Introduction to the Olivet Discourse

Introduction to Mark 13: The Longest and Most Difficult Discourse

0:03 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, May 1st, 1988, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now may I encourage you to follow with me in your own Bibles as I read in your hearing the first four verses of the 13th chapter of Mark's Gospel. Four Lord's Days have passed since we examined together the last paragraph of the 12th chapter the record of our Lord's examination and evaluation of the giving that was going on in the temple and we take up this morning our studies in the 13th chapter as we continue to make our way through the entire Gospel of Mark. Mark chapter 13, and I read the first four verses. Writing concerning the activity of our Lord, Mark, Mark by the Spirit informs us, And as he went forth out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Teacher, behold what manner of stones and what manner of buildings.

1:27 And Jesus said unto him, Do you see these great buildings? There shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down. And as he sat on the Mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished? Now as we begin our study of the 13th chapter of Mark this morning, there are several things which need to be said by way of general introduction to this chapter. And as I have been reflecting for a number of weeks upon the moment of truth that would come when I would have to begin to expound this chapter, and as there was forming in my mind more and more some introductory perspectives, I was very conscious that were I to make them part of the activity, I was very conscious that were I to make them part of the activity, I was very conscious that were I to make them part of the activity, I was very conscious that were I to make them part of the activity, I doubt I'll hear any amens when I lay out these introductory perspectives.

2:51 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 wiles of error, but that as the truth is spoken in love they may grow up into Christ in all things. Now we are all grateful for those aspects of the study and the preaching and teaching of the word that do give us gales of holy joy as it were in the sails of our soul. And I'm not at all averse to getting holy goosebumps when the truth thrills the soul and raves the hair on your arm,

4:15 then you ought to be thankful so long as it's the truth that is thrilling the soul. But there are some things that are not calculated to do that, but are nonetheless absolutely essential for our spiritual stability. So by way of introduction this morning, I want to say three things and then hopefully we'll have time to expound verses 1 to 4 in the chapter. The first is, the first thing, and anyone who has been following these studies only needs to look through the chapter and he would come to this conviction.

4:52 This chapter is the longest recorded discourse of our Lord in the entire Gospel of Mark. Those of you who have been with us for the expositions will know that by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and under the tutelage of Peter, our blessed Lord is set forth in the Gospel of Mark and is set forth in the Gospel of Mark. and is set forth in the Gospel of Mark. and is set forth in the Gospel of Mark.

5:13 and is set forth in the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel of Mark primarily as the mighty worker.

5:20 As Mark sets forth this account of the life and teaching and ministry of the Lord Jesus, he highlights the mighty activity of our blessed Lord. And the Gospel comes with strong overtones of the might and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so unlike the Gospel, we do not have many lengthy recorded discourses of our Lord. We have the parable of the sower in Mark chapter 4.

5:55 We have one or two other relatively lengthy discourses, his expose of the formalism and ritualism of the religious leaders of that day. But this chapter, Mark chapter 13, is by far the longest recorded discourse, the discourse of our Lord found in the Gospel of Mark. Now that ought to say something to us immediately. Apparently the Holy Spirit, working through Mark and under the tutelage of Peter, was convinced that those for whom the Gospel of Mark was peculiarly targeted, that is, the Christian community at Rome, needed this extended account, of the Olivet Discourse. There was something in the content of this discourse that answered in a very peculiar way to the needs of the Christian community at Rome at that period in the history of the Church when the Holy Spirit gave as a permanent deposit to the Church this inspired record of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus. Now if the Holy Spirit has underscored its importance by its very length,

7:22 then we should be prepared to wrestle through and overcome the difficulties, the parts that will not be simple as we try to work our way through the chapter, and though it will make demands upon us, let us approach the chapter with the confidence that those demands, will be amply rewarded for God has given this richest, concentrated deposit of the teaching of our Lord to be found anywhere in the entire gospel of Mark. And the second thing I want to say by way of introduction is this. This chapter is the most difficult portion in all of Mark's gospel to interpret with certainty and to expound with sanctified dogmatism. It is the most difficult portion in all of Mark's gospel to interpret with certainty and to expound with sanctified dogmatism. I have known that sooner or later we would come to chapter 13, and that sooner or later the moment

