Now we're going to be right there
where Robert read in Mark chapter 13. One of our internet listeners
who've been following these messages I've been preaching from Mark
13 asked a question, and it's a very valid question, because
he was unclear As you go to passages like this, this Mark 13, this
is called the Olivet Discourse because Christ was teaching his
disciples on the Mount of Olives. And Mark 13, now there are two
parallel passages to this, Matthew chapter 24 and Luke chapter 21
that relate this same event and they're just alike except the
wording may be a little different as they put it, but there's no
contradiction obviously, there's no contradiction in any of the
scriptures. But those are parallel passages.
And the question that our internet listener asked is, he was unclear,
is he talking about the second coming here in Mark 13 and Matthew
24 and Luke 17? Or is he talking about the destruction
of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70? And so I want to make
that clear in how I perceive these scriptures. What he's talking about is basically
the destruction of the temple, the Jewish temple, and the destruction
of Jerusalem. So when he speaks to his disciples,
this is coming, what's coming, that's what he's talking about.
And he even makes the statement down in here that this generation shall not pass
away until all these things be fulfilled. Now there can be two
applications to that, and I'll get to that later, but probably
next week as I conclude Mark 13. But he's talking about the
destruction of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple.
That took place in AD 70. AD 70 is when that took place. The Roman Empire, the Roman army,
just wasted the city of Jerusalem, which under the Old Covenant
was called the Holy City. and the Temple, which under the
Old Covenant was called the Holy Place. Now having said that, many of
the things that mark the end of the Jewish state, that's what
that marks. The destruction of Jerusalem
and the destruction of the Temple marks the final end of the Jewish
state and the final end of the Old Covenant. It's abolished. Christ fulfilled it. And many
of the things that mark that time leading up to that AD 70
event also mark the last days leading up to the second coming
of Christ. Is that clear? Many of the things. Now there's some things that
are happening here leading up to the destruction of the temple
that aren't happening, that don't happen. Don't apply it to the
second coming of Christ. Let me show you what I mean.
Look at verse 14. He says, but when you shall see
the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
standing where it ought not, let him that readeth understand,
then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains. Now he's
talking about the way Luke put it this way in Luke 21, 20. He
says, when you shall see Jerusalem compassed or surrounded with
armies, then know that the desolation thereof is not. So Luke just
calls it the desolation. And what he's talking about is
the desolation of the temple. And so he says, let them that
are in the mountains flee. Well, when Christ comes back
the second time, there's not gonna be any fleeing then. You gotta know where to run.
And it's gonna happen so quick, you won't have time to even think
about running. And of course, if you're a believer,
you won't run anyway. But it's not, and look down at
verse 18 of Mark 13. Verse 18, he says, and pray you
that your flight be not in winter. Well, there's not gonna be any
flight when Christ comes the second time. But now, when the
Roman army surrounded Jerusalem around AD 70, and then came down
upon Jerusalem, destroyed, there was people fleeing, going every
which way. God scattered that people throughout
the known world. and ended the Jewish state. But
again, many things that happened during that time leading up to
that destruction of Jerusalem, many of the things that he uses
to describe how things are going to be, they're also used to describe
the last days, the new covenant age leading up to the second
coming of Christ. I'll show you that now for that
reason. I've entitled this message I
started to entitle it the abomination of desolation because I'm going
to be talking about that and what it is But I've entitled
it preparation for the last days And that's what this is Everything
that happened up until that time that that Jewish temple was,
I mean, it was lowered to the ground. It wasn't just shoving
some pillars over. I mean, it was gone. And the
city of Jerusalem was gone. And so everything leading up
to that was a preparation for what's coming throughout the
New Testament age that we're living in. leading up to the
second coming of Christ. And I'll show you that in another
passage of scripture, but I'm just gonna stay right here in
Mark. We're gonna go to Daniel in just a moment. These things
that led up to and fell on the temple in Jerusalem foreshadow
even, not just prepare, but they even foreshadow many things that
will befall the visible church. And I'll be talking about that
later on. The visible church. What is the
visible church? The visible church during the
last days leading up to the second coming of Christ. Well, what
is the visible church? Well, that's what people see
as the church. And you know, a lot of people
don't like this distinction. The visible church and the true
church. I like that distinction. Because it's kind of like the
Jewish nation. You know, the whole Jewish nation throughout
their 1500 year history in the old covenant, They were all called
Israel. All the people. They were all
called children of God. All of them. If you were a Jew,
if you were in that nation, you had that title. But many of them
lived their lives in unbelief. In fact, the vast majority of
them lived their lives in unbelief. They were children of God and
Israelites in name only. And those who were saved, you
know what God calls them throughout the Old Testament and the New? Anybody remember the word for
it? A remnant, according to the election of grace. Isaiah said
it, Paul repeated it in Romans 11. He said, or Romans 10 and
11, as the children of Israel, are as numerous as the sands
of the sea." Now think about that. Only a remnant, a small
part of that nation are truly God's children, truly saved. Only a remnant. And he calls
it a remnant according to the election of grace. Was that remnant
saved because they were better people than the rest of them?
