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[0:00] So we are in Mark chapter 13 and we have come to a chapter in Mark 13 and a portion in Mark 13 that is incredibly challenging.

[0:14] ! It's incredibly challenging to figure out what's going on, but it's also what it leads to leads us to question our lives and how we live in our lives.

[0:24] And I want us to think about, as we approach this chapter, and we will be in this chapter for the next three weeks, is to think about one of the things that I almost love to do.

[0:41] Do you go to these, what are they called? The markets where they're like farmers markets where you go around and they give you a little taste of something in the hope that you can actually buy it, right?

[0:56] So it may be a little chunk of cheese in the hope that you're going to buy the bigger chunk of cheese. Or a little bit of, we went to one not so long ago and they had sausages. And all kind of manner of sausage, you could have a little chunk of sausage, only a little chunk, like you couldn't have your lunch there or anything like that, in the hope that you would then buy the bigger chunk of sausage.

[1:19] And they assume, and we assume, that whenever we're taking the sample or the taster, that's exactly what we're getting.

[1:30] It's not the real thing. We're not probably going around all of the little different stalls, collecting the little samples, and then laying out our picnic blanket and going, right, now I've got my lunch sorted.

[1:43] Although some of you now like cotton on to that, that sounds like a great thing. Or if you've been to a restaurant and they have a tasting menu, like, you know, the idea of a tasting menu is that you have small portions of food that showcase the restaurant's specialities.

[2:00] It's not the main thing. It's just a sample. It's just a taster. We're probably as familiar of that as we are with trailers for films.

[2:11] I hope that none of us, when we go to the cinema, are rocking up to the trailers and going, wasn't that a great film? And then leaving. You know, the four or five trailers, you're getting great value for money.

[2:27] We understand that the trailer is showing the main scenes and the trailer is showing, you know, potentially part of the storyline to kind of hook us in. But none of us are going away after that two minutes of film going, that was a brilliant, well directed, the music was perfect, the actors should be getting an Oscar.

[2:45] Because we know it's just a trailer. It's not the actual film. Now look, can I suggest that when you come to the Bible, most of, much of what we look at in the Bible is also in that aspect.

[3:01] When we read the promises of God, when we read aspects of how God works, we are looking at samples. We're looking at trailers. We're looking at a taster of what is to come.

[3:15] So let me give you some examples just to help us join the dots before we get into this chapter. So Paul says this, and hopefully this will help you if there's ever been like a little bit of a conundrum about, you know, especially sometimes where Paul will say something, and then almost a few verses later he'll say something else and you'll say, what?

[3:33] You just contradicted yourself, right? So Romans chapter 8 verse 15. Paul says, You did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received.

[3:44] Notice that. When have we received it? We have it, right? Good. We have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we call it Abba Father. Everybody understand that concept so far?

[3:55] But then look, in five verses time, verse 23, And not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit, we groan inwardly as we await for adoption.

[4:10] Well, hang on a second, Paul. It's either we have adoption or we don't have adoption. Well, actually, it is take your cake and eat it. It is both.

[4:20] It is we have adoption. And yes, we are waiting for adoption. It is we have adoption, sample, trailer, taster for something that's coming.

[4:31] Does that make sense? Another example, listen to what Paul writes to the Church of Corinth. This time about our sanctification and our holiness. Okay, he says there in 1 Corinthians 6, he says, As were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified.

[4:47] Now look, everybody in this room, if you're a believer in Christ, you're sanctified. That means you've been made holy completely. And yet what he says, or what John says in 1 John, he says, Listen, beloved, we are God's children now.

[5:00] Good. That's what Paul said earlier. But what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we're going to be like him. Oh, wait a second. I thought I was already there.

[5:11] According to Paul. And John says, no, no, no, no, not yet. It's a sample. It's a trailer. It's a taster. Paul says in Romans chapter 6, he says a whole bunch of things in this passage.

[5:22] But he says, he says, We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death. In all of that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we might too walk in newness of life.

[5:32] Notice all the times that Paul in this passage says that this is an actual reality that you can actually walk in right now, actually. Right? So he says, We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.

[5:45] In all of that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we might too walk in the newness of life. For if we've been united with him in the death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in the resurrection like his.

[5:57] We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of death or body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For no one who has died has been, for one who has died has been set free from sin.

[6:11] And everybody's like, yeah, great. Amen. The struggle is that we, the struggle is that we know that that is a struggle in our own lives. Right? And so he writes to the church of Corinth and he says this in 1 Corinthians 15, when the perishable, when the perishable, like not, it has happened.

[6:29] He says when it happens, puts on imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality. It's like, well, Paul, according to Paul, that hasn't happened yet. He says, then shall come to pass.

[6:41] It's like, what? So we've been buried. We have been raised from the dead. But what we experience is just a sample of what is to come.

