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Shayne Poirier on Mark 13:14-27.
This sermon is from Grace Fellowship Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. To access other sermons or to learn more about us, please visit our website at graceedmonton .ca.
Sometime between the year 1530 and the year 1533, a young man named John Calvin came to saving faith in Christ. Up until that point, for the first at least 21 years of his life, he was a devoted Roman Catholic.
But at that decisive moment, when God effectually called him to trust in Christ, he threw away all semblance of self-righteousness, all personal merit, and he cast himself upon the grace of God by faith in Jesus Christ.
And if you know anything about John Calvin, one of the things that you will know for certain is that almost immediately after his conversion, God placed in Calvin's heart an insatiable desire to study the Word of God, to know the Word, to expound upon the Word.
In fact, at his conversion, he said this, he said, Scripture is like a pair of spectacles which dispels the darkness and gives us a clear view of God. And with an interest in seeking that clear view of God and of making that knowledge widely known, Calvin gave himself to the study of Scripture.
And I find his example just tremendously encouraging and challenging. And we'll get into that in a second. But it was always Calvin's intent to live a solitary life of study. As a matter of fact, when Calvin was first saved, he didn't consider himself a pastor, but he wanted to be a theologian and a scholar.
And he wanted to stay really out of the limelight. And he wanted to read and to write to his heart's content. And I'm sure there's many of us in this room that can probably relate to that. Just to be locked in a room full of good books and the good book, God's holy word, and to just study to your heart's content.
That was Calvin's intent. But one night as he was traveling, he had to travel from Basel in France to Strasbourg, which is just a short distance straight north. He found himself having to travel through the city of Geneva in Switzerland.
And if you look on a map, what you'll find actually is that if you were to go from Basel to Strasbourg, Geneva is in exactly the wrong direction. What had happened was King Charles V had sent his troops in that particular area and were blocking the route.
And so in God's providence, instead of going directly north, he had to first go south to Geneva and then the roundabout way to Strasbourg. And as he was in Geneva, he was only in Geneva for one night, there was another reformer named William Farrell.
And William Farrell had heard about John Calvin. Calvin had started to make a name for himself. People came to know some of his works that were known at that time and known today still as Calvin's Institutes.
And so knowing that there was this brilliant theologian in Geneva, William Farrell came to John Calvin and implored him, instead of going to Strasbourg, to stay in Geneva. He said that Calvin's efforts were better spent not serving in the ivory towers of academia, but serving Christ's people in the local church.
I'm so grateful that William Farrell came. And he was so insistent on this that he even issued a curse against John Calvin. Imagine being in that position where you have your books, you have your plan for your life.
And this man said to him, Calvin writes, he proceeded to utter imprecations. Whenever anyone utters imprecations about you or toward you, you're in trouble. Imprecations that God would curse my retirement in the tranquilities of my studies, which I sought if I should withdraw and refuse to give assistance when the necessity was so urgent.
By this imprecation, Calvin says, I was so stricken with terror that I desisted from my journey, which I had undertaken. Now what a church growth strategy that is. When someone comes to visit just for a day and you say, let God curse you if you leave us here now.
So what did Calvin do? But Calvin stayed, with some interruptions, but stayed in Geneva and pastored there for over 25 years. And his ministry in the word of God is something that I find just spectacular.
Probably something that my wife would think would be crazy if I would ever try to replicate this. But he would preach twice every Sunday and then two times a day, every weekday, every second week. And so what he would end up with is one week he would preach two services on a Sunday and then wouldn't preach again until the following Sunday.
But then the alternating week he would preach, by my knowledge, from Sunday to Sunday 14 times every second week. So an amazing pace. And there he devoted himself to the systematic expository preaching of God's word.
He preached 123 sermons on Genesis. He preached 200 sermons on Deuteronomy. 186 sermons on Corinthians. His church went through Ephesians and just under 50 sermons. He preached 353 consecutive sermons on Isaiah.
He had a faithful and a patient church. And he was certainly a faithful expositor in that respect. And he kept up this frenetic pace for such a lengthy period of time that on one particular month he found that he had only preached in that particular month 20 sermons and 12 lectures.
So 32 speaking engagements in 31 days. And he said, how I lamented. I have scarcely done anything. I'm almost ashamed to live thus useless. But it was in the midst of this ministry of the word. You're wondering where am I going with this?
