50. The Olivet Discourse (Mark 12:31-13:8)

the general setting where we are right now is as you know Holy Week and we're on Tuesday and I'm dividing Tuesday between what I'm calling ends and means the ends are the verdict the judicial opinion that Jesus is now provided the means is how will that be accomplished this sweeping condemnation and promise of judgment that Jesus has given seemed to the people who heard it to be an impossible prospect how could it possibly take place that this magnificent temple was going to be left with just shudders blowing in the wind a desolate place it seemed unthinkable that such a thing would happen so that's what we're really beginning this morning but in the meantime as I say there's this little story sandwiched in there which is both condemnation but also commendation condemnation of the religious pretentiousness which stands in such sharp contrast to this widow commendation of the humble offering she brings even though she would otherwise have gone utterly unnoticed in history and how many others in history like her have not been noticed by the masses there's been no news coverage there's been no reports about her we don't know their names and yet God noticed and she along with many others therefore makes it to the short list of people who are specially commended by Christ so the story as follows now Jesus sat opposite the Treasury and saw how the people put money into the Treasury and many rich were putting in much the Treasury area was something like the Fort Knox of ancient Israel this is within the temple it's a very secure place it's inside what's called the court of the women the events we've seen so far we're out in the court of the Gentiles now Jesus is obviously taken as disciples into this more restricted area and there you find these trumpet-shaped receptacles where money was donated and that's the area where we are this was kind of a depository and it was intended originally under the law of Moses to be a place of receiving gifts that would then be administered by the Levites for charitable purposes but it had become another layer of revenue creation for the elite and so just as they made a lot of money out there in the buying and selling of animals and changing money there's even more money to be made here in terms of administering the funds that are being contributed by God's people and at this level this woman who comes destitute should have been a recipient of the charitable revenue that's available but instead she of course comes taking what little she has and putting it in this was such an important aspect of life in the temple that the guy who actually ran this area was considered second only to the high priests in importance and prestige in the operation of the temple and in the religious life in Israel so here's Jesus he's taken his disciples now into this more restricted area and there he's observing how people put their money into these offering receptacles he's probably observing in particular the fanfare that's associated with some of this behavior the Pharisees had started way back a couple of hundred years earlier and at least part of their stated purpose was to exemplify obedience to the law they believed they were sort of pedagogical characters and whenever they would do something particularly significant that represented obedience to the law they would make sure that people were in class to see it and so they would signal okay here's how you do this here's how you do that they were trying to be teachers and probably that was a commendable objective but over time this attempt to be a teacher really morphed into just a chance to show off and so they go into this area sound a little whistle literally Jesus call the trumpet on one occasion everybody turns around oh look there's you know rabbi such and so he's about to put in a lavish gift let's all watch and he put in his gift and they oh that's very nice rabbi nicely done you know and this kind of this kind of display was common we sort of think it's odd but in that particular setting that was actually viewed as a very high and noble thing and of course in the midst of that here comes a poor Widow she's not connected to any fanfare she doesn't want any attention she doesn't have enough money to get anybody's praise so she shows a lot up and she throws in what's called sometimes two mites which make mark tells us a quadrants a quadrant actually is a latin word it was comprehensible to mark's roman readers but it represented a very tiny bit of money and it's sometimes translated a penny so that would be it's actually a little worth a little more than our penny but nevertheless that's about the idea so here she comes fully anonymous but notice that the last thing jesus said to those religious leaders was that all of their pretentious behavior their long public prayers the praise that they were deriving from people stood in odd contrast to the fact that they were devouring widows houses and it may just be that this was one of those widows it may be that this was one who through the rapacious policies of these who were the elite and had all of the power in that society she had been treated to the kind of abuses that would reduce her to this sort of abject level of need and yet she standing in contrast to that is nevertheless displaying faithfulness whereas they with all of their pretense our faith less and so here she comes now kind of exhibit a of what a life of faith is supposed to look like mark tells us that she put in to lake Todd literally the word means flakes it was the smallest Jewish copper coin two of them added up to Roman Quadron which was exactly one sixty-fourth the value