Endure to the End
April 21, 2024 • Jan Vezikov • Mark 13:1–23
Heavenly Father, we thank you for a beautiful day to gather as your people to hear from your holy scriptures and pray, Holy Spirit, that you prepare us now to hear from you, to meditate on the end times, that the end is coming, the end of our life, or the end will come when, Christ, you return. And as true as your death, your burial, your resurrection was, so your Second Coming is as true, that day is already set. But as we meditate upon these things, Lord, let us focus on what you focus on, is that we endure to the end, and when we do that by living every single day ready to meet you as if you were to return today, or live as if your return isn't coming for another 1,000 years, or 10,000 years, for that matter.
And help us see that it's the same way of living. To live faithfully today is to live in such a way that we long to leave a legacy of faithfulness. We long to do everything we can to proclaim the gospel, and live in a manner worthy of it, so that many of your elect come into the kingdom through our service. So Lord, use us and use this church to spark revival in our city, in our state, in our nation, in our world. And Lord, continue to empower us as we proclaim the Word. Continue to empower us by the power of the Spirit to speak your words unflinchingly, knowing that it is your Word, it's the gospel, it's the power of God unto salvation. There's nothing that we can do or manufacture, nor do we want to. We want to do your work your way, and see your elect drawn into the kingdom. Lord, bless our time in the holy scriptures. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
We're continuing our sermon series through the Gospel of Mark called Kingdom Come: The Gospel of Mark and the Secret of God's Kingdom. And the secret that we've seen is that Jesus Christ is Lord. And that is the secret to every single most important question in life. The title of the sermon today is Endure to the End. This past Monday was Marathon Monday, beautiful day for it. And usually, my family and I, we go watch the marathon. We live right down the street from Beacon. They block off Beacon, you can't cross it. And we usually do that, it's fun. But we've been in the city for almost 15 years, so I asked my daughters this Monday, "Do you want to go watch the marathon? It's kind of a big deal." And one of my daughters responded by saying, quote, "There's nothing fun about watching people run, Dad." And I was like, "Fair point, fair point." So, I got out of that thanks to her.
But millions do watch. Millions from all over the world watch the marathon. Why? Because endurance is impressive. You're willingly subjecting your body to that much physical pain for how long? How many miles? And there's much to learn for us from that. The Lord Jesus Christ calls His followers to develop endurance for the long haul. He calls us to live a life of faithfulness for all of life and every aspect of life, to keep going, especially when we hit that pain barrier, to fight through the pain. And in a section where the Lord Jesus Christ talks about the signs of the end times, what does He emphasize? Not the precise date, no. What does He emphasize? He emphasizes endurance. "But the one who endures to the end will be saved."
So, however you interpret the end times biblical passages, the most correct interpretation is the one that increases your spiritual endurance, not depletes it. Whatever your interpretation of the details, this is the forest that you must not miss. You must live your life in such a way that you're ready just in case Jesus returns today, because He might, and simultaneously, you live your life with the intention of leaving a Christ-honoring legacy for centuries to come, because Christ might not return for another 1,000 years, or another 10,000 years, for that matter. And the whole time, we have to keep praying, "Our Father, who art in heaven, may your name be holy in my life. May your kingdom come in my life. May your will be done in my life, on earth as it is in heaven."
Today, we're in Mark 13:1-23, would you look at the text with me? "And as He came out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Look, teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!' And Jesus said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.' And as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, 'Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?' And Jesus began to say to them, 'See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name saying, "I am He!" And they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.'"
"'But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death, and father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.'"
"'But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be, let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that it may not happen in winter. For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.'"
"'And then if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Christ!" Or, "Look, there He is!" Do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all these things beforehand.'" This is the reading of God's holy and infallible authoritative Word, may He write these eternal truths upon our hearts.