It was in this midst of this ministry of the word that Calvin coined the phrase. A phrase that I have come to know and love. Post-Tenebrous Looks. Post-Tenebrous Looks. Translated from the Latin to English.
After darkness, light. After years of spiritual darkness. Years of the Roman Catholic Church obscuring God's word in the dark and dead language that was the Latin mass. The light of God's written revelation was finally allowed to shine forth.
And so Calvin worked relentlessly so that light would go out. And so rather than reciting the Bible in an unknown tongue to a lost and confused people, the Bible was read and preached in the heart language of the saints of God in every place.
Rather than the gospel being hidden under a veil of godless self-righteousness and the sale of indulgences, it was released to be understood and believed on by the priest and the plow boy alike. Post-Tenebrous Looks.
After darkness, light. And the reason I bring this up is because that phrase, after darkness, light, is really the theme of today's text. We're returning. We heard our brother read just a moment ago the book of Mark now, the gospel of Mark now in chapter 13.
And we're continuing to study this Olivet discourse. And what we will find in today's text is that we are going to deal with really what are some bleak and disturbing, or sorry, the bleak and disturbing prevalence of darkness in this world.
But it's a bleak and disturbing darkness leading up to Christ's second coming. It would appear, as we study, that the world is going to get worse before it gets better as we await Christ's final return.
However, what we will also see is that this dismal darkness that is characterized by moral and spiritual confusion is going to be consumed by the blinding light of Christ's parousia. Parousia. There we go.
His second coming. Christ's parousia. His second coming. This tribulation. The tribulation of this confused and godless world will give way to the return of Christ and of everlasting joy in his presence.
Darkness and then light. And so what we're going to do today, I mentioned it just before we prayed, is we're going to dive into this text. It's going to be a teaching-heavy sermon. So I acknowledge that up front, but I think it's going to be a very enjoyable teaching-heavy sermon.
And what we're going to do here is we're going to find that Christ teaches us how to prepare for the darkness of the end times with our hope set on his luminous return. So we're going to look really simply, for those of you guys who have been studying the mechanics of expository preaching, you'll notice my headings.
I'm taking some things and I'm learning. We're going to be looking at only three words for each of the points. We're going to look together at what it means to prepare for Christ's coming by understanding, by being watchful, and then by being hopeful.
And so we'll dive into the text. I'll warn you up front, the first point is heavier than all the rest. They're not all this long, but we need to spend a good period of time here just setting the stage for what's to come.
So let's read verse 14 together. But when you see the abomination of desolation, standing where he ought not to, not to be, let the reader understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
So the first word that I want us to explore together now is this word understanding. Preparing for the end times, preparing for the last days, preparing for Christ's return demands understanding. This was at the forefront of the mind of Christ and his apostles when these words were uttered and when it was written here in the Gospel of Mark.
In verse 14 we read this reference to the abomination of desolation, and then Mark adds these inspired words in parentheses, let the reader understand. If we're to be prepared for the second coming of Christ and the difficulty that will precede it, we must be wise as to what is to come.
And so it begs the question, first of all, what are we to understand as we look to Christ's return? What are we to understand? What is it, dear Christian, as I think it's interesting, a reader of this text, not just a hearer there on the Mount of Olives, but what is the modern reader to understand?
Here Christ makes reference to this abomination of desolation. It's really a combination of two Greek words that would refer to something or someone as detestable or repugnant. You might say an abomination is something that is sacrilegious.
And then desolation, something that brings grief, something that is devastating, something that brings about ruin. And Christ says that this abomination of desolation will stand, he says, where he ought not to.
Now if we were to go to the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 24, what we would find is that Matthew is a bit more specific where he says the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, and so standing in the temple.
So certainly what we find is that Christ takes these words, abomination of desolation, directly out of the book of Daniel. And what we'll find in order to understand this passage really and truly is we need to have a sound understanding of the Old Testament.
So many people don't understand this text because they don't understand the Old Testament, and they don't understand the Old Testament texts that refer to it. And so what I want to do is I'm going to give you three references and consider this homework for this week to go back and look at these three passages.
I'll recite the references slowly. In Daniel, look at Daniel chapter 9 in verse 27, Daniel chapter 11 in verse 31, and Daniel chapter 12 in verse 11. And what we'll do is we'll look just briefly at one of those references together, one that I think fits best with the context of what Christ is saying here in Mark chapter 13.
