 150 years before Jesus, Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple in Jerusalem by, listen to this, sacrificing a pig on the Jewish altar and then setting up an idolatrous altar to Zeus, right? And by most cultural accounts, that's what Daniel was pointing forward to. So Jesus bringing up this this idea of the abomination of desolation, he seems 150 years too late.
Like, no, Jesus, that already happened 150 years ago. That was, by the way, if you're like, that's what kickstarted the whole Maccabee rebellion and stuff like that. So what is Jesus doing? Is he just confused here?
32 · The pastor resolves the interpretive problem: the abomination of desolation has a first-century fulfillment (AD 70 destruction of the temple) and a future eschatological fulfillment
Well, a couple things are going on.
Remember that metaphor of the birth pains that increase in intensity? So the birth pains begin in the first century. In 70 AD, remember, the temple is destroyed, and when that happens, the Romans carry banners of their god-king Caesar into the temple. The general enters the Holy of Holies, and they pick apart the entire temple, leaving no two bricks in place. That would meet the biblical kind of criteria of an abomination that causes desolation, but it does not seem to fulfill everything Jesus is talking about in this passage.
So it seems That's the type of event that will occur in history, and there will be a final, decisive, definitive abomination at the end of history. Now, that is what seems clear. Why doesn't Jesus give us more on that? Because his agenda is not describing the details of the abomination of desolation, even though we're like, "I'd like a little more on that, please." Jesus' agenda is that in that time of turmoil, false teachers will arise.
33 · A historical pattern from Latin America — people in turmoil turning to dictators — illustrates the human tendency to seek false saviors in times of crisis, supporting Jesus' warning about false messiahs
Now, this is what happens in history.
Once there's tumult, once there's dangerous, uncertain times, people often look to false saviors, false messiahs. This is what happens in Latin America all the time. There'll be turmoil in a country, people will turn to a powerful dictator who promises to give them what they want. It happens over and over throughout history.
34 · The pastor applies Jesus' warning to the congregation: the way to avoid counterfeit messiahs is to know the real Jesus intimately
Jesus says, as it gets more tumultuous, even Christians will be tempted by this.
They'll see somebody kind of like Jesus and be tempted to go with him and think, okay, well, this guy's flesh and blood. Let's follow him. Jesus, the guy in the sky, I don't know if he's coming back. And Jesus is saying, no, no, don't go after counterfeits. Jesus' encouragement is to grip more tightly who he is and the pattern of discipleship that he has given his disciples, right?
And the only way to avoid a counterfeit is to know the real thing. Right, if you're a bank teller and you're trained to look for counterfeit money, there's a few times that I've had to hand in real crispy bills to the bank in my lifetime, and that real crispy looking bill, the bank teller takes and looks up and looks under the thing, and we used to wonder, how do they know what to look for? The way you train bank tellers is by looking at real bills and knowing exactly what's inside a real bill, and then comparing a counterfeit bill the counterfeit bill to it, right? So similarly, what Jesus is saying is, "Don't go after the counterfeit. Remember who I am." In fact, that's actually what the Gospel of Mark is.
It's a record of who Jesus is and his pattern of discipleship so that Christians would not be deceived.
35 · A hypothetical scenario — a figure claiming miracles, visions, and new revelation — illustrates the kind of false teacher Jesus warns against
So you might have a guy, he can do some miracles, he claims he's seen a vision, right? He claims he's got a new revelation. He claims a certain angel came and talked to him. And some people are like, "Oh, well, maybe he's right," right?
No! Well, some of it doesn't exactly line up with the New Testament, but he seems right. No, right? Jesus is saying, know the real thing.
36 · The pastor highlights the phrase 'the one who endures to the end will be saved,' surfacing the apparent burden it places on human effort
So here's where I want to end here.
There are— there's a particular phrase in here that's interesting. In— what is it? In verse— let's see here.
Yeah, the one who endures to the end. Will be saved. Do you see that? This is interesting because you think, okay, well, then it's up to us to somehow endure to the end. It's up to us to have a strong enough grip on Christ that at the end where all these things are happening— false messiahs, wars, tumult, earthquakes, coronavirus, all that stuff— it's up to us.
We've got to hold tight to this thing. Otherwise, if we let go, We're gonna die. Remember who is speaking to the disciples.
37 · The pastor resolves the tension with John 10:28: Jesus grips us more tightly than we grip him
John 10, Jesus supplements that encouragement to hold tight till the end with this encouragement that Jesus says in 10:28, I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. Jesus is calling us as disciples to grip tightly to him, but he is also telling us I grip more tightly to you than you do to me.
He's encouraging them. He's calling them to endure to the end, to be ready, to be on guard, to hold tight. But he is also saying, as he describes this, he's not a passive participant in history. It's not as though Jesus is like all of us, just trying to navigate the twists and turns, the seas of life. The waves are going up and down, and Jesus is like, well, I'm doing my best to pilot the No, what Mark reveals to us is not Jesus as a pilot trying to navigate through the waves, but Jesus as the Lord of the waves themselves, the one who is bringing all things to a conclusion at the end of history, the Son of Man that will speedily return, as we will see, like, next week, and restore his people and usher in a new creation.