First, a word about interpreting prophetic passages. How should we read the holy scriptures in particular that are foretelling the future? Here, Jesus is describing widely separated events. On the one hand, He's describing the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD; on the other hand, He's talking about the end of the world. But He's painting them in such a way that they appear close to each other. Interpreters have invoked the idea of, quote, "prophetic perspective", that prophecy resembles a landscape painting, which marks, distinctly, there's houses and paths and bridges in the foreground, but in the background, in a narrow space, there's distant valleys and mountains, and they look like they're much closer together than they really are, they're very far apart. So, there's a two-dimensional aspect to biblical prophecy. Here, God's immediate judgment on His people is what's emphasized, and it's imperceptibly dovetailed into His universal judgment on all humanity at the Last Day.
So, this opening section deals with the destruction of the temple, and by doing so, it gives us a little apocalypse, or a prototype of the apocalypse, and it comes cyclically. So, if we learn how the cycles come, we can see the cycles in the past, and then we can see how those cycles are manifesting in the present. And this text is designed to warn disciples against four spiritual dangers to avoid if we are to endure to the end. And I'm going to give you the four points in a positive framing, and I'll explain what the negative warnings are with each point. So, four points to frame our time. First, endure to the end by worshiping God, in spirit and truth. Second, endure to the end by discerning through deception. Third, endure to the end by not getting distracted by turmoil. And finally, endure to the end by expecting severe persecution. And Jesus says, "I'm warning you ahead of time to be forewarned, and each case is to be forearmed." This is how we take heed, this is how we remain on guard.
First of all, endure to the end by worshiping God, in spirit and truth. Having entered Jerusalem and accepted the acclaim, the people that, "Hosanna, Hosanna, save us, Jesus is the Son of David, He is the Son of God." He has verbally battled the scribes in the Sanhedrin, the elders. He's denounced them for their hypocrisy, and He did that after cleansing the temple. And then at the end of chapter 12, Jesus points to a widow and says, "Look at her generosity, look at her piety. We have much to learn from her." And now He continues talking about denunciations of the temple.
Jesus here, in the beginning of the text, He leaves the temple. And this is very symbolic, and is to be understood as an act of judgment. Jesus has said everything that He had to say, the leadership has not repented, He is leaving, and as He's leaving, He's taking the presence of God with Him. In Ezekiel 10, we see that the glory of God abandons the first temple before it's destroyed. And for the prophet, the departure of God's glory, and the consequent destruction of the temple, are punishments for, quote, "The abominations that the house of Israel practiced there." This is Ezekiel 8:6. "And He said to me, 'Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.'"
So, in that context, we come to Mark 13:1. "As He came out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Look, teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!'" And the first danger in not enduring is the danger of too much reliance on the outward symbols of religion. Though they are venerable and loved by many, we must not lose sight that God is the point, not the temple. And the disciples are caught up with the beauty of the house of God, as it was called, the house that was supposed to proclaim the beauty of God, the beauty of His law, the beauty of His grace. However, instead of serving as a reflection to the one who should get our greatest praise, the temple had begun to overshadow God in the hearts of the people.
The temple was finished, restored by King Herod, and was considered one of the architectural wonders of the Roman world, even though it was unfinished at the date of its destruction, 70 AD. And Herod did a great job, mostly because he had borrowed Roman engineers, and nothing could match the temple for splendor or its apparent permanence. Josephus, a historian of the time, he says, "The exterior of the building wanted nothing that could astound either mind or eye." He also said that the temple looked like a snow-capped mountain rising up in the midst of Jerusalem. The stones were beautiful, they had dressed margins, whose play of light and shade contributed to the beauty and dramatic appearance of massive walls. Some of the stones weighed up to 50 pounds. One was found that... Tons, excuse me, 50 tons, one was 300 tons.
So, the reaction of the amazed disciples at the magnificent temple is natural, and they probably assumed that Jesus was going to second it, and say, "Yeah, that's my house." He doesn't do that. And we are wowed by beautiful religious buildings. My parents just came back from Rome, and then I went to visit them, and my dad, all he wanted do is show me pictures of buildings. And I was like, "Dad, you know what I'm preaching on today, this week." And then my mom, she showed me what I wanted to see: pictures of food, very delicious.
