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Mark 13:14-23 “A time is coming”

2 Tim 4:1-5- backdrop to the context. There is an end to the story. We’re working towards it

No fear- complete faith. But prepared and watching for the heresies that will infiltrate

Stay strong in the word and in FAITH

1. The abomination of desolation

• This phraseology is hotly discussed within scholarly circles as a passage that is often misunderstood.
• v14 “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet,[e] standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand),
• There is a connection with the Book of Daniel in chap 9 that refers to a prince that will destroy the city of Jerusalem, its temples and its sacrifices to God.
• Daniel prophesies that the temple will be destroyed and sacrifices will be offered that will be an abomination that will make the temple desolate

• Scholar agree that the fulfillment of these prophecies was Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes IV, who ruled Palestine from 175-64 B.C.
• This king treated Israel so poorly that they rebelled against him. His forces entered the temple, stopped the sacrifices, set up an altar for zeus and started sacrificing pigs.
• An abomination because worshpping zeus is idolatry, and offering up swine is a desolation. It defies a holy place.
• This was an Abomination which caused desolation
• When Jesus is speaking of this with his disciples- this context of this passage within the larger narrative, does not coincide with the return of Jesus. It is speaking about the fall of Jerusalem.
• Jesus said in Luke 21 “when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, flee”

• So he tells them in Mark 13:14-15, “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house.
• This instruction was specifically for the early church at that time. To ensure that the church would endure through its infancy and endure.
• In the context of the other Gospels, Jesus said it would happen within a generation (40 years) and it in fact did happen in AD 70. Rome came and attack Jerusalem, the Christians fled and their lives were spared
• The abomination of desolation of Daniel happened in about 100 AD. The A of D that Jesus speaks of happened in AD 70. Christians fled and lived and Christianity continued in spite of an army trying to destroy Jerusalem and the people of God
• During this desolation there would be a “ tribulation which has not been seen since the beginning of creation”
• This happened! JFB said “But it is matter of literal fact that there was crowded into the period of the Jewish war an amount and complication of suffering perhaps unparalleled; as the narrative of Josephus would show.”
• It was horrible during those years, but the Church endured!
• Cambridge bible says about this period-  “Mothers snatched the food from the mouths of their husbands and children, and one actually killed, roasted, and devoured her infant son. Dead bodies filled the houses and streets of the city, while cruel assassins rifled and mangled with the exultation of fiends. The besieged devoured even the filth of the streets, and so excessive was the stench that it was necessary to hurl 600,000 corpses over the wall, while 97,000 captives were taken during the war, and more than 1,100,000 perished in the siege.”

• What does it mean to you?
• One- The Anti-Christ- which we will discuss in a moment, will equally inflict an abomination of desolation upon the earth and the church than the world has ever seen
• This A of D is a past, right now (ad 70) and FUTURE within the context of the apocalyptic discourse- We talked about the Tribulation a few weeks ago- the description of it
• 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
• You will not have to flee during this time, you do not have to worry about it in regards to your personal safety or spiritual condition.
• This anti-christ abomination of desolation is going to enter into the church and desolate our faith. It will turn lies into the truth and will attempt to destroy the Christian church
• Matthew 24:13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

• Christ is going to protect those in Christ in the last days
• Revelation 3:10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
• Stay in Christ. Stay close to him. Those who are in Christ have nothing to fear
• Two- You don’t need to flee tho. We are not in Jerusalem- Christ is using this example as a future description of the last things in regard to the antichrist you will be here
• Three- you will be OK during the Tribulation The Antichrist will come- and will mete out punishment upon the church, but those who are in Christ will be protected- IF they remain in obedience to his commands!
• Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus
• You still may suffer- but you will be OK
• Revelation 2:10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
• Hebrews 3:6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end

• How do we hold to the commands? How do we endure?
• Stay connected to Christ– Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
• Our confidence is this- that we are saved from our sins and we have a place in heaven reserved for us!
• The bible is very clear- this IS the context of this verse that people use to get people to church- but the exact context is within a apocalyptic narrative
• Stay connected to your fellow Christians
• Hebrews 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