of a Denarius a Denarius was a day's wage we talked about that when we looked at the story about render to Caesar what is Caesar's you recall and so she's put in one sixty-fourth of a day's wage probably in modern currency which say she put in a couple of bucks you know something like that for which for her was a fair amount of money and so here she comes she makes that offering nobody would have noticed but Jesus does and he summons his disciples he gets their attention and says something that must have surprised them this poor Widow put in more than those who have given to the Treasury Jesus always looking for a teaching moment seizes on this one he's showing the contrast of course between religious show on the one hand and genuine faith on the other and that's why she stands in this remarkably strategic position between the public and private part of what takes place on Tuesday of Holy Week Jesus says she put in more than all because of course the values of heaven differ from the values of Earth Jesus commends her generosity but we know at least imply utley he's also commending her heart Paul will say later in the New Testament if a man surrenders his body to be burned and doesn't have love it's worthless the same would be true of this woman if God is recognizing the generosity of her gift even though it was so small relative to other gifts than in some ways we recognize that behind that gift is a heart of faith and trusting God to provide for her even though her difficulties are otherwise surrounding her the Jewish religion knew that this was no surprise a Midrash says likewise Spoke the Holy One blessed be he more dear to me as the handful of flour brought by a poor man as a voluntary meal offering than two handfuls of incense very expensive offered by the high priest so this wasn't a unknown idea but certainly by the time we reached this level of understanding within the life of the temple and especially among those who were the rich and the elite responsible for it it was rather a lost idea so Jesus concludes they put in out of their abundance but she out of her poverty put in all that she had her whole livelihood these who put in in out of their abundance were probably putting in out of the very resources they had taken from this woman and others like her so they had abundance to put in you see she being reduced to poverty nevertheless is remaining faithful in spite of it she had a lot of excuses not to give were in stewardship season right now nobody's paying me to give this advertisement but I'll just mention it because it just kind of comes up doesn't it she had plenty of excuses not to give she could say to herself hey look what possible difference could a penny make you know it's so small it's just gonna mess up somebody's bookkeeping somewhere I'd probably be better off not to give it but that excuse she didn't invoke she could have said others can afford to give I don't have a penny to spare she could have said that I need to you know I get I need to survive here but she doesn't say that she could have said look at all these people who were doing so much I don't have anything no one's gonna notice I shouldn't even be here it's kind of an embarrassment but none of that of course crosses her mind no one would have noticed but as it turns out millions of people just like us down through history have noticed and celebrated this poor widow and her offering when commentator said the support of God's work throughout the world has come far more from the two cop of the poor than from the large checks of the rich and that I think is an unassailable hypothesis this has been really the backbone of Christian service down through history not great you know gigantic gifts from from a few but the solid support of modest people with modest means who are the many this story of the widow is the last story in mark that you would call Jesus public ministry from this point on it's private it's a private conversation with his disciples it's a private trial it's a public crucifixion but of course that's a little bit of a different situation the resurrection is only viewed by those who are his followers this is kind of the end and so it's not surprising that mark leaves us with this picture this is in a sense the culmination of all the things we've seen which were intended to teach us something about genuine faith all right this brings us now to chapter thirteen commonly called the Olivet discourse and it begins like this as he came out of the temple one of his disciples said to him look teacher at all the large stones and what large buildings then Jesus asked him do you see these great buildings not one stone will be left here upon another all will be thrown down well this statement that Jesus makes not one stone will be left upon another rather shook up the disciples and so later when he was on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple four of them Peter James John and Andrew asked him privately tell us when is this going to be what's going to be the sign that all thing that all these things are about to be accomplished then Jesus began to say to them look watch out that no one tricks you many are going to come and say Here I am they will lead many astray you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars but don't be alarmed it has to take place the end is not yet nation is going to rise against nation Kingdom against Kingdom there'll be earthquakes in various places there will be famines it's just the beginning of birth pangs that's the first little part that's as much as we're going to cover this morning but it gets us into this text which treats these events that are leading