Okay, now, it's true, isn't it, that there are areas of the Christian faith, there are elements of the Christian religion that we do not consider as we should in the 21st century church.
So there are areas of the Christian faith, elements of the Christian religion that we do not focus on perhaps as we should.
Areas that we don't get due consideration and time.
For example, if we focused on the predicament of the lost perhaps as we should, that would maybe tell in the way that we witnessed and our evangelistic zeal, wouldn't it?
Or if we focused on the holiness of God as we should, I think that would tell maybe in increase of more fervent repentance from sin.
So there are areas that we don't focus on as we should.
But perhaps chief amongst these overlooked essentials is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you not agree?
I think it was said of the early church that they thought more about the Lord's return than they did about their own lives and their own death.
I wonder if that could be said for us in here.
Isn't it true perhaps that Christ's return has maybe been pushed onto the back burner of the modern church, of the contemporary church?
Well in our short time this afternoon, what I hope we can do is just consider one or two elements about the return, the perusia, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Before we do that, before we get to the text, I think maybe we've got to say one or two things just about the different interpretations that people might have of Mark chapter 13.
Because it's certainly the case that some people, some scholars, they see that what Jesus is doing in Mark 13,
is he is actually thinking only about the fall of Jerusalem in AD 17.
Now do you see where they're getting?
Do you see their point?
They're saying that when Jesus in this chapter, when he talks about increased persecution in the church,
when he talks about apostasy and things like that,
that really all he's got in mind is the time leading up to the fall of the temple in the first century.
So you've got that quite significant understanding of Mark 13.
So you've got that.
You've also got something else.
Because quite a few people think Mark 13 is just really, what we say, higgledy, piggledy.
That's what my mum would say anyway, higgledy, piggledy.
A bit over, all over the place.
A bit disjointed.
So they will see that what Jesus is doing.
Yes, in some places he's talking about the fall of the temple.
Maybe something.
In other parts he is talking about his return.
And their interpretation is he's just jumping from one thing to the other.
He's just all over the place.
There's no sort of coherent kind of thinking or coherent thought going on.
So that's another interpretation.
Now, to be honest with you, I don't think either of those interpretations does justice to Mark 13.
What I think is happening here is that really our Lord has both of those things.
Few.
Do you see what I'm saying?
That yes, at this moment he is preparing his disciples for the coming fall of Jerusalem.
Do you know what else he's doing?
He's using that event, the fall of the temple, really as a symbol or a kind of paradigm of the end of the age.
And when we've been looking at this in our congregation in the centre of London,
I think I've said the same thing at every single service, in every single sermon.
But really here in front of you what Jesus is doing is he's looking through that fall of the temple, fall of Jerusalem,
and he's looking through it to the time where he will return.
Return on the clouds.
And as we look at this very short section from verse 28 onwards just now,
I think what we'll see from our Lord, what we'll learn from our Lord,
are two important lessons about the second coming.
So it's not, I remember going to a meeting like this once in Edinburgh,
and the guy stood up and he said, well, I'm going to be short, but I do want to cover 11 points.
So basically, it won't be like that, I promise you, I promise you.
Two important lessons we learn from the Lord.
But each of those points has a necessary required response from you and from me.
So what do we have?
What's the first lesson we've got here?
Well, first of all, I think we learn from verse 28 onwards that the return of Christ is imminent.
Okay, you got it?
The return of Christ, the return of our Lord is imminent.
Now we know, don't we as Christians, that in Scripture,
our God loves to teach us using nature.
Isn't that the case throughout the Bible?
He uses, very often our Lord uses natural, nature metaphors,
metaphors taken from nature.
I'm sure you could cite some examples of that, couldn't you?
Let's go for the salt of the earth,
or maybe of when Israel is spoken of as a vineyard.
You see the idea, nature being prominent.
Now you'll see that that is how Jesus begins.
If you look at your Bible in verse 28,
he tells you and I to learn from,
do you see what it is?
It's a fig tree.
I don't know how familiar you are friends with fig trees.
My wife and I, we've got a fig tree just a couple of doors down.
One of our neighbours has one,
so it kind of makes a little bit of sense to me.
But even if you have never even in your entire life seen a fig tree,
the message here is not difficult.
So you understand this,
that in the Middle East,
the fig tree was very, very unusual
in how it bore fruit and bore leaves.
A lot of the trees in the Middle East,
they begin to bud in early spring.
Others in the Middle East, of course,
were evergreen trees.
There's the fig trees, they're thin.