That is the Jesus speaking to them. He says, "I grip you." grip back. I'm holding on to you, hold on to me. I'm gonna end with this.
38 · A cultural reference to Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, whose hero could predict the future using math, illustrates the human longing for someone who can navigate uncertainty
There's a— I started talking about the Korean War era and the danger and uncertainty of that era, and it really was uncertain.
Nobody could have predicted World War II, what happened at the scale it did, and yet it did. Nobody could have predicted the advent of nuclear weapons and the ability to destroy a city in moments. Nobody could have predicted the coming quick confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States. And so in the midst of this period of tumult and turmoil, there's a science fiction writer named Isaac Asimov, and he creates a hero for the moment. Our heroes always say interesting things about the culture they come from.
In that moment of uncertainty, Isaac Asimov created a hero named Harry Seldon in this book series called Foundation. And Harry Seldon wasn't super strong, he wasn't super fast, he wasn't super— you know, whatever, his ability was that he could use math to predict the future and help guide humanity through the years. And I think it's so interesting, out of all this turmoil in the '60s and in the '50s, like, the longing of the human heart was, man, I really wish there was somebody who could actually see the future and help us navigate through it, right? That longing of the human heart. And by most accounts, Asimov, expressing that longing, never found what Scripture describes, which is the one who knows the future and more than that, holds the future.
39 · The pastor applies the sermon evangelistically, addressing non-Christians directly: the culture offers false pilots (romance, family, self-help) for navigating life's turmoil, but Christ offers to grip and carry those who come to him, quoting Jesus' invitation from Matthew 11
Brothers and sisters, as we hear the news, we long to know that we will be okay. And as we will see next week, the Son of Man himself has a grip on us. Our response then should be to tightly grip him back. Now, if you're not a Christian, I just want to encourage you today, you long for this. You long to be able to navigate life and find a safe harbor.
You long for a pilot to pilot you through life. And culture offers all kinds of different ideas. You got to do it. You can find somebody to do it. You need to find the love of your life.
They'll do it. You got to have kids. That'll help you do it. Like all these ideas for this is how you get through life, this tumultuous life. The offer of Christ is so much better than what our world offers.
He says, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. "Come to me, all who are anxious. Come to me, all who face uncertain, tumultuous times, and I will grip you and carry you."
40 · The pastor grounds the assurance of Jesus' grip in the cross: if Jesus held his people through his own death and resurrection, no future event can loosen his grip
And do you know how we know that Jesus will carry us to the very end? Because Jesus, in Mark 13, is on his way to the cross, and in his grip are the people of God. And on the cross, he will go to the cross and suffer and die for the people in his arms.
To trade places with them, that he might be the righteous given for the unrighteous, that they might be righteous in him. And if Christ did not let go of his people on the cross, do you think anything in history will loosen his grip on you, Christian? Do you think there's any event that could happen at any time, anywhere, that could make Jesus drop you? No. If he carried you through the cross to the empty tomb on the other side, he will surely bring us home, amen?
That's what we're going to talk about next week.
41 · A pastoral prayer asking God to enable the congregation to tighten their grip on Jesus in tumultuous days, to turn to Christ rather than alarm when events seem out of control, and to rest in the assurance that Jesus holds them through the cross
So let's stand and pray.
Oh, heavenly Father, I pray that we would feel the encouragement, the charge from your word right now, that we are to tighten our grip on Jesus. Lord, may we, in the tumultuous days ahead, have a reaction every time the world around us seems out of control, every time it seems uncertain, every time some new event happens that we did not expect, rather than turning to alarm, rather than turning to anxiety, may we turn to Christ. May we see the signposts along the way. May we see opposition as an opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Jesus. May we faithfully hold on to you through these days.
But God, may we rest in the fact that you hold onto us, that the one who spoke Mark 13 takes his people to the cross where he pays for their sins and clears their debt and brings them to life. And may we hold onto you, trusting that you do a far better job of holding onto us.
And I pray for that. In the name of Jesus.
42 · A final pastoral charge based on the pastor's own experience: in tumultuous days, Christians become addicted to news and social media, starting the day with the world's voice rather than Christ's
Let me just add one thing before we sing here, guys. This is just on my heart. I think so often in tumultuous days, we get addicted to news and news feeds and the stuff around us.
We feel like, man, if I could just know a little bit more about the future, then I'd be able to navigate it. And what I found in my heart often, I noticed this pattern in me, I was waking up every day as I was brushing my teeth, listening to the news, And then I would try to recover reading my Bible. Until one day the Lord just put his finger on that and said, "Why do you think you start the day anxious?" And I realized the voice of the world and the tumult of the world was so loud that when I tried to turn up the voice of Christ, it didn't work. So what I've been trying to do is start my day with the voice of Christ. So what I want to encourage you this week Maybe take a break from news for a week.
Maybe even take a break from Facebook for a week or IG for a week and turn the noise and distraction down and turn up the voice of Christ. And I will bet you anything, the alarm in your heart, the anxiety in your heart will diminish and your trust in Christ will grow. Let me just encourage you with that. Now let's sing as we put our trust in him.