Hated for Christ (Part A)

So do you see these great buildings? He repeats what they said to him, perhaps gesturing, not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down. And again, 36 years from this moment when he says these words, the Romans will ransack Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, they will kill over a million Jews. Demolish the temple, fulfilling this prophecy.

Not one stone that they are now looking at when they asked him is going to be there. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Mark. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Now here's Pastor Rick with a brand new study called Hated for Christ in Mark chapter 13.

We are in the Gospel according to Mark chapter 13. This begins a chapter of end time studies for a, at least for me, in teaching on end time studies. It's really challenging because there's so much information. How much do you include?

How much do you take out? Try to keep the rhythm going and the intention on the subject and also preach to lives things that matter right now. So I'm going to start off with two possible titles because I don't know how far I'm going to get. If we get to the end of chapter 13 and the title is Hated for Christ.

If we don't, then it's going to be something simple like the ends beginning or the beginning of the end. I do want to introduce this subject of persecution that belongs to the end times with two men, Paul and Jeremiah. Their ministries were characterized by persecution.

They were persecuted for preaching Christ. Well Jeremiah for upholding Yahweh and Paul for preaching Christ. Paul chose his battles.

He would say well let's go here and let's go there. Jeremiah really had no way out. He was there in Jerusalem and wherever when he wasn't in Jerusalem they would find him. Paul could escape his persecutions but he couldn't escape his persecutions because of his love for Christ. He writes to the Corinthians. He says for if I preach the gospel I have nothing to boast of for necessity is laid upon me. Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

In that sense he couldn't choose his battles. He had to preach it. A truth in love laid necessity on Paul as it did with Jeremiah no matter the persecution.

They were going to preach and they did preach and we have the record of their preaching as an example as a model as something to take into great consideration. Jeremiah at one point got so frustrated with God he said then I said I will not make mention of him nor speak anymore in his name but his word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding it back and I could not. Woe is me. The necessity is laid upon me. I have to preach the gospel. I have to preach the truth. When they were telling Paul the Ephesians were telling Paul don't go to Jerusalem. If you go to Jerusalem they're going to arrest you and if they arrest you they're likely going to kill you.

Don't go and they began weeping and Paul responds he answered Luke tells us what do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart for I am ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a very well the timing is excellent for us to consider persecution is it not a growing persecution. We shouldn't be so surprised at what's happening.