And so Daniel chapter 11 in verse 31 says this, forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
Now what is Christ referring to as he harkens back to Daniel chapter 11 and in this abomination of desolation? First of all, I think that what we need to do is understand the historical context. This passage that we read in Daniel chapter 9, 11, and 12, chapters 9, 11, and 12 was really partially fulfilled in an event that took place in 168 BC.
And so that intertestamental period between the Old Testament and between the New Testament. And in 168 BC, Antiochus Epiphanes IV, where we read, invaded the Jewish temple. And there while he was in the Jewish temple, he erected a pagan altar in the most holy place.
The very most holy place that was found in the temple. And with that pagan altar, he put a pig on the altar. Now kids, if you were a Jew in Old Testament Israel, were you allowed to eat bacon? No. And do you know why you weren't allowed to eat bacon?
What's that, sorry? Not quite. It wasn't used as a sacrifice, but any adults want to help? It was ceremoniously unclean. It was absolutely unclean. If you were to be a Jew, a faithful Jew, you could never be a pig farmer.
If you were to be a faithful Jew, you were never having bacon with your eggs in the morning. And so what happened when Antiochus Epiphanes IV slaughtered a pig on a pagan altar in the most holy place, was he desecrated the temple.
It was one of the most unclean animals in the Jewish mind. Sacrificed in the most holy place. But we know that this is only a partial fulfillment of Daniel chapter 12 because here Christ references this abomination here again.
But speaking now of future events, and this is one of the most debated passages in all of scripture, what is this abomination of desolation? What I want us to do is consider this, that there really are four options for what this abomination of desolation could possibly be.
This abomination of desolation could be, some might argue, a statue of Caligula. Now you heard me last week say that Caligula had attempted to erect a statue of himself in the temple in AD 40, shortly, a few short years after Christ.
And one of the areas I realized as I went back and did more study this week is I misspoke, so I need to clarify the facts. The statue of Caligula never actually made it inside the temple. It was his intent, and as they were preparing to bring the statue into the temple, many of the Jews, many of the peasant Jews, blocked the way into the temple.
And it was really fighting words for the Jewish people. And so based on that opposition and on some information from some of the local leaders, eventually Caligula gave up on trying to get his statue in the temple.
And so what you might say is option one could be Caligula's statue. But what I would say is that was almost an abomination of desolation. Nevertheless, some people would argue that's what Christ is speaking about here.
Others would have argued, or have argued, that during the final death throes of the fall of Jerusalem, in this battle between Jerusalem and Rome, the zealots, shortly before AD 70, while they were engaged in the heat of battle, entered into the temple precincts, entered into the holy place of the temple.
And because they were not authorized to enter into this holy place, they desecrated the temple. Honored theologians like R .C. Sproul are people that hold this particular view, that this desecration firstly speaks of the zealots entering into the temple, and that it was more fully satisfied or more fully fulfilled in what came next.
R .C. Sproul would not only point to the zealots entering the temple, but the third option as well, that the abomination of desolation was fulfilled ultimately when Titus, the future emperor of Rome, entered into the temple, into the holy place, and there as he stood in that holy place, he ordered the destruction of the temple.
And I think that this view needs to actually be seriously considered. Here was a pagan, the future emperor of Rome, the persecutor of the Jews, who was an abomination by all accounts, who made the temple literally, physically, completely desolate.
In fact, his complete destruction of the temple embodied the common use of that Greek word for desolation, which meant a deserted wilderness. Titus turned the temple into a deserted wilderness, and we heard about that last week, how it was almost unrecognizable as a city.
So we have, just to recap, we have option one, Caligula, option two, the zealots, option three, Titus, and then there's a fourth option. And some would argue that this abomination of desolation is something that is yet to be realized, that this abomination is ultimately fulfilled in what scripture calls the man of lawlessness, or in the common vernacular, the antichrist.
Certainly most futurists would hold this position. So if you already hear men like John MacArthur, Stephen Lawson, John Piper, men that we love and appreciate, they would say this abomination of desecration is a future antichrist.
And for us as readers to understand, to understand what is being said, we have to choose an option, or at least I would say a combination of options. And as I noted last week, I think the most faithful interpretation of this text, if we look at it in its context and try to interpret it rightly, apart from any system trying to influence us, and if we want to take what I would consider to be the safest approach, it is to appreciate that this passage describes both that which preceded the fall of Jerusalem, that which occurred before AD 70, and in addition to, all that will precede the final return of Christ.
