All right, now, let's open our
Bibles to the book of Mark, chapter 13. Mark, chapter 13. Now, I've entitled
this message, The Beginning of Sorrows. And I'm going to preach
two messages entitled that. This is part one. The Beginning
of Sorrows. Now, last week, began this series
that I'm going to do concerning the last days. What about the
last days? And of course, technically speaking,
when we define the last days, we're talking about the New Testament
days, the days that began with the first coming of Christ and
His finishing His great work of redemption for His people
in His death, burial, and His resurrection, His ascension into
glory where He is now seated at the right hand of the Father
ever living to make intercession for his people as our advocate,
as our intercessor, Jesus Christ the righteous. So that not only
that, and that's a function of his mediatorial work, his office
as the king of kings, as the king redeemer. And so not only
does he save us by his grace, he keeps us by his grace. And that's the glory of it. And
he's coming again. And that'll be the culmination,
the finality of these last days leading up to his second coming.
So you're talking about a long period of time there. We are
living in the last days, but now that was said back in John's
day and Paul's day. We know that. So I've often said,
I believe we're living in the last of the last days and that's
probably true. But what should we as believers
know? and be concerned with in these last days. Well, we know
for sure that Christ is coming again. He is coming. It's what the song just said.
He is coming again. He promised that. Read that out,
John chapter 14. He said that I'm going to prepare
a place for you and I'm coming again. And we know that he's
coming to gather his people unto himself." Now, I may say some
things that some of you disagree with on this issue. I may even
shock some of you. I don't know. I don't know how
shocked you are about things like this. But he is not coming
back in secret. He's not going to sneak up on
anybody. Now, I know the scripture says
he's going to come like a thief in the night. And to the unbeliever,
that's what it'll seem like. but not to his people. We live
in continual expectation and hope of his coming. We don't
know the day or the time. We don't know that. And I believe
that those who claim to know that are deceived. But, you know,
as I said last week, somebody, you could go through the calendar
and somebody might hit a day, but it's not because of any biblical
revelation or knowledge they have. But he is coming again. And He's coming to gather His
people unto Himself. But He's also coming to judge
the world in righteousness. And you think about this. He
will judge the world in righteousness. And we're told in Acts chapter
17 verses 30 and 31 that that's why God sends us out to preach
the gospel and command all men everywhere to believe and repent.
Because God has appointed that day in which he will judge the
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, in
that he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead. That means two things there.
You mark that down, Acts 17 31, read that for yourself. It means
not only is Christ himself going to be the judge, for the father
hath committed all judgment unto the son, John chapter three. But Christ himself is the standard
of all judgment. And that means this, the only
way that I can be found before God accepted and eternally blessed
in glory and occupy what the scripture describes as the new
heavens and the new earth at his second coming is to be found
in Christ. To be washed in his blood. and
clothed in his righteousness. That's the only way that I can
pass that test of God's holy law and justice. I must have
Christ. And so our only hope now, and
this is the key issue of the last days. This is the key issue
of the second coming. This is the key issue of all
judgment. I must be found in Christ. And
if I'm not found in Christ, nothing else matters. I could have given
millions of dollars to charity, could have led a moral life.
If I'm not found in Christ, I have no hope of eternal life and glory. Now that's the key. And that's
mainly what we need to be concerned with for ourselves and for others. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5
and verse 10, We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
that every one may receive the things done in his body according
to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Now that's
a judgment of works there. But it's not judgment based upon
our works. Now think about this, it's the
judgment of those works. And it will be declared before
the whole universe at that time that all who are in Christ by
the grace of God and the mercy of God, chosen of God, justified
in God, redeemed by God, called of God, kept by God, and ultimately
glorified by God, that all their works will be declared to be
the fruit of His grace. That's what the works in the
scripture are of believers. Read it in John 15. But all who
are without Christ, their works will be judged to be evil, because
all they can bring forth is fruit unto death. You see, without
Christ, it's all we can do, even the best. Even the best that
we have is dead works, evil deeds, without Christ. And that's why
Paul went on to write in verse 11 of 2 Corinthians 5, he said,
for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
He said, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord. we persuade
men. Now you know what the terror
of the Lord is? It's to be found at judgment
without Christ. That's the terror of the Lord.