It's disappointing. It's sometimes you know you have to fight the flesh. You don't get angry because lawlessness will abound. The love of many will grow cold but not the love of any. Not the love of those who love Christ or else we can't get our job done effectively for him. Paul and Jeremiah they were ready to die anywhere for God and this characterizes the last days and that is what we're going to look at now. Mark's Gospel chapter 1. I'm shooting for verse 13 so we're going to read all the way there beginning at verse 1. Then as he went out of the temple one of his disciples said to him teachers see what manner of stones and what buildings are here. Jesus answered and said to him do you see these great buildings not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down. Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled and Jesus answering them began to say take heed that no one deceive you for many will come in my name saying I am he and will deceive many but when you hear of wars and rumors of wars do not be troubled for such must happen but the end is not yet for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there will be earthquakes in various places and there will be famines and troubles these are the beginnings of sorrows but watch out for yourselves or they will deliver you up to councils and you will be beaten in the synagogues you will be brought before rulers and kings for my sake for a testimony to them the gospel must first be preached to all nations but when they arrest you and deliver you up do not worry beforehand or premeditate what you will speak but whatever is given you in that hour speak for it is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit now brother will betray brother to death and father his child and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death and you will be hated by all for my name's sake but he who endures to the end shall be saved well now you see why I went through this whole thing with the persecution it'd been nice if I'd gotten I'd gotten it up front verse one then he went out to the temple one of his disciples said to him teachers see what manner of stones and what buildings are here well where it says then he went out of the temple it had been a day a day of teaching a day of clobbering the religious cartel that ran Jerusalem he clobbered them over the head with truth that the indisputable truths from their own scripture were any of them converted we know the last scribe that confronted him Jesus said that he was uh not far from the kingdom I do believe there were many that were there though in those days that will be in heaven we know two of them at least Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea it continues in verse one one of his disciples said teachers see what manner of stones and what buildings are here buildings is plural not just the temple are they speaking of it was a magnificent complex if Herodotus the historian had been able to see Jerusalem he would have listed it as one of the wonders of the world one of the seven wonders of the world as it eventually became known it was just incredibly impressive Josephus writes enough about it I'm not going to read it because it just takes up too much time but when he says buildings here when they say do you see these buildings they are including the structures the precincts the colonnaded walkways the courtyards and the stairways there was an entranceway on the southwest wall that was the highest arch bridge at that time in the world to get into the city and that's we're going to get back to that in a moment but the most prominent 35 acres in Israel was right here where he's leaving the temple having dealt with those who challenged him and having taught those who were eager to hear what he had to say and so the disciples were very impressed they were proud of their temple and understandably so it had taken 85 years to complete and it still wasn't finished at the time that this exchange was taking place the work was ongoing six or eight years after it is finally finished the Romans will completely destroy it verse two and Jesus answered and said do you see these great buildings not one stone shall be left upon another it shall not be thrown down he pounced on their remark so they're leaving the temple it's Lord what do you think of this place this is look at these stones look at this it's beautiful and then he doesn't just ignore it or say yeah it is nice he pounces on that remark not on them he's not going after them he's just go and give them the prophecy the history that surrounds these things which has been already fulfilled incidentally this is going to be or as he unfolds it what we have here the greatest end time sermon of all of course until we get to the revelation where it gives us more detail about the revell the the end time the great tribulation period where will we be if if these men did not ask him this question it is known as the Olivet Discourse because he's going to sit on the Mount of Olives which is just east right across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem you can see the city it's right there you can almost reach out and touch it today there's a cemetery that's down in that valley because the Jews know that the prophet said Messiah is going to come from the east he's going to come from the Mount of Olives and they want to be resurrected first kind of a messed up theology there's some truth to it as all theologies that are messed up are there's some truth to it and a lot of wackiness included so do you see these great buildings he repeats what they said to him perhaps gesturing not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown thrown down and again 36 years from this moment when he says these words the Romans will ransack Jerusalem and the Temple Mount they will kill over a million Jews demolish the temple fulfilling this prophecy not one stone that they are now looking at when they asked him is going to be there because the Romans well Josephus tells us that the facade of the temple as you entered the temple had heavy plates of gold on it and when the sun would rise since it was facing the east it would be so bright that from a distance you thought it was a white capped mountain and as you got closer you couldn't stare at it it was so the reflection was so intense and the Romans when they burned the temple down it was a brutal fight the Jews fought oh man it was just told days and days the legions and the Jews went at it until finally the Romans defeated them and when they took burned the building down they sifted through the rubble and whatever stones may still have been on top of each other and they threw them down too looking for the gold the detail all of it fulfilled the rubble after it was sifted on the southwestern side where that archways that I mentioned earlier it's about a hundred foot drop and you can go there today in Jerusalem and see this as part of the western wall and there are a pile of stones large stone size of trucks pickup trucks those are the stones that were some of the parts of the temple and the other structures they just threw them down it was a it was a marketplace like a strip mall there and when the Romans will raise the city well that's where they threw much of the debris some of the other rubble and stones went into the Kidron valley and so today again you go to Israel you can look at those stones those are stones that Jesus saw they're not part of the foundation some of the remaining stones are part of the foundation they weren't visible he was talking about the visible structure in Matthew 23 Jesus lamenting over the city and said your house he see your house is left to you desolate and that was prophetic as spiritually it was desolate and then physically it would be human beings of course have accomplished great things compared to human beings the temple was one of those the temple you'd look at it who else has got something like this it was remarkable but only because God has made the resources and the knowledge available for most of history there was no man had not