8:40 of truth would arrive for me as an expounder and preacher of the word, and the more I've studied, the more I'm convinced that in many portions of this chapter I will have to say it appears to me, according to my present light, that this is most likely what the passage is saying. Now, thankfully, you're not fed on a diet of that week after week and month after month. A diet of tentativeness does not make stable saints. There are certain passages where unless God is deliberately out to confuse us, and his word is no longer a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, but a blanket upon our feet and path, we can say, this is what the word of God says, this is what the word of God obviously means. And any other meaning is twisted. Well, that's what I would call sanctified dogmatism in the exposition of the word of God. But, because this chapter is the most difficult portion, then there will not be the same degree of that.

9:54 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...

10:37 I can't even read many of the footnotes that have works dealing with Mark 13, because they are written in everything from French to German to Latin, and who knows what else. So, anyone acquainted with the history of interpretation will agree with the statement of this author, that no passage is more problematical than this prophetic discourse. Now, why do I mention this? Well, I mention this, not so that you will pity me and my task, or that you will stay away until things get better, but I mention it for three very basic reasons.

Reasons for Tentativeness and Warning Against Misuse

11:20 Number one, that you might understand the element of tentativeness with which I shall expound certain parts of the chapter. I want you to understand why there is a tentativeness on my part. For there is, as I've already alluded, a difference between unshakable conviction regarding the inspiration, authority, infallibility and inerrancy of any portion of the Word of God and unshakable conviction about its profitability and an unshakable conviction that you've rightly ascertained its meaning. Now, I have no question that every word inspired by the Holy Ghost in Mark 13 is authoritative, infallible, inerrant, and profitable. No question whatsoever. I can point to Mark 13 and say infallible, inerrant, authoritative, profitable. But when you ask me precisely what do those inspired words mean in their grammatical construction, in their context, in relationship to the structure of the entire discourse, there you will find some tentativeness.

12:42 But I would be deeply grieved if anyone interpreted my interpretive tentativeness as the slightest question mark over the integrity of the passage itself. And then the second reason I tell you that this is the most difficult passage is this. To remind you that it is just such passages which are most vulnerable to the power of God. Vulnerable to spiritually fatal misuse.

13:15 Just such passages that are most vulnerable to spiritually fatal misuse. Turn to 2 Peter and you will understand immediately what I mean by that statement.

13:31 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 be understood, which the ignorant and the unsteadfast rest or twist out of shape, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. You see, Peter said that in dealing with the subject matter of chapter 3 of his own letter, the prominent theme being the return of the Lord, the denial of that truth by false teachers, some of the details of what will happen at that return,

14:59 he said our beloved brother Paul in all his epistles speaks of these things and some of them with reference to these very things of prophetic teaching are hard to be understood. And it is those more difficult to understand portions which the ignorant and the unstable rest, twist to their own destruction.

15:28 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 hard to be understood. And it is precisely at that point that the devil will align himself with perverse human nature and take these very scriptures to become a noose by which men hang themselves spiritually.

16:34 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.

17:20 God in his prophetic utterances often speaks in what we would call broad prophetic strokes to give, as it were, a sketch of the overall direction of his redemptive purposes. And often when he speaks, there is a flattened perspective. And it's only when the events come to pass, and we look back, that we can say, aha, I see, that's where this fit. That's what this imagery meant.

The Intensely Pastoral and Practical Nature of Mark 13

17:52 That's where this fit. So that the pattern that we must understand and ever keep before us when we come into the realm of those prophetic portions of Scripture which deal with future events is that we have prophecy, fulfillment, and then accurate interpretation and understanding. Now, I want to say one other thing by way of introduction. Having mentioned the fact that this is the lengthiest portion, the most difficult portion, now thirdly, this chapter is intensely pastoral and practical in its dominant emphases.