And we see this, I'm not being novel here, this is a position that's widely held, but it's also a position that we see over and over again in Old Testament prophecy. And a perfect example is in the life of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's something that's often referred to as prophetic foreshortening, where we see a passage that, in fact, has multiple fulfillments. And a crystal clear example of that is the servant song, or all of the messianic prophecies in the Old Testament.
Many would have read those prior to the day of Christ and would have anticipated the coming of a Messiah. But very few would have recognized that those prophecies would be fulfilled not in one coming, but in two comings.
And so you see multiple events that are fulfilled in one prophecy. I would suggest that this is the same. And I want to briefly argue for that. I'm building the foundation here. Firstly, the context of Christ's words in this passage follows his reference to the destruction of the temple.
If you remember back to last week, it was the disciples in verse 2 who were looking at the temple and it was Christ who responded to them in regards to the destruction of the temple. When the disciples asked when this destruction of the temple would occur in verse 4, this again is coming in response to that question.
And so, as we look at this, the immediate context cannot be ignored. Christ has the destruction of the temple in view as he speaks about the abomination of desolation, as he speaks about people entering the city, as he speaks about fleeing to the mountains.
And certainly the suffering that occurred in Jerusalem from AD 66 to AD 70 could be described as among the worst that the Jews have ever experienced in all of human history. Now, some people would quickly point me to the Holocaust as an example.
Well, Shane, what about the Holocaust? I would say, yes, the Holocaust is terrible. But one commentator writes this. I think we don't put enough emphasis on the fall of Jerusalem. One commentator writes, the savagery, the slaughter, the disease, the famine, mothers eating their own children were monstrous, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now.
And according to Jesus, will never be equaled again. There have been greater numbers of deaths, six million in Nazi death camps, mostly Jews, an estimated 20 million under Stalin, but never so high a percentage of a city's population so thoroughly and painfully exterminated and enslaved as during the fall of Jerusalem.
And so for one event happening in one city when almost an entire population of over a million people are wiped out, he's saying certainly there are very few things that consider. But second, there is a clear distinction made between, and I want you to see this with me, I've circled them in my Bible.
In verse four, Christ speaks about these things that were the disciples asked, tell us when these things will be. But then in verses 18 and again in verse 24, Christ speaks about those days. For in those days, there will be much tribulation.
And in verse 24, but in those days after the tribulation, and he carries on. And what most of us don't read or notice as modern readers is that expression, those days, was actually packed with eschatological meaning.
It was pregnant with eschatological meaning. And what you would find, and this is another homework assignment if you want to go back this week, is get an online concordance, blue letter Bible, or Logos, or Biblia, or something like that, and search those days.
And see how frequently in the Old Testament, and then in the New Testament, that expression is used particularly to an eschatological reality, to an eschatological future. And so, it's not surprising that when we get to verse 27 in the context of this passage, that Christ speaks about his ultimate return in this context.
This passage had an immediate fulfillment in view for the disciples in that day. Many had to escape Jerusalem before its collapse, but it has application for every Christian, and especially the last generation of Christians as we await the imminent return of Christ.
And so we see that it refers to that day prior to AD 70, and it does refer to a future eschatological event. And then thirdly, my last argument for this, is that we have the New Testament epistles that shed light on this event.
And we'll just look to a couple in 2 Thessalonians 2, and verses 3 through 8. Paul says this, he says, let no one deceive you in any way. He's speaking to a church, if you remember the context, he's speaking to a church who believes that Christ might have already returned.
And he's saying, no, no, no, no, no. Christ has not yet returned, and this is how we will know that when he does return.
He says,.
Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. Now let me say, that man of lawlessness, that son of destruction, I think, fulfills the abomination of desolation.
Now someone says, where do you get that, Shane? We'll continue to read.
Who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God. The abomination of desolation in the holy place. Proclaiming himself to be God.
Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things. And you know what is restraining him, so now that he may be revealed in his time. Now notice this.
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
And so you've got this lawless one who is already at work. Was at work prior to AD 70. Is at work today. But at some point, the restraining forces will be pulled back and he will have at least some borrowed time to wreak havoc.