And what Jesus here, all of a sudden, He shifts gears. "Oh yeah, you think they're beautiful?" And all of a sudden, He turns the conversation to chilling prophecy of the temple's destruction. This is verse 2. "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.'" The complete demolition of the Second Temple, down to its very foundations, happened in the year 70 AD, four decades after the crucifixion of Christ. And the destruction was so final and so vast that it became proverbial in rabbinic circles that the destruction was even greater than the destruction of the Second Temple by the Babylonians. Jesus' cursing of the fig tree in chapter 11 was the symbolism that preceded the destruction of the temple and the conversations over that.
And Jesus came in to the temple after the welcoming crowds brought Him in, and the first thing He did was cleanse the temple. He made a whip, He cleanses the temple of their illicit commercial activity. They were using the temple for commercial gain, which defiled the sanctuary, and Jesus ended up calling it a "den of robbers". The prophecy of the temple destruction in the present context is probably meant to be understood as judgment upon the Sanhedrin, the Levites. That's who the scribes were, they were Levites, they were the religious working class. Instead of pointing people to the Lord, they used the people for their own gains, and this is why Jesus removed the presence of God. But as for Jews, the disciples even to think about the destruction of the temple was unthinkable. This was the shrine, this was the center of the divine presence. So, if the temple is going to be destroyed, what is that saying about Judaism? It's saying that the end has come, a new era has begun.
Mark 13:3. "And He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately." This sitting is symbolic, in the same way that Jesus exiting the temple is symbolic. In the previous text, Jesus said that He is the Lord that is seated at the right hand of God the Father. He's seated in judgment. Here, Jesus, in the same way, is seated in judgment as He's looking at the temple, the doomed structure. "On the Mount of Olives opposite the temple" is a phrase that recalls Zechariah 14:4, prophetic passage about judgment of Jerusalem.
Zechariah 14:4. "On that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him."
The problem with this temple was the temple was built as the worship center of the people of God, and the worship center became the center of worship. Unfortunately, God was no longer at the center, the temple was. And the people running the temple decided to play God. Therefore, we are to beware of falling in love with the outworkings of faith, to the point where those things overshadow our love for God. If we are to endure to the end, we must worship God in spirit and truth. Yes, we are to love the church, the gathering of the saints, but not more than Jesus. And I've learned that people who get the most out of church are those who come to church not for church, but come to church for God, to worship Him in spirit and truth.
Jesus, in His conversation with the woman at the well in John 4, she says in verse 20, "'Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.' Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.' The woman said to Him, 'I know that Messiah is coming, He who is called Christ. When He comes, He will tell us all things.' Jesus said to her, 'I who speak to you am He.'"
Point two is endure to the end by discerning through deception. The disciples say in verse 4, "Jesus, tell us!" "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?" We want to know when, and we want to know what should we be looking for? And instead of giving them what they're asking for, Jesus gives them what they actually need. He says in verse 5, and this is His answer, "See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, 'I am He!' And they will lead many astray." He said, "You want a sign? A sign is there are people that will try to pull you away from the Lord, and your job isn't to focus on the sign, it isn't to focus on the time, it's to focus on not being led astray."
The deceivers are probably self-proclaimed Christians who actually claim to be Jesus Christ. Many of them will say, "I am He." And behind them, obviously, is the great deceiver, that's Satan himself. Revelation 12:7-9. "Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who was called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."
And this is how Satan wages war against God, with the spirit of delusion, a spirit of deception. And he particularly focuses on the elect. His job is to pull the elect away, astray, because if they're no longer faithful, they won't be fruitful, and that's what he's trying to do. And this is the reign of delusion. And Jesus emphasized delusion twice in our text, He actually ends the text with another warning against the delusion, verse 21. "And then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here's 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.'"
And this is fascinating, because this should be an easy test. If someone shows up and says, "I'm Jesus Christ!" They're like, "I see right through that. I saw that one coming." But people will believe it, because of the signs and wonders. So, this is what Jesus is saying, be careful when people come to you with signs and wonders. Sometimes the signs and wonders are from the Lord, and sometimes they are not. Focus on where the signs are pointing. Are they pointing you to Christ? Are they pointing you to glorifying God evermore? Or are they pointing you to leave the Lord?