Is that why God? No. They were sinners just like
the rest of them. But why did God choose out just
such a small remnant? Well, here's the answer God gives. Now, a lot of people don't like
this answer. But I can tell you what the answer
he gives. He said, it is my glory that I will have mercy on whom
I will, and I'll be gracious to whom I will. It's not of him
that runneth, nor of him that willeth, it's of God that showeth
mercy. That's God's answer. That's the equivalent of you
telling your young children when you tell them to do something,
and they say, why? And you say, because I say so. That's the
equivalent. This is God's glory. Well, what
is the visible church today? Well, think about how many millions
of people call themselves Christian. How many local assemblies say
we're a Christian church? But there's no truth there. There's
no gospel. They preach a false gospel. How
many? The visible church. What the
historians call Christendom. The name of Christ. But out of
that visible church, the Bible tells us that only a remnant
will be saved. That's what the Bible says. And
it's a remnant according to the election of grace. You see what
I'm saying now? The true church, listen, the
visible church is the church that has apostatized, fallen
away. Paul speaks of that in 2 Thessalonians
2. I'm gonna go to that passage
later on. But there are some believers
in this world. In every generation, God has
always had his remnant of true disciples, the true church. which
Christ purchased with His own blood, His bride, His elect. No one can claim anything to
the charge of God's elect. Who can condemn them? You see
what I'm saying? God doesn't charge them with
sin. They have a righteousness that answers the demands of God's
law and justice. And they've been given life from
the dead. How do you know that? Because
they believe in the true Christ of this book and they've repented
of dead works and idolatry. And both of those, faith and
repentance, are gifts from God that come to us through Christ.
Well, let's look at this passage here.
Verse 14. He says, when they were, in Mark
13 he says, Verse 14, he says, but when you
shall see, now he's talking to his disciples, and he's talking
to them about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. And he says, when you see the
abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing
where it ought not, this abomination is in a place that it ought not
be. That's what that means. He says, let him that readeth
understandeth, and that understanding is a God-given gift, then let
them that be in Judea flee to the mountains. Abomination of
desolations. Now again, he's talking about
the destruction of the temple in AD 70, but I'm gonna show
you that there is an abomination of desolation that exists today. But now Christ is pointing to
what Daniel prophesied of. What is an abomination? Well,
an abomination is anything associated with or connected with idolatry
and profanity. That's what an abomination is.
You know, the Lord said to the Pharisees, he says, that which
is highly esteemed among men is an abomination unto God. Look,
1615, I think it is. What's highly esteemed among
men? Well, their religion, their works, their sincerity, their
decisions. That's highly esteemed among
men. That's what they think makes the difference in saving loss.
But it's an abomination unto God, because God says only He,
by His grace through Christ, makes the difference. So, it's
anything It's taking that which is sacred. And under the old
covenant, that temple was a sacred place. It was set apart by God.