[6:51] Does that make sense? So in, in the Bible, we see these kind of like these little chunks, these little trailers, these little tasters that say, you can have this now, but listen, this is not the complete fulfillment of stuff.

[7:03] There's something greater coming. Ephesians chapter one. In him, we have redemption. Brilliant. Philippines chapter three.

[7:16] Our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we're still waiting. Um, so this takes place all the way through the Bible.

[7:26] And it's really, really important that we understand that, um, specifically relating to the promises, uh, the prophecies, uh, the way that God works, uh, right now is that he's working in terms of taste of samples, trailers, um, of something that's greater that's coming.

[7:46] Cause like heaven hasn't arrived, right? Amen. Like none of us are living there, are we? Um, you know, tomorrow morning is not going to feel like heaven, is it?

[7:58] So there's a promise of something else. And that that's the hope, isn't it? That, that, that actually we're not just assigned to this life to kind of muddle through, even with God's help, but actually it's gonna, it's leading to something.

[8:14] And, uh, you see that, um, in a big pictures, you know, like the promised land that the Israel were promised. That's not heaven. That's leading somewhere. It's a picture. It's a sample.

[8:24] It's a taster. It's a trailer of something else. You know, when you, when you look at the Psalms, for example, um, you know, uh, the King of Kings, when you read the Psalms, looks like who King David, but it's not King David, is it?

[8:38] You, you look at Psalm 22, it looks like David is writing that and he is, and he's struggling with that. It's not about David, is it? It's about Jesus. And King of Kings looks like Solomon in some places, but it's not him either, is it?

[8:53] So it's, it's, it's taster sample trailer. And so when we get to Mark 13, keep that in mind. Mark 13 begins like this.

[9:06] And, uh, Jeff covered this, uh, a little while ago, did an incredible job, but it's, I'm just going to read, um, the first little bit to give us the context. And then we're going to skip over what Jeff, um, uh, talked about.

[9:18] Um, what Jesus or what, what Mark says is that in verse one, as they came out of the temple, that's Jesus and his disciples. One of his disciples said to him, look teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings.

[9:29] And Jesus said to him, do you see these great buildings? I don't almost, I almost want to say, uh, yeah. Like I started the conversation.

[9:39] Like that was, that was my question. Jesus. Um, do you, do you see these, these wonderful stones and wonderful buildings? And Jesus says, do you see these wonderful stones and wonderful buildings? Like, yeah, we haven't, you haven't seen them.

[9:52] Like you've seen them, but you haven't seen them. Uh, there will not be one. There will not be left here. One stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

[10:05] Do you see these stones and wonderful buildings? That's what Jesus is asking. Do you really see them? And so verse says, first three says, as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, tell us, when will these things be?

[10:26] What will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished? And the rest of the chapter is answering that question. So these four guys sit down with Jesus and go, I know that we told you about the temple.

[10:41] I know that you told us about a temple, but we're worried about the temple. When's that going to happen? Um, Matthew's account as Matthew is writing in Matthew 24 is a lot more specific in the question.

[10:55] Uh, Matthew recalls that when, uh, they asked Jesus, they said, tell us, uh, when will these things be? What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?

[11:08] So these things have to do with when the temple is going to be destroyed. And what the sign will be of the coming again of Jesus. So then Jesus begins to say to them in Mark 13 verse five, see that no one leads you astray.

[11:28] Many will come in my name. So many will come in my name. Not many will come as me. Or he does say that. He says that later on, but here it's money was going to come in my name.

[11:38] Many people are going to profess Christ and not know me saying, I am he. And they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don't be alarmed.

[11:50] This must take place, but the end is not yet. And so again, Jesus is answering the question that has been asked for verse eight. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.

[12:00] There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines, but these are the beginnings of birth pains. Now look, none of that helps us, does it? None of that actually answers the question. Because actually we can look all the way through history and go, yeah, wars, rumors of wars, nations rising against nations, kingdom against kingdom.

[12:20] That's kind of been the flow of humanity, of humanity since actually Genesis chapter four. Right? So, Jesus is kind of setting the stage for us.

[12:32] Then in verse nine, check it out. This is our text for this morning. Uh, we're going to try and get all the way through to verse 23. We'll see how we go. Um, if you're not frozen by then, uh, so verse 20, verse nine, Mark 13, Jesus says, be on your guard.

[12:48] Now, look, this isn't the first time Jesus has used that phrase. Um, in Matthew 10, just before he sends out the disciples on this short kind of missions trip. Um, he says, uh, Matthew 10, 17, beware of men.

[13:01] They will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and Kings for my sake to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When you, uh, when they deliver you over, don't be anxious about how you to speak or what you are to say or what you are to say.

[13:17] Chris, what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death and father, his child and children will rise up against parents and put them to death.

[13:34] And you will be hated by all for my namesake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. And so this isn't the first time Jesus has used this terminology. He used it when he sent the disciples out. Um, and so this exhortation then is given, uh, here in Mark 13 and, um, it's given at a different time.

