Mark 13:14-23. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 04, 2020.
Today, we will continue looking at the Great Tribulation, a period of time that will transition the world from the Age of the Church to the Second Coming of Christ. This is a period of seven years in which the Holy Spirit quits restraining the coming of Antichrist and the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth in the second half of it. It will be a period that is also marked by the wrath of Satan and his evil spiritual cohorts. They hate humanity and want to bring us completely into servitude. It will also be a period of the wrath of man. Leaders throughout the world will be led by such evil spirits to destroy those who do not go along with the global empire, its economic system, and its false peace.
Christians are warned against looking to the kingdoms of this world to bring about Utopia and a New World of peace. We know that the only administration that can cure the evils of this world is one that comes from heaven and is led by God’s Anointed One, Jesus. His return is our Blessed Hope given by God. The hope is not that we will escape difficulty. Rather, the hope is that, no matter what difficulties we face in this life, the Second Coming of Jesus and the Resurrection of the saints will bring us into a time when we will enjoy perfect peace on the earth in an immortal body. It is the beginning of eternity in which we will never sorrow again!
Let’s read this section of the prophecy of Jesus.
Last week, we talked about the desire of some in Israel to build a “Third Temple.” The Bible warns that the Man of Sin, who is the Beast and Antichrist, will oppose and exalt “himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4. Mark 13:14 calls this event the Abomination of Desolation, which we also talked about last week. It is a thing so abominable to God that it will bring desolation and destruction upon the place. I believe that this event triggers the series of judgments that we refer to as the wrath of God and will happen near the middle point of the Great Tribulation. Clearly, it will be connected with the mark of the Beast, which is both an economic and worship issue. Whether people understand it or not, the whole world will be in submission to and in worship of Satan.
When this event happens, Jesus says that anyone in Judea should immediately flee the area because of the coming difficulties. It pictures a person who is relaxing on the flat roofs that are common in the Middle East. They are not to take the extra time to go down into the house and get supplies. The person in the field should not go back into the city in order to get their “Go-Bag.”
Jesus adds that it will particularly difficult for those who are in situations like being pregnant or nursing a baby. In any bad situation, we can often forget that it could be worse. Things will be bad enough, but he tells them to pray that it won’t happen in winter time., i.e. in a time in which it is difficult to escape quickly.
Of course, the Great Tribulation will quickly become bad all over the world. The emphasis here is upon those in Judea and is most likely intended for those Jews who are alive at that time. Note that in Matthew 24, Jesus even says to pray that your flight is not during the Sabbath, which would be a contention only for observant Jews. We should not forget that Jesus cares about his fellow Jews, and he has warned them about both the destruction of 70 AD (Luke 21:20-24) and the coming destruction in the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:15-28 and Mark 13:14-23). The immediate danger during the Great Tribulation seems to be that the Antichrist and his forces will move to take the city, but this is not entirely clear in this prophecy.
Jesus then repeats the warning that he had given earlier in regards to the Age of the Gentiles, or the Times of the Labor Pains. False christs and false prophets have always come and gone. The difference is that here it mentions that they will deceive the people by great signs and wonders. They will be empowered by Satan to do things that will wow the world. Revelation 13 mentions several things that wow the world in the end times. The deadly wound of the Beast will be healed. The False Prophet performs great signs, so that he even “makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. He will deceive those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the Beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the Beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.” The False Prophet also is the one who “gives breath” to the image of the Beast. Revelation 16 also tells us that, as the Tribulation comes to an end, three unclean spirits will go out into the earth. “They are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
It will be a time when mankind will be ripe for the greatest deception ever because they rejected a love of the truth that God has been offering them for 20 centuries plus. Some people categorically state that these signs can’t be real, and instead are faked. However, just as humans have a kind of power that is amazing at deceiving other humans, so these evil spirits have powers that are beyond ours. They are not even close to God, but they can wow us humans.
Matthew 24:26-28 adds another point to this issue of false christs. The Beast leader will be worshiped in the place of Jesus, a false christ. Jesus shows us how we will know that he is fake by contrasting it with his real Second Coming. The Second Coming will be so obvious that no one will have to tell you that it happened. This contrast starts between the First and Second Comings of Christ.
At his First Coming, Jesus was born into a human body (mortal), in a humble way, and his arrival was announced by a “come and see” announcement (not just at his birth too). In contrast to this at his Second Coming, Jesus comes in an immortal body, on the clouds in great power and glory, and no one will need to announce it. Every eye will see him coming on the clouds, but we will talk about that next week. Antichrist seems to be a person who comes as Jesus did the first time. He will be born, grow up, and use powerful signs to draw people to him. The world will take it hook, line, and sinker.
Today, deception is at the fleshly and intellectual level. Yes, we have heard amazing tales among false christs and prophets, but none that are truly like what Jesus did. We need to know the truth so well that not even an amazing miraculous demonstration of power could pull us away from it. I don’t just mean a set of propositions, but that we know the One who is The Way, and The Truth, and The Life! This is a time to press into the Word, and into prayer, so that we can know the authentic Christ6 and his ways. Then we will not only avoid deception, but we will be able to rescue others from deception as well.
Friend, don’t go another day without making your peace with God the Father. Embrace the answer that He has sent to earth for your sins, Jesus. Put your faith in him today so that you will not be caught up in the deception that is even now knocking on the door.