Deuteronomy warned about this, Deuteronomy 13:1-3, "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them.' You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." So, the false prophets, then, are demonic imitators, just like when Moses went into Egypt. He did the miracles, and there were impersonators that did similar miracles.
Jesus's saying do not put your trust in that power, supernatural power, unless you know where it's from. Because some false Christs and some false prophets come, and they actually speak the lies of the devil. John 8:44, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and a father of lies." So, be careful with signs and wonders, that's the point here.
We saw the signs and wonders in the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit, this is how the Lord attested to the power of the apostles, through signs. In 1 Corinthians 12, there's a list of spiritual gifts and signs and miracles, signs and wonders is there, but those signs and wonders are ambivalent. They're only signs of the far greater working by God in Christ, which we must accept by faith or not at all. In Revelation, the false prophets work demonic signs, by which he deceives the people, Revelation 13.
We see more of this in 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12. "And when 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. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who do not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
And what is Satan trying to do? He is trying to lead astray, if possible, the elect. And we know to succeed in deceiving the elect would be a contradiction in terms. If you are elect, you won't be deceived. But if you are deceived, that shows that you are non-elect. And think about that strategy, why is Satan trying to do that to the elect? He's trying to keep the elect from coming into the kingdom. Once the set number of God's chosen enter the kingdom, that's when Christ is coming. "The gospel must be proclaimed to all nations." So, he's trying to pull the elect away from preaching the gospel to more elect, and that's how he's trying to gain some more time.
But 1 John 2:26 says, "I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about everything, and that is true and is no lie, just as He has taught you, abide in Him." And the way we keep abiding in Christ is by remaining guard, to know that Satan is trying to delude you, he's trying to pull you away. So, Mark 13:23, "Be on guard, I have told you all these things beforehand." And He's saying, "Look out, because even your status as God's chosen doesn't remove you from the realm of demonic opposition." 1 Corinthians 10:12. "Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." And at the same time, however, we are to be encouraged that we are God's chosen, and you may rest assured that He will ultimately deliver us from this realm.
Third is endure to the end by not getting distracted by turmoil. Verses 7 and 8 warn that many Christians will not finish well, and won't endure until the end, because of distraction of world turmoil. Verse 7. "And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet." And verse 8, "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains." He's saying don't focus on the birth pains. You got to see past, you got to see through the birth pains, and focus on what's coming, and that's the birth of a child.
And I've seen this all throughout church history, I've seen this in the modern era. There is turmoil in the world, there are wars in the world, there's rumors of wars of the world, and all of those things should bring us to a position where we should be on guard, we should be ready. But don't let those things distract you from the main point, from our mission, is to proclaim the gospel to all the nations, because that's our job, and we leave all this other stuff up to the Lord.
So He says, be careful. There were earthquakes that preceded the destruction of the temple in the year 70 AD. In the '60s, for example, there was an earthquake so powerful in Asia Minor, in 61 AD, that 12 cities were leveled in a single night. And Dio Cassius records an earthquake at the flight of Nero, shortly before his death at 68. These things did happen in other times of the world, and they're continuing to happen. And Jesus here says, "Don't focus on the birth pains. When a woman goes into labor, one can be sure that a baby will shortly be born." He says, "Focus on that. Focus on what will be born from the birth pains." And by saying this is just the beginning of the new birth of creation, Jesus is saying, "Don't get caught up in the birth pains, it's just the beginning. Focus on getting through the birth pains to the new birth."
And before that comes, there will be persecution, and this is point four: endure to the end by expecting severe persecution. And the warning here is that of being tripped up, because you weren't expecting the persecution to be as severe as it will be. And verses 14 through 20, Jesus gives a test case of the apocalyptic prototype, as it applies to the fall of temple. But verse 9 He says, "But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them." He says, "Be on your guard, you'll look to yourselves, you will be delivered," is the phrase that He uses. That's the same phrase that's used in Isaiah 52-53, talking about the suffering servant will be delivered to ignominious death. And Jesus used that same word for Himself.
