Alright, let's look back at Mark
chapter 13. Now this morning I'm going to
continue as we're going to go through this whole chapter, Mark
13, which is a prophetic word from the Lord concerning the
last days. The last days being that time
period between the Lord's first coming and His second coming,
as they were living in the last days after His resurrection and
ascension into glory, we're living in the last days, closer to the
time of His coming again, His great and glorious second advent,
second coming, to gather His people unto Himself and to judge
the world by the standard of righteousness which was displayed
in his obedience unto death. And that's what the Lord is talking
about here in chapter 13. I entitled this message last
week and this week, this is part two, the beginning of sorrows.
That's the, in verse eight there, these are the beginnings, or
not just beginning, but beginnings, plural, of sorrows. And remember, as I mentioned
last week, that that sorrow there is not a sorrow unto despair,
but it's a sorrow like the pain of a woman in childbirth, going
through the labor pains, only to find out in the end the satisfaction
of a newborn child, healthy and life. And that's what he's talking
about here. This sorrow, this problem that
he's talking about, the persecutions and the oppression that the church
goes through in the last days in different ways, different
degrees, at different times, which basically throughout the
whole age, the last days, is going to end up in the satisfaction
of glory. Paul said it. in the book of
Romans, our present afflictions and problems that we go through
is not even to be compared with the glory that is to come. He
said, the whole creation groaneth for the revelation of manifestation
of the sons of God, when it all be revealed by the Lord in His
second coming, not in secret now, but open and above board
before the whole universe. He said to the church at Corinth,
he spoke of our light afflictions. We don't see them as light when
we're going through them, but compared to what our Lord went
through, they're nothing. In fact, I showed you last week,
you remember back over in Isaiah 53, how the experience of Christ
dying on the cross is described in the Old Testament prophetically
as the pain of a woman going through childbirth. He shall
see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied." And, of course,
his work on the cross is the foundation and ground for everything
that he's saying here in Mark chapter 13 on the beginnings
of sorrows. Well, two things mark the beginning
of the last days, what he calls the beginnings of sorrows, and
he mentions them here. The first one that he mentioned
is the destruction of the Jewish temple, that physical temple
in Jerusalem. Look at verse 1. He says, as
he went out of the temple, one of the disciples saith unto him,
Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here.
This disciple is talking about how impressive this temple was. Remember I talked to you about
how this was the third temple. This temple was in the process
of being built. It wasn't finished. And even
when it was destroyed 40 years later than this, it wasn't finished,
but it was something to see. And of course, one of the things
our Lord is teaching in this passage in the last days As in
all days, it is not good for our souls to judge by outward
appearance. As impressive as that temple
was, he says in verse 2, and Jesus answering and said unto
him, seest thou these great buildings? There was more than one building
connected with the temple at that time. And he says, there
shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown
down. This temple is going to be leveled.
Not even one stone. And there was not even a remnant.
You can't even find the foundation. They say that today, if you go
over there, under the Dome of the Rock, the Islamic building
that's on the side of the old temple, that you'd have to go
down several hundred feet to find any remnants of this temple.
I don't know about all that. I don't care. But I do know this.
I know what he said here. And I know it's gone. It's gone. And so this, now when he was
speaking, standing there speaking to his disciples, this was prophetic.
This didn't really happen until 40 years later, A.D. 70s when it actually happened.
The Roman army came in and just leveled the temple. They leveled
all of Jerusalem. I mean, destroyed the whole city.
And so what you have here, and I showed you this, and you can
go back, read Hebrews chapter 8, 9, and 10. Read it on your
own. And we read through part of chapter
9, they're talking about how that old temple and that economy,
that Jewish economy, that old covenant is done away with. He did away with that old covenant
and he brought in and established the new covenant. That's the
covenant that we live under today, the new covenant which is the
establishment in time of the everlasting covenant of grace
made before time. And somebody asked me one time,
said, how do you explain that new covenant? Just simply preach
the gospel of God's grace. And there's the explanation of
it. That's the message of the covenant. Salvation is by grace. Now it always has been. Salvation
wasn't by works under the old covenant. But they didn't see
it. The nation didn't see it as a whole. A few saw it. A remnant
saw it. Some of the prophets saw it.