There was nothing morally perfect about it or anything like that,
but it was sanctified. It was sacred to be used by the
people for the worship of God. And this abomination, is taking
something that is sacred and corrupting it with idolatry and
profanity. Now, desolation, what does that
mean? That means forsaken, means laid waste, afflicted, barren,
unfruitful. So what is he saying here? He
said, you know, the temple had already become an abomination
because the worship of God in the temple had already been corrupted
by the priest, the unbelieving priest already. Think about the
state of Judaism when Christ arrived on the scene. They weren't
worshiping the true and living God. It was religion. You had the Pharisees and the
Sadducees, the Essenes, the Zealots, but they had no truth. They didn't
know the Gospel. He came unto His own and His
own received Him not. They didn't recognize the Messiah
as He was identified and distinguished in the Scriptures. Their system of worship in the
temple, they had turned that which God had made sacred Worshipping
Him in the high priest through the blood of the Lamb, which
pictured Christ, God's grace, righteousness in Christ, they
had taken that and turned it into a system of works, salvation,
and works, righteousness. Paul described it in Romans 9.31.
He said, the Jews sought after righteousness, but they didn't
find it. Why? Because they sought it not
by faith, faith in Christ. They didn't look for it in Christ,
the Messiah, but they sought it by works of the law. Do you
know in God's eyes that's profanity? They rejected God's revelation
of himself to save sinners by grace through the blood and righteousness
of Christ. And they replaced it with self-righteous
religious rights and systems and works and laws. And they profaned that which
was holy. In Matthew 24, 15, this temple
is called the holy place. Let me just give you a little
preview of this. Before the cross, under the old covenant, the temple
in Jerusalem was the holy place. After the cross, what is the
holy place? Christ and his church. Where
the gospel is preached, where Christ is. Christ is with us
today. He said, where two or three gather
in my name, I'll be with you. This is the holy place, not talking
about the pews and the walls, talking about the people of God
set apart, that's what holy means, for the worship of God. The church
is the holy place. It was the place set apart for
the worship and service of God as he revealed himself through
sacrifice. That's what that temple was under
the old covenant. And what were those sacrifices?
They were types of Christ in the glory of his person and the
power of his finished work. Righteousness through the obedience
unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's grace reigning
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. But now this temple had been
radically changed from what it was originally. You remember
Solomon was the one who built it. And the worship of God was established
there, but it wasn't long that it became profaned. The abomination
crept in. It wasn't long before it was
destroyed by the Babylonians. That temple of Solomon, it was
laid waste, and then they came back as God predicted, prophesied,
and planned, and predetermined, and they rebuilt it. But it wasn't long after that
that they profaned it again. And the one that Christ is speaking
of here is the one, that second temple, and King Herod, you know
who King Herod was, an ungodly idolater, to please the people,
he started remodeling it, fixing it up, adding to it, to where
it was a great and beautiful edifice. But the worship of God was not
there. Do you know in that temple, in
the Holy of Holies, there was no Ark of the Covenant? That
had been whisked away by the Babylonians. We don't know where
it is. I guess you have to ask Indiana
Jones. He might know. But it was gone. Most scholars
believe that behind the curtain, the veil, was a big rock. We don't know. But there was
no, see what I'm saying? Look at the shape of the temple,
the Jews and their religion, when Christ came the first time. And so, the temple was already
an abomination. But now the prophecy of Daniel
that he's talking about, prophesied of a time when this abomination
would be made desolate. Destroyed by the Romans with
a devastation that had never Been before and look how he describes
it look at verse 15 and let him that is on the housetop not go
down into there this desolation this destruction is going to
come so quick and so powerful that you won't even have time
to go down and pack your bags and He says, neither enter therein
to take anything out of the house, just get out. That's what he's
saying, run for your life. Verse 16, let him that is in
the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. You
see what he's saying? This is bad stuff, isn't it?
Run. But woe to them that are with
child. Could you imagine having that kind of an attack on your
home? And you're with child, ladies.
Wouldn't that be an awful shape to be in? And to them that gifts
suck in those days, if you had a little baby, your first thoughts would be
for the safety of that child. And he says, verse 18, pray ye
that your flight be not in winter. The winter down here's not so
bad, but if you live up where I'm from, boy, it'd be bad to
have to flee in the winter. Some people having to go through
cold weather. Verse 19, for in those days shall be affliction
such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created
unto this time, neither shall be. Now, a lot of people say,
well, that's just an exaggeration. But I'm telling you, it's not. This is what actually happened
leading up to the destruction of the temple. He says in verse
20, and except that the Lord had shortened those days. You
see, the Lord had appointed a particular number of days for this to happen. A short span of time, that's
what he's talking about. No flesh should be saved. Now
he's talking about there, I believe, he's talking about physical salvation. Now you can give a spiritual
application to that during the times of the New Covenant
age. There is a remnant to be saved.