• Stay away from Sin
• Hebrews 3:13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
• The nature of sin is such that is will slowly creep in. If you don’t allow others to exhort you away from sin- you can be sucked into it
• Faith- calling me out on my attitude. She has every right to call me out. It hurts. But shes right
• Becareful teaching your kids how to live for Jesus- cause they’ll start calling you out
• Pastor in Vancouver- off the rails- ended up leaving the church. Arrested moving 300lbs of weed across the border
• Some would say that he was never saved, or that he was a wolf. And maybe he was- but I can understand the deceitfulness of sin. I can understand the way Satan wants to destroy
• Don’t ever think that you’re immune- that’s in impossible for you to succumb

The AntiChrist

• 21 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.
• There are two components to this- The antichrist spirit- and the actual antichrist
• Neither of which we will really be able to discern. Don’t listen to those who think they’ve found Jesus
• 1 John 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
• 2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist
• I think sometimes people think I just rail on other religions as some sort of bully pulpit, but the idea of a one world religion creeps its way into the church- this idea that all paths lead to god ‘live and let”

• There are not multiple paths to God- Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Jehovahs Witness, Mormons, wicca, Hindus, Unification Church, and even some pseudo Christian cults deny the diety of Jesus Christ- This is the anti Christ spirit! We must reject it! We must fight against it
• Because they deny the deity of Jesus Christ- they must be wholly rejected. You can’t be a person who accepts it as “all paths lead to God” or “coexist”
• Again- if you’re unwilling or unable to maintain conviction now, how will you fair when the end comes?
• There’s false Christian-type doctrines within the church as well (From GotQuestions)
• Gnosticism-), the Gnostic Jesus brings a message of self-redemption. Man only needs to examine his inner “spark” to find the knowledge needed to free himself from his material body and reach God.
• Gnosticism is based on a mystical, intuitive, subjective, inward, emotional approach to truth

• Antinomiansim- Theologically, antinomianism is the belief that there are no moral laws God expects Christians to obey.
• Neonomianism God instituted a different law with a different set of obligations: the law of grace. This supposes that God is no longer judging on the basis of whether or not a person violates some moral precept but on whether or not he is expressing faith, submission, and repentance.
• hyper-grace teaching that emphasizes the grace of God to the exclusion of other vital teachings such as repentance and confession of sin. Hyper-grace teachers maintain that all sin, past, present, and future, has already been forgiven, so there is no need for a believer to ever confess it
• Many more- The true Gospel is this- People are born into Sin, Christ offers salvation from Sin through the cross, we must respond to it in repentance as we receive forgiveness. If this has truly happened, it will produce ‘works’ in us that are evident. The works are not the means to salvation, they are the fruit of it
• Also- False Christs- AntiChrists
• Matthew 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
• There are wolves within Christianity, but there is an ultimate AntiChrist that most will worship and embrace.

• This is very scary- even those who are in Christ may be deceived. I don’t want to be deceived!
• 1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
• Modern day doctrines of demons- Prosperity, hypergrace, easy believism, Attendance Salvation, Salvation through baptism, Salvation through tongues,
• 1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
• What does it mean to you?
• You must know, and defend what true Biblical Christianity is. You must defend it
• Worship, Discipleship, Serving, Giving, Fellowshipping. Confession of Sin. Acts of righteousness
• You must
• Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
• Galatians 5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

• How do you know if you’re saved?
• How do you view sin? Is it acceptable to you? Do you find no moral problems with the sins of the age? Premarital sex, sex between the same sexes, thievery, gossip, envy, strife, division?
• When these things come up, they should pain you.
• How do you view yourself? Do you think of yourself more highly than you ought? Do you think you’re better than someone else? Have you realized your own depravity? Nassar- Type of person Jesus came for
• How do you view your salvation? Is it dependent on you? Or on God. Are you working bc of obligation, or because of transformation?
• What is your priority? Is it to glorify the one who saved you? Or to create the most comfortable life possible without inconvenience?
• Hebrews 6:11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end,
• 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
• Hebrews 10:21-22 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.