shall we Amen, amen. Let us turn then to the word of God, our scripture reading for this morning, Mark chapter 13. We'll read verses 24 through 31. This is page 1081 in most of the few Bibles, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Again, this is in the Gospel of Mark, the longest unbroken teaching of Jesus Christ. And so we continue through it. It has not only some length, but also some difficulties to it, so we're not taking as large chunks as we can sometimes take in the Gospel of Mark. So Lord willing, 24 to 31 this morning, and then we will come, Lord willing, to the end of this chapter next week, Sunday morning. Mark chapter 13, beginning at verse 24, let us hear the word of the Lord, our God. But in those days, after that tribulation, The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. From the fig tree, learn its lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that He is near at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." So far the reading, the grass withers, the flower falls, the word of our Lord endures forever. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to work through this a long unbroken teaching. Now let us remember briefly a couple of things we went over in last week's introduction that roughly speaking verses 3 to 23 go together, verses 28 to 31 go with them, and roughly speaking verses 24 to 27 and 32 to 37 go together. Now again this is not an easy passage But there is at least one clue which helps us to see that, and it's what we might call a theological shorthand, or a theological biblical clue word, or hint word. Maybe you know what the word hint means, or what the word clue means. I imagine if you're a little bit older, you know what shorthand means. Maybe if you're a little bit younger, you're like, what is shorthand? We don't use shorthand anymore. Well, we don't really use shorthand anymore. It used to be quite common. You could even be taught formally in shorthand. And before there were computer keyboards and you could learn to be fast typist and keep up and basically type down every single word a person is speaking, or you could just, you know, turn on a recorder on your phone and record what they're speaking. Well, before those days, not in the too distant past, you had to be able to write it down by hand. And writing down every single letter of every single word was simply not possible. And so there were these things developed called shorthand. And so I think I remember correctly that W with a slash means with, W with a slash and an O means without, BC means because, and these things are then shorthand, right? They're standing for something bigger. Well, sometimes in the Bible we have kind of shorthand clue words that stand for something bigger. And one of those clue words, those hint words is those days. We see that in verse 24. Now you might say, wait a second, those days, that's a really common thing. We see that in verse 19 as well. So why is the those days of verse 24 different than the those days of verse 19? Well, again, it's shorthand. BC can mean because, it can also mean before Christ. But when we see it in context, and when we see in scripture something like those days or that day, and it's connected to universal-like language, it's a hint that we're talking about something at the very end. It's a clue that we should be looking for something that looks into the distant future. And that's what we see in verses 24 to 27. Not only do we see, but in those days, after that, so there's a transition here, after that, after those other things described in the verses before here, in those days, and now we certainly have language of universal things, sun, and moon, and all the stars, and all the powers, and then the son of man, and power, and glory. Well now, it's not just a possible clue, but it's a confirmed clue. We're talking about universal, eternal, final things. And so we see in this passage words about how we must be ready, be ready for the second coming of Jesus of Nazareth, of Jesus Christ. Be ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ who is the truth speaking son of man. And the three points we have this morning as we work through these verses is first the shaking of powers and then that coming in glory and then our third point verses 28 to 31 lessons in perseverance. So now we have this clue word, which we have spoken about those days, and then we have that universal language. How do we know this is universal language? Well, one of the reasons why we know this is because this is how the prophets often speak. And so, for example, we could turn to Joel chapter two. Joel chapter two, and I'm gonna pick out four or five verses from this chapter and see if you can hear how Joel two is almost a longer version of Mark chapter 13, verses 24 and 25. So in Joel chapter two, we see language about that day. The day of the Lord is coming, it is near. That is at the end of Joel chapter two, verse one. And so there's our clue word, our hint word that in the prophets often means we're talking about something distant and future. And indeed the kind of little added title in your Bible might be like mine. It might be the day of the Lord. And then this continues through the whole chapter. And then we see language about the sun and the moon and the stars. We see this in verse 10. The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw. They're shining. Or we