And what He's saying is, explicitly, He's saying that you will be persecuted "for my sake, and because it's for my name's sake, don't expect the persecution to be much different than it was for me." In the same way Jesus endured to the end, He calls His followers to endure. Like His followers, He will be betrayed by a brother. Arrested, turned over to council, beaten, stood before the ruler of judgment, exposed to the contempt of masses, and killed. And in the end, however, He, like them, will be saved. Some of you "will be beaten in synagogues" and some of you "will stand before governors and kings".
The apostle Paul, he did both. Before he became Paul, he was Saul, and God used Saul to persecute the church. He was doing the persecuting, and God actually sent the persecution. Perhaps the church was not doing its job. Jesus, before He ascended to heaven, He says, "The day of Pentecost is coming, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. And then once you get the Spirit, go proclaim the gospel in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth." And they're like, "Okay, Jesus. Great." The first day of Pentecost, 3,000 people get saved, and then continues growing to thousands. And then you don't see any of those thousands mobilize and preaching the gospel anywhere but Jerusalem. They wanted to remain in Jerusalem, and it was the persecution that the Lord allowed that dispersed the church to then do what it was supposed to do.
And then God saves Paul on the road to Damascus. He goes from being Saul to Paul, and then he was the one being persecuted. For Jesus' name, he stood before governors, he stood before kings. He preached to Felix, to Festus, to Agrippa, and some say perhaps even to Caesar himself. Jesus says, "For my sake, you will bear witness before them." The wrath of man was descending upon the church, but the Lord used the Christians' enemies, who wanted to eradicate the Christian movement, that persecution was just fuel on the flame of the preaching of the gospel to the ends of the earth. And that's what Jesus says explicitly in verse 10. "And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations." And the wording "to all nations" doesn't convey the full meaning, He's saying to all non-Jewish peoples. That this is our job, we proclaim the gospel to absolutely everybody, and the gospel must be proclaimed to all nations before the end.
Verse 11. "And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit." So, verse 11 implies what I've already said, that the proclamation of the gospel is a result of persecution, not the cause. They didn't proclaim the gospel and that's why they got persecuted, because they're growing too fast. No, they were persecuted because they were hated for Jesus' name. And as they're getting persecuted, they were emboldened to become even more courageous to proclaim the gospel. And if you've ever experienced any form of persecution, you know this reality; where you're feeling discomfort, there is a cost, and then you have to sit down and say, "Is it worth it?" And then you go back to the faith and say, "Do I really believe this? Is it true? Is this true? Is all of this true? If all of it's true, then it's worth whatever cost the Lord calls me to pay."
And speaking of persecution, I don't want to wish persecution upon anyone, but I do know when persecution comes, the church sobers up, and we get a lot more serious about our job, which is to proclaim the gospel. And Matthew 24 says this even more clearly, verse 9, "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
Jesus says, "Don't be anxious when you are arrested and dragged unexpectedly before authorities. Don't worry about writing a sermon." Introduction, three points, conclusion. He says that the Lord will give you all of that. But this is not an excuse, the context here is clear. The promise is specifically for those who are dragged unexpectedly to courts. Don't worry about the preparation time. But if you have time, you know you got to speak, you know you have time to prepare and pray, that's a completely different situation.
Mark 13:12. "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." So, not only will Christians experience persecution from outsiders, kings, rulers, synagogue authorities, Sanhedrin members, but they will also be betrayed by members of their own families. Here, family hatred including that between brothers and parents, etc. It's a sign of the disintegration that comes in the last times. The disintegration of the family is the crescendo of horror.
The fact that there is brother betraying brother, we see that in scripture. We see that Cain and Abel, we see that with Joseph and his brothers. But a father betraying a son or a daughter is much more unnatural. And worst of all is the prospect of a child betraying their parents and having them put to death. This sort of rebellion not only violates the fifth commandment, but reverses Deuteronomy 21, where the mutinous son is to be executed for his presumption. And then the word for brothers also probably relates to fellow Christians. And we do know that in the early church, apostate Christians, wolves in sheep clothing, did betray brothers and sisters, and many were persecuted and put to death.