up now to the moment when not one stone would be left upon another so chapter 12 is the announcement of judgment chapter 13 is really the execution of that judgment the Olivet discourse is in seven short paragraphs the first of them we've looked at the certainty of the destruction not one stone is going to be left upon another the second one the upheaval that precedes the destruction watch out that no one deceives you there's going to be tumultuous times Kingdom versus Kingdom earthquakes etc all of this has to happen the third piece the persecution of God's people anticipating this moment of destruction we'll look at this next week you're going to be hated by everybody father against son mother against daughter your enemies will be those of your own household they're gonna haul you into court they're gonna drag you into the synagogue they're going to abuse you because of your attachment to me the horror of the destruction woe to those who are with child in those days woe to those who are in any kind of situation that impairs their ability to escape and flee from Jerusalem before this catastrophe occurs the judge behind the destruction then they will see the sign of the Son of man in heaven meaning the Son of Man ruling in heaven and bringing the predicted judgment to bear on this city the parable of the fig tree about the destruction now learn the lesson of the fig tree and we'll look at that and then finally the timing of the destruction Jesus punctuates the whole conversation by making it clear unambiguous and explicit truly I tell you this ganya this generation always used to mean a limited time span 25 to 40 years this generation will not pass from the scene till all of these things have taken place and they're just to make sure they got it heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away you know it's only God who can talk like that you ever notice that if I ever walk into this Sunday School class and say to you listen everybody having an earth way pass away but my words will never pass away I want you to send me right through that window because that would be blasphemy for anybody except God Almighty to say it and that's what Jesus said and I don't know how folks read this with a straight face and say oh the Bible really doesn't teach Jesus was God you bet it does that's the only way that we can rationally and honestly understand such a person and this is what he says and it did get their attention as he went out of the temple one of his disciples said to him teacher look at these stones and these buildings so Jesus has pronounced judgment on the temple he's pronounced judgment on its professional trustees he has said to them your house is left to you desolate he's given this unambiguous pronouncement in Matthews version this is much more expansive all of chapter 23 really mark is more truncated you may recall in Matthew Jesus says Jerusalem Jerusalem you who murder the prophets you who destroy those who I sent to give you warning how often I've wanted to gather you as a hen gathers her chicks but you were not willing therefore I say to you your house is left to you desolate well mark just gives us the bottom line but you recall the force of a statement like that then Jesus leaves Peru Oh mais the word it's not just a walk away it's a word that carries a certain sense of abandonment then Jesus abandoned the temple this is reminiscent of Ezekiel when you recall before the first destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar in the Babylonians Ezekiel tells us that Yahweh abandoned the temple and Ezekiel goes into some detail about that leaving the temple behind to face its doom which came soon enough Allah the Babylonians now this Jesus does the same thing following the same paradigm abandoning the temple prior to the doom which he is now pronounced on the second temple a even greater more grand temple than the first one well one of the disciples of course a little surprised at Jesus pronouncement of condemnation probably wants to make sure Jesus noticed this building he's talking about here we don't know who said it something it was Judas because Judas seems to have been taken with wealth I think any of the disciples could have said it but what they're pointing out to him is the building itself as if to say wait a minute Jesus are you sure about what you just said let's just think about this for a minute look at this look at these buildings we looked at an image like this not too long ago the temple was widely regarded as one of the wonders of the ancient world Josephus says it wanted nothing that the eye and the mind could admire that is it lacked nothing that would be admirable to human perception it's shown with a fiery splendor so that when the I gazed upon it it turned away as from the Rays of the Sun this structure including the outer court was 35 acres thus it could accommodate 12 football fields it was a good sized place the magnitude of the Temple Mount and the stones used to construct it exceeded in size any other temple in the world at the time you would not find anything comparable in Rome in Pergamum in Ephesus some of the major cities that boasted some of the most impressive temples had nothing that quite made this standard so it was a famous place and around the world it was known as one of the most astonishing displays of human production that we could imagine and the Jewish world was very proud of it the Talmud says he who has not seen the temple of Herod has never seen a beautiful building of what did he build it rabbi raba said of yellow and white marble some say of blue yellow and white marble alternate rows of stones projected so as to leave