But the nation didn't as a whole. But now what he's saying here,
this is the first thing that's going to mark the beginnings
of sorrows, the last days. That temple is going to be destroyed.
Now the second thing that he said would mark the beginnings
of sorrows is what I describe this way, it's the deception
of the world by false Christianity. Do you hear that? And that's
important. And I want to show you this morning
how that's connected with this temple and everything that he
says here. Now that began, that deception of the world by false
Christianity, that deception began in the days of the apostles
and it's carrying forth and getting worse and worse. So if you want
to talk about how things are getting worse and worse, go to
that and I'll show you that in just a moment. But now let's
look at this thing about the temple. So in our day, as we
look at it, one of the things that marks the beginnings of
sorrow has already happened. That temple's already been destroyed.
Jerusalem has already been destroyed. That's why we don't look for
an earthly temple or an earthly city. We are in the heavenly
Jerusalem. Read Hebrews chapter 12 on that
one. We're citizens of a heavenly
kingdom. Christ said, my kingdom is not of what? This world. He said the kingdom of heaven
is where? Within his people. Within their hearts. It's a heart
kingdom. It's a heavenly kingdom. It's
a spiritual kingdom. We're not looking for an earthly
kingdom and an earthly reign. You see, the reign of Christ
is already here within his people. We don't see it manifested before
our physical eyes, but we know it so because of the Word of
God and the Spirit of God who dwells in us. That's how we know
it. That's what Hebrews 2 is about.
Read that one. I'm not just trying to jump you
all over the scriptures, but I want you to read. I want you
to study the Word. That's the only way you're going
to know these things, see. But that's already happened.
The Jewish temple's already been destroyed. Now, as you know,
that temple was a picture and a type of Christ and His church. Christ and His church. But let
me show you some scripture here to connect this so you'll see
how these things are connected. You know, when Christ was on
the cross, dying for the sins of His sheep, God's elect, out
of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation, He went through all
that suffering because of the sin of His people charged to
His account. That's why He was made sin, the
scripture says. He was a sin bearer, a sin offering. He was the Lamb of God. who taketh
away the sin of the world." He's the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. I mean, this was the purpose
and plan of God from the beginning. This was no plan B. This was
no contingency plan. This was no, well, I failed under
the old covenant with Israel, now I've got a new plan. No,
sir. He's the lamb of God who has no beginning and no end.
Slain from the foundation of the world. This salvation that
you enjoy in part, and you do enjoy it in part now, because
you see through a glass darkly. That's the way we all see. John said, it does not yet appear
what we shall be, 1 John 3, verse 1. This salvation that we enjoy
in part right now, And we have the joy of it in some degree. This salvation was given to us
in Christ Jesus before the world began, 2 Timothy 1, verses 8
and 9. Isn't that amazing? So I'm telling
you now, if you ever want to grab hold of anything eternal,
with eternal value, you grab hold, lay hold, as the scripture
says, of Christ. and Him crucified and risen again.
So now that when He was on that cross in the process of time,
when He invaded and intervened in time, He was actually fulfilling
an eternal plan and purpose and destiny of the God who works
all things after the counsel of His own will. And when He
did that, He was on that cross and in John chapter 19 and verse
30, He made this statement, He said, It is finished. And that's right upon his impending
death. It is finished. Now, what was finished? Well,
over in the book of Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24. Now, I'll just
read this to you. Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24.
Now, don't get bogged down when you read Daniel chapter 9. Don't
get bogged down in all the numerology there. Okay? I mean, I could
go through all that with you, but I don't have time this morning.