But for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened
the days. Now, a lot of scholars, including
one of my favorites, John Gill, he believes that true believers,
many true believers got out before this destruction happened. And
that may be true. He even named a city where most
of them fled, and they started a church there. And so that may
be the case. But here's the thing about it.
God's elect will never perish eternally. Now they may be killed
physically. We know we're all gonna die physically,
unless we're alive when the Lord comes back. But God's elect,
they may die physically, even in this destruction, but they're
not gonna perish eternally. And when he talked about enduring
to the end, he means enduring in the gospel. Not forsaking
the gospel. Not forsaking Christ. Realizing
that I am what I am by the grace of God and I stand before God
forgiven and righteous in His sight. And verse 21, there's gonna be
leading up, the time leading up to that destruction in the
temple, there's going to be, if any man say to you, lo, here
is Christ, and lo, he's there, believe him not. For false Christ
and false prophets shall rise and shall show signs and wonders
to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. Think about the
time of the New Testament churches. Now Paul had gone out, and there
was a church in Jerusalem, There was a church in Galatia, Ephesus,
Thessalonica, you know what, Philippi. And those churches
were formed before this destruction in AD 70. And think about how
many false prophets tried to invade those churches. Think about Galatia, Paul started
it off. He said, I marvel that you're
so soon removed from the gospel of Christ. He said, if they come
and preach any other gospel unto you than that which we've preached,
let them be anathema. He wrote to the Corinthians.
He said, beware of those who come preaching another Jesus. So false preachers and false
Christ had begun to crop up even then. Well, that's a situation that
plagues the church in the New Testament age too. So that's certainly descriptive.
False prophets. Think about it. How many false
prophets can you count that claim to know Christ and be preaching
Christ, but they're not, according to the Word of God? They preach righteousness by
character. making a decision, or by works. But they know nothing about the
imputed righteousness of Christ. I was shocked when I look back
on my life, realizing that I had been raised in a church that
was called Christian, and I had never heard about Christ's righteousness
imputed. When I heard that, I thought,
my goodness, what is that? What does it mean? And I found
out it's the heart of the gospel. Why did I think I was saved before
then? Because I gave my heart to Jesus. But that's not what the Bible
says. The Bible says salvation is Jesus giving me a new heart.
Isn't that right? Giving me faith to believe. So
that's a situation that takes place. And he says in verse 23,
but take ye heed, behold, I have foretold you all things. Now think about this. The old
covenant was already abolished by the time this temple was destroyed.
Because it was abolished by way of fulfillment by Christ. What
did he say? It is finished. Well, what did he finish? Well,
I'm gonna show you in just a minute. But listen to Matthew 27, 50.
It says, Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded
up the ghost. In verse 51, and behold, the
veil of the temple was rent in twain, torn in two, from top
to the bottom, and the earth did quake and the rocks ran.
The old covenant was abolished. The new covenant age began. The
last days were ushered in. Now, when that veil was torn
in two, what did the unbelieving priests do? You know what they
did? They sewed that veil back together and re-hung it. And sought to
carry on their false worship, their abomination. God in His
predetermined purpose as revealed in the book of Daniel, back in
the book of Daniel, brought about an abomination that would bring
the temple and the city to be desolate, totally destroyed. Turn to Daniel chapter 9. Now
I'm going to give you an overview of what is said here in Daniel.
There's a lot of numbers mentioned. I know what those numbers mean.
But I'm not going to do any Hebrew math today. I'm not going to
take you through all the little details of it because it'd just
take too long. But look at verse 24 of Daniel
9. Now Daniel is given a vision
by the angel Gabriel that God sent him concerning the end times
of the Jewish nation. And look at verse 24. He mentions
70 weeks are determined. Now that 70 weeks is literally
77s, which means years. And what he's talking about is
a time period that existed from when the Jews came out of captivity,
were brought out of captivity from Babylon and rebuilt the
temple, the second temple under Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, from
that time when God brought them back out of captivity, put them
back in their homeland, and they rebuilt that temple, from that
time up until the time of Christ when he came into the world.