a space for cement he that is Herod originally wanted to cover it with gold but the rabbi's advised him not to since it was more beautiful as it was looking like the waves of the sea this magnificent structure that Jesus has just said is going to be left vacant the foundation stones that the temples refer to were enormous the one pictured here is 24 feet in length five feet in height four feet in depth and it was one of the smaller ones there were some that were up to 60 feet in length and weighed over a million pounds that was a colossal building that Jesus had just said is going to be left desolate but since they didn't seem to quite believe it Jesus adds a little punch to a statement do you see these buildings not one of these stones will be left upon another that will not be thrown down it would have seemed utterly unimaginable and yet the fact is in 70 AD not one stone was left upon another it was all thrown down just as Jesus predicted within that generation well it's a rhetorical question do you see these great buildings obviously that's all they could see right at that moment when he said not one stone would be left upon another it does bring back to mind that fruitless fig tree which was picturing for us a fruitless temple which is also going to be left without any meaningful life within it but there was something deeper that was going on in the statement about the stones we've mentioned many times and I repeated it so that I hope you just go to sleep thinking about this this temple that is the reality of the new covenant era the temple that is at the heart of the kingdom that Jesus is establishing this week here during Holy Week is a living temple and Jesus himself is the cornerstone of it these stones are going to be set aside a different stone is going to be put in place upon which a different temple is going to be constructed built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets and you and I if we have faith in Christ and are part of this kingdom are living stones within this living temple this is the temple of the new covenant era and it's why that temple had to be set aside and was set aside permanently and so those stones that were not left one upon another had to it had to be that way because new stones in a sense were going to be put in its place Jesus says these things are going to be thrown down this was actually anticipated in the Old Testament Jeremiah wrote in chapter 9 of his prophecy I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins a den of jackals I'll make the cities of Judah desolate without an inhabitant that took place of course in the destruction of the first temple but was a harbinger of an even more dramatic realization of the same prediction later even other Jewish writings said something to this effect first inna apocryphal book chapter 9 he said and I stood up to see till they folded up that old house and carried off all the pillars and all the beams and ornaments of the house were at the same time folded up with him they carried it off and laid it in a place south of the land the point is that what Jesus says here is even though it's astonishing it's not unheard of in the Jewish psyche but at least at this point had become a something that was quite politically uncorrect to mention in public you know well Jesus makes it now to the Mount of Olives and he's approached by Peter James John and Andrew mark puts it in a very odd way he it says he sat on the Mount of Olives that's exactly the way it reads he sat on the Mount of Olives and the way mark states it is clearly intended to have us understand this is in a sense of posture of a judge he's in a position of announcing and now explaining judgment and it introduces for us what I called earlier the upheaval before the destruction it comes in two parts Jesus anticipating false messiahs deception apostasy and at the same time political and natural disasters he's on the Mount of Olives hence this is called the Olivet discourse Matthew Mark and Luke all include and all of that discourse as you know we're looking at Matt Marth's view of it right now but the other two are quite similar and follow the same themes with some minor variations here and there the only gospel that doesn't include in all of it discourse is John's Gospel which has caused some people to wonder because John is not afraid to give a lot of verbage from Jesus but he leaves this one out some have speculated and I tend to agree with them the reason the djinn John didn't include an Olivet discourse in his gospel is because he wrote one later and we call it apocalypses - Chris - yes ooh the apocalypse of Jesus Christ and the book of Revelation really is somatically parallel to what we find in the Olivet discourse it's just apocalyptic and much more detailed and expansive but otherwise the themes are quite similar and I think that was John's all of a discourse albeit in a separate book in the New Testament in any event Zachariah tied Messiah his participation both in the destruction and redemption of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives and in some ways what's happening here is exactly what is pictured in Zechariah chapter 14 all right well Jesus is there on the Mount of Olives from which you have a panoramic view of the city and from which you could see what is now the Dome of the rock but at the time was that magnificent temple built by Herod in order to ingratiate himself to the Jewish people which it certainly did and was one of these wonders of the ancient world and in that context looking at that view Jesus begins to explain the four disciples you may recall where the first four disciples Jesus called way back