Introduction to the Olivet Discourse

In this part of the sermon: Martin begins the exposition of Mark 13, highlighting that it is the longest recorded discourse of Jesus in Mark's Gospel and the most difficult portion to interpret with…

Martin contrasts the exhilarating aspects of truth that give 'holy goosebumps' with essential truths that, while not thrilling, are crucial for spiritual stability, arguing that both are necessary for spiritual growth.

I doubt I'll hear any amens when I lay out these introductory perspectives. These are not the kinds of things that give us a sense of exhilaration and felt joy, and holy goosebumps, But I remind you that the function of pastors and teachers is in no little part described in the language of Ephesians 4 verses 14, James 6. 14 and 15, in which we are told the head of the church has given pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints that the saints should no longer be children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and by the slight of men and by cunning, crafty handling of the wile...

2:51 - 4:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Approach difficult passages with humility and a willingness to acknowledge interpretive tentativeness.

Martin quotes a commentator who states that Mark 13 is the 'most problematic' passage in Mark's Gospel, underscoring the interpretive challenges he faces.

One man who has carefully studied the book and written a commentary upon it wrote as follows, In the Gospel of Mark there is no passage more problematic, than the prophetic discourse on the destruction of the temple. The questions posed by the form and the content of the chapter, and by its relationship to the gospel as a whole, are complex and difficult, and have been the occasion of extensive literature. And one of the men loaned me a rather technical book, which I have read from cover to cover, and I can't...

9:54 - 10:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Be warned that difficult prophetic passages are dangerous ground and can be misused for spiritual destruction.

Martin quotes 2 Peter 3:15-16, where Peter warns that the ignorant and unstable twist hard-to-understand scriptures to their own destruction, illustrating the spiritual danger of misinterpreting prophetic passages.

Peter has been writing about the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the two major themes found in Mark 13. In 2 Peter chapter 3, the great subject matter is that of the return of the Lord Jesus in power and glory at the end of the age. And as he comes to the conclusion of treating this subject, Peter writes in 2 Peter 3 and verse 15, And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, wrote unto you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, wherein are some things hard to b...

13:31 - 14:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Be warned that difficult prophetic passages are dangerous ground and can be misused for spiritual destruction.

Martin uses the metaphor of a 'noose' to describe how the devil can use difficult prophetic scriptures, aligned with perverse human nature, to spiritually destroy people.

Dear people, we are coming not only to a chapter that holds the potential for tremendous blessing because the Holy Spirit saw fit to make it the longest recorded discourse of our Lord in the Gospel of Mark, but we come to a chapter which contains potential danger. We are coming to a chapter in which future issues, two great future issues from the point of time of Mark's writing, the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem and then the return of our Lord Jesus at the end of the age, these things are set forth and as they are set forth, there are in these words and phrases, and paragraphs, things...

15:28 - 16:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Be warned that difficult prophetic passages are dangerous ground and can be misused for spiritual destruction.

Martin distinguishes prophecy from 'pre-written history,' explaining that God often speaks in 'broad prophetic strokes' with a 'flattened perspective,' meaning precise understanding often comes only after fulfillment.

And so I want to warn you at the outset that we are treading not only on holy ground, but dangerous ground. And then there's a third reason I mention this second introductory principle that this is the most difficult portion in Mark's Gospel and that is to underscore that in the interpretation of prophetic portions of Scripture, the general pattern is the word of prophecy, the fulfillment of prophecy, and only then precisely accurate understanding and interpretation. Prophecy is not pre-written history. The way post-history accounts of events are written.

16:34 - 17:19 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He details the first factors leading to the discourse: Jesus' final exit from the temple after intense confrontations and His pronouncements of judgment, followed by the…

Martin describes the massive size of the temple stones (36 feet long, 18 feet across, 8 feet thick) to help the congregation visualize the disciples' awe and the seeming impossibility of Jesus' prophecy.

It's indestructible. Look at this temple. Behold what manner of stones. And in that temple that was still in the process of being rebuilt by Herod, we are told that the stones were made of solid marble in cubits 25 by 8 by 12 which converted into feet would be approximately 36 feet in length.

35:33 - 36:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He details the first factors leading to the discourse: Jesus' final exit from the temple after intense confrontations and His pronouncements of judgment, followed by the…

Martin mentions that parts of the temple were overlaid with gold, which would have shone in the setting sun, further emphasizing its magnificence and the disciples' wonder.

So that at one point when someone wanted to cover it with gold, they said even the gold would not be as beautiful as the marble. Now, seeing a temple made of these stones, behold, what stones! And then the buildings with all of the courts and the colonnades. And we are told that certain parts of the upper part of the building were indeed overlaid with gold.

36:39 - 37:03 Read in full sermon

The point: Guard against the 'carnal desire' to turn the Bible into a 'jigsaw puzzle' of prophetic schemes while neglecting vital religion and the perishing world.

Martin recounts receiving a letter from someone who precisely calculated the start of the Great Tribulation and Christ's return, illustrating the danger and futility of speculative prophetic date-setting.

under the advancing Roman armies, and though he does speak of certain signs that will accompany his own return in glory and power at the end of the age, our Lord is not so much concerned to give us time charts and a whole list of signs that we can try to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and think that we are on top of it, but rather his great concern is to tell us just as much as is necessary that we may be preserved in the way of holiness and obedience and be found ready at his return when he comes in glory and in great power. Just this week, and I thought it was very significant, I received...

47:27 - 48:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Guard against the 'carnal desire' to turn the Bible into a 'jigsaw puzzle' of prophetic schemes while neglecting vital religion and the perishing world.

Martin uses the metaphor of turning the Bible into a 'jigsaw puzzle' to describe the carnal desire to fit prophetic schemes together, often at the expense of vital religion and personal holiness.

But written in hand, and this was a Xerox copy, both sides of two sheets, a lengthy letter to President Reagan, and then a smaller letter, one side of a sheet this size, written in very fine handwriting, appealing to me to give up all the empty religion that I and all of Christendom embraces. And then this person went on about three quarters of the way down to give the very date when the Great Tribulation will begin, May of this year, and then calculating 2,000 some odd days from that point, gives the very date of the return of the Lord Jesus. This person lives in South Jersey. This person is ...

49:01 - 50:27 Read in full sermon