So the main thing that we as professing believers in Christ
should be concerned with in consideration of these last days and the second
coming is this. How, when he comes, and think
about it in terms of this way. Now you may die before he comes. You may go to meet him before
he comes to gather his people. Here's the key, how will he find
me? How will he find me? Will he
find us? And I'm not talking about this
stuff about people talking about where will you be when Christ
comes again? Will he find you at a ball game or something like
that? I'm not talking about that junk. I'm talking about this. I'm talking about will he find
me believing and trusting in him? for all my salvation, for
all my righteousness, for all my glory. Will he find me serving
him in hopeful and joyous expectation of his coming, or will he find
me forsaking him? These things set believers apart
from the world. And you know, you think about
it, from man's point of view, it seems like the world is in
chaos, doesn't it? From man's point of view. But
I wanna tell you something. Rest assured, our God is in control. He's on the throne. He's working
all things right now as I speak to you. He's working all things
after the counsel of his own will. I believe that. He's working all things together
for good to them that love him, who are the called according
to his purpose in Christ. He's working all things to the
praise of the glory of His grace in Christ. And however bad we
think things are going to get, or are now, or how bad they'll
get, all these things, I want you to know from Mark 13 here,
all these things are just the beginning of sorrows. Look down
at verse eight of Mark 13. It's just the beginning of sorrows. He says, nation shall rise against
nation. Now that's nothing new, is it?
and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be earthquakes
in diverse or various places, and there shall be famines and
troubles. These are the beginning of sorrows. Now, if you have
a concordance in your Bible, I wanna show you something that
I believe is very, very comforting when you read a passage like
that. You say, this is just the beginning of sorrows. And you
say, sorrows, sorrows. The Bible teaches us that salvation
is joy and peace in believing. And here he's talking about sorrows.
The beginning of sorrows. And just the beginning of it.
That means it's going to continue. Well, if you have a concordance
in your Bible, look over there and it probably reads something
like this. It says, the pains of a woman
in travail. Do you see that? And that's literally
what he's talking about. That's literally what it is.
And the picture here is this. It's like birth pains. It's like
a woman in childbirth who goes through the labor and goes through
the sorrow of labor and the pain of labor, but that's just the
beginning. And later on, there is the result
of the fruit of her womb, which is a healthy child. And that
comes the satisfaction. And that's the exact kind of
sorrow that he's talking about here. It's not sorrow unto death. It's unto life. And that's a
common way of showing that this sorrow is going to lead to something
glorious. That's what Mark 13, Matthew
24, and Luke 21, if you had an opportunity to read those passages
this week, that's what that's all about. It's a sorrow, but
it's not a depression. It's not a despair, but it's
a sorrow that leads unto life and glory and something so much
greater and so much better than what we could ever imagine. It's
a common way to describe the sorrows of this world due to
our own sinfulness. Now, we don't deny that. But
it's in light of God's glory and God's purpose to glorify
himself in the salvation and gathering of his people by Christ. So for believers, this is not
a suffering or a sorrow that ends in grief, but it ends in
joy in Christ. And let me show you something
really significant about that. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 53.
That's the way that our redemption in Christ
is described in the Bible. That very same way, sorrow, the
beginning of sorrows that ends in joy. In Isaiah chapter 53,
in verse, and you know this, Isaiah chapter 53 is all about
the suffering Messiah, the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief,
the Lamb of God, who opened not his mouth, led as a lamb to the
slaughter. It's what this whole book is
about right here. This is the crux of human history.
All the sorrow and all the trouble and all the sin that man has
gone through because of his own selfishness and self-righteousness
and self-love is taken care of right here for the people of
God. Right here. And here's how he
describes it. Look at verse 10. He says, it
pleased the Lord to bruise him. And it says, he hath put him
to grief. This is our Lord going through the sorrows of death
because of our sin charged to him, accounted to him. He was
made sin. This is what happens, you see.