could think of the universal language of verse 30 to the end of Joel chapter 2. And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape as the Lord has said and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls. You see how just choosing four or five verses from Joel chapter 2 we see verses 24 and 25, and even the language of the gathering of the elect from verse 27. It's almost as if we have a mini Joel chapter two right here before us. Universal language. Every inch of the entire universe, not just this earth, but the sun, the moon, all the stars. Every spiritual power The powers of the heavens will be shaken. Verse 25. Every inch, every power. Certainly it is implied here, as it says clearly in Joel chapter two and in other places that would speak similarly. Every person, every inch, every power, every person. Universal language talking about a universal event. Remember to talk about all the stars is to talk about something massive. Some months ago... I can't even remember which psalm it was exactly. We were talking about the psalms and we talked about how many stars there are. How they now estimate that, can't know exactly, but we now estimate there are as many or more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on this earth. Now just think about that, right? go to the beach, pick up a handful of grains of sand, and think about how small a grain of sand is, how many grains of sand are in your hand, then look at the beach that you're standing on and imagine how many grains of sand are on that beach, and imagine that for all of this earth and all of the beaches on this earth, and then think about the fact that there are that many stars, which are not a tiny grain of sand, but massive celestial bodies. Most of the time, Earth is not a large celestial body. Stars are usually much larger, just as the Sun is much larger than our Earth. Massive, massive celestial bodies. Billions upon billions upon trillions upon trillions. We can't even comprehend the number. every inch, every power, every person. Again, that every person is included is implied, not stated explicitly in this mini passage, just four verses and Mark here versus an entire chapter in Joel. Or we could find other chapters and other prophets. What about this passage in Revelation 20. Listen for language that talks about every inch. Listen for language that talks about every spiritual power, about every person. Revelation 20, beginning at verse 7, and when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are on the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. And they march over the broad plain of the earth and surround the camp of the saints to the beloved city. But the fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it from his presence, earth and sky, fled away and no place was found for them. You hear it every inch. There's a judgment of the spiritual powers. They cannot escape anywhere, every inch. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and the books were open. Then another book was open, which is the book of life. And the judge and the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. That is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. You see, there has been language about that 70 AD, particular historical judgment where you can run, where you can get away. This is universal language, all the stars even. This includes everything, every fallen angel, every person, every inch. As the unbeliever ready for their world to be shaken, This truth is a confusing truth, a confounding truth and an often rejected truth by the people of the world, by the enemies of God. It's confusing because they deny that God has the power to do this, that God created everything in the beginning and that God will come again at the end of all things. It's confounding. How can God judge people? What right has He? Because they don't understand that He is justice and truth, that He's the one who is the basis for all morality, that He is perfectly loving, that He sent His Son to die for those who believe in Him, but if you rebel against Him, He has every right to judge. It's then often rejected. but he is coming. He is coming and he is coming in glory. That brings us to our second point, coming in glory. Jesus refers to himself again and again in the book of Mark as the son of man. And now He speaks about the coming of the Son of Man. The Son of Man of Daniel 7 who comes in glory as the Ancient of Days. He comes in dominion and glory and with a kingdom that all peoples and nations and languages should serve Him. Daniel 7 verse 14. He comes with the aid of angels. And He will send out the angels, verse 27, and gather His elect. gather his elect. People of God, there is an image, an image for the people of God and the comfort for the people of God which exists from all throughout all of scripture. Let's just take one example from the law from Deuteronomy 30. The Lord your God will gather you and from there he will take you. Let's just take one example from the prophets. Zechariah chapter two, I come and I will dwell in your midst declares the Lord. Of course, we have it in the Gospels right here before us. He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds. That just means from every direction, everywhere. It's another every inch language. From the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. Even if they're living on a colony on the