[13:53] So Matthew's 10 and Mark 13 are happening at different, uh, different times. And there must be something on Jesus's mind for the disciples, something that he wants them to know. Be on your guard. Don't let your guard down.

[14:04] And actually he's going to say the same thing at the end of our passage in, in verse 23, be on your guard. And it literally just means be ready. So what are we to, or what are they to be on our guard about?

[14:20] Well, Jesus says that they will deliver you over to councils. Um, the word there councils is, is syndria, which is where we get the, um, idea of Sanhedrin from.

[14:32] Um, it's a Jewish council. And, um, there would be, um, a whole bunch of these Jewish councils actually, um, throughout Israel. And it, and Jesus says of those councils that they would deliver you to them.

[14:44] And then you will be beaten in synagogue. So there was the syndria, the Sanhedrin, kind of mini Sanhedrin throughout Israel, 23 men that would make, uh, judgments on whether you've kept or broken the law.

[14:56] And if you had broken the law, then you'd be taken out, um, to the synagogue outside of the synagogue. And the sentence would be taking place and you'd be beaten. And remember Paul in second Corinthians 11, he says a five times, um, I received hands of the, uh, at the hands of the Jews, the 40 lashes minus one and five times I was beaten with rods.

[15:19] And so Jesus is, is kind of, you know, saying, look, that's going to happen. And Paul looks back on his life and he says, yeah, that did happen. And so Jesus says that one of the signs that will mark the time before he returns is that there is going to be a period of religious persecution.

[15:41] And look, you see it in the book of Acts right up, right, right at the beginning of the church, don't you? Um, Stephen in Acts chapter six, and then, uh, James, you know, they're both, they're both, um, executed for their faith in Christ.

[16:01] So the religious persecution that, that took place in the new Testament is a sample, is a taster, it's a trailer.

[16:13] Okay. Uh, of what is coming. Jesus says that you're going to stand before governors and Kings for my sake to bear witness before them. And so Jesus warns his followers to expect opposition as a normal part of living in the kingdom.

[16:30] Um, this verse doesn't, um, just apply to the apostles. I mean, Paul wasn't sat there. Um, so, uh, it, it applies to a wider group than just those disciples sitting there.

[16:48] Um, it applies to all of us too, because look, the first century again, was just a sample, was just a trailer. Jesus isn't saying to the church, look, church, get through the first century and you'll be okay.

[16:59] He's not saying that is he? He's not saying, you know what? There is, there's a hump in the road. It is a big hump. It's called persecution. It's coming.

[17:09] But you know, once that's done, plain sailing. Now we wish that was true, but it's not true. And history testifies to that because Christians were persecuted throughout the Roman Empire for at least 400 years after Jesus died.

[17:26] Most people know the persecutions under Emperor Nero, and they're well written about, but, uh, as horrid as they were, they weren't as actually as horrid as most of the other persecutions, like Marcus Aurelius, the, the persecutions under his reign were horrendous.

[17:43] Uh, Marcus Aurelius, if you've ever watched the, uh, the film gladiator, he's the old guy, not Russell Crowe, the other old guy. Uh, and in that film, he's painted as in a really, really good light, but it's actually not true.

[17:56] Um, he was the guy who reintroduced the Roman games and the Roman games to the point after the circus games was the gladiatorial games. And, um, under those games, tens of thousands of Christians were killed.

[18:14] It wasn't actually for another 250 years under Augustus, uh, Galileus that the persecution of Christians finished in Rome. When, uh, he actually, uh, caught, it was called the edict of Milan, where he called for, for that edict, for that decision to be made that all religions are equal.

[18:33] And so persecution of Christians stopped, but look, only in Rome, because in the seventh century, in the Middle East, Christians were killed by the tens of thousands for a refusing to convert to Islam.

[18:46] And then, then you forward, um, forward like a thousand years and Christianity continued to spread throughout Europe. And the French revolution happened. And what we don't understand or what we don't hear too much about the French revolution was actually the mass de-Christianization of France through what was known as the reign of terror.

[19:06] And it wasn't actually until the rise of Napoleon that saw that persecution end. And that was what? 1810. We can continue with examples of the rise of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, where many Christians were, uh, sent to labor camps or executed, uh, the rise in China of the communist, uh, party that has put hundreds of thousands of Christians in labor camp.

[19:32] And today, according to open doors, one in seven Christians are persecuted worldwide. One in seven. And I, and I think out of all the teachings on living in the end times and facing the future, you know, this is a reminder that, that there is, there is, there is for us the struggle of pain.

[19:53] And whatever degree of persecution we have been under, we are under, or we will be under. The Bible reminds us that actually, uh, the Christian walk is a Christian walk of pain.

[20:09] I mean, Paul wrote to Timothy and said this, he said, everyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And there's a temptation, isn't there?