You see, it's different entirely
because the fig tree,
they begin to bud just before the summer arrived.
Just as the summer was on the horizon.
Now you see, do you,
that's what Jesus sent us here.
He's saying just as people can look at a fig tree,
they look at it and they say,
yes, we can know for sure that summer is at hand.
Jesus, he is saying,
if you look at the world,
and if you see the signs that he's mentioned
in this portion of scripture,
if you see in the world,
increased persecution, apostasy,
what do we know?
What do we know?
We know that the summer,
we know that one great event
is on the horizon,
it is at hand.
Now, what is the obvious question
we've got to answer then?
If Jesus is saying,
if you see this in the world,
there's one great event.
What's the obvious question we've got to answer?
What is this great event he's talking about here?
Well, I think, to be honest with you,
primarily Jesus is talking about
the fall of Jerusalem.
If you've got your Bible,
if you look at verse 30,
see what he says.
He says,
he looks at the disciples,
they're sitting in the night of all this,
and he says to them,
this generation.
Do you see that?
This generation will not pass away
until all of these things have happened.
So I think primarily,
he is talking about the fall of the temple.
But hang on a second.
What did we just say?
We said that in this chapter,
Jesus very often is looking beyond the immediate.
So I think this is also what Jesus is saying.
He's speaking to us.
He's saying,
this generation,
the one in which we inhabit,
this present age,
these last days,
they will not pass away
until we see some of these things happen.
All of these things happen.
And when we understand that,
I wonder if we all in here just now
hear the message from God.
I think it's just four words.
I think he's saying to us,
the end is nigh.
Simply, I think that is it.
But let's be frank about things.
That since you and I live in the last days,
do you know what's true for us?
The end,
the return of the Lord Jesus Christ,
it's always nigh.
Do you understand?
The return for us in the last days,
the return of Christ is always nigh,
always imminent.
Now, let me pose to you a question.
How else, as Christians,
do we know that Christ's return
is at hand?
Isn't it true that we know
that that is the case
because Christ's return
is just one part
of a greater
redemptive event?
Isn't that the case?
I mean, how much do you think about
Christ's return?
Do you think of it
as a sort of separate entity?
Do you think about it
as a separate event?
It's not like that.
Do you see that it is one part
of a greater redemptive act
of God that includes
Jesus' life
and his death
and his resurrection?
It's a sin.
It is one part of a whole.
In fact, let me try
and explain it like this.
For years in this country,
if you were in school
and in a science class,
invariably you would be given
the same scientific experiment to do.
So perhaps if you were educated
in the United Kingdom,
perhaps it is the case
that you've done
this very science experiment.
And if you're a scientist,
you will have to excuse
if the details are a little bit rough.
But what happens
is that you would take
hydrogen peroxide
like it is.
Do you remember this?
And you would add it
to a black solution
and the solution was
iodine and starch.
Now if you do that,
hydrogen peroxide
to iodine and starch,
what happens?
What happens?
Not very much happens.
There's this strange
kind of delay.
You add it to the solution
and you have to wait a while
to look at the beacon
and wait before eventually,
immediately,
because of the chemicals involved,
that black solution
all of a sudden
turns bright blue.
And you see,
that's what we are
dealing with here.
Do you understand?
That because Christ's
resurrection and ascension
has been added
to his perfect life,
his righteousness,
and his death,
what's happening today?
Like, spiritually speaking,
what are we doing as Christians?
Do you see what we're doing?
We're staring at the beaker.
Do you see,
we're waiting.
There's this delay.
We're waiting
before the inevitable happens
that Christ Jesus
returns to this earth.
Do you see?
Christ Jesus,
his return is
always imminent.
It's always imminent
for you
and for me.
So,
tell you what,
let me
bring this
to your door
just now.
Let me ask you
what sounds like
a really
wishy,
washy question,
but it's not.
But I say to you
that Christ's return
is near.
And I say to you
that the Lord Jesus Christ
could return
this year.
As a Christian,
how do you feel
about that?
That Christ
could return
this year.
Is there a sense,
perhaps,
of anxiety
a little bit
with that?
Do you wonder
about your service,
your work,
in the church?
Is there,
perhaps,
even a sense
of fear,
maybe,
that builds up?
So,
if you're a Christian,
you need not fear
because did you notice
what Jesus says here
to calm your nerves
and calm your heart?
Have a look at
his verse 31.
What he says,
he says,
the end is coming.
It's for sure.
He says,
the heavens and the earth
are going to pass away.
But what does he say to you?
