THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Mark: Jesus, The Perfect Servant Of God

Part III: The Perfect Sacrifice Of Jesus, The Perfect Servant Of God, Mark 11:1-15:47

L. Heeding Christ's Lessons Regarding Future Events, Mark 13:3-37

3. Heeding Christ's Instruction On The Great Tribulation And Our Accountability To God

(Mark 13:14-37)

I. Introduction

A. The coming Great Tribulation period will be an era of unprecedented trouble, one we believers in the Church era will thankfully not experience due to God's plan to rapture us to heaven before the Great Tribulation starts.

B. However, in predicting the Great Tribulation's events (Mark 13:14-25) and His Second Coming (Mark 13:26-27), Jesus added a great lesson for Great Tribulation saints and for believers of all ages in Mark 13:28-37:

II. Heeding Christ's Instruction On The Great Tribulation And Our Accountability To God, Mk. 13:14-37.

A. At Mark 13:14, Jesus began to predict events that occur only in the Great Tribulation, for He referred to the antichrist's desecration of the temple halfway into the Great Tribulation period as predicted in Daniel 9:27.

B. Accordingly, Mark 13:14-25 supply Jesus' comments on that time of trouble given to saints who will live then:

1. When believers in the Great Tribulation see the antichrist's desecration of the temple, they will need to flee immediately the mountains to save their lives without taking time to do anything else, Mk. 13:14a, 14b-16.

2. The persecution will then be horrible, especially for pregnant and nursing women, and Jesus directed believers in that time to pray that their flight be not in winter with its hardships, Mark 13:17-18. Man's afflictions will then be greater than at any other time in history (Mark 13:19), and except God will have shortened the days of this time, no human would be able to survive, Mark 13:20a. However, God's concern that the elect survive will lead Him mercifully to shorten those days, Mark 13:20b.

3. This era will be marked by false messiahs and prophets who will work miraculous signs to seduce even the elect, but believers will need to apply Jesus' warning about them to avoid being deceived, Mark 13:21-23.

4. The end of this time will be marked by great the sun being darkened, the moon not giving its light, the stars falling and the powers of the heavens being shaken, Mark 13:24-25.

C. In Mark 13:26-27, Jesus briefly mentioned His Second Coming after the Great Tribulation: He predicted that men will see Him come in the clouds with great power and glory (Mark 13:26), and He will send His angels to gather believers from the ends of the earth [to enter His Messianic Kingdom], Mark 13:27.

D. With all these events in mind, Jesus urged believers to stay vigilant in accountability to Him, Mark 13:28-37:

1. Alluding to the illustration of a fig tree, Jesus said that in early spring when the tree puts forth its leaves, onlookers know that summer is near, Mark 13:28. Similarly, when believers in the Tribulation see the Mark 13:14-25 things that Jesus predicted begin to occur, they should know His return is near, Mk. 13:29.

2. Indeed, the generation that would begin to see these events occur would not pass away until all these predictions were fulfilled (Mark 13:30), for they would occur in the seven-year Tribulation of Daniel 9:27!

3. Jesus added that heaven and earth would pass away, but that His words, in particular, those of His prediction of these end-time events, would not fail to be fulfilled, Mark 13:31.

4. Nevertheless, no man or angel in heaven or even the humanity of Jesus knew the exact moment when He would return -- only God the Father, Mark 13:32. Thus, believers were to watch and pray to avoid the temptations around them due to persecutions faced or deceivers performing lying wonders to cease living lives of faith in God lest they be found in sin at Christ's return, Mark 13:33.

5. Jesus illustrated the need to be vigilant for God in the Great Tribulation by referring to servants who were held accountable to answer to their master upon his return that could occur at any moment, Mark 13:34-37.

Lesson: Jesus predicted the events of the Great Tribulation and warned believers in that era to stay faithful to Him versus heeding deceivers who worked misleading miracles and versus yielding to horrible persecution pressures to compromise with error, for they did not know when He would return and have to give an account to the Lord.

Application: Though we will be raptured before the Great Tribulation begins, none of us Christians knows when the pretribulation rapture occurs, so, like Great Tribulation saints, we must stay faithful as we will give an account to Christ. Thus, to apply Jesus' Mark 13:28-37 teaching, we believers of the Church era must (1) to resist strong, errant deceptions and (2) intense persecution pressures to compromise the truth in belief and life, (3) for we will give a full account to Christ at a moment's notice due to the unexpected timing of the rapture!