Sermon – November 15

November 15, 2015 Trinity 24

Text: Mark 13:24-31
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven. 28 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near—at the doors! 30 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Learn From the Parallels Between the Judgment of Jerusalem and the Final Judgment
In the name of Jesus, who was, who is and who is to come, dear fellow redeemed:

Throughout the Scriptures there have been many “days of the Lord,” days in which He would bring down His judgment upon a nation or a group of people. This is a way in which wickedness is brought into check, and at the same time the remnant of His people, the believers, are given deliverance. In many of these cases, He laid out exactly what He would do beforehand. In this way there was a warning given and those who were in the wrong had an opportunity to repent. At the same time, believers would know that they had a God who had not forgotten about them.

Earlier in this chapter (and parallel accounts in Matthew 24 and Luke 21), Jesus talks about this very thing as His disciples observed the magnificence of the temple in Jerusalem. He told them, Not one stone shall be left upon another. His disciples then asked when that would happen, and what would be the sign that it would be fulfilled. Jesus goes on to answer these questions about the temple and Jerusalem, describing the atrocities that would occur, concluding with the words of our text.

We do find parallels between the judgment of Jerusalem and the judgment that will take place at the end of time. It is our hope that we can learn and take comfort from the first before the final day comes. May the Holy Spirit open our hearts to receive His message and may that same Spirit prepare our hearts to meet our Savior.

1. There is a renewal after destruction
When Jesus died, the curtain in the temple was torn in two, and the Holy of Holies was revealed thus indicating that there was no more need to wait for the Messiah. He had come and as we talked about last week, He died once for all. There were many Jews who wanted to continue to worship as they had been, and so rejected God’s Son and His way of salvation. God then sent in the Roman emperor Titus to completely obliterate the temple, kill many of the Jews residing in Jerusalem, and effectively end worship in the temple. The destruction was as complete as Jesus said. Literally not one stone was left on top of another. This is the tribulation spoken of in verse 24. It was an event so terrible that Jesus lamented its coming even as He was being led to the cross.

Afterwards, there was a shake-up and political upheaval. This is spoken of in verses 24-25: But in those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. This type of language is used frequently in the Old Testament to describe the overthrow of earthly power and authority. There would be some chaos and a shaking up in Jerusalem. In fact, many of the Jews would be banned from it. Eventually Muslims would claim Jerusalem to be their holy site.

However, in the middle of that chaos, Christianity would spread and thrive. Verse 26 is again figurative language used in the Old Testament to describe the Lord in His power, the riding on the clouds like a chariot, and He would use that power for His children. The true children of Abraham, believers in Him, would be taken care of. He would gather together believers to Himself from all nations, including from among the Gentiles.

At the end of time much of this figurative language become a reality. There will be a complete annihilation of the earth. Everything will be burned with fire. The book of Revelation describes the sky being rolled up like a scroll. Nothing will survive.

But there will be renewal. Jesus will come again on the clouds, at the sound of a trumpet and there will be new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells. Just as He preserved a remnant at the time of the flood, at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the destruction of Jerusalem, so also there will be a remnant left to enjoy the paradise He brings. The same Lord who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light and given you spiritual life will give you everlasting life. He has made a promise to you and He will see to it that all of the elect will be preserved eternally. The ungodly will be receive their sentence of condemnation and punishment, but every believer in Christ will receive the inheritance of heaven. Jesus is coming to rescue us, and to do so there must be a destruction of wickedness.

2. Warning has been given
Jesus did not give the exact date for the destruction of Jerusalem, but He did say that it would occur soon. Assuredly, I say to you, that this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. He gave them time to repent and time to escape the pending doom. They were given fair warning that the time was short.

He also provided signs earlier in the chapter of Mark – earthquakes, famine, the abomination of desolations (Roman armies in the temple) spoken of by Daniel. These were warning signals given as to what would happen next. He uses nature as an example. Going back to verse 28, Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near – at the doors! There are not really any surprises in nature. The plants and animals indicate what will happen. This is true even with cold and warm fronts and high pressure systems and so forth. We are forewarned about times and seasons. The Lord also gave warning about the judgment of Jersusalem.

When it comes to Judgment Day there are not really any surprises either. The Lord spoke of two things that would occur before time would end. One is what we’re talking about here, the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred in 70 A.D. The other spoken of in 2 Thessalonians is the revealing of the man of sin, namely the Antichrist. This also has occurred. So, warning has been given. Judgment Day will be a surprise in that no one knows the day or the hour, but it will not be a surprise in that we should expect it every single day.

But what to do with that information? First of all know that the time of grace is now. A person’s lifetime is the time to repent. When a life ends, or when the world ends is unknown. However, it could be at anytime. Now is the time to reach out to those who need to hear of Jesus and the salvation He brings. We do need to live each day as if it is your last because it very well might be. Find your shelter in the grace of God and don’t put off a relationship with Him until a better time. The earth is on the clock.

3. There is certainty
God will not change His mind when it comes to the final judgment. He has provided a means of salvation for all in His Son Jesus. He has given a conscience to people and also the natural knowledge that He exists. He has provided His message to the ends of the earth. This will happen. There won’t be a last minute reprieve.

You cannot find a single instance in Scripture where God said something would happen and it did not. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. Yes, some 4000 years went by between the first promise of Jesus and His birth. There was a 120 years between the warning of the flood and when it came. It was nearly 40 years between the time Jesus spoke these words and the Roman army converged upon Jerusalem. It’s been about 2000 years since Jesus ascended and said that He would come back. That’s a long time period for us, but not for God. He sees the past, present, and future as if they were one, so it’s not a problem for Him to say that something will happen. He sees it as if it already has.

In a world of uncertainty, what a great thing it is to be certain about the future. Even when reading the book of Revelation in which there is a lot of symbolic language that we may not understand completely, the message is clear: Jesus won. Those who believe in Jesus will win too. It’s certain.

We make plans for tomorrow and even for as long as we may be alive, but we do so with the contingency that the earth will last. If we forget about the overall plan of God, we do so to our detriment. It’s so easy to think that every day the sun will rise and tomorrow will occur, but one day it won’t. One day it will be Jesus returning.

But here is where we also rejoice that we have the certainty of God’s Word. His plan of salvation remains the same. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. He who does not believe will be damned. That will not change. As long as your hope for salvation rests on the hope of Jesus and what He has done, you are saved. The method of forgiveness will not change. Your reservation in heaven will not be taken away. Know with certainty what is coming – the destruction of this earth and all wickedness, but in that also comes your rescue. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.