Now that's what the 77s represent. How do you know that? Well, look
at verse 24. 70 weeks are determined upon
thy people and upon thy holy city. Now listen to this. This
is one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible. What's gonna
happen at this time? Well, to finish the transgression. To finish it. Transgression. What is that? That's sin. Who finished the transgression?
Christ did on the cross. He says to make an end of sins. Think about that. Christ made
an end of sins. He washed away our sins. He died
for our sins. He paid our sin debt on that
cross by himself. By what offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin. Next, to make reconciliation
for iniquity. What is reconciliation? That's
when two persons who are enemies are brought together in peace.
God was reconciled to his people through the blood and righteousness
of Christ. Remember in 2 Corinthians 5, I think it's verse 19, God
was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them. God made Christ to be sin, Christ
who knew no sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. And right before that he said,
you be reconciled to God. on the one ground of Christ's
blood. So he made reconciliation, he
made peace between God and sinners by the blood of the cross. And
then it says, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. How
can God be just and justify ungodly sinners? Through the righteousness
of the Messiah, Christ imputed to us. He finished it. and to seal up the vision in
prophecy. Every prophecy, every vision,
every type, every picture in the Old Testament was sealed
up, fulfilled in the glorious person and the finished work
of Christ, and to anoint the most holy. Now, scholars have
different views of that phrase. The word anoint has to do with
power. Some say it's Christ himself.
And that he was anointed by the Father in his resurrection from
the dead. And that could be it. Some say
it's his people. The holy brethren set apart for
him. And it means that he saved his
people from their sins. So either way. Now look at verse
25 of Daniel 9. Know therefore and understand
that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and
to build Jerusalem, now that's when they came back out of captivity
in Babylon and rebuilt the city and the temple. From that time
unto Messiah the Prince until the time of Christ shall be seven
weeks and three score and two weeks. And so what he's talking
about in the 70th week of Daniel, And these three score and two
weeks equals about three and a half years. And he said, the
streets shall be built again, and the wall even in troublest
times. When they came back out of captivity, they rebuilt the
temple, and it was a troublest time, and it was troublest times
from then on. Until Messiah came, and look
at verse 26. And after three score and two
weeks, after three and a half years, shall Messiah be cut off. but not for himself. He's not
going to be cut off for himself. What does it mean to be cut off?
It means to die. It means to be separated from
God. The Messiah died. He was separated. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Remember he said that? And why
did he do it? Not for himself. He didn't die
for himself. He died for his people. He died for his sheep. What was
the three and a half years? Think about it. From the time
of the beginning of his earthly ministry at his baptism, when
he talked about where he suffered to be so to fulfill all righteousness,
from that time to the time of his death was three and a half
years. And he says, and the people of
the prince shall come and destroy the city and the sanctuary That
prince is the Roman emperor. Destroy the temple and the city.
And the end thereof shall be with a flood, not a water flood,
but a flood of God's wrath. And unto the end of the war,
desolations are determined. They're going to be laid waste.
Now that didn't happen immediately after Christ's death, because
it didn't happen until AD 70. But it said, look at verse 27, and
he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. Now how
was it confirmed? That's the covenant of grace.
Christ confirmed it. How was it confirmed for one
week? You might say seven years. Well, in three and a half years,
he obeyed the law and died on the cross. And in the midst of
the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.
The veil was rent in two. No more sacrifice. And for the
overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, that's
the destruction of the temple, which came later, even until
the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
After his death, that temple's gonna be destroyed. Now, this
event in AD 70 was God's final judgment upon the unbelieving
Jews of what took place years before in that three and one
half years following the death of Christ. And what was that?
Three and a half years. Well, that's when the final rejection
of Christ and His truth took place after the death of Christ. Think about it. Pentecost. The New Testament church was
inaugurated at Pentecost. And then the death of Stephen.
And much persecution of the witnesses of Christ in Judah resulted in
their scattering forth. And the conversion of Saul. Remember
that? And through him the gospel went
out unto the whole world, the known world there. And the abomination
of desolation in that day was the destruction of that abomination
in the temple and that city. There is an abomination today. And I'll tell you what it is,
and I'm going to show you in scripture what that is later in detail.
It's every false preacher and false witness standing in a pulpit
claiming to be Christian, but not preaching Christ. That's an abomination. And it'll
lead to desolation. We'll talk about that later.
Okay.