I've got a series of questions that I want to ask you. And before I ask you these questions, I just want to give some clarity that none of these are trick questions. I'm not trying to trap you in anything. So just think, answer in your head honestly what you would say about these things. And they're pretty obvious too. It won't tax your minds too hard. So first of all, do you believe that God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning? Do you believe that God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing? Do you believe that God spoke his creation into existence? Do you believe that as judgment for sin, there was a worldwide flood that destroyed all humans and land animals other than those saved on the ark. Do you believe the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God with fire and brimstone for their wickedness? Do you believe that God, through Moses, parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to walk across on dry land and brought the sea back on the Egyptians who tried to follow and they drowned? Do you believe that God caused the sun to stand still to extend the daylight so the Israelites could defeat the nations who fought against them in Joshua 10? Do you believe that Uzzah died instantly just for touching the Ark of the Covenant? Do you believe that Jonah was swallowed by a large fish and spit back out on land? Do you believe that Elijah called fire down from heaven to burn the offering and the altar at the contest with the servants of Baal? Do you believe that the Old Testament prophets were given messages from God that accurately predicted details of the coming Messiah? Do you further believe that Jesus was born of a virgin? Do you believe that Jesus healed diseases, cured blindness, and other infirmities? Do you believe that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead? Do you believe that Jesus accurately predicted his own death and resurrection? And do you believe that it happened just exactly as Jesus said it would? And just to clarify, do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Now, again, not trying to trap you in anything. I hope that everyone here answered yes to all of those questions. All of these things that I mentioned and asked you about, these are all supernatural and or you might say miraculous things that the Bible declares to have happened. The Bible tells us each of these things have happened. They are all amazing things that have happened. Well, there are a lot of people in the world who would say no to many, maybe all of those questions that I asked. They would say that believing that those things literally happened would be weird. It's just not logical. There has to be a more logical explanation. So something like a Big Bang and evolution make more sense to the mind that wants to cancel out God. It was just a local flood that got exaggerated in the coffee shops, they may say. Sodom and Gomorrah were probably destroyed by a volcano, they would say. The Israelites crossed the Red Sea during a dry spell, and somehow the Egyptians drowned in three inches of water. The sun didn't really stand still. It just happened to be the weekend of daylight saving time, and they didn't realize their clocks had changed. Now, I've never actually heard that argument, but it wouldn't surprise me. They saved a lot of daylight that day. Uzzah was actually electrocuted by a potato battery someone had put in the ark. Now, that one somebody did actually try to experiment with because, There's got to be some logical explanation, and so maybe a potato battery in the ark is what actually killed Uzzah. Jesus didn't actually die. He just fainted and revived, or his disciples stole his body. And most of the rest of these questions that I asked you about are just fairy tales. Never really happened. Well, the world will try hard to de-supernaturalize the past miracles of the Bible. It didn't actually happen. It's just made up. It's fairy tales or things were exaggerated, but hopefully you trust the Bible. Hopefully you believe what God has said that God's word is more believable, more trustworthy than the thoughts of man. If you can believe Genesis 1.1, then all the rest of those things that I asked you about They're easy. If God created the heavens and the earth, he can do anything he wants in his creation. He can do all of the rest of those things easily if he can create the heavens and the earth. Well, strangely, many professing Christians will do some similar things to what I mentioned as the world does when it comes to things of the future. like the things that we read about in the book of Revelation, parallel prophecies in the Gospels that have to do with things leading up to and including the coming of Jesus Christ. There are many who doubt a literal fulfillment of those prophecies because they seem weird. They're nothing like anything we've ever experienced. And they just don't seem like they could actually be. There must be some other explanation. Well, some things that we look at today about the return of Christ are definitely supernatural. They are unlike anything that we have ever experienced. And so some have spiritualized it, others have naturalized it to try to explain it in a way that makes more logical sense. About a hundred years ago Harry Emerson Fosdick spoke of people who proclaim that Christ is coming and they say it was certainty that Christ is coming but he says when they say Christ is coming they mean that slowly it may be but surely His will and principles will be worked out by God's grace in human life and institutions. And so that's what some have meant by Christ is coming. When we see things about the return of Christ in the Bible, they will say, well, what that really means is that one day we're gonna get this all figured out. Life is gonna get better, be it through better politics or better technology or a mixture of the two, things are gonna get better. And that is the return of Christ. Others will claim that Jesus already came back. And all of the prophecies of his coming were fulfilled already by the year 70 AD. It was just a spiritual coming. It was unseen. And that's why the things that what we see it says will happen. Well, they didn't actually happen. It was a spiritual happening. It's allegory. Or it refers to something