But what he's talking about basically there in verse 24 and on and
on, is basically the time of the Messiah here on earth. That's
what he's talking about. And the numbers you can, you
know, people jiggle those a lot of different ways, but that's
what he's talking about. almost 70 weeks. And back then
in the prophetic, it's 70 weeks of years. But anyway, that's
from the time of the Babylonian captivity and they came out to
the time of the arrival of the Messiah. And so, he says, here's
what was finished, Daniel chapter 9 verse 24. It says, 70 weeks
are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish
the transgression. Now that's what was finished
when Christ says the transgression was finished. You know what the
transgression is, that's sin. To make an end of sins. James
said sin when it's finished makes an end of us. But because of
Christ, sin will not finish in us and make an end of us. Christ
finished sin. He made an end of sins by His
blood on the cross. And it says, "...to make reconciliation
for iniquity." What that means is, is that he reconciled sinners
to God, God to sinners and sinners to God by bringing things out
equal. In other words, he fulfilled
the demands, the conditions of the covenant of salvation. And
then it says, "...and to bring in everlasting righteousness."
That's the righteousness whereby we stand before God complete
and accepted and justified. It's the imputed righteousness
of Christ. It's the righteousness of Christ,
the merit of His entire work of obedience unto death that
is charged to our account. He was charged with our sin.
He was made sin. Christ who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's the new
creation. which is a righteous creation,
because He created it. And so it says, "...and to bring
in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision in
prophecy, that is, to bring to a close and a fulfillment all
that was given in the prophets by God, and all that was prophesied,
and to anoint the Most Holy, that's His death, burial, resurrection,
and ascension." Now that's what was finished as Christ was on
that cross. Turn over to Matthew chapter
27, just back a few pages from Mark 13. And I want you to see something.
Now he's talking about, in Mark 13, he's talking about the temple
and how the temple's going to be destroyed. Now he said that,
he told them, he said, this temple's going to be destroyed. And back
up there in verse 40, look at verse 40 of Matthew 27 to start
off with. Look at verse 39, it says, they
that passed by reviled him wagging their heads. That's just an old
King James way of just saying how they were just making fun
of him, scorning him. It says in verse 40, it's saying,
thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days,
save thyselves if thou be the Son of God, come down from the
cross. Now they're talking about something that he had said earlier.
We read it last week over in John chapter 2. It was recorded
in John chapter 2. Now hold your finger there at
Matthew 27. Let me read this portion of John chapter 2 to
you. It's in verse 18. It says, Then
answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto
us, seeing that thou doest these things? The fact that he did
these miracles, that he claimed to be the Messiah. What sign
do you show us, seeing you do these things? And verse 19 of
John 2, now we'll go back to Matthew 27 just a second, but
John 2, 19, Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this
temple and in three days I will raise it up. Now he said that,
destroy this temple. And then verse 20 says, then
said the Jews, 40 and six years was this temple in building,
now he's talking about the temple of Herod, the very one that the
disciple was so impressed with in Mark 13. He says, and with
thou reared it up in three days, but, verse 21 of John 2, but
he spake of the temple of his body. Now you think about his
human body and that's included. That's his resurrection. It says
in verse 22 of John 2, when therefore he was risen from the dead, his
disciples remembered that he had said this unto them, and
they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
His resurrection. He wasn't talking about the earthly
temple then. He was talking about His body, which would be resurrected
in three days' time after His death. All right? So look at
Matthew chapter 27 again. Now that's when they said, you
said destroy this temple and you'll build it in three days.
If you're the Son of God, come down from the cross. Well now,
here's the point. Why couldn't He come down from
the cross? Why didn't He just come down from the cross and
just waylay Him? Now, he could have done that, couldn't he?
He had that ability. Why didn't he just come down
and just wipe out the whole bunch? Well, he had a job to do. He
had a mission to fulfill. It was a mission of glory. It
was a mission of love. It was a mission of justice.