This is a prophecy of that in Isaiah's day. Isaiah prophesied
this about 700 years before the actual time of Christ. when he
come into the world. And it says, when thou shalt
make his sow an offering for sin. That's the Old Testament
crux of this. He's an offering for sin. That's
how he was made sin. And it says, he shall see his
seed. Now the word seed there is offspring. It's not seed like you sow a
wheat seed or a corn seed, like a podling or something. It's
a offspring. He shall see his offspring. And
it says, he shall prolong his days. That means he's going to
live forever. And the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand. In other words, the honor and
majesty and dignity and satisfaction of God will prosper in his hand. And look at verse 11. He shall
see of the travail of his soul. Like a woman in childbirth. And
shall be what? Satisfied. In other words, he's
going to see his offspring. He's gonna have healthy children.
That's what he's talking about. The fruit of his labor is going
to be the sure salvation of his seed, his offspring. Christ,
listen, Christ's death saved his people from their sins. He didn't have any stillborn
children. That's what he's saying. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. Just like that mother when she
goes through that labor process and then that child comes out
and lives. Think about that. Well, that's
the way Christ, His death is His death is an effectual atoning
death He put away sin He brought in everlasting righteousness
And He says, by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many for He shall bear their iniquities You see that? He didn't
die for those in hell He died for His people And so, the death
of our Savior is described as such Look over at John chapter
16. The book of John chapter 16.
Christ himself describes it this way. Look at verse 16 of John
chapter 16. He says here in John chapter
16 verse 16, he's talking to his disciples. And he says, a
little while and you shall not see me. That is his physical
presence. And again, a little while, and
you shall see me, because I go to the Father." Talking about
the process that he was about to go through in his death, burial,
resurrection, and ascension. And then said some of his disciples
among themselves, what is this that he saith unto us, a little
while, and you shall not see me, and again, a little while,
and you shall see me, and because I go to the Father? They wanted
to know, what is he saying here? They said, therefore, what is
this that he saith, a little while, we cannot tell what he
saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and
said unto them, Do you inquire among yourselves of that I said,
a little while, and you shall not see me? And again, a little
while, and you shall see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you,
that you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice.
Talking about his death. And he says, and you shall be
sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. Their sorrows
over his death is just the beginning of sorrows, but it's going to
end up in joy. And he says, verse 21, a woman
when she is in travail hath sorrow because of her hour is come,
but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth
no more the anguish. for joy that a man is born into
the world. And you now therefore have sorrow,
but I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice and
your joy no man taketh from you." Now over here in Mark 13, that's
exactly what's being revealed here. This is the beginning of
sorrows. All these things happening now
in the last days are merely forerunners to the glorious and terrible
day of the Lord when He'll come again in His glory to gather
His people and judge the wicked for their sins. And our only
hope now, then, and forever is to be found in Him. As Paul said,
not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ. Trust Christ now. That's our message. Follow Him,
rest in Him for all salvation, for all righteousness. Now back
in Mark 13, now let's look at what the scripture says. There
are two things that mark the beginning of the last days. What Mark here writes as the
beginning of sorrows. Two things. The first one he
mentions has already taken place at this time in history. And
it's the destruction of the Jewish temple. And then the second thing
that's going to mark the beginning of the last days, the beginning
of sorrows, and this is what we really need to be concerned
with now in our day, is the deception of the world by false Christianity. That's the second thing. Two
things mark the beginning of sorrow. the destruction of the
Jewish temple and the nation, and that old covenant, that temple
signified, and the deception of the world by false Christianity.
Now, look at verse one of Mark 13. It says, and as he went out,
Christ went out of the temple. He'd just been in the temple. And it says, one of his disciples
said unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings
are here. This is impressive, this building. He said, and Jesus answering
said unto him, seest thou these great buildings? And at that
time there were several buildings associated with the temple and
around the temple. He says, seest thou these great
buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another that
shall not be thrown down. It's all coming down. That's what he's saying. It looks
impressive, doesn't it? People flock to it, don't they?
