Beginning Of Pains (Deceivers & Disasters) - Mark 13:5-8 Series

Mark 13:5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Na-tion will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

The Olivet Discourse vs The Seven Seals

Mark 13:1 As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" 2 "Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Je-sus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?" 5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Introduction

If I asked you, “Which of the headlines in the news has you most concerned,” if you’re like me, you’d have a hard time deciding. It’s hard to watch the news these days and hang on to your sanity. But in today’s passage, Jesus is going to teach us how to do just that—and not only hang on to our sanity, but to have peace and hope even as the chaos rages all around us.

Review

After Jesus prophesied the destruction of the Temple, 4 of his disciples catch up with him on the Mount of Olives and ask when it will happen and what will be the sign that all the things Jesus had promised will finally come to pass. And Jesus says, “Tell you what—how about instead of telling you when, I tell you how to survive between now and when it happens? You have a mission to complete. I want you to complete this mission, but it’s not going to be easy because there are three massive forces that will be against you. So instead of giving them dates and signs, Jesus teaches them how to can overcome those three monsters and faithfully carry out the mission.

The Beginning of Pains

And this period in history when Jesus’ followers are fighting those three obstacles and trying to accomplish the mission—Jesus has a name for it. He called that time period the beginning of pains.

Mark 13:8 … These are the beginning of pains.

That word is traditionally translated “birth pains,” but this word is like our word “pains.” It only means birth pains in contexts that talk about birth. There’s nothing about birth in this context, so it should be translated just plain “pains” or “agonies.”

The order of events Jesus gives us for the end times in this sermon is very clear. He says things like “following that will be this” and “before all that, this will happen.” It’s all laid out in a very defi-nite order. These are the 5 things in the order that they happen:

1) The beginning of pains, when Jesus says, “Don’t be alarmed.”

2) The abomination that causes desolation

3) The actual pains when he says, “Okay, now run for your life.”

4) The signs in the heavens

5) The Son of man comes on a cloud and sends angels to gather his elect.

That’s what’s going to happen, and the first in the list is the period Jesus called the beginning of pains. That’s our focus tonight. The first 9 verses of the discourse (vv.5-13), the beginning of pains.

Definition of the Beginning of Pains

This is the period when Jesus’ followers are trying to accomplish their mission of preaching the gospel to the nations, but it’s hard because of the three monsters that threaten to stop them.

Deception

The first monster is deception.

Mark 13:5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many.

Deception is a massive threat. You can’t succeed in bringing the gospel to the nations if you get deceived and wander from the truth.

Disasters

The second threat is disasters.

7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.