On that cross, he was building something. He was building a
temple. Not an earthly temple. Not a
building with stones and mortar and brick. He was building his
church. That's what he was doing. He
told them that back in Matthew chapter 16. He said, upon this
rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail
against it. What was that rock? It wasn't Peter. That's a deception
of false Christianity to say that Peter was the rock upon
which Christ built the church and then they turn around and
say, well, he was the first pope. That's a deception of false Christianity. The rock was what Peter said,
thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. There's the
rock. They're the Messiah. What was the Messiah sent to
do? His name shall be called Jesus for he shall what? Save
his people from their sins. How's he going to do that? By
his death on the cross. He couldn't come down from the
cross. Then the building wouldn't be built. If he did that. Well
look over at Matthew 27 and verse 50. Now John records how he said
it's finished. But look at verse 50, it says,
"...Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded
up the ghost, and behold, the veil of the temple was rent,"
that means it was torn, entwined in two from the top to the bottom,
signifying that man didn't tear it. And if you could see how
big that veil was, you'd understand something of the magnitude of
this. I mean, this was a huge, thick veil. And it was torn into
from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the
rocks rent, the rocks broke into, and the graves were opened, and
many bodies of the saints which slept arose. What I believe that's
talking about is how many were resurrected just like Lazarus
was resurrected. Lazarus come forth, John chapter
11. and came out of their graves after his resurrection and went
into the holy city and appeared to many." Now, see what happened?
The veil and the tent. What was the signification of
that? That economy, that covenant, that's over. And so, over here
in Mark chapter 13, he told this disciple. Now, this is before
all that happened. He said, "...there shall not
be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down."
That's over. That's going to be finished.
never to come back again. And so he went to the cross to
build his church. Now Christ's church is his temple. Christ's church is his temple. Let me show you a passage on
that. First of all, turn to Ephesians chapter 2. And this is important if we're
going to understand this second issue about the deception of
false Christianity. You see how this is connected?
You ought to read the whole book of Ephesians, but Ephesians chapter
2. I think we missed some of the
points of that if we don't understand that it's talking about Christ
and His church. It's not just talking about an
individual even though individuals are included. I'm not excluding
that. But it's talking about Christ
and His church. He's talking about people who are by nature
children of wrath even as others, sinners fallen in Adam, ruined
by the fall. But God, verse 4, look at it,
Ephesians 2, who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith
He loved us, that unconditional love that sent His Son into the
world to die for our sins and make satisfaction to the law
and bring in righteousness. Verse 5, even when we were dead
in sins, even when we didn't deserve it and didn't earn it,
and that's always the case, he quickened us together with Christ. Now underscore that, together
with Christ. What kind of a quickening is
he talking about here? That we were quickened together
with Christ. Now when we think of quickening,
what do we normally think of? We think of the new birth. That's
when each and every one of God's children in each successive generation
are born again by the Spirit. You weren't born again 2,000
years ago. I don't know when you were born.
I don't even know when I was born, but I know it was because I have
spiritual life. Paul was born again on the road
to Damascus. But this quickening here is talking
about something else. It's talking about a quickening
that took place in Christ with his people together with him.
What's it talking about? His resurrection. When he died,
I died. When he was buried, I was buried. When he arose again, I arose
again. In him, as my representative,
as my surety. This is his church. He says,
by grace you are saved. Verse 6, look, and hath raised
us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus. We're right now in Christ. That's
what that's talking about. And verse 7, that in the ages
to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. Now in the days to come, in the
ages to come, he shows that forth in the salvation of his people
as he brings each and every one of us into the kingdom individually.
when he convicts us of sin and brings us to Christ by faith,
God-given faith. Verse 8, for by grace are you
saved through faith. That not of yourselves is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Verse 10,
for we are his workmanship. We are every individual believer,
but the whole church as a whole. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in." Now, from then on, he starts talking about who makes up this
church. In verse 11, he talks about the
Gentiles who were not part of national Israel. They had no
part in that old covenant. You were aliens and strangers
from the commonwealth of Israel, but now in Christ, you've been
brought in with believe in Jews. And they're together, both Jew
and Gentile. Look at verse 14 of Ephesians
2. He says, For he, Christ, is our peace. He's made peace between
Jew and Gentile now because we all believe in, trust, and love
Christ. He hath made both one. He said,
He hath broken down the middle wall partition between us. There
is no division now between Jew and Gentile. Galatians chapter
3, in Christ there's no Jew or Gentile. That distinction is
gone, he's saying. Alright? And he says, verse 15,
"...having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments,
and contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of two
one new man, so making peace." In other words, there are no
Jewish Christians, there are no Gentile Christians, they're
just Christians. There's not one segment here
and one segment there. There's no big I and little you.