in mark chapter one on the docks in Capernaum he called for fishermen and these are them and they have been kind of the inner four you might say throughout the gospel they come to him asking these questions privately because a public discussion of the temples destruction was dangerous and provocative it was actually the accusation that triggered the stoning of Stephen just a few months later and so these guys don't want to whip up a furor in public and so this is a private conversation but they're a little worried when is this going to happen what will be the sign that these things are about to be fulfilled the things obviously they're concerned about are the things involving the throwing down of stones and not one stone is going to be left upon another and so on when is this going to happen the reason is so perplexing to them is not just because it's a staggering idea in and of itself but because they don't understand yet what we do understand because the rest of the New Testament has not been written yet we understand the temple in the kingdom is a living temple and we are part of it but they thought the kingdom established by Masaya would be tethered to that temple they thought the kingdom would orbit that temple and thus for Jesus to say not one stone would be left upon another suggested to them that this must be the end of everything that this must be the conclusion of the whole story of all human history that that must be what Jesus has in mind here you can understand why they would think such a thing because the Old Testament seems to contemplate that role for this temple the book of Haggai says once more it's a little while I will shake the heaven and earth the sea in the dry land I will shake all the nations they shall come to the desire of all nations to wit the temple and I will fill this temple with glory says the Lord of hosts that silver is mine the gold is mine says the Lord of hosts the glory of this latter temple will be greater than the former says the Lord of hosts in this place I will give peace says the Lord of hosts and they took that text and others like it to be referred to that temple that they were looking at that have been built by Herod and now Jesus has just mentioned oh by the way guys all these stones are gonna be thrown down and that left them with a little bit of a question mark about all of human history well they want to know how do we know this is coming what are the warning signs you know that this Cataclysm is about to occur the word sign in mark is inevitably used negatively as it is here they're asking what signs are going to warn us that this unbelievable catastrophe that you have just described which we take to mean the end of the world how are we going to know it's about to happen so we can you know take cover I suppose is the driving motivation there they want to sign every generation of Christian people has been looking for signs twisted up seeking signs and of course every generation of Christian people has been treated to folks who come along and say here are the signs this is it all the signs line up it's the end of the war I tell you we can go back to the middle of the second century and without ceasing throughout Christian history there has never been a time when people haven't been selling books and getting a following based on the premise that all the signs are lining up right now this is it the end of the world have you ever heard anything like that it sells books but jesus warned an adulterous generation is preoccupied with signs if we start chasing signs we've just neutralized our effectiveness as Christian people doing what we're supposed to be doing in this world namely building the kingdom of Jesus Christ we reduce ourselves and marginalize ourselves to an irrelevant preoccupation with irrelevant details in this morning's newspaper instead of the hard work of the kingdom and Jesus for his part isn't going to play that game one commentator said if all the attention and concern which Christian history is given to last things have been given to quote first things the power of Christianity in the world in its service to the world might have been enormous Lee increased GK Chesterton said there are many people who know the last word about everything and the first word about nothing Jesus mentioned some signs but I want you to notice he says these are signs that the end is not yet these are not signs at the end these are signs of the non end and those are the only signs that he's willing to mention the Book of Common Prayer eloquently says quote eternal God who commits us to us the Swift and solemn trust of life since we do not know what a day may bring but only that the hour for serving thee is always present may we wake to the instant claims of thy holy will not waiting for tomorrow but yielding today the disciples asked the question when will these things be fulfilled the Greek word that's found in Mark's Gospel soon tell a stye the Greek word Telos as you probably know means end purpose like teleology sunt Ellis thighs a word that sort of pulls together a notion of a final consummate purpose it would be another way of asking the question when is this going to happen namely what I think you're saying Jesus is when at the end of when is the end of the world gonna happen and the destruction of this temple which otherwise is supposed to stand until the end of history you see that's kind of built into their question well Jesus begins to answer it it's so outside the bounds of what they have thought was the case that he has to kind of work through it carefully and we call this the Olivet discourse but it begins with a warning not to be deceived