And John writes this in 1 John chapter 2 in verse 18. Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
And so what Paul is saying here is that the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. John has told us that there are many antichrists.
Already.
They deny, in his letter, he speaks about them denying the Father and the Son. They deny that Christ came in the flesh. They refuse to confess Jesus Christ. But they set themselves against him. And I would suggest.
That they,.
Like the destruction of the temple, serve as prototypes of the ultimate man of lawlessness that we find in passages like 2 Thessalonians 2 or the beast that we read described about or described in Revelation chapter 13 who receives the worship.
Of the world.
Until Christ ultimately comes. And so what we see here is that this passage is speaking both about a past and a realized event and about a future event. We're speaking about the man of lawlessness, the antichrist.
And R .C. Sproul who himself is a realized, has a realized eschatology, who is a partial preterist, he speaks even of the man of lawlessness. And he says this, this is an individual embodiment of wickedness.
He will draw away by deception those already inclined against the true God and will ultimately commit the sacrilege of thrusting himself upon humanity as its object of worship. He comes by the power of Satan as Christ came by the power of God and he works fraudulent works as Christ worked true ones.
Paul depicts this impostor as a parody or antithesis of the true Christ. Paul himself does not use the term antichrist but it is a fitting designation for this individual. In any case his fate is sealed.
He will be destroyed by the coming of Christ. And because we're interpreting all of this as apocalyptic literature in apocalyptic language, these passages we need to treat with some flexibility in our interpretation.
And so some would say that this abomination of desolation must come in a literal physical temple in a literal and physical holy place. Others credibly suggest that he will return to a prominent people.
Amongst.
A prominent position excuse me amongst the people of God who are the temple of God now made of living stones. The Puritans certainly believe this approach. And that's why when you read the Westminster Confession of Faith or the 1689 Second Lenten Baptist Confession of Faith they speak about.
The Pope.
Being the antichrist because they saw him.
Embodying.
The essence of the antichrist coming in the living temple being the church or the people.
Of God.
It's probably not a bad suggestion. But what we must know for certain.
Is that.
It is our.
Responsibility to seek to understand these things to the very best of our ability. That's the word of application for us now to understand. God commands it in his word.
He says.
Let the reader understand. If we were to turn to the book of Revelation an apocalyptic book most people most Christians.
Today.
Approach the book of Revelation as this locked book that cannot be understood that can be read for recreation.
But really.
Has no bearing in the believer's life. But that's not how God the inspired author of Revelation saw it. That's certainly not how John saw it. Revelation 1 verse 3.
It says.
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written.
In it.
For the time.
Is near.
So in order to first keep the word you must understand the word.
And let me.
Ask you do you feel that you have a sound understanding.
Of what it.
Means to be ready.
For.
The last.
Days.
And what is to proceed the coming of Christ. You may not be an amillennialist. You may not be a postmillennialist. You may not be a premillennialist but I'm more.
And more.
Convinced.
That you may.
Not be you are not to be with certainty a panmillennialist.
That is that it will.
All pan out in the end. It is our responsibility to read and to understand.
And to.
Think.
Deeply about these things. God has.
Given us a.
Bible that is.
Not only.
Authoritative it's not only.
Sufficient.
It's not only necessary.
But it is.
Clear. We must be.
Diligent.
To seek to study and to seek to understand. We must know the scriptures and the various positions. We must hold our positions I would say carefully and humbly ready to be tailored.
Further by.
Our learnings through scripture. We must be prepared to encounter.
Anyone who would.
Seek to deceive God's people and to rob God of his glory whether they be the man of lawlessness or one of his many forerunners. There have been many who have come and there are many more who are coming who will seek to deceive and to make desolate and to bring many souls to ruin.
And so.
This is just.
Verse one.
Let the.
Hearer understand. Now we're going to move a lot quicker I promise you through these remaining verses but let me ask you.
With that.
Understanding what are we.
To do?
I think.
Verses 15.
Excuse me.
Through verse 25 show us our next word in preparation for the end times. Our next action and it is this.
It is.
Watchfulness it is to.
Watch.
It is to.
Beware.
Discerning the end times demands watchfulness. As a matter of fact we find that immediately in our text and we're.
Just going to.
Survey.
Rather than read through.
We're going to.
Survey briefly.
Here.
But in.
Verse 14.
B.
Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Let the one.
Who is in the housetop not go down nor enter his house to take anything out of it.