[20:20] To remain silent or a temptation, to refrain from speaking out about godly things or not sharing the gospel, or to refrain from speaking about our faith because we know that verse nine is true.

[20:39] And the guys that, you know, the Christian union in Southampton and Bournemouth speaking to Sam yesterday, these days, those guys put us to shame about the way that they shared the gospel.

[20:49] And so Jesus is answering this question. And he's answering the question about the end times, about when he is going to return. And he says that, that they will deliver you over to councils.

[21:03] They will, you will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them. And this isn't just first century. This is trailer.

[21:15] It's taster. It's sample. But then he says, verse 10, and the gospel is God's grace must, there's no option, first be proclaimed to all nations.

[21:33] And it's going to go out in the environment of persecution. This, this command is to both the disciples role after Christ's ascension, but to the whole church ever since.

[21:44] Right. And so, you know, part of the, the struggle that we have, uh, is that, you know, if we keep quiet about our faith, there's going to be less trouble.

[21:57] And maybe that's why we don't share our faith. Maybe of all the things that could hold us and hold us off sharing our faith is because, actually, we're attached to the world.

[22:14] We don't want to lose it. It's got hold of us. And we love us so much. We don't want to lose it. But the, the grace is that Jesus says that if you don't do it, it's still going to go out.

[22:30] Because there's no ifs there, is there? Jesus doesn't say, doesn't say, and the gospel may go out. He says, the gospel must go out. And it's going to be proclaimed everywhere.

[22:45] And so, again, look, this is a, a taster. It's a sample. Like, at what point, Jesus, is the gospel going to go everywhere? Because the grace is that, again, Jesus says, if you don't do it, it's still going to go out.

[23:03] Someone's going to do it. And so, after Jesus ascended back to heaven, you know the story, the gospel spread throughout Turkey and Greece and Italy, through the disciples and the apostles.

[23:16] Those that heard the gospel on the day of Pentecost were from a huge area of the world, including North Africa and Rome and Iran and Iraq. But that was just a taster of the whole world here in the gospel.

[23:28] Because you could say, oh, it's talking about the whole known world. Okay. The whole known, it doesn't alter the issue, does it? Sample, taste the trailer. It left those places, eventually spread to Germany and Scandinavia and Georgia and India and Syria.

[23:47] And within 600 years, actually of Jesus's ascension, the gospel is preached in Sri Lanka and Tibet. 600 years. Because the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.

[24:03] Because I made a point again, that Jesus isn't saying this to his disciples in terms of, guys, once you've been successful in evangelism, then I'm coming back.

[24:17] Like, once you go into your town, yeah, you're going to find some hardships, you're going to get persecuted, you might get beaten up. But you know, once, once the gospel has gone out to all the known world, then great, I'm ready.

[24:27] He's saying that their, their role in going out is going to be a small sample of the church going out.

[24:38] A small taster of, of Pentecost is going to go out. And it will grow and grow and grow and grow. And so something that the disciples couldn't even imagine in the first century.

[24:50] Today, we have 7 billion copies of the Bible in paper, in circulation. Today. Like, Peter, James, John, and Andrew are not sitting down there with Jesus and go, tell us when the day is we're going to get 7 billion copies of the Bible out.

[25:08] Because Peter's going to be the one who goes, what's the Bible? Isn't he? So, so it's been translated in 530 languages.

[25:23] And with the invention of the internet, who knows how many other people are here in the gospel? And so when Jesus says, look, the gospel must first go out, it's going out.

[25:35] It must go out. But they, they, they don't, they don't put on their shoulders, this, this burden to say, I've got to go and find Australia. Whatever Australia is.

[25:47] They're just walking out and sharing the gospel with whoever they, they meet. Whenever they meet them. Trusting God. For verse 10, the first 10 would be true.

[26:03] And so Jesus says that when they, when, when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, don't be anxious beforehand. What you are to say, but, but say whatever is given to you in that hour for it is, it is not you who speak, but a Holy spirit.

[26:17] And, and look, I, I, I don't think this is, I don't think this is a license to laziness. Like, I don't think it's, it's an opportunity for us to, you know, I don't need to study apologetics.

[26:30] I don't need to study world religions. I don't need to know my faith very well. Why? Because I'm just rocking up and the Holy spirit is going to help me on that, on the hour. And he's, he is going to help you, but it's not an excuse then to kind of go, I don't need to know about X, Y, Z.

[26:47] I think about Paul, when he writes to Timothy and he says this in second Timothy four, he says, at my first offense, no one came to stand with me, but all deserted me may not be charged against them, but the Lord stood by me and strengthened me.

[27:03] So that, uh, through me, the message might be fully proclaimed and all Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. And I guarantee you that verse 11 has been claimed by thousands of people since, right?

[27:14] But in that moment, when there is that trial that they have not known how to answer, the Lord has stood with them and strengthened them. And then he says in verse 12, the same thing is really what he said in, in, in Matthew 10, brother will deliver brother over to death.