See? It's all one church in Christ.
And he says in verse 16, that he might reconcile both unto
God in one body, not just one body, not two, by the cross. There's the foundation. There's
the ground of it. He has finished work on the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby, that which kept them apart. That's
put out of the way. Verse 17, "...and came and preached
peace to you which were far off and to them that were not." That's
the Jew and the Gentile. Peace through Christ. "...for
through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."
Our access to the Father as we're inspired and motivated and energized
by the Spirit of God is through Christ. And that's true of you,
and that's true of me, that's true of any Jew or Gentile who
believes in and rests in Christ. Verse 19, now look here. Now
therefore you're no more strangers and foreigners, you Gentile believers,
but your fellow citizens equally with the saints, sanctified,
and of the household of God, and are built..." Now he starts
talking about the analogy of building. "...are built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets." Now what is the
foundation of the apostles and the prophets? Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief cornerstone, He's the foundation and He's
the one who holds it all together. "...in whom all the building,
fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord."
You see it? We're the temple. Now, he's talking
about true believers now, not just false professors. He says
in verse 22, "...in whom you also are built together for inhabitation
of God through the Spirit." Now, turn to 1 Peter chapter 2. Do
you see that? Where is the temple of God today? It's made up of His people, chosen
of God. justified in Christ, redeemed
by the blood, called out by the Spirit, preserved unto glory
by His grace. Look at 1 Peter chapter 2. Now
this is important for this transition. Alright, now the temple, the
Jewish temple has been destroyed. That's the beginning of the sorrow,
beginnings of sorrows. Now, the deception of false Christianity,
Peter talks a lot about that. But look at verse 1 of 1 Peter
2. This will help you. This will be comforting to you
if you'll listen to it. He says, "...wherefore laying
aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and
all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk
of the word that you may grow thereby." Now, this is important
because you see, this deception of false Christianity, what Christ
is going to tell His disciples here is beware of it. Don't be
deceived by it. How can I know that I'm not deceived
by it? As newborn babes, desire the
sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. Remember
we studied it a couple of weeks ago in Peter, 2 Peter chapter
3. Grow in the grace and in the
knowledge of Christ. Get into the word. That's what
he's saying. Don't go off on tangent, don't
read your newspaper, don't look at the news, don't listen to
man's opinions. Desire the sincere milk of the
word. He says in verse 3, if so be
you've tasted that the Lord is gracious. Verse 4, to whom coming,
continually coming, that's what that means. In other words, salvation
is not just coming to Christ one time. It's continual. We come to Him every day. And
he says, "...as unto a living stone." Now, the temple of God
is made up of stones, but not literal stones made out of dirt. It's living stones. Now, who
are the living stones? He says, "...disallowed of men,
but chosen of God and precious." That's the people of God. That's
the stones of the temple. You're a stone in the temple. And God's put you where He wants
you. You know, some of you who are
builders, when you go out and you build things, you get a block.
You don't ask that block, now where do you want to be? You
put it where you know it should go. And that's what God does
with His people. He puts them where He knows they
should go. Fitly framed together, we read in Ephesians 2. Who does
the fitting and the framing? God does. Not you, not the preacher,
not the denomination. God does. And he says in verse
5, you also as living stones are built up a spiritual house
and holy priesthood, that's separated by the gospel, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. That's worship
and praise. Wherefore, verse 6, also it is
contained in the scripture, Behold, I, Lanzione, a chief cornerstone,
elect precious, and listen now, he that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. You don't want to be deceived,
believe on him. Look to Christ, rest in him.