Jesus says, "But the one endures to the end will be saved." What does "saved" mean? It must mean something more than just being rescued from physical death, because Jesus already promised that many will die for the faith. No, the salvation that's promised here is so much deeper, so much more important than just the salvation of the body. It's the salvation of soul and body.
Revelation 2:10, "Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for 10 days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." Be faithful to the end, then you get the crown of life. Is it my being faithful to the end that gets me the crown of life? Is that's what's happening? No. It's the fact that God saved you, and that God will sustain you. He will persevere you to the end. He will make you stand. Romans 14:4, "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand."
So, Jesus is saying that disciple must hold fast to the end in order to be saved. But as Paul says, the true Christians will, in fact, hold fast, because God will hold them fast. It seems like a paradox, but it's a paradox that we hold reverently. It's solution, like that of similar theological paradoxes, isn't to be found in some mathematical equation, because we're not dealing with infinity. No, it's to be dealt with theology and truth, because we're dealing with eternity and God. And God used all of this wrath of man to build up the church. As Tertullian said, "The blood of Christians is the seed of the church." And church history testifies that ancient martyrs, they did testify to the Lord, even in the midst of suffering, and gave God glory, and that's partially how the church grew. And this is how the apostle Paul, in the Book of Acts, this is how his ministry went. He preaches, he's persecuted, he goes to another place. He preaches, he's persecuted. He stands before officials, he preaches the Word.
In verse 14, Jesus identifies a mysterious abomination of desolation that signals a new stage of the apocalyptic cycle is beginning. So, there's birth pains, but then He says, "Watch out for the second stage, and it comes with an abomination of desolation." That's verse 14. "When you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be, let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." And the phrase "abomination of desolation", it's used first in Daniel 9:11-12. And it speaks of a king, a foreign king, going into the temple and establishing an idol. So, someone, something is standing in the place of holiness. And because of this thing, it's so sacrilegious, it's desecrating the holy place, so God's presence leaves and the people of God leave.
But the word for "standing" here makes it seem like this is a person. The word for standing, the participle for standing is masculine in gender, despite its referent, abomination, being neuter. So, it suggests that the desolating abomination is a person rather than an event. Someone is standing defiantly in the holy place, and that person is so evil that he makes the holy place desolate of the presence of God because it's an abomination in the eyes of God. And to understand what He's saying here, we have to remember the context. The context says Jesus just left the temple. And by leaving the temple, Jesus is removing the presence of God from the temple. Why? Because by rejecting Jesus, the temple cast out the presence of God, and yet defiantly continued standing.
The Sanhedrin destroys the Son of God, and then for four decades, continues standing as if they didn't do anything. As if they didn't reject the Messiah. Well, they did reject the Messiah, and because they rejected the Messiah, God rejected that system, the system of Judaism, emphatically, through the destruction of the temple. And that's what Ezekiel was talking about, Ezekiel 8:6. "And He said to me, 'Son of man, do you see what they're doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.'"
So, practically, what this means to us is be careful. We are to be aware. We are to be aware that in a place of holiness, a place that represents God, there it was the temple, here we have to be aware of the church. And you look at all the churches, you look at all the denominations, the same cycle. They let in this delusion, and they let in this false teaching. And all of a sudden, instead of worshiping Jesus, there's an abomination of desolation that anyone with the Holy Spirit, you walk in and you say, "I can't be a part of this." So, the prototype remains.
In Jesus' warning here about taking flight to the mountains, not turning back, leaving in haste, it reminds us, it's an echo of Lot. Abraham's nephew, Lot, and his family were warned to flee to the hills because judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah had come, and Jesus' injunction not to turn around recalls the way in which Lot's wife did turn around, with disastrous consequences.
Luke 17:28, "'Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all, so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken, the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken, the other left.' And they said to Him, 'Where, Lord?' And He said to them, 'Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.'"
Jesus here is comparing Jerusalem to what cities? He's comparing Jerusalem to Sodom and Gomorrah. And this inversion has Biblical precedent. Isaiah did the same thing, when he compared the rulers of the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah in Isaiah 1. Revelation does the same thing, Revelation 11:8, "And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified." Jerusalem is equated with Sodom and Gomorrah, that's how sinful they had become, because they had rejected God.