Who is in the field not turn back to take his.
Cloak.
And I'll ask for women.
Who are.
Pregnant and.
For those.
Who are nursing infants.
In those.
Pray that it may not happen in winter.
And then.
Notice here Christ says for in.
Those days.
There will.
Be such.
Tribulation. It has not been seen.
From the.
Beginning of creation.
That God.
Created until now and never will.
Be.
What I want.
To highlight.
Here in.
Verse 23 is this. But be on.
Guard.
Be watchful. Beware. That same word bleppo that we saw two times last week. The mark of faithfulness is watchfulness. Now these words that Christ spoke certainly had an important application for Christians prior to the fall of Jerusalem and they still have meaning for us.
Many Christians for instance in Jerusalem as they saw the trouble coming.
The great.
Jewish revolt was in full swing and they saw the Roman armies moving towards Jerusalem. They saw the offensive escalating against the.
Jews.
And they.
Thought back.
To what.
Christ had.
Said.
They thought back to.
Verse 23. That Christ had indeed told them all things beforehand.
What the Christian history.
Ancient.
Historian.
I'm going to.
Reframe that.
The ancient.
Christian historian Eusebius tells us is that a large group of Christians when they saw this coming relocated to a region.
Known as.
Pella.
Which is.
Northeast of Jerusalem.
It's.
Located today in modern day Jordan in a mountainous region outside of Judea.
And what.
This required is that they had to escape in time.
Those as.
Christ says here those who were.
On the.
Housetops were not to go back into.
The house.
But they would.
Have had staircases.
Exterior of their buildings and they were to.
Go down.
Those staircases.
Were to get out.
Of the.
City.
Those who.
Were workmen in that time. Imagine working.
In the.
Middle East. In some kind of agricultural trade you take off your cloak to work.
You're more.
Free.
Cool as you're getting your work done for the day. They were not to go back to their.
Homes.
To get their cloaks.
But to.
Were to.
Leave the city.
And go.
Into the cool of.
The mountains without their clothing if their escape was to happen in winter. Kids this is a.
Good easy.
Question.
Winter what happens.
Edmonton it snows.
Does it.
Snow in.
Israel.
Winter.
Maybe in.
The high.
Elevations.
Many places it rains. They have a rainy season so if they.
Escape during the winter.
What it would.
Mean is that the valleys would be overflowing with water so the people would have to pass through these dangerously deep bodies.
Of water.
To escape.
To the.
Mountains these people.
Had to get out.
When it.
Was time.
Did.
Many of the.
Christians made their way to Pella where they.
Saved their own lives but where they preserved a Christian heritage of faith through their children they were spared from what remains to be one.
Of the most.
Devastating tribulations.
History of.
The Jewish.
People.
Beginning of creation to this very day.
And this.
Application was not only found in first century Judea but it continues to find its application.
That this.
Will come.
Again.
A greater tribulation.
Still.
Verse 24 tells us that this tribulation.
Will not.
Only be a regional tribulation but Christ says that in those days after that tribulation.
The sun.
Will be.
Darkened.
And the.
Moon.
Give its.
Light.
Revelation.
Chapter 7 in verse 14 calls this event beyond the regional tribulation.
A great.
Tribulation.
And not.
Only will there be.
A day.
That is.
Marked by.
False.
Christs and.
Prophets and lawlessness.
And a.
Lawless one.
But note.
This again.
That in.
Those days there will.
Be a.
Tribulation of cosmic proportions and we.
See that.
In passages I think Christ alludes directly to Isaiah chapter 13 verse 10 he says.
For the.
Stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their.
Dark at.
Its rising.
And the moon.
Shed its.
Peter confirms.
This in.
2 Peter chapter 3 in verse 10.
But the day of the Lord will come like a.
Thief.
Night.
The heavens will pass.
Away.
With a.
Roar.
Heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved.
Earth and the works that are done.
On it will.
Be exposed and so when someone comes.
Kids.
Remember this when someone comes Lord willing in 10 or 20 or 30 years or after your mom and dad have died and they say.
I am the.
Christ.
Know this that when.
Christ returns it will be unmistakable.
It will be.
Marked not only by moral and spiritual darkness but there will be physical darkness in the cosmos it will be recognized and what we see here is that Christ expects that Christians will be on the earth to see and to experience this great tribulation.