See all your hope and foundation and peace and safety and assurance
and comfort in Christ and him crucified and risen again. You
won't be confounded, you won't be deceived, you won't be ashamed.
Look at verse 7, "...unto you therefore which believe, He is
precious." He's your glory, He's your honor, He's your value. "...but unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallow, the same is made the
head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense."
Is He a rock of offense? Does He offend you? Look back
at Mark 13 now. Christ turned to the disciples
one time and He had offended the Pharisees. They said, Lord,
you offended them. How did he offend them? He preached
grace. All of salvation by grace. What
do you, what offends you? What offends me? He turned to
them one time, he says, does this offend you? Blessed is he
who is not offended. by the preaching of God's grace.
Grace, grace, grace. Somebody said, all you preach
is grace. Amen. That's what this is all about.
So now with that in mind, that's what he's talking about. That
building's been destroyed. Don't get sidetracked. And I'm
going to tell you something, it's out there. I mean, they'll
get you onto every book and program and seed sowing system to get
you, they'll take you to Israel. I wouldn't mind going over there
to visit, but I'm not going over there for any spiritual awakening. I've got that right here in the
book of God's Word. And so the next thing he says,
look now at verse 3 of Mark 13. As he sat upon the Mount of Olives
over against the temple, And James and John and Andrew asked
him privately, tell us, when shall these things be? And what
shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? And
Jesus answering them began to say, now listen to this, take
heed lest any deceive you. He says, for many shall come
in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. Now you
notice Christ there is in italics, the term Christ. That was supplied
by the translators. It would read this way in the
original, for many shall come in my name saying I am. And the
King James translators just added Christ there because they were
talking about people who claim to be the Messiah. Well that's
included. But it would be anybody who claims
to be preaching truth. I am, I am preaching the truth. And it says here, it says, they'll
deceive many. They shall deceive many. Many have claimed to be the Messiah
in these last days. But I'll be honest with you,
I mean, you think about that. Few people follow them. I can
think about Jim Jones. I can think about David Koresh.
You may not even remember their names. You probably remember
Jim Jones. I don't know if you remember
David Koresh out in Waco, Texas. And they did claim to be the
Messiah. There were people back in Paul's day and John's day
that claimed to be the Messiah. But not many people followed
them. I venture to say that if somebody
descended here upon Ashland, Kentucky and went down Winchester
Avenue on Judd Boulevard, Plaza or whatever they call it, and
got up there and said, I'm the Messiah, how many people around
here do you think would follow them? I imagine most of us would
go by laughing, saying he needs to be in Eastern State. Wouldn't
we? But there are a few. I believe this is a warning of
something more subtle than a man openly claiming that he's the
Messiah. Even though, again, now that's
included. There are a few who are deceived. I believe this
is talking about something that deceives many. And I want to
show you that from Scripture now. The Lord's warning here
is against those by whom the nations of the world are deceived. You see that right here. And
you'll see it throughout the New Testament. This is what the
Bible calls that strong delusion which God himself sends upon
those who refuse, stubbornly, self-righteously refuse to hear
and believe and receive the love of the truth. Go to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. I'm going to do a whole message
on 2 Thessalonians later on. I want you to look at this. Paul's
talking about the end of the world, the second coming of Christ
in 2 Thessalonians 2. And he says in verse 1, listen
to this. Now we beseech you, we beg you. That's really what
he's saying. Brethren, by the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, I know he's coming again, Paul says. And
by our gathering together unto him, he's going to gather his
church. that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled
neither by spirit, that's the attitude, nor by word, nor by
letter as from us, I believe what he's talking about there
is people who wrote letters and forged them saying it was from
Paul the Apostle or John the Apostle, as that the day of Christ
is at hand, like it's coming today. He says, don't you be
troubled, shaken or stirred by that stuff. He says in verse
3, let no man deceive you by any means. For that day shall
not come except there come a falling away first. Now what's that falling
away? That literally is apostasy. A
falling away from the truth. What he's talking about is the
truth of the gospel of God's grace in Christ. There's going
to be a great falling away from that truth. He says, "...and
that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." We'll
deal with that later on, but he says, "...who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped,
so that he as God," that is, acting as if he is God, or has
that authority, "...sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself
that he is God." Like he's God's mouthpiece. And what he's talking
about here is an infiltration. He's talking about a subtle deception
that's a falling away from the truth. And he says in verse 5,
Something's holding this back. right now, Paul said, but it's
going to be revealed in his time. Well, what's holding it back?