It's all coming down. All right, you hear that? Now
what he said, it's all coming down, all right? Now, he says,
and he sat upon the Mount of Olives. This is why this is called
the Olivet Discourse, because it was preached from the Mount
of Olives. The Mount of Olives was a hill right outside of Jerusalem. What they did is they crossed
the Kidron River, the River Kidron, and of course that's the river
that David crossed in his sorrow. That's a picture of Christ going
to the cross. And at the foot of the Mount
of Olives was Golgotha, that's where Christ was crucified. And
as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, it says, over against the temple,
Peter 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? Now, he'd already said, this
is coming down. All right, the temple's coming
down, it's gonna be destroyed. And then he said in verse five,
and Jesus answering them began to say, take heed lest any man
deceive you, for many shall come in my name. Now you see that?
This is what I'm saying. This is the second thing, the
deception of false Christianity. Many shall come in my name, saying,
I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And when you shall hear
of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled, for such things
must needs be, and the end shall not be yet. For nations shall
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall
be earthquakes in diverse places, and there shall be famines and
troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrow. Now this morning,
I just want to deal with the first one. the final destruction
of the Jewish temple, verses one and two. He said, he said,
not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown
down. This disciple that asked him,
or made this statement, master, see what manner of stones and
what buildings are here. He was pointing out how impressive
to the eye this temple this religion was. And the Lord stated emphatically,
he said, this temple is going to be destroyed. Now you know
what his main point in saying that is, and he teaches them
on this subject now. This is not just coming out of
my head. You got to compare scripture with scripture, but basically
what he's teaching them, and he taught them gradually now.
He did. He was very gentle with the disciples. They had been brought up under
that old covenant. See, under that that elemental
worship of the old covenant, which was given by God to Israel
from Mount Sinai and lasted about 1,500 years. And that was the
command of God to that nation. Now they were never to think
that there was eternal salvation in that covenant. in those elements,
and in their works, or their physical connection with Abraham,
they perverted it, and they disobeyed it, and they made it into a self-righteous
religious system of works, you see. That's why I wanna tell
you something right now. I'm gonna get to this later on in
the message, but now, listen to me now. Christianity does
not have its roots in Judaism. And don't let anybody ever tell
you that. If you wanna go back and see where the roots of Christianity
is, go back to Genesis chapter three. The serpent was going to bruise
the heel of the woman's seed. That's Christ. And that old covenant
which established the Jews as a nation had its foundation in
the covenant God made before with Abraham And that covenant
had its foundation in the everlasting covenant of grace, which taught
salvation by the promise of the coming Messiah, not by circumcision
or physical pedigree or physical worship. You see what I'm saying? So don't believe that. Now, what
he's teaching them here is this, when he talks about that temple
coming down, he's showing them, look, there is no eternal salvation
in that temple. It's a physical building, as
impressive as it is. And as beautiful as you think
it is, it's coming down. There's no eternal life there.
There's no righteousness in that temple. That's what he told them. There's no salvation in that
religion. That's man's religion. I know
God established that, but they perverted it. Just like man takes
the Bible and perverts it. This book was given by God, but
man perverts it. If left to ourself, that's what
we'll all do. By the grace of God, we'll see its meaning. Know what it's talking about.
But there's no eternal life in that temple. There's no eternal
life in those animal sacrifices. There's no eternal life in that
human priesthood. There's no righteousness there.
There's no glory there, you say. That old covenant was set up
as a temporary covenant but it had its time. There's no salvation
in the Jewish church state. Don't look to the Mideast for
your salvation. Don't look to the River Jordan.
There is no holy land. I know the brochures say there
is, but there is no holy land. There's only salvation in Christ. And I don't care if you're baptized
in the Jordan River in Mr. So-and-so's bathtub, it's still
salvation in Christ. And where you're baptized has
no significance one over the other as far as the elements
are concerned. You know, this temple here was
actually the third temple in Israel's history. It was begun by King Herod. He
started building it. Actually, what he did, he started
refurbishing it the second temple. And you know who King Herod was?