moon, it doesn't matter. God will find them wherever they are. Of course, we can read more examples. We could find examples in the Psalms, in the historical literature. We could find language in letters. How about 1 Thessalonians 4? And so we will always be with the Lord. Of course, Revelation we've already read and we could read many more. From the beginning of Scripture to the end of Scripture, this is the truth. God gathers his people. His people are safe. His people are safe in Him. Universally so. Wherever you are, whatever situation you are in, God comes. God gathers His people. God saves His people. No wonder the parallel passage in Luke. Luke adds that Jesus also said this after speaking about the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and great glory. In verse 28, remember the gospel writers, they didn't always record every single word. Jesus wrote, and so sometimes in parallel passage, one says, focuses on what Jesus said here, and one focuses on the other part of what Jesus said, right? So what else did Jesus say at this time? Luke tells us. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near. Do you hear it? Do you now see the contrast? Remember, it's confounding, it's confusing, it's often rejected by the enemies of God. But we now see that for the people of God, it's consoling, it's comforting, and it's related to our redemption. Confusion versus comfort. Confounding versus consoling. There's a vast difference. And indeed, the deepest emotions of the believer and the unbeliever are very different. Externally, the unbeliever sometimes has so much. Scripture speaks about that, very frankly. When it comes to the deepest emotions, when it comes to something like, how do you face death? How do you face your own mortality? How do you face your own sin? Because we all know that we're sinners. We all know that our actions are not perfect. We all certainly know that our thoughts are not perfect. How do you face those things? How do you face those realities? Well, in the deepest emotion, in the deepest heart place, the believer has comfort. The believer has comfort, trust, assurance in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The unbeliever often tries to not think about it at all, and when they do, it's confusion. In order to try to erase the thoughts from their minds, they might pretend that God doesn't have a right to do these things, so they'll just say, well, it's not fair, God can't judge, so if it's not fair, then it can't be true. All kinds of things, all kinds of excuses. There's a vast difference, and this is real. the one who came, the one who came in humility, born in a manger, he will come again. He will come again, not on the manger, but on the clouds. He will come again, not in one small town. Oh, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, that little town. And it was, it wasn't even, there was another insignificant town named Bethlehem and that Bethlehem was bigger than Bethlehem of Ephrathah. You know, when he comes again, it's gonna be on the clouds and with the angels all around the entire world, the entire universe will know he has come. And he will gather is elect. And this brings us then into our third point, lessons in perseverance, or we might say lessons in preparation, being prepared, being aware, because this can come at any moment. That's the kind of picture we have here. The basic picture of verses 28 to 31, and now notice we have a different keyword to tell us that we have kind of switched gears again. And now the keyword is these things. We see that in verse 29, when you see these things taking place. Well, what is these things tied to? Well, that's tied to the question of verse 4, right? Tell us, when will these things be? So Jesus is, again, as a basic outline, he answers the question about these things, including some specific things about the coming of the Roman legions. and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. And then verse 24, he starts talking about those days with universal language, and now he's talking about these things again. And not an easy chapter. You will hear it outlined differently, even by very godly, conservative theologians, but this is This is helpful, and this is how we will proceed, and I think this does make the most sense. These things, okay, so now we've switched gears again. And we're talking about not necessarily the final days, but how we live leading up to that. And we have an image that comes out basically like this, in verses 28 to 30, and then a word about God's, the truth of God's word in 31. And it's something like this, the well-known Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, right? What's the image in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? Always winter, never Christmas, right? Well, what image do we have here, verses 28 to 30? It's always spring, never quite yet summer. From the fig tree, learn this lesson. As soon as a branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, That's what the plant does in the spring, right? And Jesus was on the Mount of Olives this time. It's just before the Passover. It is the spring. This is what the fig trees on the Mount of Olives are doing at this time. The Mount of Olives is known for having large fig trees, sometimes over 20 feet, large for a fig tree. So Jesus is standing in the midst of these large fig trees, which are beginning to bud and