He says that his word
is not going to pass away.
You see what that is?
That there,
that's your security.
The fig tree
might begin to bud.
Summer
might be at hand.
What do you know?
What do I know?
We know that the gospel,
we know that the word of God,
we know that the incarnate
word of God
will endure.
We know that Christ,
our friends,
all who are in him,
we are going to outlive
this present age.
Isn't that,
isn't that encouragement?
Isn't that a beautiful thing
that there might well be
a nearness
to the Prusia?
There is.
But on that final day
if you're in Christ Jesus,
there's going to find,
you're going to find refuge
under the protective wings
of your God.
So you see here
that the return
of Jesus
is at hand
and is imminent.
Now the second thing,
he said two things,
and the second thing
we also see here
is that the timing
of the return of Christ,
the timing of it
is unknown.
I don't know
where you are
with scripture,
I don't know
where you sit
theologically,
you know,
if there was,
if there is,
or was with you
any doubt
that Christ
in Mark 13
is thinking
of his return,
I think that doubt
has to evaporate,
it has to be eradicated
by what Jesus
goes on to say
in that kind of
new section.
You see what he says
in verse 32,
he speaks of
that day.
It might seem
like an ordinary
phrase to us,
but actually
it's a technical phrase
that the prophets
would use
in Old Testament
scripture,
that day
was a technical phrase
to speak of
the day of the Lord,
the coming
of the Lord.
So what do we know?
We know for sure
Christ is thinking
of the end of the age.
I wonder
when
Paul read
this out earlier on,
did you
notice
the main theme
of this second section
here?
let me
spell it out
and underline it.
It is,
friends,
the hiddenness
of the timing
of Christ's return.
Or maybe
you would allow
this.
The main theme
here is the
unknowability
of exactly
when it is
that our Lord
and Saviour
is going to return.
Because we get
verse 32,
what does he say?
He says it
simply as
it is possible.
He says,
no one knows.
And that's
something he repeats.
No one knows.
It's something
that he extends out
because he says,
no one knows.
Look what he says.
He says,
no one knows.
The disciples don't know.
And he says,
the angels don't know.
Now,
I've come along
as Paul kindly
invited me
to come along here.
I wasn't sure
really what
was going to happen.
But I'm delighted
to be here.
And I can say
you look like
a well-read
and alert
and attentive
group of people.
So I'm sure
of this.
As Paul read it out,
I'm sure
that you saw
that in front of us
just now
we have one
of the most
arresting,
startling truths
in all of the Bible.
Did you see it?
Look,
verse 32.
Who does Jesus
add to the mix?
He says,
no one knows
when he sets
a return.
He says,
the disciples don't know.
He says,
the angels don't know.
Look who does that?
He sits
in the mouth
of all of the disciples
and he says,
and I,
I don't know.
Isn't that a nice thing?
Isn't it quite a
startling thing?
You know,
this is the Lord Jesus
we're dealing with
and he's saying,
I don't know
the age of the age,
I don't know
the time scale
or the timing of it all.
I do think
that could be
confusing for us.
So let's deal
with just a couple
of things here.
First of all,
let's ask him,
if Jesus Christ
doesn't know
the time of the
end of the earth,
can we truly
regard him as God?
Can we?
Like,
you see the question
in fact,
you know,
is it not the same
question that
the church was
embroiled in
and the Aryan
controversy
in the fourth century?
You know,
people were saying,
they were pointing
to this verse,
they were saying,
Jesus says,
I don't know
when I'm set to return,
I don't know
the end of the age.
So people were saying,
can he be defined?
I mean,
does this here
not suggest
that he is beneath God?
Does this not suggest
that he is subordinate
to God?
How would you answer that?
I'll tell you this,
I love the way
that we can answer that.
Oh,
do all we need to do?
All we need to do
is point back
to the very last
thing he said.
What did he say?
Heaven
and earth
are going to pass away.
My words are not
going to pass away.
Now what would every single Jew
have known?
They would have known
that that was an implied
claim of divinity.
They would have known
that phrase.
Heaven and earth
can pass away
my words
and not pass away.
They would have known
that was Jesus
claiming it to be God.
Because what did
every Jew know?
What did they know?
They knew
that only God's word
endured.
Friends,
you know Isaiah 40
verse 8,
don't you?
The grass withers
and the flowers fall.
But how do you go on?
But the word of our God
stands for everything.
Do you see it?
And whatever this lack
of knowledge about the end
tells us,
it does not tell us
that Jesus was worse
than God,
does it?