Herod the Great, they call him. That's man's view of him, Herod
the Great. He was anything but great. He's the one who issued
a decree that all the firstborn male children in Israel were
to be killed because he was trying to kill the idea of the Messiah. And so this temple is the third
temple. It was begun by Herod about 20
years before Christ ever came to the world. And it was still
under construction at this time when the Lord was standing there
with his disciples. And then it was still under construction
when the Romans destroyed it in AD 70. That's when it was
actually destroyed. The Jewish temple in Jerusalem
was based upon the temporary tabernacle. that was first made
when Israel left Egypt and was established as a nation on Mount
Sinai and God gave those instructions to Moses. Turn over to Hebrews
chapter nine with me. Turn to Hebrews chapter nine.
Now read the scripture. So the Jewish temple was based
upon that tabernacle in the wilderness. And the priesthood and the tabernacle
were the center of the Jewish nation, the center of the Old
Covenant. You know, when they traveled around in the wilderness
and they set up camp, they had to set the tabernacle in the
very center of where they were. And at the center of that tabernacle
was the Ark of the Covenant, overlaid with the mercy seat,
and that was in the Holy of Holies. Remember, that whole tabernacle
was built to as a house for that Holy of Holies, for the Ark of
the Covenant which contained the broken law of Moses and had
the mercy seat. And the high priest is the only
one who could come into that holiest of all, the very center,
one time a year on the Day of Atonement with the blood of a
lamb. And of course all of that was to what? It was to picture
and typify and teach of the salvation of sinners by the blood of Christ,
by the righteousness of Christ. That's what it was all about.
That whole tabernacle was And ultimately, that's what the temple
was to be when it was established on Solomon's day as a permanent
home. That whole temple, as beautiful
and impressive as those buildings were, it was just to house that
Ark of the Covenant. The center, the heart of it,
was salvation by the grace of God through the blood of the
Lamb of God. And look here in Hebrews chapter
nine and verse one. Talks about the first covenant,
that's the first in time, that's the old covenant, Moses. Then
verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service
and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made,
the first wherein was the candlesticks and the table and the showbread,
which is called the sanctuary. That was outside the very holiest
of all, that was called the holy place where all the priests could
go in, only the priest. After the second veil, the tabernacle,
which is called the holiest of all. Now this is the heart of
it, right here. He says, which had the golden censer, the Ark
of the Covenant, overlaid round about with gold, signifying the
deity of Christ. And underneath that gold was
wood, signifying the perfect, sinless humanity of Christ. Wherein
was the golden pot and manna, Christ the bread of life, and
Aaron's rod that budded That's the life that comes from Christ
and the tables of the covenant, the broken law, which Christ
kept for his people. You see all that? He says, over
it the share of ends of glory shadowing the mercy seat. Christ
is our mercy seat. He is our propitiation. He said,
of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now, when these
things were thus ordained, at the time that these things were
in effect, He says, the priest went always into the first tabernacle
accomplishing the service of God, but into the second went
the high priest alone once every year, not without blood. God
must be a just God and a savior. How can God be just and justifier? Only through the death of a substitute,
a sinless substitute. an appointed substitute, a willing
substitute. Who meets that criteria? Christ,
the Son of God, incarnate. And he says, which he offered
for himself. Now that human priest offered the blood for himself
and for the heirs of the people. Later on, he's going to show
how Christ, who is a priest after another order, eternal, he said
he didn't have to offer him for himself. He didn't die for his
own sins. The sins that he died for, now
let me make this clear. The sins for which Christ died
for were his because they were made his by imputation, by a
legal charging and accounting. So they were his, but he didn't
commit them and they didn't corrupt him in his mind, in his heart.