Verse 7, he says, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work,
that deception has already come, but only he who now letteth or
holdeth it back will let, they'll hold it back until he be taken
out of the way. What he's talking about is how God by the Holy
Spirit is holding that back right now, but there's coming a time
when he's going to get out of the way and he's going to let
it loose upon the world. And so he says in verse 8, and
then shall that wicked be revealed. Whatever that wickedness is,
it'll be revealed. It's going to be made manifest.
Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, that's
his word. The only weapon you've got against
this is the word, the sword of his mouth, the spirit of his
mouth, that's his word. And shall destroy with the brightness
of his coming. It's going to be destroyed completely
when he comes again. Even him whose coming is after the working
of Satan." Now listen to this, "...with all power and signs
and lying wonders." Something impressive here now. Now here's
my point for Mark 13. Who's going to be deceived by
all this? Don't get bogged down in the
details right now. Like I said, I'm coming back to that. But
who's going to be deceived by that? Well, look at verse 10.
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish, because they receive not the love of the truth that
they might be saved." Those who won't receive the love of the
truth of Christ and Him crucified and risen again. Those who don't
love that truth. Let me ask you a question. Can
you live without it? Because if you can live without
it, you will live without it. That's right. I mean, I'm just
being honest. Go back to Mark 13 now. You see that? The Lord turned
to Peter and the disciples and said, will you go away also?
They said, to whom shall we go? You have the words of life, the
bread of life. Can you live physically without
eating food? Well, my friend, if you have
spiritual life, if I have spiritual life, we cannot live spiritually
without the Word, without feeding on the Word. Now, if you live
without it, you don't have it. It's basically it. Who's going
to be deceived by false religion? Those who can live without the
truth, who don't have the love of the truth. And there'll be
many who'll come claiming to preach this and preach that,
claiming to preach what they believe is the truth. Claiming
to preach in Christ's name. Now look at verse 7. And I'm
going to say more about this because Mark 13 says a lot more
about it. About this deception of false
Christianity. And we'll get to more about it,
but let me conclude here with this. He says in verse 7, "...and
when you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled,
for such things must needs be. But the end shall not yet be,
for nation shall rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.
There shall be earthquakes in diverse or various places, and
there shall be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows."
Now let me tell you what he's saying here. He's saying this,
now, all this has come out. The temple's going to be destroyed,
that's happened. There's going to be the great deception of
false Christianity. But when you hear of wars and
rumors of wars, keep your head about you, don't panic. That's
always been. When did they ever not hear of
wars and rumors of wars? Read the Old Testament. He said, when you do that, keep
your head, don't panic. This is routine history and no
sign of the end. Everybody thinks, well, there's
a great earthquake. Oh, it means the Lord's coming. Well, there
were great earthquakes back then too. Nation will fight against nation
and ruler fight ruler over and over. Has any of y'all ever studied
history? Keep your head about you. That's
no sign of the end. Earthquakes will occur in various
places. Have they not always? Somebody told me one time they're
getting more frequent. Maybe they are. I don't know.
But they've always been. There'll be famines. There's
always been famines. Maybe they'll get more frequent.
But these things are nothing compared to what's coming. That's
what he's saying. This is the beginnings of Saul.
What's coming? The judgment of God against every
sinner who doesn't have Christ. Wars, rumors of wars, fighting,
famines, earthquakes, that's nothing compared to what's coming.
Jesus Christ is coming again. And He's going to judge the world
in righteousness. and your only hope in my only
hope is to be found that's what he said