take heed that no one tricks you there's going to be plenty of folks coming in my name saying I go Amy Here I am and they're going to deceive many the warning of course to these four was really calculated to be a warning to the people that they would teach over the next decades and certainly and included those people who were living in Rome under the persecution of Nero to whom Marc was writing this this gospel because they were facing tumultuous times and they kind of were feeling like the Indus near you know and so all of this is intended to give them some sense of context for the events that would take place over the next 40 years from the time that Jesus said these words there were many that came along making messianic claims I'm gonna have to do a little of my editing here to make up for lost time but I'm gonna mention a couple of these just in part Gamaliel you recall that famous little speech he gives to the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 5 warns them against a character named Judas who rose up claiming to be somebody and some four hundred people joined him he was slain another guy Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the sentence out of the census Josephus tells us a little more about the character foodists mentioned by Josephus it came to pass while fondues was puck Raider of Judea certain charlatans whose name was foodists persuaded a great number of people to take their effects with him they went to the river Jordan didn't turn out well for or him another Josephus mentions moreover they came out of Egypt about this time to Jerusalem one that said he was a prophet advised the multitude of the common people to go along with him to the Mount of Olives as it was called and watch the city because he was going to cause the walls to fall down that was his production and there were many many others what Jesus says here if anything he was understating it Josephus says quote there were many who deceived and deluded the people under pretence of divine inspiration but were in fact for procuring innovations and changes of government these men prevailed with the multitude to act like madmen and went before them into the wilderness pretending that God would meet them there false messiahs are called antichrists but bear in mind our word anti means against the Greek word the preposition ante means in place of or instead of it might be better to render it something like alt Christ's you know to use that expression you're familiar with that's really what we're talking about here first John mentions that little it's the last hour you've heard that an antichrist is coming but already I'm telling you there are many of these alt Christ's in the world and that was certainly true by the time John wrote that epistle they come along and they say egg Oh Amy that's the divine name Yahweh jesus said it of himself in chapter 6 he would say it at his trial in chapter 14 there were in fact people who came in the last couple of decades of this period before 70 claiming to be Jesus and we know that from certain Gnostic literature that showed a spread of a Jewish and Gnostic understanding in which Jesus himself was was allegedly returning through some of these people the point Jesus gets at is that there was a significant there would be a significant defection and indeed there was an early growth of the Christian faith followed by a significant apostasy the book of Hebrews is primarily concerned about that the book of first John is concerned about it Jesus says when you hear of wars and rumors of Wars don't be troubled such things must happen but the end is not yet in the Roman world from the time Jesus was speaking to 70 AD there was a gradual unraveling of the social fabric that became more and more extreme as the years went on it probably began in connection with the Holy Land with Caligula who was proposing to build an image of himself and put it in the temple and risked an open revolt of the Jewish people at that point so he decided not to I'm skipping by some of the quotes but in the next 25 years there was a gradual rise of instability especially when Nero became emperor in 54 AD and that loss of really stability in the highest office of the world led to instability as it generally does throughout the world I'm gonna read some of this don't panic but this is Tacitus Tacitus is probably the most thorough Roman historian he doesn't care about Christians he knows about them doesn't like them much but he gives us some of the most astonishing insight into the nature of the times leading up to 70 AD of any ancient source and he's describing the gradual rise of this instability and he doesn't in these words so bear with me I know it's tedious to be read to but hopefully this will help Tacitus says quote I'm entering on the history of a period rich in disasters frightful in its wars torn by civil strife even in peace full of Horrors for Emperor's perished by the sword there were three civil wars there were more with foreign enemies there were often Wars that had both characters at once there was success in the East disaster in the West there were disturbances in Illyricum Gaul wavered in its allegiance Britain was thoroughly subdued and immediately abandoned the tribes of the sway V and the sue Martin sarmat a rose in concert against us the Dacians had the glory of inflicting as well as suffering defeat the armies of Parthia were all but set in motion by that cheat of a counterfeit Nero now to Italy was prostrate advised esters either entirely novel or that recurred only after a long succession of ages cities and company as richest plains were swallowed up and overwhelmed Rome was