18:36 It is intensely pastoral and practical in its dominant emphases. Now, while the chapter is unquestionably a prophetic dealing with two great future events from the standpoint of the disciples, yet the motive of our Lord in speaking in such detail is a pastoral motive. In other words, He is not so much concerned with satisfying idle curiosity in the minds of His disciples about the future, both with reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the farther event of the parousia, His return in glory and power. He is not so much concerned about satisfying curiosity as He is about preparing them to cope triumphantly with those realities. He is concerned with the practical issues of their own spiritual stability in the midst of the reality of those coming events. How do we know?

19:47 Well, we know it from several perspectives. First of all, in this chapter there are 19 imperatives in the second-person plural. Nineteen imperatives! In other words, the chapter bristles with commands directed to the disciples.

20:10 Nineteen imperatives are given, and the dominant note sounded in those imperatives is interpreted as the word introduced in the very first part of the discourse. Look at verse 5. When the disciples ask, tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished? They have an itch about when, and an itch about signs.

20:41 What is our Lord's first response? And Jesus began to say unto them, Take heed. Take heed. Take heed.

20:51 You see, his first response was not to pull out a chart.

20:58 His first response was graciously to point his finger and say with earnestness, Take heed. Take heed. Whenever these things come to pass, and whatever the signs may be of their near approach, you should be preoccupied not with looking through your telescope of prophetic, views,

21:25 but guarding your own heart that you not be led from a posture of spiritual stability and usefulness. And you see that this emphasis comes through again and again. Verse 9, But take heed to yourselves, for...

21:44 It's very interesting. Our Lord has a structure here in which he begins with the practical exhortation and then he says the reason for the exhortation is this that is to come to pass. In other words, he doesn't give the prophetic statement and say in the light of that, Do this. He says, Do this, because this is what's coming.

22:07 So even the structure underscores the intensely pastoral and practical concern of our Lord, even in the midst of this most concentrated prophetic discourse, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, in my exposition and application of the chapter, I am determined to try to follow the track which the chapter itself has laid or marked out for us. And I must continually be intensely pastoral and practical in the emphases that I give to the expositions or you will know that I have moved out of the orbit of the very ethos and out of the dominant motifs of this very chapter. And so I'm announcing it on the front end as a check upon myself and I trust that you will be a check upon me as well. When someone is determined to take up prophetic issues and all he or she is concerned about to know whether you are pre, post, om, mid, or whatever else, and when you begin to talk about personal communion with God and the maintenance of deep, fervent love to Christ

23:34 and integrity of testimony in the midst of a hostile environment and they are no longer interested in talking to you, drop idle chatter about prophetic issues.

23:47 It is not speech unto edification.

23:51 And therefore, as we seek to come to the passage, by God's grace, we will come to it expecting that whatever our Lord tells us about future events, He will constantly be bringing home His own gracious imperatives to our hearts. And I remind you of His word. If you love me, you will not only believe what I say about the future, you will keep my commandments. Well, so much then for those three introductory concerns and I do believe we'll have adequate time now to take up verses 1 to 4,

Initial Factors Precipitating the Discourse: Jesus' Exit and the Disciples' Observation

24:30 the introduction to the Olivet Discourse. I've given you a three-point introduction to the whole chapter. Now, verses 1 to 4 in the chapter itself comprise Mark's introduction to the Olivet Discourse. And there are two heads under which we will seek to open up the materials.

24:50 First of all, we have the initial factors which precipitated the discourse. Verses 1 and 2. And then we have, secondly, the immediate circumstances in which the discourse was given. So, the initial factors that precipitated it, the immediate circumstances in which it was given.

25:13 What then were the initial factors which precipitated the discourse? Look at the text. And as He went forth out of the temple, one of His disciples said unto Him, Teacher, behold what manner of stones and what manner of buildings. And Jesus said unto him, Do you see these great buildings?