And it says, for the heirs of the people. Now look at verse
eight, the Holy Ghost, this signifying that the way into the holiest
of all was not yet made manifest. Now, as long as that old covenant
tabernacle and temple stood, It was a sign from the Holy Spirit
that the way, the true eternal way into the holiest of all,
the very presence of God, had not yet been accomplished and
manifest. You see, that didn't happen until
Christ died on the cross. And then he says, he says, while
as the first tabernacle was yet standing. So in other words,
that first tabernacle standing, that temple being in existence,
is a signification, was a signification by the Holy Spirit that Christ
had not yet come and done his work. All right? So he says in
verse 9, which was a figure for the time then present in which
were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that
did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. The blood
of animals, the offerings, could not cleanse the conscience. He
said it stood only in meats and drinks and diverse washings and
carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of Reformation,
until, now that's not talking about Calvin and Zwingli and
Luther, that's talking about the time of change. When was
that time of change? At the death of the Savior. That's
the Reformation. You want to talk about the Reformation,
go back to Calvary. There's the Reformation. That's
the time of change. And he says that in verse 11,
but Christ being come and high priest of good things to come
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building. And he says, neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. You see that now? You read that
whole thing. Read Hebrews 7, 8, 9, and 10
on your own. Gives you the whole story. what
this is all about. So now here, back over here,
Mark 13, here we have this third temple. And you see what happened. You know, when the Israelites,
when they first settled in the promised land, they set up this
Old Testament tabernacle, that temporary tent. They set it up
in a place called Shiloh. You ever heard of Shiloh? Well,
Jacob mentioned Shiloh in Genesis chapter 49 and verse 10 when
he was blessing his son Judah. What tribe was Christ from? He
was from the tribe of Judah, that's the kingly tribe, that's
the tribe of David. And Jacob, when he was blessing
his son Judah, he made this statement, he said, the scepter shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
come, and unto him shall be the gathering of the people. Now
what does Shiloh mean? Shiloh means peace. Where do
we find peace? With God. In Christ. Who is the
Prince of Peace? Christ. Who is Jehovah Shalom? Shiloh. Christ. So when Shiloh
comes, who is Shiloh? Christ. That place, Shiloh, where
the tabernacle was first set, was a type of Christ. The tabernacle
itself is a type of Christ. And so when Shiloh actually comes,
what's going to happen? Well, the scepter, the rule of
life, the rule of kingship, is going to depart from Judah. That's the end of it, in other
words. Not gonna be again. Not gonna be anymore. It's over
with then. That's what he's saying, that's the prophecy. Now, they
set up that tabernacle in Shiloh. The destruction of the temple
at Jerusalem meant the destruction of the Jewish church state, of
the civil government of the Jewish nation, which was consummated
in A.D. 70, just 40 years after our Lord
was crucified. That's the time of reformation
at his cross. And the Bible says, he taketh
away the first that he may establish the second. This tabernacle that
was set up in Shiloh before then, you know it was always meant
to be a temporary tent. Solomon built the first temple
in Jerusalem. David wanted to build it, remember,
but God wouldn't let him. He was a man of war, a man of
bloods. He typified Christ fighting Satan and sin on the cross. Solomon
was a man of rest. He typified Christ after his
work was done. Solomon could build the temple.
And that temple of Solomon, it was destroyed by the Babylonians.
And you know what? The Ark of the Covenant was lost
forever. Indiana Jones has not found it. It was lost forever, never to
be found again. That was after the Babylonians
destroyed it. Another temple was built under
a man named Zerubbabel. This was 70 years later after
they came out of captivity. And that temple was desecrated
by a foreign power and dwindled almost to ruins. And that was
the second temple. Now here King Herod's building
the third one. And this third temple is what
our Lord speaks of here. Now, you see what happened. Here's
the tabernacle, here's the glorious temple of Solomon. They say,
you know, that Solomon's temple was something to see. And then
that second temple that Zerubbabel built, it was really not much
to see. In fact, the people who had been
around when Solomon's temple was there, they got discouraged
because it didn't look as well, and they just decided to quit.