bloom, and he's saying, look, here's a picture. What are plants doing? It's not the fall when the leaves are falling down. It's not the winter when they are dormant. It's the spring when they're budding and when they're preparing for the summer, for the time of growth, for the time of full fruition. And that's the image that Jesus gives. It's always spring. Always be ready. always be in bloom, always be looking for that final summer, but it hasn't ever quite yet been summer. Do you see that? So when you see these things taking place, and what are these things? Remember verse eight, especially? It's the birth pangs. It's all the things that come upon us on this earth. It's wars and rumors of wars, and it's kingdoms rising against kingdom. It's earthquakes. It's also in the context there, false Christ. All these things tied to this earth, which we don't want, but we have to live through now. All these birth pangs, which are seen in 30 to 70, and still seen today. So the basic thought is this, look, all these things, wars, false Christs, earthquakes, don't we see them already in the book of Acts? All these things will happen before this generation passes away, before 40 years are up, before 70 AD, even the specific thing of the temple being destroyed. But not just the specific thing, also the very broad things. Earthquakes, false Christs who speak wrongly about who I am, nations rising against nations, wars and rumors of wars. You see, that's happened already by 70 AD. And it's still happening. It's still happening. And so the call to the disciples is, look, my coming is very near. It is the next major event. And everything really that needs to happen before I come has already happened by 70 AD. So you are living in a continual spring. You must continually be ready because, well, this is leading up to verse 32, isn't it? That I am coming and no one knows the day or the hour. This summer could be two seconds away. Okay, it wasn't two seconds away. This summer could be two days away. It could be two years away. It could be two centuries away. It could be 2,000 more years away. We don't know. But the point is we must be living as if it's always spring, as if summer is always right there, right there, just about to happen because it is. It is always almost summer. And we must always be in a state of not fall, where we are rejecting God, dying, producing no fruit, being tossed away by the wind, not winter, where we would be dormant, not serving Him as we ought, but always spring, always bearing fruit, always serving Him, always being ready for that summer, which is always almost here. Do you see it? Do you see it? And do you see how that is leading us into verse 32? It's always spring, it's never quite yet summer. People of God, this is the image which we are given. That was the image which the very first generation was given, because already before 40 years passed up, it had happened. That's why the apostle can speak about how the coming of Christ is near, because it is near when the apostle is living. That's why we can speak about how the coming is near, because it is near. It is near for us. It was near for our great-grandparents. It was near for the Apostle Paul. If the Lord tarries, it will be near for our grandchildren. It's always near. And we must always be ready. We must always be serving. We must always be bearing fruit. And then verse 31 is a little bit different. Kind of pulls everything together, doesn't it? My word is true. This is happening. I am coming. You must believe in me alone. It's as if the Lord is anticipating all those who will scoff. All those who will deny that he speaks the truth. All those who will deny that he is the way and the life. All those who will try to twist his words and say that his commands can mean something different in 2000 than they did in 30. Don't listen. I am always, almost here and my word is always true. Amen. Let us pray. Lord God Almighty, make us, make us with comfort and consolation to think about your coming, which is at the gates, which is near, which could be at any moment. make us to trust in, to believe in you, serving you, serving you before that final culmination, before that final day comes, and anticipating the gathering of all your people wherever they are found on that day. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. People of God, I mentioned that the Psalms speak about these things. Does Psalm 72 speak about our eternal King and His great comings? Yes, it does. The anointed of David, who is Jesus Christ, the great King in the line of David. So let's continue to sing from this Psalm and hear also the words about last things. 72B, four through six. We're starting with stanza four. Four through six of 72B. To help the poor and needy and build how we be strong. He turns their sighs to singing, their darkness into light. For they condemned and dying are precious. I'm In name forever, gloriously, on His throne shall rest ♪ From age to age victorious ♪ ♪ All were seen and all blessed ♪ ♪ Praise God who rules each nation ♪ ♪ Tell of his deeds again ♪ ♪ His glory fills creation ♪ ♪ Sing praise to God, amen ♪ people of God we come now to the parting blessing of our God following that our doxology 567 and then again the offering is in the back for the general fund following these things so our parting blessing of our God The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ you so