other than what it says happened. Maybe it's about some kings and some nations and changes of that sort. Well, I believe that we should believe the Bible. God has done amazing things in the past. and He is still capable of doing amazing things in the future. He has kept His word in the past. We should trust Him to keep His word in the future. So we are in Mark chapter 13 this morning. We're in the midst of the Olivet Discourse. It's still Tuesday of the week of the Passion Week of Jesus, the week that concludes on that Friday with Jesus on the cross and going to the tomb We're on Tuesday here in Mark 13. Last week we fast forwarded to Thursday through Sunday for Easter. We're going back a couple of days now to Tuesday. So after all the opposition that Jesus faced in the temple, while he was trying to teach, he has left the temple. You remember some of the disciples commented on, look at these big stones, these big fancy buildings. And Jesus commented, that's not going to continue. This temple is going to be destroyed. Jesus and his disciples are now sitting on the side of the Mount of Olives looking toward Jerusalem like the perspective of this picture up here on the screen. They would have been seeing Jerusalem from the first century from their perspective of where they sat. Now Jesus saying that that temple that had been under construction for so many decades, was so big, so impressive, so fancy, that Jesus would say that it is all going to come down, that was pretty shocking news to the disciples. Some of the disciples want a little further explanation. Peter, James, John, and Andrew ask Jesus, they want to know, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled? Matthew gives a little more detail on this instance, this time, records that they also asked, what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Now we've looked at Jesus' beginning to that answer of what would not be signs that the end had come. He says, when you see of wars, we see wars, you hear rumors of wars, there's earthquakes and famines. When Jesus followers are being persecuted and martyred, those things are going to happen. They're like the birth pains. They may progress as time goes on, but those things do not indicate that the end has come. But, he said in verse 14, when you see the abomination of desolations standing where it should not be, let the reader understand. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Jesus says, when that happens, all these things are going to be happening. Life is going to be hard for Jesus' followers. Expect that. Life is going to be hard on this earth. Expect that. But when this happens, when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not, and great tribulation follows that. Tribulation that's worse than has ever been seen on the earth. More details about that can be found in the books of Daniel, Revelation, and Matthew and Luke. Mark just gives a very abbreviated account. but that will be the sign. Abomination, desolation, tribulation that's worse than it's ever been, that will be the sign of Jesus's coming and of the end of the age. And that's the time that we're looking at now, this morning, Mark chapter 13, verses 24 through 37. Mark 13, verse 24. Jesus says, but in those days, after that tribulation, here Matthew records that Jesus said, but immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. So Jesus says at the end of that tribulation that he talked about that we looked at up through verse 23 last time we were in Mark, there's even more tribulation. Now this is, again in Mark, just a very brief summary on parallel passages in the book of Revelation. It gives a lot more detail. Where we are here in Mark would align with Revelation chapter six, verses 12 through 17. And there in Revelation, we see that it's just one judgment coming after another. These are in the seal judgments in Revelation chapter six. It was at this point that all of the powerful people of the world, the kings, world leaders, flee to the mountains in terror. They plead for the rocks to fall on them, to kill them, Because they no longer want to face the wrath of God. Now that's their solution rather than repentance. Rather than turning in trust to the Lord Jesus Christ, they just want it to be over. They want to die. That's how bad it is on earth. It's a terrifying thing to think about. What Jesus is saying is going to happen in these verses. That the sun no longer gives its light. When we got up this morning, it was cloudy and kind of foggy, but we knew the sun was there. There was light. The sun coming up in the morning is like the most dependable thing there is. It happens every day. We know when it's going to happen. It's so dependable. But Jesus says on that day, the sun is no longer going to give its light. Now, scientifically, does that mean the sun's light goes together with its heat? Is the sun no longer going to give heat? And if that's the case, then isn't everybody going to freeze instantly on Earth, or it won't take very long? And questions like that, I don't know. But God does. And so we don't need to know. We don't need to know how to answer all of these potentials and maybes. God knows. God's word says on that day, the sun will no longer give its light. Things will be happening in the heavens that no man has any control over. And nobody's going to be making any phone calls to say, okay, what are we going to do about this? Nothing can be done about it. This is not something that can be recovered from. Okay, we'll figure something out. We'll fix this. It's not going to happen. Nobody's going to go and relight the pilot light on the sun. When it goes out, it's out. This is getting to the end. Now again, there are a lot more details in the book of Revelation, but the next main event that Mark focuses on is in verse 26. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. Matthew says that this is something that will be seen by the whole world. Everyone is going to see Jesus come back. No one will be able to miss it. Now that, I believe, obviously has not already happened. Jesus has not already come back. Jesus is coming. And the world will see it. This coming and how Jesus describes it is very different than his first coming. Approximately 2,025 years ago, Jesus came humbly, quietly, born as a baby in Bethlehem. He was announced by angels, which is pretty impressive, but it was just to a small handful of shepherds out in a field. His first coming could have easily been missed. And he was missed by most of Israel, most of the world. But when he comes again, no one is going to miss it. He's not coming humbly as a baby in Bethlehem. He's not coming secretly or just in people's hearts. But he's coming with great power and glory. in the clouds for all to see. Now this is why Jesus said in the previous verses about the false Christ, if someone says, hey look, the Messiah, he's over here, come here and see him, or there he is over there, don't believe them. Because when Jesus actually comes back, no one is going to have to point him out, and no one is going to go looking for him. He will be obvious. he will be clear and no one is going to miss him. Now, if the sun isn't shining, he will probably be the only light that's in the sky. He will be seen. Jesus is coming back. Verse 27, Jesus says, and then he will send forth the angels and will gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth, to the farthest end of heaven. Jesus had said that before he returned, back in verse 10, that the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. By the events of verse 27, it has been. The gospel has been preached everywhere to all the nations. And all who have believed the gospel, Christ select those who belong to him, those who are his, that he will preserve wherever they are, Those who have survived the great tribulation will be gathered to their Messiah. Now that also means, on the other side, that those who don't belong to Christ are separated out. And they will receive their final payment for their sin, which is to spend all of eternity in hell. But those who do belong to Christ and go on to be with Him, enjoy the peace, the comfort, all the joys that come with their union with Christ. And that is our hope. That is the eternal, final hope. Jesus is coming back. Our hope is not that this world will get better. Our hope is not that any human government will get things figured out and we'll finally have some peace on this earth through man. It's not going to happen. That is not our hope. This world is bad because of sin. You watch the news, see what's going on in the world. There's a lot of bad going on because of sin. It's going to get worse. because of God's judgment against sin in the world. But our hope is Christ. Our hope is not in this world. Our hope is Christ. And He is coming. And we are supposed to know that. We are supposed to be watching for His return. If you look at verses 28 and 29, He says, now learn the parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that he is near, right at the door. Now, the time of year that Jesus said this was right about where we are here today. It was near Passover. It was early to mid spring, kind of like where we are today And Jesus could just say, look around, look at those trees over there. It's easy to tell what season it is just by looking at that fig tree. Oh, the fig trees at that time were starting to bud and put on leaves, except for that one odd fig tree that Jesus cursed just the day before. That, maybe it was that morning, I can't remember now. But it looked like it was ready and full and should have all kinds of fruit on it. But it was odd. And all these leaves and no fruit. It shouldn't have been. That could happen occasionally. But most of the time, a regular fig tree at that time was just beginning to bud to put on leaves. Now here for us in this time, we had been surrounded by brown, dead-looking trees for several months. Winter just drags on, doesn't it? Seems like it lasts forever. The brown, the dead, the cold. But when you look out the window now, you go outside, you see the trees. They're green. The leaves have started to come out. It must be spring. Because this is what trees do in the spring. And that means we know summer is near. Praise the Lord. Summer is near. Now Jesus' point is that it's pretty easy to discern the time of year by the state of the trees. If that is the case, then everyone who reads this should also be prepared to discern the coming end of the age and the soon return of Jesus Christ. When these tribulation things begin to happen, starting with the abomination of desolation, then that is like the tree, showing what is coming soon. And even seeing the abomination of desolation, seeing these kinds of tribulations, seeing the sun, or not seeing the sun, when it no longer gives its light, that should be an encouragement to believers during that time. Believers during that time can say, this is bad, but it means Jesus is coming very soon. Praise the Lord. For those who have read these passages, have heard these things, and then they see these things beginning to happen, and they have not yet believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, they should know Look at the sign. Jesus is coming soon. You've heard this taught. He's coming soon. Now would be a great time to repent and put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone should be aware. Everyone should be ready to see the signs. When they come, know that Jesus is right at the door. He's coming very soon. In verse 30, Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Now, this verse has been an occasion for many heads to spin. What in the world have we been talking about? What have we been missing, saying all of this is still future, when Jesus said this to those disciples almost 2,000 years ago, that this was going to take place in this generation? I believe, if I'm remembering right, it was C.S. Lewis who said that this is the most embarrassing verse in the Bible because Jesus was wrong. Jesus thought that all of this would happen and he would return while those disciples were still living. And obviously, it hasn't happened. Even still, it hasn't happened. kind of embarrassing. We better come up with a cover story for that one because if even Jesus didn't know. Others have determined that this verse is the key by which everything else in this passage must be interpreted. So we must find a way of understanding all of this as happening by 70 AD because that's the only way that generation of disciples could have lived to see it happen. Something that we