Last Things Series

• The second coming of Christ is one of the most important doctrines of Christianity.

• Yet today some Christians look at it as optional, not as important as topics concerning day to day living.

• Biblical prophecy provides some of the greatest encouragement and hope available to us today. Just as the Old Testament is saturated with prophecies concerning Christ's first advent, so both testaments are filled with references to the second coming of Christ. One scholar has estimated that there are 1,845 references to Christ's second coming in the Old Testament, where 17 books give it prominence. In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, there are 318 references to the second advent of Christ--an amazing 1 out of every 30 verses. Twenty-three of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event. For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ's first advent, there are 8 which look forward to His second!

• Jesus was in His final week of ministry on earth before His crucifixion.

• What subjects did He want to clarify with His disciples to encourage them for their ambassadorship?

• What motivation, what encouragement, what admonishment would be the most important.

• There will be a lot of scripture in today’s sermon.

• It was a struggle on how to present this without us getting lost in the volume of scriptural text.

• Jesus had just finished some tough teaching in the Temple.

• As the temple service was completed, Jesus positioned himself and watched the offering boxes.

• There, He saw a widow giving all she had while others gave for show.

• He taught another lesson to His followers about commitment.

• Now the service had ended and the crowd had been dispersed.

• Jesus and the disciples prepared to leave.

I. The Termination of Grace (1-13)

Mar 13:1 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!"

• Please realize that the Temple was the crown of Israel.

• This was the temple rebuilt by Herod after is suffered from neglect and attack.

• Flavious Josephus and other writers of the day tell us that the marble used by Herod to resurface the Temple was white with green specks.

• He commissioned beautiful artwork to be sculptured in the beautiful stones.

• In a time when Israel longed to be free from Roman control, the Temple represented the hope of Israel’s glory to the common Jew.

• One of the disciples brought the glorious beauty to the attention of Jesus.

Mar 13:2 And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."

• This was a prophecy that the Temple would not mark Israel’s return to world power.

• It would instead be destroyed completely.

• It was in AD 70 when Titus ordered the Temple destroyed and the ground plowed.

Mar 13:3-4 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?"

• Later, as Jesus and His disciples rested, four of the disciples asked for a clarification of what Jesus had said.

Mar 13:5 And Jesus began to say to them, "See that no one leads you astray.

• Some Christians will discourage the study of the end times.

• They will say that the Christian life does best when we focus on the here and now.

• Yet Jesus warned for us to not misunderstand His teachings and not to let anyone mislead us.

• In other words, this topic is very important.

• To begin with, first notice that the question was in reference to the destruction of the Temple and accomplishment of God’s Kingdom.

• In other words, how will the end times affect the nation of Israel?

• First, notice that the initial descriptions mark the end of the age of God’s grace.

Mar 13:6 Many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray.

• There will be, and has been, those who teach that they are the Christ.

• And just as significant, there are many false teaching about the Christ.

• I have on my computer a list of 56 individuals since Jesus Christ who said they were either the Messiah or Jesus reincarnated.

• Others say they are equal with Jesus as a last day Messiah, such as David Koresh, Ysrael Hawkins and Warren Jeffs. That is a completely different list and there are many today.

Mar 13:7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet.