Morning Message Text: Mark 13: 1-8
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
1 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”
2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately,
4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”
5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.
6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.
7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
Morning Message:
Are you easily deceived? Have you been deceived in the past? None of us like to think that we are gullible, but the plain truth is that all of us can be, and are, to some degree. As we journey through this sinful world as people of faith, we are very susceptible to deception. We should all be especially thankful that we are forgiven. When we fail we are in good company, for God’s people have been falling short since the beginning, even those who we think of as very wise, succumb to temptation and are deceived.
Remember King Solomon? How many of you know the story of the life of King Solomon? He came to power as a young man and knew he was in over his head. His father, King David had been the man’s man with a wide breath of experience. Solomon was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and grew up in the palace. God gave Solomon one wish. It could be anything? Have you ever played that game? One wish? What would you pick? Win the lottery? Have your team win the Super Bowl? Solomon chose wisdom. An understanding heart to serve the people. Scripture says that Solomon became the wisest man who ever lived and led Israel to their glory days of splendor, strength, wealth, and worldwide acclaim. God told Solomon: As a king, he was not to multiply horses, wives, or gold. In other words, watch out for the temptations of money, sex, and power. What does the wisest man in the world do? He sets world records in each of those categories. Take the wives for example. He ended up with seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. Think of that for a moment. His wives had to wear name tags so he could remember who they were. Could you imagine getting into the bathroom in the morning in that household? Sadly, his wives turned his heart away after other gods and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God.
How did the wisest man who ever lived become so stupid?
There is a story of Luke Goodrich. He was burning garbage in his backyard even though it was illegal. Things got out of control and over one thousand acres burned in San Jose, California. It took four hundred firefighters and six helicopters to get the blaze under control. Who was Mr. Goodrich? The chief of the San Jose Fire Department. He did not do what he knew to be true. I like that; it rhymes. Do what you know to be true. Likewise, Solomon did not live by what he wrote. This is the same daily challenge for all of us. This is where the rubber meets the road. We are to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. I wonder how many times I have preached that over the years? The Bible is supposed to be a mirror, not binoculars. The natural tendency is to judge others and give ourselves all the breaks. We are to apply the Bible first to ourselves as a mirror.
There is a picture that I saw that I wish I could show to all of you. Maybe I can explain it and you will get the gist. It’s a picture of a machine; it looks kind of like one of those machines where you pay for your parking at the hospital. Just a plain machine that reads across the top: TEST YOUR STUPIDITY. Then part-way down on the left there is a slot that says: INSERT $1.00. I wonder how many of us would put a dollar in and realize we had just flunked the test? The wisest man who ever lived ended up writing a book called Ecclesiastes. The book is like a neon flashing sign where Solomon says to learn from him. Solomon exhausted the sin spectrum. He tried it all looking for life apart from a personal relationship with God. He said, “Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. It is like chasing after the wind.” His conclusion: “Fear God and keep his commandments.” Everything minus God = Nothing. God plus Nothing = Everything.
In our scripture reading today from Mark we hear Jesus making some bold predictions that ultimately come true. Not everyone loves history, but we miss so much if we don’t read history right along with God’s Word. Jesus says something that in that setting would be unthinkable. How could these massive stone buildings ever be torn down and left with not one stone upon another? The disciples ask him the right question. They don’t ask if, they ask when. When we look at history, in 70 AD, long after Jesus ascended into heaven, the city Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed. We must learn from this and know that we can trust the words of Jesus.
What Jesus says next is chilling and exhilarating for Christians. “Watch out that no one deceives you.” Many have come claiming to be Jesus. Sometimes we are easily deceived. That’s why we must pay close attention to his words. Jesus will not come back until the end. What that means for you and me is we won’t see him standing on this earth. He will not be someone who shows up and does a lot of good works, even miracles, and encourages everyone to follow him. Those are all false antichrists. We will meet Jesus in the air and go straight to heaven. Do not be deceived. Look for the signs. Too many Christians are like Chicken Little. They go around saying, “The sky is falling; the sky is falling.” The sky will not fall. We shall rise. Do not be so easily deceived. There are plenty of signs that Jesus told us to look for, but pay close attention to what he says. “These are the beginning of birth pains.” Anyone who has ever been through childbirth or experienced it firsthand understands that first there are pains and then, eventually, there is birth. The world is in turmoil. There are wars and rumors of more wars. Kingdoms seem to be aligning against other kingdoms. Natural disasters are accruing frequently. Be aware, but don’t be deceived. We should live like Jesus is coming back at any moment, but don’t be easily deceived. Remember that the words of our Savior are always true.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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