There's not a rapture beforehand but they are still there and that's why he says for instance in verse 30 that this.
A limited.
Duration of.
Time.
He says the.
Days will be cut short for the sake of the elect. Literally he will amputate.
The days.
Otherwise to survive these.
Days as a.
Christian would be humanly impossible. In verse 23 he even speaks.
He says that.
The Christian is to be on.
As I mentioned the bleppo, beware to be watchful.
This is the.
Same word that is used twice already to warn his disciples.
About the.
Coming of false teachers and coming persecution. And so what we see is it's not.
Only the.
Christian's responsibility to understand God's word concerning the last days.
But it is the.
Christian's responsibility to be alert and to make wise and.
Righteous.
Decisions.
In this difficult.
It is the.
Christian's responsibility to be singular.
In your.
Allegiance to Christ.
When the.
World goes.
After false teachers and false messiahs we must go harder still after Christ.
World entices the Christian to live for anything or anyone.
Other than.
God,.
The Christian must say.
Like Joshua.
Did,.
As for me in my house we will serve.
The Lord.
The Christian.
Is to hone his or her discernment skills and readiness to trust and obey God regardless of the cost. But the Christian prepares his or her children even for multigenerational faithfulness. Christ might not come back in our.
Day but.
He might come back in our children's day.
Or in our.
Great great great.
Grandchildren's.
Day and.
They must be prepared for that. We see that this is something that every Christian will go through,.
At least.
Every Christian who was alive.
Prior to.
Christ's return. Jude chapter 17 and verse 19 says.
This,.
But you must remember, beloved, the prediction of the apostles.
Of our.
Lord Jesus Christ.
They said.
To you, in the last time,.
Be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. It is these who cause divisions, worldly people devoid of the spirit. Christians are being warned in this respect. Christ said in Matthew chapter 10,.
He said,.
Behold,.
I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Now someone.
Would say,.
Well,.
It's Christ sending out his disciples into the world during his earthly ministry.
But listen.
To what it.
Says in Matthew 10 23.
But when.
They persecute you in one town, flee to the.
Next.
For truly,.
I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man.
Comes.
This is leading up to Christ's coming as well. In 2 Timothy 3, this is my last reference, chapter 3, verses 1 to 5,.
But understand.
That in the last days, there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers.
Of self,.
Lovers of.
Money,.
Proud,.
Arrogant,.
Abusive, disobedient to their parents,.
Ungrateful,.
Unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control,.
Brutal,.
Not loving,.
Good,.
Treacherous,.
Reckless,.
Swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of.
Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Now someone might say, well that could describe a whole generation where Christians are.
Absent,.
Except that Paul says at the end, avoid such people. And so one might ask,.
How would a.
Christian possibly endure such hardship in the midst of a godless and corrupt world? And this brings us.
To the third and.
The last theme that I want us to look at. And that is.
Hope.
And we'll see.
This in verses 26 and 27. Persevering through the end times demands the hopeful expectation of Christ's return. Verse 26 reads,.
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. Here Christ teaches that the ultimate abomination, that after the ultimate abomination of desolation appears, and after the great tribulation, this time of intense and spiritual and physical darkness will give way to the radiant light of Christ's return.
After darkness, glorious and abundant and triumphant.
Light,.
Unlike the false Christ's and unlike the false Messiah's with their puny show of signs and wonders, kids, this is how you will know that Christ has come back. Christ will return in glorious and unmistakable.
Fashion.
In Acts chapter 1, Christ ascended into the clouds,.
Heavenly being.
Said he will return in the same way.
Mention of.
Christ returning.
Clouds with great glory and power harkens all the way back to Exodus chapter 13,.
Where you'll.
Remember that the people were led out of Egypt in the presence of God by a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.
This was God's.
Manifest presence.
Among.
Israel,.
Observable with this.
Pillar of cloud.
And Christ.
Does not come as a mere man with a messianic claim, but Christ comes on the clouds because he comes as God almighty, as God the Son, with all of his heavenly angels, and with a word you will know Christ has come.
Because he will.
Send out his angels to gather all of his elect, all of his saints, both living and dead from every corner of the.
Earth, from.
Every tribe and tongue and nation.
And land,.
And we will all meet with him in the air. And like a triumphal procession, like a group, what would happen in an old city is when a dignitary would come, all the people would come out of the city and then enter the city with him, almost like Christ's entrance into Jerusalem.