25:36 There shall not be left here one stone upon another which shall not be thrown down.

25:45 The first factor to which Mark points us is the exit of Jesus and His disciples from the temple. And as He went forth out of the temple. Now, if you've not been with us for these studies, that doesn't have much significance. But if you're familiar with the Gospel of Mark and if you've been with us over these many months of studying these last couple of chapters, you will know that all of the activity from chapter 11 and verse 11 through to the end of chapter 12 is concentrated in the temple precincts.

26:27 Our Lord goes out to Bethany at night or out to the Mount of Olives as a place of retreat, spends at least a couple of nights of the Passion Week there in the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. But His daytime activity, according to Luke, chapter 21, is concentrated in the temple. It is there that He is teaching. It is there that He is healing.

26:55 It's there that He's taking all of His time. It's there that He's taking all of His time. It's there that He's taking all of His time. It's there that He's taking all of His time.

26:57 It's there that He's teaching. It's there that He's teaching. It's there that He's teaching. It's there that He's teaching.

26:58 It's there that He's teaching. It's there that He's teaching. from His enemies who think they're going to ensnare Him in His words. And one after another as they come, our Lord refutes them with the Word of God and silences them.

27:09 And then according to the parallel passage in Matthew chapter 23, and I ask you to turn there because it's very significant,

27:19 Mark does not record this aspect of our Lord's full indictment upon the religious leaders who carry out their duties and carry on business in the temple precincts, but in that searching indictment against the Pharisees and the scribes whom He calls again and again hypocrites. At the end of that indictment in Matthew 23, this is what our Lord said, verse 34, Behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them you shall kill and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. Now the disciples were there. When our Lord, our Lord takes on the religious leaders and pronounces woe upon woe upon woe and lays bare the ugly, seething, inner stench of their decadent religion.

28:42 And then He pronounces a doom upon them and says there's been an accumulation of divine wrath against all the righteous blood shed all the way back from Abel up until the intertestamental period, right up until then, that period, all of the blood that has been shed will now be required of this generation. That was a shocking announcement that an unusual judgment was to fall upon that existing generation. Then verse 37 of Matthew 23, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets and stoneth them that are sent unto her, how often would I have gathered your children together even as a headstone can gather her chickens under her wings and ye would not. May we never be embarrassed at Christ's words, I would, but ye would not. There was in our Lord's holy soul a divine I would, but ye would not. He is not an impotent or frustrated Savior, but He is a Savior whose heart yearns for all men to whom He comes in the word and overtures of mercy in the gospel,

30:10 I would have gathered, ye would not. Now verse 38, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

30:22 Imagine again how this came upon the ears of the disciples. He has said that the accumulated guilt of all the righteous blood shed from Abel down to Zechariah shall be required of this generation. And now in this great lament He says that their house shall be made desolate. He said that in the temple.

30:46 They would most likely think of the temple as that place that in a unique way was the house of God and because Israel was the great privileged nation with whom God had made covenant and to whom He had given a revealed way of worship and sacrifice, etc. They would most likely think of the temple. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. Now with those things ringing in their ears,

31:20 Jesus with His disciples leaves the temple precincts, makes His way out of the city, down the slopes, over the banks, over the brook Kedron, and in the direction of the Mount of Olives. And it may well be that this was His last exit from the temple during that Passion Week. There is some question in the light of Luke 21, 37 or 38 which may not be in chronological order. It may be a general description and commentators differ, but as far as Mark's account is concerned, we know that this is the last recorded visit of our Lord to the temple as given to us in Mark's Gospel. So see the picture. There's been this tremendous, intense interaction between Jesus and His enemies. The disciples have witnessed all of this.

32:20 It has culminated in our Lord taking them on face to face, eyeball to eyeball, calling them the children of hell whose disciples are made two-fold more. The sons of God, the sons of hell by their influence. Then He has pronounced upon them not only woes in general, but they will be the recipients of a judgment that will have embodied in it the accumulated guilt of all the righteous blood shed through all the ages within the nation as men have resisted the truth and have abused the servants of God. And now He says, your house is left, desolate.