And that's why some of these minor prophets are stirring them
up to rebuild the temple. They didn't have the Ark of the
Covenant. And then that was destroyed, and now here comes Herod's. And
Herod's temple was something to see, apparently. But you see
what's happened there. The Temple of Solomon went down
to the Temple of Zerubbabel, no Ark of the Covenant, and then
here's Herod, and think about the state of the Jewish nation
and their religion when Christ came. That temple history, it
sort of reflects the degeneration of the Jewish people in their
unbelief and disobedience. Started out well, look at the
Temple of Solomon. destroyed and rebuilt, and there
was a short time of national obedience under Zerubbabel, but
it was a short time, and then relegated to outward form and
ceremony, empty religion with no grace, no truth, no heart. It looked something impressive,
but it was empty. No Ark of the Covenant. Somebody
asked me one time, said, well, how did they worship God without
the Ark of the Covenant? Not very well. You know what they had in the
holiest of all? They had a big rock. And I guess the priest
wasn't even from the tribe of Judah. In fact, the Sadducees
had control of the temple when Christ came. It was a political
thing. They didn't even believe in the resurrection. But I guess
he went back in there and he threw blood on a rock. I don't
know. But they didn't worship the true and living God. But
it was impressive outwardly. Look what he says. Master, what
manner of stones and what buildings are here? Wow, look at that.
Isn't that something to see? How impressive these buildings
are. How impressive man's religion is. How he can clean up the outside
of the cup. How he can really put on, as
my dad used to say, put on the dog. He can do it. You remember what Christ told
the Pharisees? Matthew 23, he says, woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, you're like unto whited sepulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within are full
of dead men's bones. And of all uncleanness, even
so also you appear outwardly righteous unto men, but within
you're full of hypocrisy. Think about it. See, these things
may impress men, but they're an abomination to God. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination unto God. The Apostle Paul spoke of
the last days in 2 Timothy chapter three, and here's one of the
things he said would characterize the last days. He said men would
have a form of godliness, that's an outward appearance, but deny
the power thereof. You know where the power of godliness
is? Great is the power of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believeth. You know one of the
things that Christ is teaching his disciples here in the last
days and what he's teaching you and me in the last days? Don't
judge by outward appearance. Don't be so impressed. with the
trappings of religion. Here, that tabernacle, that temple,
was initiated to be a visible, physical symbol and type of Christ
and His church. At one time, the Shekinah glory
of God dwelt there. That was the visible presence
of God. And He can't be contained in
buildings. Where do we see the Shekinah glory today? Are we
looking for it in the Mideast? Well, John 1.14 tells us where
we see it. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt literally tabernacled among us. Doesn't that send chills
up your spine? I'm telling you, and he said,
we beheld his glory, the glory is of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. When Christ died on the cross,
paying our sin debt and establishing righteousness for us, it says
in John 19.30, he said, it's finished, and he bowed his head
and gave up the ghost. What was finished? He made an
end of sin. He finished the transgression.
He brought in everlasting righteousness. He sealed up the vision and the
prophecy. All those types and pictures
were fulfilled and He anointed the most holy. He made a way
into the holiest of all. You know what that speaks of?
He's building His church. You know what He's building?
His temple. You know what His temple is?
His church. That's His temple. That's where
He dwells as the foundation, as the head, as the heart. That's
where the Shekinah glory of God rests and is revealed in the
salvation of His people by His sovereign grace and mercy in
and by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what this whole thing's
about. And so when Christ came into
the world, and did his great work and finished redemption. You know what he said? He said
it's finished and you know what happened when he gave up the
ghost? You remember what happened? The veil in the temple was torn
in two from top to bottom. It's over. Shiloh has come. The scepter is departing. There
was a time period there And it was about 40 years later. And
what happened? God sent a pagan army into Jerusalem
and destroyed that temple, laid it to the ground, and destroyed
Jerusalem completely. It's over. It's over. You see, when Christ made the
statement there in John chapter 2 that Brother Joe read that,
destroy this temple in three days, I'll build it back. He
wasn't talking about a physical temple. And he said he was talking
about his body and most people think that's talking about his
physical body. I don't believe he's talking
about his physical body. It included his resurrection. Three days
he arose from the dead. He's talking about him and his
church. Up on this rock I will build
my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
The Jewish nation and religion had lost sight of the real lesson
of the temple. Christ and the redemption of
his people, Jew and Gentile, out of every tribe, kindred,
tongue, and nation. Well, that's the beginning of
sorrows, and next week we'll pick up there in Mark 13. All
right.