should ask and we need to determine. Does our understanding of this verse determine the context of the passage? Or does the context of the passage determine our understanding of this verse? Now I believe, and I would submit to you, Context is king. This is talking about the end of the age. It's talking about the second coming of Jesus, which hasn't happened yet. This is all talking about things that when we look at history, it hasn't happened. A person really has to exercise their doctrinal imagination to try to align this with things from history, to find a way of explaining that Jesus has already returned. There are a few small details of some things, like when Titus invaded Jerusalem, a few things that kind of could line up with the Abomination of Desolation, but it wasn't. It didn't line up exactly. So it's a pretty big stretch, I would say, to try to say that all of this has already happened so that that generation would still be living to see it happen. Now there's another, there are a few ways of looking at that verse. One other natural way that this generation can be understood is that Jesus is referring to the generation who is alive when the fig tree starts to put on some leaves. that generation that is alive when the signs of the end begin to happen. And if that is the case, then what Jesus means is once this starts, it's not going to take hundreds of years for it to finish. Once this begins, it's going to happen quickly. Like in seven years, it's going to happen. So watch and be ready because it's coming. The next section of verses, we see that we are not to wait for the signs to begin, to begin to get ready. We should always be ready. Verse 31, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. So Jesus is telling us to not take his words lightly. It is going to happen. His words are more sure than the earth that we're standing on. It's going to happen. Verse 32. But of that day, or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Take heed, keep on the alert, for you do not know when the appointed time will come. is like a man away on a journey who, upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning, in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you, I say to all. Be on the alert. So while there will be signs of the end of the age, signs of the second coming of Jesus, there are no signs that we should be watching for, for it to begin. It seems to happen often that when there is some big event in the news, or some change in leadership of some nation, or there's the death of a Pope, or some new technology, or a potential war, or earthquakes, you hear people start to talk like, I wonder if this new leader might be the Antichrist. Or maybe this thing that's happening is setting things up for the rule of the Antichrist, or this new gadget there is obviously the mark of the beast. So now we know, get ready, Jesus is coming. According to Jesus, we are to always be ready. We are to be on the alert. We are to think of ourselves as though we have been given the task of watching and waiting so that we can open the door as soon as our master returns. Because we don't want to leave him outside and we don't want him to find us sleeping. We are to be ready and we don't know When any of these things are going to begin, it could be another thousand years, or it could be today. Nobody knows. So we are to always be ready. Now this last section, especially, seems to have the idea of the imminent return of Christ in it. Now, I believe that that fits well with the belief of the pre-tribulational rapture of the church. That is a view that is instantly written off as heresy by some. But I think there are some good biblical reasons to believe it, or at least that it's a good possibility. At the very least, I think we should be able to admit there is some mystery involved when it comes to the study of the end times. I've told you what I believe, and I don't think anybody, including myself, has it all figured out. Nobody will have it all figured out until it happens, and then we can say, oh, that's what it means. That's what Jesus meant. I get it now. There are a lot of details, a lot of timeline that we don't know for sure, but we should trust what the Bible says. God's Word is trustworthy. We don't need to try to fix it to make it more believable. I was thinking of how the part of the reason that those disciples weren't prepared for what was coming later that week was because they could not imagine something like Isaiah 53 happening to their Messiah. God said what was gonna happen clearly to the Messiah when he came, but it didn't fit their expectations. I don't think that's gonna happen. When Jesus predicted that he would die on the cross, Peter took him aside and rebuked him. That'll never happen to you. He couldn't imagine something like that happening to the Messiah, even though God had said, this is what's going to happen. So we need to align our expectations as well as we can with what the Bible says is going to happen. And we need to keep the main things, the main things. In this passage, what is the main thing? The main thing is that everyone is to be ready to meet Christ. Verse 33, Jesus says, take heed, keep on the alert, for you do not know when the appointed time will come. Verse 37, Jesus says, what I say to you, I say to all, be on the alert. Now, however it may happen to you, you will meet Jesus one day. And it could be today. None of us are guaranteed another day on this earth. So are you ready? Have you turned from whatever else you could be trusting in for your well-being, for your eternity, and have you turned to put your trust in Jesus Christ alone? Because of His death on the cross for your sin, and because of His rising from the dead in victory over Satan and sin and death, And if your answer to that question is yes, you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, you are ready to meet him. So get your hand on the doorknob, be ready to open the door for Jesus to come in. If your answer is no, there may not be much time. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ while you can. you may not get another chance. We all will see him soon, one way or another, by death or by his return. We will all meet him, either as judge or as our savior. It could be today. Are you ready?