33:03 With all of that ringing in their ears, they now make their way out of the temple. So the initial factor that precipitated the discourse was, number one, the exit from the temple. But then secondly, the observation and exclamation of the disciples. Notice how Mark puts it.

33:25 The observation and exclamation of the disciples as they are leaving the temple, and it could well be that when they got far enough away to turn and look back upon all that they had now just left, they make an exclamation, Teacher, behold what manner of stones and what manner of buildings. Mark says that one of his disciples said unto him, Matthew says that the disciples were making the observation, Luke says that some of them. Well, again, we don't have contradiction. Some of them.

34:11 The disciples. Well, if some of the disciples said it, then the disciples said it. So that rectifies Matthew and Luke. But now it says that one of his disciples said unto him, well, yes, and we know from other passages that often the disciples as a whole were discussing a matter and then Mr. Strong Vocal Chords would speak out of the group. Peter. And it could well be since Mark's gospel was written under the tutelage of Peter that this was almost a backhanded confession. That once again, he was Mr. Speak Loud.

34:46 Mr. Big Mouth. But whether it was Peter or whether one came carrying the concern of all, it was a concern that was diffused among the disciples in general and they now come to the Lord with this observation and exclamation. They have been looking, at this magnificent temple and having observed it, they now say to the Lord Jesus, what manner of stones and what manner of building.

35:17 Lord, we heard you say that judgment is coming and that their house will be left desolate. And Lord, if you mean by that that this temple is going to be leveled and destroyed, Lord, look at it. Look at the size of it. It's utterly impregnable.

35:33 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.

36:04 Longer than this, a platform from edge to edge. 36 feet in length. 18 feet across. That would go from the front of the baptismal tank at least to the edge of the platform.

36:22 And then 8 feet thick. I'm 6 feet tall, so right up to here. Now, can you imagine a solid slab of granite, a marble, white marble. We are told by some that the marble was beautifully streaked with other colors.

36:39 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.

37:04 And as this was toward the end of the day, perhaps the setting sun was shining off the top of those gold-covered parts of the temple. And the magnificence of it just overwhelmed the disciples. And in their observation, it just doesn't seem at all congruous that this house would be made desolate. So they say to the Lord in exclamation, Behold, Lord, look!

Jesus' Stunning Prophecy of the Temple's Destruction

37:28 What manner of stones and manner of building! And you have in the initial factors the stunning response of our Lord. The exit from the temple, the observation in exclamation, and the exclamation of the disciples, but now the stunning response of our Lord. It's both a question and a prophecy.

37:47 Verse 2, And Jesus said unto them, Do you see these great buildings? The Lord says, You've asked Me. Behold, look at the stones! Look at the magnificent structures!

38:01 He said, Yes, I've looked at them, and I see them, but do you see them? The Lord, as it were, turns it on them and says, Do you really see them? Do you really see them? Do you see these great buildings?

38:16 Look at them again! And no doubt with their heads turned upon that magnificent structure made of those massive stones with all of its impressiveness. Can you imagine how the words of this prophecy stunned them? He said, There shall not be left here one stone upon another which shall not be thrown down.

38:41 And Mark uses verbs and a construction that is very, very graphic and emphatic that make it plain that this is not hyperbole, this is not rhetorical excess. Our Lord is saying that that magnificent structure and all of its wings and all of its side buildings and its colonnades and everything else, the thing is going to be utterly, totally, totally level. Not one stone left upon another. Well, those were the initial factors that precipitated the discourse.

Immediate Circumstances: The Question on the Mount of Olives

39:23 Now then, note briefly the immediate circumstances in which the discourse was given. Verse 3. Apparently allowing the disciples to let the shock of this prophecy sink in, they make their way further away from the temple area until they come to the mount of Olives. And only Mark gives this little intimate stroke of detail.