[27:32] Father, his child, children will raise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my namesake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. You see, God is actively working today to expand the kingdom across the earth.

[27:48] We have to believe that. And he does it quite ridiculously through people like you and me. Like I would, if, if, if, if I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but if it was up to me, I'd choose a different strategy.

[28:07] Right. Then, then you and me, like you're okay. Me, not so much, but, but, but that's who he's chosen. And so, um, we don't need to be, um, pessimistic about the age we're living in.

[28:24] Like, um, persecution is, is going to be an everyday experience for us, but so is the spread of the gospel. And I think we have to hold those two things in balance.

[28:37] Jesus says, you're going to be hated. Verse 13, by all for my namesake. Now, like that, there's no, there's no if, buts and who's on that, right?

[28:48] It's just like, everybody's going to hate you. All right. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And, and where this leads, and again, look, taste the sample trailer.

[29:00] If you follow that, that track all the way through, it leads that in revelation, you have these 144,000 Jews that seem to be some kind of super evangelists like the apostles.

[29:13] You have these two witnesses who are persecuted for the sake of the gospel, but are given the Holy Spirit power to overcome. And then in chapter 14, what's happening? Well, you get an angel around the world, preaching the everlasting gospel in every language.

[29:28] Like God is determined that no flesh should perish. We're not so worried about that, are we? He's just, he's determined that people will be saved.

[29:40] And Matthew adds in this verse that actually Jesus says that then the end will come. So, so what we see in, in the first 13 verses also are these kind of general signs that God is at work in the world.

[30:00] And that should motivate us. It should inspire us because if God is at work in the world, are we also at work in the world? And then he says, verse 14, but when you see, and this is where we fall off the tracks very quickly.

[30:19] When we, when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not to be, let the reader understand. Good.

[30:30] Because none of us have that. It's almost like Jesus is, is, is, is mocking us. Right? It's like, oh, the abomination of destiny.

[30:42] You know what I'm talking about, don't you boys? And they're like, yep. Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountain.

[30:52] So look, we move from things that are pretty general to something that is seems at least quite specific. When you see the abomination of desolation.

[31:06] Okay. Pause. What on earth is that? Well, let's break it down. The word abomination is not a good word. Just FYI.

[31:17] It only appears five times in the New Testament and nowhere else it appears helps us understand what abomination means. Which means basically they're all used in the same context.

[31:28] Okay. The Old Testament version of the word is always used in reference to an idol of some kind. So.

[31:40] The phrase standing where it ought not kind of gives strength to that. Okay. So when you think abomination, think idol. Then the term desolation is, is most often used as a description of a desert or a wilderness.

[31:56] So, you know, we've heard the phrase that God forsaken place, right? That is desolate. Okay. It's where God isn't. It's where the presence of God is not found.

[32:08] And so Jesus is saying that there is, there is something. And this isn't, I hesitate to say, it's not Jesus's idea. What I'm going to say is that it's found elsewhere in the Old Testament.

[32:19] Um, what Jesus is saying is that there is something that will take place that will cause the metaphorical absence of God. Now that should make a stop and pause, right?

[32:30] Because that's serious. And it's going to come from an idol standing where it should not be standing. Now, Matthew 24 really helps us here.

[32:44] Just flick over page to Matthew 24 verse 15. Because there Jesus says, so when you see the abomination of desolation, so it's the same, um, it's the same event.

[32:56] So Matthew 24 and Mark 13 are happening at the same time, but it's just two people recording what's happening. And so Matthew picks up on, um, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, let the reader understand.

[33:13] And so it's an idol that is not just standing where it should not be standing, but it's standing in the holy place. So inside the temple, and for those of you with us, when we went through Leviticus, this is, um, you can understand this.

[33:29] So it's the, the place where only the priests were allowed to go. So there was an idol standing in the holy place where it should not be standing in the temple.

[33:41] And then notice that in verse, um, 15 there of, uh, Matthew 24, uh, Jesus says that this event or this thing is the fulfillment of prophecy spoken of by Daniel.

[33:56] And, and I think Jesus means for his disciples, disciples to understand this, not simply because he says, let the reader understand, but the fact that Jesus is actually speaking about it, um, and having it written down.

[34:12] So he says, look, this is the fulfillment spoken of by Daniel. Okay, great. So where, where, where in Daniel do we read about this?

[34:24] Well, the first place, and I think there's four places in Daniel chapter eight, eight verse 13, um, just to kind of set up the picture. Daniel, it says there that an eye, Daniel heard a holy one speaking and another holy one said to the one who spoke.

[34:44] Now just pause there because that's already like confused us, right? You've got a holy one speaking to another holy one. So Daniel was listening in on a conversation between two holy ones. And when we, um, we kind of explored this a little bit when we went through the book of revelation, the holy ones are a class of angelic being, or they seem to be, um, otherwise known as watchers, um, in the old Testament.