He has just claimed
full,
perfect divinity
in the previous phase.
But that then leads on
to the second issue.
Friends,
aren't you asking
why is it
that Jesus
doesn't know?
Aren't you asking
that when you read this?
Why is the timing,
the knowledge
of the timing
of the end
of the earth,
why is it
the preserve
of the Father?
Why does the Son
not know?
And I think,
honestly friends,
the answer to that,
I should send you
and me just now
to our knees
wonderment,
maybe,
certainly worship
because I think
in that lack
of knowledge,
see the extent
of what Jesus
Christ has done
for you.
How do you think
about your salvation?
What do you think
about the atonement?
Do you think
God has just done
a little thing,
there's nothing
to God,
this great redemptive
work.
Do you think
Christ has done
just a small thing
for you?
See there,
come on.
See there,
the extent
of the incarnation,
the magnitude
of the self-entering,
consider this,
that to win
your soul,
Christ has
dressed himself
in ignorance.
Isn't that
what you've got here?
That in order
to become
a sufficient
sacrifice
for human sin,
what has Jesus
done?
Do you see
what he's done?
He has added
to his divine
knowledge,
what?
human
unenlightenment.
Isn't that
a stunning thing?
The son
knew not
the time
of his own
return and
why?
It was all
for you.
It was all
to win
your soul
from hell.
Now,
what did I say?
At the start,
I said that there
would be two
points and
two required
responses.
We've seen the
first required
response.
We are surely
to rejoice.
Christ.
What's the second
required response?
We don't know
when Christ
is returning.
We know it's
near.
We don't know
what's the
required response.
Thankfully,
praise God,
Jesus makes it
so clear.
In fact,
I think I can
say this to you.
I honestly
think in his
word,
God is shouting
the required
response at
you.
He is
screaming it
at you today.
Look at
verse 33
to see it.
What does
Jesus say?
He says,
you don't
know when I'm
coming back,
so be on
your guard.
And friend,
do you understand
what I mean by
God shouting
it at you?
Understand that
five times in
that little
section,
Jesus repeats
the same thing.
Five times.
He says,
be on your
guard,
stay awake,
be alert.
Then right at
the end,
do you notice?
He extends
out.
He says,
everyone stay
alert,
stay awake.
Then he even
gives us a
parable.
He compares
you to a
doorkeeper who
has to watch
out for his
master's return.
I'm asking
you,
do you hear
the message
that God is
screaming at
us this
afternoon?
Do you hear
what it is?
We don't know
when Christ is
set to return.
We know
he's at
house,
so what do
we do?
We've got
to be ready.
That's it.
We've got to
be waiting.
We've got to
be prepared
for this.
So,
I'll end
with two
questions and
we're done.
first of
all,
if you're a
Christian
here,
are you
asleep?
Is that
an adequate
description
of your
spiritual life
just now?
Like,
if you are
true to
yourself,
is it the
case that
you are
unenthused
about Jesus?
Unenthused
about the
gospel?
Are you
uninvolved
in the
service of
Christ's
church?
Are you
spiritually
asleep?
You surely
see what
God is
saying.
He's
saying,
this is
an urgent
matter
here.
Friends,
I call you,
I do not
know you,
but surely
you see here
the message,
we've got to
rise up out
of our
slumber.
And we
rise up to
prayer,
we rise up
to service,
we rise up
to actually
telling these
few people on
the street
this wonderful
message of
what Christ
has done
for us.
Because I
have to
warn you,
you and
I,
we don't
want to be
asleep when
our Lord
returns.
And then
we close with
the second of
those questions,
and that's
maybe for
you,
if you have
yet to bow
the knee to
the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Friends,
if you are
yet to submit
to him,
here's the
question for
you.
Are you
ready
for this
event?
You know,
I think,
as well as
I do,
that time,
life,
opportunity is
short,
and Christ
Jesus is
coming back.
So I am
asking,
are you
ready to
meet
God?
Friends,
if not,
surely maybe
today even
is the time
where you
waking up,
and you
waking up
to eternal
life,
you maybe
see in
scripture
something of
what Christ
has done
for you,
something of
his glory,
and even
today,
you turn
from your
sin,
you repent,
and you
believe in
the Lord
of glory.
Friends,
when we
read Mark
chapter 13,
surely it's
the case that
actually for
all of us,
we all have
the same
fervent prayer,
don't we?
What would
that be?
It would
be,
Maranatha,
come,
Lord Jesus,
and come
quickly.
Let's pray.