Mark 13:15-16, "Let the one who was in the housetop not go down, nor enter his house to take anything out, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak." And Jesus here is describing an emergency evacuation, such as becomes necessary when an army is advancing swiftly, which happened in June 68 AD. Roman legions were entering Jerusalem and most of Jericho, and the population, in anticipation, left. Verse 17, "And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days." Verse 18, "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 creation that God created until now, and never will be."
And that phrase, this "tribulation that has never been from the beginning", that's an idiom, same one that's used when, through Moses, God sends curses upon Egypt. That same phrase is used in Exodus 11. "There will be a loud cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as has never been and never will be." Revelation 16:18 uses the same language. "And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake."
And then verse 20, Jesus says, "And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days." He's saying that if the Lord had not restrained judgment, all of humanity would perish. There would be no elect. But the Lord is going to restrain judgment, and that's what salvation is. Instead of giving us what we deserve for all of eternity, instead of sending us on the path that we are set on, the Lord saves us. He pulls us back, regenerates. "No, you're not Satan, Satan's your mind." And if God had not decided to restrain, no one would be saved. If God didn't save anyone, no one would be saved.
Isaiah 1:9-10 is similar to verse 20 of Mark 13. "If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. Hear the Word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah." And the specter of Sodom's destruction then continues to haunt our passage.
But there is hope. God has left a seed, He's preserved a remnant. And for the sake of the remnant, He will spare humanity from total destruction. And the phrase "for chosen ones are the elect" is the same phrase that St. Paul uses in Romans 9-11, and Colossians, 2 Timothy. "The chosen ones are those that the Lord before the foundation of the world chose to save." And he used the word for "save" here, and it's the same word that's used in the Daniel context in Daniel 12, to talk about the Book of Life. Who's saved? It's those whose names are written in the Book of Life.
Daniel 12:1-3, "At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever."
In verse 19 of Mark 13, "For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of creation that God created until now, and never will be." The affirmation that God created everything seems superfluous. Why does He even include that in a text about God's judgment falling down upon the earth? It's to say that God has not given up on His creation. The creation that God chose to bring into existence through His words, the same creation that will be tempted through tribulation, He will soon recreate. Indeed, He has already begun to do so. He shortened the days, and the curtailment of tribulation is fixed in the divine mind. God knows when the end is, He knows the exact day, and it's as sure for Him as anything else He's said.
So, how do you develop endurance? You don't develop endurance by thinking just about getting to the end. If your only goal in running the Boston Marathon is, "I just got to get to the end." You're going to be one of those people falling apart on Beacon Street. It's not just about getting to the end, it's not about just running to the end, it's about running through the end. It's about powerfully running through the finish line. So the question isn't, "Will I make it to the end?" The question is, "Will I endure through the end?"
Is your name written in the Book of Life? How do you ensure that it is? Repent of your sins, and turn to Jesus Christ, who died on a cross outside the city that rejected Him, a city that was too proud to repent, and therefore it was destroyed, and the Spirit of God left the temple. Repent of sinning against this holy God, a God of judgment. And as real as the wrath was that God poured out on Jerusalem in the year 70, and as real as the wrath of God was when it was poured out on His beloved Son in the year 33 or so AD, four decades prior, it will be poured out on you for eternity, if you reject the forgiveness that Christ offers you today. And once you receive God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and repentance of sin, you are saved. And once saved, always persevering, because the one who endures to the end will be saved, in Jesus' name, amen. Let us pray.
Lord God, we thank you for even the gift, the chance of being saved. We thank you for paying for our salvation on the cross. And I pray if anyone here is not sure about where they stand before you, I pray, give them the gift of repentance, regeneration, reconciliation with you. And Lord, for us as believers, I pray, give us the gift of the Spirit to endure, to think about running through the end, no matter what the pain is, to not focus on the pain, but to focus on the faithfulness, the faithfulness of following you. Today, doing everything we can to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ today, and to live in manner worthy of it. And Lord, continue to use us as a church to bring revival in this city. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