[35:06] And sometimes they're referred to not as just as watchers, but as, as holy ones. And the connection between, or the conversation between these two, these two beings kind of goes like this.

[35:17] They say, or one says to the other, for how long is the vision concerning the regular burn offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?

[35:34] Question. And so they seem to be talking about this same thing that Jesus is referring to. The next time this idea shows up is in Daniel chapter nine, um, which is a difficult chapter, but, um, we can pick out some things from this that correlate to what Jesus is talking about.

[35:59] So, um, the passage in verse 26 comes after, and if you've never explored this, it comes after a passage where Daniel was given a prophecy of when Jesus would actually come for the first time.

[36:15] And, um, it's a prophecy to the day, right? Um, where Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and then weeps over Jerusalem and says to Jerusalem, if you'd known this, your day.

[36:26] And he's talking about the day that Daniel was prophesied, uh, the prophecy is given to. Um, and so, um, after that has happened, we pick it up in verse 26.

[36:38] So this is, um, after the time of Messiah, uh, we read after the 62 weeks. Now, look, let's just pause there.

[36:49] That there are weeks of years. So that's, um, 62 times seven years. They're weeks of years, almost like we would call them a decade, um, where we, we understand a decade is how many years?

[37:00] Great. On fire. Um, so a week in, um, Hebrew language is the same as a decade, but instead of it's 10, it's, it's, it's seven, right?

[37:11] So they're weeks of years. So after the 62 weeks, um, an anointed one, Jesus will be cut off. Cause he's been killed. And she'll have nothing.

[37:23] And the people of the Prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Now, look, that is unquestionably the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. It's end shall come with a flood.

[37:39] And to the end, there shall be, um, war. Desolations are decreed. And then there's this, um, there's this in verse 27 and he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week.

[37:54] So one, one decade, Hebrew decade, seven years. So, so what Daniel is seeing is that there will be a Prince in verse 26 and he is going to destroy Jerusalem.

[38:07] He's going to level the temple. So it goes all the way back to what the disciples are asking Jesus about. Jesus saying, yeah, these bricks, they're not going to be, there's going to, they're going to be destroyed. And Jesus is, is, is recalling now Daniel chapter nine.

[38:20] They're going to, there's this Prince in verse 26, going to destroy Jerusalem. He's going to make a covenant and that covenant is going to last seven years. And then he says for half of the week, so three and a half years into that covenant, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.

[38:38] And on the wing of abominations. And we get that word. Shall come one. Now notice that shall come one. That's not the Prince in verse 26.

[38:51] It's someone else. And that's someone else makes desolate. So the desolation hasn't happened until this point. The desolation isn't the same as destruction.

[39:04] Until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. So here's the issue. I think clearly verse 26 is talking about Emperor Titus Vespasian's sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

[39:16] I think without question. But verse 27 seems not to be. And what I think we're seeing in verse 26 is a sample taster trailer for the main event in verse 27.

[39:29] Daniel goes on in chapter 11 and sees that in verse 31, forces, and the Hebrew word implies army, and actually technically the Hebrew word is just arm.

[39:46] But we know whenever it's idiomatic of strength and power, forces of battles, of army, right? So forces from him, that's the one from verse 27, shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burn offering.

[40:03] Remember back the original question, back in chapter 8 where Daniel was listening to these two holy ones, talking, having a discussion about the vision concerning the regular burn offering. So this is all part of that same answer to that question.

[40:19] Forces from him shall appear, profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the burn, the regular burn offering, and they, that is the forces, shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.

[40:33] And so what we're getting from Jesus is that there is this event called the abomination of desolation, and it's some kind of idol that is brought into the temple that brings at least spiritual impurity to the temple.

[40:48] And that's called desolation. So that the person who brings it makes sacrifice to it. And Jesus says you're supposed to watch for that. Now what we also have to be aware of is that the people listening to Jesus aren't thinking future.

[41:08] You have to get that. They're not thinking this is still in the future. They're thinking 200 years previous to Jesus, an event that they call the abomination of desolation.

[41:24] And they even connected it to Daniel's prophecies. And so the event that they're thinking of was led by a guy called Antiochus Epiphanes, who was a Syrian king.

[41:40] Antiochus means God manifest. And it was about 160, 170 BC. He rolls into Jerusalem with his armies and lay siege to Jerusalem.

[41:55] And the only phrase, and this is key, the only time the phrase abomination of desolation appears outside of the Bible is in a historical book called First Maccabees.

[42:08] It's an apocryphal book. It's not the Bible. It's not the inspired word of God, but it does fill in some gaps in terms of history about what happened between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning in the New Testament.

[42:21] Right? And this is what it says. This is First Maccabees 5, 54. Now the 15th day of the month, Korsle, in the 140 and 5th year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar and builded old and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Judea on every side.