In the same.
Way, all of his people will be gathered to him, and then, like a triumphal procession,.
We will.
Accompany Christ to the earth. The apostle Paul writes about.
This.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 16 and 17, 4, 16.
And 17, he says,.
For the Lord.
Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of a trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, see, there are still Christians on the earth, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the.
Lord.
And this is.
Frequently referred to as the rapture. Some people might say, well, I'm a post-millennialist or I'm an amillennialist or I'm something,.
And I don't.
Believe in the rapture. Let me say that the rapture itself is biblical, whether you're a dispensationalist or someone else on the spectrum. R .C. Sproul, again, who is an amillennialist and a partial preterist, he says this.
He says, although the word rapture is commonly used by dispensationalists.
With this.
Specific meaning, the word itself can.
Rightly be.
Used without any dispensational connotations to refer to the catching up.
Air that Paul says will occur at the return of Christ. The burden of the passage is the assurance that.
All the.
Without distinction.
United at the coming of Christ and will live with.
Forever. My prayer was, as we.
Came to.
This passage, is that we would see this and not see it for all of the abominations and the doom and the gloom, but that we would see it for the hope that is to come at the coming of Christ. Oh, what hope this ought to give every Christian as we serve God in this fallen world.
Whether we are caught in the middle of the tribulation, the great tribulation, or if we are persecuted and experience some lesser tribulation this week, or some Christian in North Korea this week who is run over by a packer for their Christian faith.
The end of Christ's great eschatological history is this. After darkness, there is light. Post-Tenebrous looks. What a cause for hope that transcends all circumstances. It's not a mere generic hope that says, well, let's hope for the best then, but rather it is a sure hope for the future fixed on Christ and on his sovereign purposes for the world.
Titus 2 verses 11 and 13 says this, Christ came a first time. How sweet and how wonderful it was that Christ came the first time. Bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
As our brother read earlier today, when Christ comes on the cloud with great glory and with great power, every man and woman in this world who has rejected him will be getting into rocks or caves and pits and in every crevice that they can find and they will be calling on the rocks to crash upon them.
But meanwhile, for the Christian, as we see Christ arrive, we will not shrink back in fear, but we will rejoice that not only will we see him finally, but we will be like him. The future is sure. The price, as the song goes, it has been paid.
Our hope is only in Jesus. Only Jesus Christ can save us from our sins today. Only Jesus Christ can cause us to persevere. Only Jesus Christ can preserve us through every trial. Only Jesus Christ is to come back for us, and we will be with that Lord forever.
Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 27 says this,. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many when he came that first time, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
That is how you're going to get through every struggle and every tribulation, and any great tribulation is by eagerly waiting for him who is the Savior of your soul and who will make all things right.
One observer has said,. The preview of the future ought not to lead us to calculate when Christ will return, nor to fear what will happen, but to know that he will come to claim his own. His coming is his promise, and the gathering of believers to him is our hope.
Is that your great hope? That Christ is coming, that your mind is fixed on him, that you already have one foot in the world that is to come. After the darkness, light. I started with Calvin, I'll finish with Calvin.
Benjamin Warfield wrote about Calvin's life, he said,. No one ever had a more profound sense of God than he. And some might ask, how is that? Or how can that be true in our lives? To be useful, to pour our whole lives into the service of God until Christ comes.
In the heat of his battle with the Roman papacy, he went from being a very devoted Catholic to a very vehement opponent of Catholic theology. And he wrote in a famous correspondence with a cardinal named Cardinal Sadaletto.
And he said this. Speaking about his own mission and purpose, he said,. Set before man as the prime motive of his existence. Zeal to illustrate the glory of God. And that motive was rooted not with an eye to the fleeting pleasures of this life, or the comforts of this fallen world.
But an eye to eternity. An eye even in the midst of trials. And Calvin suffered great trials, you can read that in any of his biographies. An eye fixed on Christ and his return. And on eternal life with him.
Calvin said of his own life, he said, I gave up all for Christ. And what have I found? Everything in Christ. He says, there is no part of us that ought not to aspire after heaven with undivided affection.
He said, we ought to learn to have one foot raised. To take our departure when it shall please God. And so dear saints, with one foot raised. Let us so live for God. And to serve him. That we might be glad that we live by faith for Christ.
And the life that he will bring when he comes.
Amen.