39:49 And as he sat down on the mount of Olives, Matthew tells us that, Luke tells us that, but only Mark tells us this, over against the temple. Apparently he seated himself on the other side of that valley in the Brook Kidron, and there on the slope of the mount of Olives he sat facing the temple. The temple concerning which he had spoken a few moments before saying, not one stone left upon another that shall not be thrown down. And with the setting sun shining off those gold parts of the temple and the magnificence of that marble, in that setting, we find the question is posed by four of the disciples. And as he sat on the mount of Olives, over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, these four draw near to our Lord and they press a question upon our Lord. Now the abbreviated form of the question is here in Mark's Gospel. Tell us, when shall these things be?

41:11 As shocking as the prophecy was, their confidence in their Lord was such that they did not doubt the validity of his prophecy. Though it no doubt shocked them, no doubt they were being inwardly ripped to pieces. How can it be? We've just told the Lord, behold these magnificent stones.

41:34 How can such a house be made desolate? And the Lord says it shall be. Not one stone left upon another. And though it's difficult for them to even conceive of such a horrible thing, then that this magnificent, beautiful temple, the center of God's worship, and the place, the only place on earth where the appointed sacrifices were offered.

41:59 Yet they embrace our Lord's prophecy and their question is, tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign when these things now notice are all about to be accomplished? And there you have a hint in the words all about to be accomplished that we have a summarized statement. The fuller account is given in Matthew 24 and in verse 4. And would you notice that for just a moment?

42:38 And Jesus, sorry, verse 3, Matthew 24, 3, and as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately. Mark gives us that little detail of the four, precise four disciples that came. Tell us, when shall these things be? Not one stone left upon another.

43:02 And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world or the end of the age? Now hopefully, we'll go into what may well have been the mindset of the apostles in subsequent expositions. It could well be that in their thinking the destruction of that temple and all that that would indicate in God's work in human history would either be part and parcel of or the precursor of Messiah's return in power and glory and the winding down of human history as we now know it and the ushering in of the messianic kingdom. Now how much they mix those things together, it's clear that their question involved at least two things, possibly three. When shall these things be? That is, not one stone left upon another. And what shall be the sign of your presence and of the coming of the end of the age?

44:09 And those could be one and the same event in their minds. There could be a third event. But this much is clear, no matter how we interpret it. Here's that tentativeness that I talked about, you see.

44:22 This much is clear. They were concerned to know the time of the destruction of the temple and the sign of the coming of the end of the age. Now that much is clear. And Mark underscores those two things for us as well.

44:43 When shall these things be? What shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished? So their question has to do with the timing of future events alluded to by our Lord and the signs accompanying or preceding those events. And isn't it interesting as our Lord then begins the discourse and it starts in verse 5.

The Disciples' Preoccupation with 'When' and 'Signs'

45:19 This is just the introduction. He does not begin, as we've already alluded, by answering directly the question about time or signs, but by giving a stringent exhortation to personal watchfulness. And Jesus began to say unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray. Now what are we to learn from the introduction to this Olivet Discourse?

45:52 Well I have but one very pointed simple word of application and then we are done this morning. And it is this. Human nature never changes. The moment one begins to speak about future events, what are the first two questions that come to people's minds?

46:14 When and what are the signs?

46:17 And so you find people to this very hour preoccupied with time schedules with reference to prophetic issues and constantly taken up with watching the signs of the times. When? What sign? The disciples were just the same.

46:39 Their question was not, O Lord, if such a judgment is to fall upon our nation, upon the entire fabric of instituted religion. Lord, what does this mean for your kingdom? What does this mean for us as your followers? Lord, what should we do to serve you in such a disrupted state of affairs?

47:04 No, their questions seem to be that which is so common to human nature. When and what the signs? In our Lord's answer, though he does speak of signs, signs in conjunction with the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem that would occur in 70 A.D.

Warning Against Speculative Prophecy and Prioritizing Spiritual Preparedness

47:27 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 a packet in the downstairs office, had my name written in pen, and on the front, personal and confidential. I looked at the return address, didn't know who it was. This must be important.