[42:42] So what they are casting their minds back to was when Antiochus Epiphanes banned sacrifice in the temple.

[42:53] He forbid feast days in Jerusalem and he forbid circumcision. But the climax to the whole thing was when they went into the temple and they put an altar, the altar of Zeus, on top of the altar in the temple.

[43:12] And then they slaughtered a pig, which is of course considered unclean, and sacrificed the pig on that altar. Now, that is a pretty big deal to the point there was a revolt.

[43:28] And eventually Antiochus Epiphanes and the armies were driven out. But here's the thing. Jesus' listeners are thinking about that. As soon as Jesus goes, and when you see the abomination of desolation, their minds are short-circuiting because they're like, what do you mean when we see?

[43:45] Like that's happened. We've had victory over the Syrians. We've had victory over Antiochus Epiphanes. We know what that was. But Jesus says, when you see it, this is what I want you to do.

[44:00] And so in their minds, this is at least, or it looks like something like that, because Jesus says it's still yet future. And so look, Antiochus Epiphanes, what is he?

[44:11] Well, he's sample, taster, trailer. And now look, this is where it gets interesting, is that Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians, and he says this. He says, Now brethren, concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and are gathering together with him.

[44:27] So this might be almost like the same question the disciples are asking, right? Jesus, when are you coming back? When is all this going to be finalized? So it's essentially the same question that the disciples are answering.

[44:39] And actually, it's essentially the same question that the two holy ones are talking about in Daniel. When are we wrapping this up? So now, brethren, concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and are gathering together to him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or word or by letter, as if it is from us, as though the day of the Lord had come.

[45:04] Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worship.

[45:18] Now listen to this. So that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Now that rings some bells. But this time, this person, it seems that this idol is perhaps self-idol.

[45:40] It's actually worshipping himself. It's the same situation that Jesus is speaking about in Mark 13 and in Matthew 24. It's the same situation that Daniel is talking about.

[45:54] He says, don't you remember, verse 5, that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now, you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.

[46:06] For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming.

[46:20] So simply put, Jesus is going to kill this guy when he returns. Whoever that guy is, and let's not be silly about who this guy is.

[46:30] Like, you can waste your life reading about all the different characters about who that is. All the way up to, you know, Trump and beyond. When Jesus returns, Jesus is going to kill him.

[46:52] And the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved.

[47:05] And for this reason, God sent them a strong delusion that they would not believe the lie that they, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. And so look, the issue is that the abomination of desolation seems to be a lot bigger than what happened under Antiochus Epiphanes.

[47:25] And it's a lot bigger than the destruction of the temple that took place in 70 AD. it's about a man who becomes the center of worship and even does signs and wonders and has a religious following.

[47:39] Well, that's neither Antiochus Epiphanes or Titus Vespasian. And it's about this man who is then killed when Jesus returns. And so now look, back to chapter 13.

[47:52] I know we've kind of gone around houses. Back to 13, I want you to show you something in the grammar that Jesus talks about. He says there in verse 14, but when you see, so you might have, you might have seen Antiochus Epiphanes.

[48:07] Taste a trailer sample. When you see the abomination of desolation, that is the person setting himself up as an idol to be worshipped.

[48:18] Look, the abomination of desolation is the neutral sense, neutral tense. So, it's a thing. Standing, which is masculine.

[48:33] Now, that may mean not a lot to you, but if you're using the ESV, you'll notice that the ESV then says where he ought not to be. Right?

[48:43] If you're using the New King James, it doesn't say that. I'm not sure what the other versions say. But it's masculine. So, we're seeing a thing, the abomination of desolation, described as a he, where he ought not to be.

[48:59] Which makes a lot of sense when you combine it with 2 Thessalonians. Because Paul is talking about a he, all the way through that. Look again in 2 Thessalonians 2. Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion takes first.

[49:12] And the man, the he, of lawlessness, is revealed, the son, the he of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

[49:35] So, you get this very clear picture then, that the abomination of desolation is a man, proclaiming himself to be God in the temple. And it's future, because this man is destroyed by Jesus at his coming.

[49:54] And so what we see then in Antiochus Epiphanes is sample, taster, trailer. Now get this, because we haven't finished.

[50:05] I know it feels like we should have finished, but we haven't finished. In 1 John, chapter 2, John the Apostle says this, he says, children, it is the last hour, and you have heard that Antichrist is coming.

[50:23] So now, many Antichrists have come. Who are they? Well, their tasters, trailers, and samples, right? Therefore, we know that it is the last hour.

[50:34] We know it's the last hour. What does John say? Because simply, there's been multiple sample, taster, trailers, already. Like, and we could stay the same, right? And Protitus Vespasian, sample, taster, trailer.

[50:47] And again, you can go on the internet and you can have a whole whale of a time looking at all different kinds of people that have claimed themselves to be this man. Some have argued Hitler, sample, taster, trailer.