wasted by conflagrations its oldest temples consumed in the capital itself fired by the hands of citizens sacred rites were profaned there was profligacy in the highest ranks the sea was crowded with exiles the rocks polluted with bloody deeds he describes what essentially looked like a complete meltdown in the Roman world not just the Jewish world the Roman world many people including Tacitus at the time thought they would never survive this is the end this is the end of the Roman Empire as it turns out it wasn't but for a period of time what Jesus says about Kingdom against Kingdom wars and rumors of wars was true on steroids and everybody who had heard the words of Jesus was at least advised that these things must happen but the end was not yet Tacitus concludes well I'm gonna skip by that I'm gonna run out of time so just take it from me it's good stuff there Aaron but I'm gonna wrap it up here Jesus warning is don't be troubled you know it's always tempting to be shaken by The Morning News and you've always got somebody running around telling you that this morning's news is a sign of the end and that we should all be in some degree of panic about that we're not wanting that kind of voice what it seems to me we need a little more of his voices that say we should be in this as Christians for the long haul I don't want to plan you know for history to be over next week maybe it will be I don't know nobody knows the day or time but I'm gonna plan to do good things for my great great grandkids I think that's faithfulness assuming that God wants us to be faithful to generations who are yet to come faithful people built this church in 1914 because they believed that there was going to be a church here 200-300 years later and we have this wonderful great heritage that says we as Christian people expect God to keep doing great things until such a time as the knowledge of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea and the morning news may shake us up a little bit but Jesus says don't be troubled these things must happen these are the means which God's providence has determined are necessary but the end is not yet and of course in the context what Jesus meant there was the end of that temple it did come by the end of that period but all of those things which led up to it were but anticipating this and as we know history has gone on a long time since then all right nation will rise against nation Kingdom against Kingdom there'll be earthquakes in various places famines there were earthquakes in various places we have plenty of evidence of that Asia Minor was struck by a series of devastating earthquakes southern Italy suffered famines are recorded in the New Testament and Tacitus tells us of them these are regarded as the beginning of troubles of trials and I'm going to bypass that and get to the Sunday School lesson and I've given myself exactly three seconds to give it to you three things to remember from our discussion this morning I'm sorry we've had to be in a bit of a panic lost a little time at the beginning as you know remember the faithfulness of the poor Widow we're in stewardship season here at First Presbyterian Church we are not giving because God needs it we are giving because we need it giving is an act of worship that is good for us God owns the cattle on a Thousand Hills if he needs something he'll sell a few you know he doesn't need our help but we need his help and we need to acknowledge our need for his help by letting go of that which is otherwise so precious to us this text I won't read it in first Corinthians or second Corinthians eight celebrates the generous Ness of the people who gave themselves in service to Christ as they gave their gifts even out of their poverty ii remember the deceptiveness of signs the only sign we need friends is the sign we have the death and resurrection of christ jesus said it's a no it's a wicked and adulterous generation always panting after signs that's not a sign of health in the Christian movement when people are preoccupied with signs no sign will be given to it Jesus says except the sign of the prophet Jonah which was in fact a sign of the death and resurrection of Christ remember the glory of God's true temple all of us who are believers in Jesus Christ in this room are part of a temple we are living stones in it some of you in this room are great champions of the faith rich in faith you're not just a stone you're a pillar in the temple did you know that listen to what is from Christ himself in Revelation he who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my god he will never leave it that is leave that temple I'm gonna write on him the name of my god and the name of the city of my God because that temple is in a city known as the New Jerusalem we are in it I'll write on him the name of the city of my god the New Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven it's God's creation it comes from heaven it's not of earthly creation it comes from God I'll write on him my new name so I hope that as we begin this little journey through the Olivet discourse we will be both surprised at the clarity with which Jesus describes these things but also deeply encouraged at the fact that there is no renegade molecule in the universe everything is happening as God has decreed and in that we can take great confidence [Music] you

Channel: Bruce Gore

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Keywords: Gospel of Mark, Olivet Discourse, The Widow's Mites, Bruce Gore, Mark 13, Mark 12:31

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Length: 47min 17sec (2837 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 26 2017