48:37 I almost thought of bringing the materials, but I said, no, it's so ludicrous it would introduce laughter that might be undefitting to our worship service. When I pulled it out, there were two sheets of paper, this long, longer than the standard legal size, this wide, written in very fine hand. The whole paper was almost completely covered. How the person did it, I don't know.

49:01 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 absolutely convinced, has fit the whole thing together, and is pleading with me to put myself at his feet to learn of him the true way of God. Dear people, listen. That itch, that horrible, carnal desire that so masters people that they turn the Bible into some kind of a jigsaw puzzle, always trying to fit the prophetic scheme together, while their own hearts are bereft of the most elementary facets of vital religion, a world can be perishing all around them

50:27 while they play with their jigsaw puzzle. Our great concern in coming to this discourse must not be when and what sign, so that we feel we've got it all in hand, but that we shall know as much as is necessary to cause us to take heed to ourselves, to take heed that no man lead us astray, but to take heed that we persevere unto the end, that we watch and pray, for we know not when our Lord may return. In other words, the ethical, the moral, the religious, the experimental must be our great concern. And the great issue is preparedness for whatever events God may bring upon us, even as we shall see. He sought to prepare His people and His own for that great event of the destruction of Jerusalem. And though we must rely upon the unreliable human sources, there seems to be enough evidence to indicate that Christians did not perish in the destruction of Jerusalem because they took to heart the warnings of our Lord and the sufficient indications that He gave when that day would be approaching.

51:50 And they did, according to His commandment, flee to the mountains and were preserved. But you see, it would be nothing to escape the approaching Roman army and save your skin and go to hell at the end of your eighty years. Our Lord's great concern was not to preserve the skin of His disciples, but to preserve their souls unto everlasting life. And when He speaks of the great signs that will accompany His return in glory and power, it's not that we should be sign watchers.

Call to Repentance and Watchfulness

52:25 It is, as the chapter closes, that we should be watchful and prayerful and waiting that at His return we shall be found in Him and received into His presence. And I therefore plead with you if you sit here this morning a stranger to the grace and saving power of Jesus Christ, my friend, there's a sense in which all you need to know about the future is this. It's appointed unto men once to die and after this comes judgment. Now that's certain.

52:59 You don't need any prophetic charts for that. Your own growing aches and pains and gray hair and bald spots are witness that you're heading to the grave, man! It's appointed unto men once to die and after this comes judgment. Are you prepared to stand before your God in judgment?

53:19 Are you prepared to face God with all of your sins like a horrible mountain rising up before you? No Savior to plead your cause? Oh, my friend, prepare to meet your God. Repent of your sin and flee to Christ.

53:41 And then if He comes before this day is over, if He does not come for another thousand years, it's of little consequence. For being in Him, when He does come, you with all of His redeemed of all the ages should be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with Him. Let us pray.

54:07 Our Father, we thank You again for Your Holy Word. And while we are humbled when we come to passages where we feel so keenly our ignorance and our slowness, to understand, and we are driven to cry to You for light and for understanding and for discernment, we do thank You that what we need to know for our salvation is as plain as the noonday sun. And we pray for any who sit here this morning who are not in Christ, who are yet in their sins, yet unbelieving and impenitent. O Lord, make clear to them the true and horrible state they are in and give them no rest until they repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray for us, Your people, as we enter upon our study of this chapter, that You would deliver us from developing into little parties of differing convictions and sitting around and arguing the details of prophetic events. O God, deliver us from such carnality.

55:29 Give us the spirit of the Bereans who will search the Scriptures alone and together, but always with a view that we may know how better to please You, that our love may be intensified and inflamed, and that our service and preparedness for the return of the Lord Jesus will be heightened. O God, use our study in this chapter to accomplish all of the holy ends for which our Lord Jesus spoke these words and for which the Holy Spirit has embodied them in this, His own book. O Lord, hear our cry and dismiss us with Your blessing, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.