[50:58] Stalin, Chairman Mao. There seems to be a man ready at every opportunity to take on this role ever since Jesus predicted it.

[51:18] And so, in those days, when that happens, so first of all, Jesus says, be on your guard. Watch out for this. He says, in those days, verse 15, let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, or take anything out.

[51:37] Let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant, for those who are nursing infants in those days, pray that it may not happen in winter.

[51:51] For in those days, there will be such tribulation, as has not been from the beginning of creation, that God created until now and never will be. And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved.

[52:06] But for the sake of the elect whom he chose, he shortened the days. And then if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, or look, there he is, don't believe it.

[52:16] And it's amazing, it's amazing. You can quote that verse, and I've quoted that verse so many times to people who go, oh, look, this is Jesus, this is Jesus, I can give you a date for the rapture.

[52:28] No, you can't. But here's the Antichrist, maybe it's not. If anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, or look, here he is, don't believe him.

[52:42] Simple enough, isn't it? Kick him into touch. For false Christs and false prophets will arise. Even, even performing signs and wonders to leave, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

[52:58] Which means, you've really got to be on your guard. And so then he repeats that warning, be on your guard. I have told you these things beforehand, before they happen, that's God's grace.

[53:11] And so these things aren't designed to scare us, they aren't designed for us to make sensational headlines about. They are designed to make us stop and think about the kind of lives that we're living.

[53:27] And, we will be torn, won't we, in this world, by trying to escape the persecution that is surely to come. by not speaking out the truth of the gospel.

[53:42] And that's so easy to do. And yet, we must be on the side of the one who eventually wins, who is Jesus. And ask his help to not only see us through that persecution, but also to speak out the name of Christ.

[54:00] And so let's do that now, let's ask God to help us. as we are in uncertain days. And we may not have been in the days that Jesus is talking about right now, but the days are coming.

[54:14] And we won't be able to get ready when those days are here. As he says, when they come, they will come upon us. And so, Father, we pray, Lord, that you would steal our minds.

[54:27] Lord, that you would strengthen us. Lord, that you would help us to be courageous and bold, even in the face of persecution.

[54:41] Lord, help us to let go of the pleasures and the things that we so easily attach our hearts to in this world. Lord, it's easy for us to say it.

[54:54] It's easy for us to hear it. It's way more difficult for us to do it. And so we ask that you would help us. Lord, by your power, Lord, we pray for that same power that came and stood with Paul and strengthened him.

[55:09] That same power that made the martyrs sing and rejoice and pray, even under persecution. Lord, we pray, Lord, that we would be a people who would make talking about you the normal thing.

[55:22] Lord, we pray, Lord, that we would have faith, Lord, to know that even though we will expect persecution, we also would expect you to be working in the gospel. Lord, so we thank you, Lord, that you haven't left us to just, you know, to be a people that just is beaten up and persecuted.

[55:40] Lord, I thank you, Lord, that there has an aim and has an end goal, which is the further end of the gospel. And so, Lord, we do pray. Lord, we pray not only for us and for whatever we find ourselves doing, Lord, each and every day, Lord, but I do pray, Lord, for those places, those countries in the world where even this gathering that we're doing this morning would be illegal, Lord, and they would be coming under persecution for that.

[56:06] Lord, I pray, Lord, that you would strengthen them. Lord, that they would know the presence of Jesus with them. Lord, that though they may be facing persecution in a very real way, Lord, I pray also that they would know the power of the gospel in a very real way also.

[56:24] Lord, we thank you, Lord, this morning, Lord, that your word says that the power of God, the gospel is the power of God to salvation. Lord, thank you, Lord, that you said yourself, Lord, that you're going to build your church and even you would build it out the gates of hell and there'd be nothing that hell could do about it.

[56:42] Lord, and so we ask, Lord, that that would happen, Lord, even in our generation, Lord, that your church would go forward, Lord, your gospel would be advanced, Lord, that people would bow the knee and come before you, Lord, as their Lord and savior.

[56:57] So, Lord, we pray help us. Lord, it's so easy for us to keep quiet, Lord, it's so easy for us to pass on conversations at work or in the supermarket or even with family and friends.

[57:08] Lord, we pray. Lord, give us a boldness and a courage. Lord, don't give us just a boldness and courage to spout nonsense, Lord. We pray that you would give us the things to say too.

[57:19] Lord, the things to say in the moment for those people. Lord, we ask, Lord, that you would be with us. Go with us now, we pray. Lord, as we come before you and worship, Lord, we want to say, Lord, that you alone are worthy.

[57:33] Lord, that these things might be coming. Lord, they might be coming soon. Lord, but we still want to praise you. Lord, we still want to adore you. Lord, we want to say thank you, Lord, for saving us.

[57:46]  Lord, and we pray, Lord, you give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Lord, that we may be on guard during this time, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.