harnessed electricity it's not very far back before you know the the man was able to harness electricity and have what we have now but before then everything was run by oil or the lights were for example kerosene lanterns etc and you know you have to look at that and say God is the one that released the knowledge without him pulling back the veil men would never have the technology we have now and aren't we glad because the world cannot survive men using technology we're watching we're watching the planet be dismantled with too much wrong information by impenitent wicked and humanistic secularly humanistic people we put secular on that because we are all human humanistic and humanistic in the sense we look out for we have this human experience together and we don't want to harm others but secular humanism has blocked God out of that and tends to want to manage humanity according to their own ways their own knowledge as the prophet said it's not in man to govern himself he can he cannot do a good job well who is ready to believe that the skyscrapers of the world now and they're all over the world i mean in china in southeast asia indonesia in the arab world in the middle east skyscrapers are everywhere these giant cities they've got these large swimming pools that are way up there they even have rollercoaster worlds you know amusement rides on them and like who is ready to believe that the bulk of them if not all of them are going to end in rubble revelation 18 verse 10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment saying alas alas that great city babylon that mighty city for in one hour your judgment has come i lean more and more to believing that such a verse has not only to deal with the city of babylon but the great centers of humanity against god the point is if you take this to say this was it is going to be this tremendous city on earth that god is going to flatten in an hour whether you take it literally or with the symbols either way you end up with the hand of god saying to man if i don't want it to stand it won't and there's a reason why it's not random nothing's random with god god executes judgments he is totally justified and man is not and we are hated we are hated by god defying demons and humans for daring to share and to repeat the prophecies and the teachings of jesus christ what i like about this section when jesus says you see these buildings these large stones and they were enormous how they got them in there's incredible they didn't have a monotonic crane to bring these things in how they got them in place is incredible anyway when they say when he when they hear him say they're not going to remain they don't scoff they believe him they just want to know more information you have to be impressed with that because so often you know they would take missed you know they weren't the smartest guys around it in the earlier stages but but they're developing they're they know that he he knows what he's talking about and so the today the any undisturbed stones from this original work are foundational stones one of them 40 feet by 12 feet by 12 feet 40 feet long 12 feet high 12 feet wide i mean what's the tonnage on that and how did they get it quarry this thing and move it from the quarry to jerusalem uphill it's just quite remarkable as i've mentioned and all of this to be in piles verse three now now as he sat on the mount of olives opposite the temple peter james john and andrew asked him privately so the disciples moved to the mount of olives just outside the city and he's going to turn it into his pulpit this here are two sets of brothers peter and and uh andrew are brothers and john and james are brothers the other disciples aren't part of the initial conversation but matthew gives us more information than than mark and luke as an eyewitness and you have to believe at some point the others came in it wasn't that jesus wouldn't say get away this is just for these four guys it would expand so zechariah this mount of olives that he is now sitting on zechariah says that this is going to be the sandals on the ground for christ when he returns when he returns with the armies of heaven and will be with him here's where he is going to touch down i believe he's going to dispatch us to different places maui is where i've already submitted my application so only if the restaurants are still operating i mean other than that it's just kind of this is beaches out everywhere else anyway it's good theology lap it up verse 5 zechariah 14 4 and in that day his feet will stand on the mount of olives which faces jerusalem on the east and the mount of olives shall be split in two from east to west making a very large valley half of the mountain shall move forward move toward the north and half of it toward the south so that's going to be uh quite a dramatic return for everyone verse 4 tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled i should pause here to say if you don't really have an end times perspective and you're going to be getting one don't worry about what you're not getting from the first session we've got several we got all the way to the end of this chapter several weeks of going over the end times i would encourage you to try to build a timeline if you don't know where things are most of what christ is going to tell them has to do with after the rapture of the church and for good reason there was no such thing as the church at this point the church was not yet birthed there were synagogues assembly places but it was not the church's as we understand it that will come later and so will the teachings on that from the apostle paul we'll get to one in a little bit but uh tell us when will these things be you have to applaud that they want to know they didn't just say wow yeah that's going to be something but this as they crossed the kidron valley their wheels were turning you know what what is he talking about this place is going to be wiped out so they did ask how could they not not one stone left thrown down i'm glad as they said they asked and they asked when and what what when is it going to happen and what are going to be the signs that's that's a good question these lessons that come from him will come with warnings take heed watch out and uh you can't miss it when you read this if you are one to highlight in your bible and especially if you now with with tablets electronic devices you can highlight very without making a mess you just highlight take heed watch and you you you understand the holy spirit is saying to you i am emphasizing this and he does not waste an emphasis verse five and jesus answering them began to say take heed that no one deceive you so he begins his lesson on the end time with a warning about being deceived tricked the satan is working you know if you have a problem with someone another christian particularly and uh you know you you can maybe feel resentment coming up maybe it would help this has helped me maybe it will help to recognize that satan is messing with this situation that either he is getting the upper hand on the other one or he's getting it on you or both he's certainly trying on both and when you begin to see it that way then some of the the maybe the resentment and the hurt feelings begin to to to move down to the bottom and the spirit gets gets up over the flesh why do christians do some of the stuff they do well satan is targeting them and now i can look at them with love and say you know they're victims no matter what they've done to me it's a something i i again practiced and have found it helpful otherwise after years of serving you can become jaded and and just you know bitter and confused and that's not that's not what god wants anyway he begins with a warning that will automatically make them pay attention watch out take heed it sounds so you know academic reading it in the english take heed but really if i translated it it would have been something like you better watch out anyway that no one deceives you so foremost again there it is paul will write to the church about the end times and he says in second thessalonians chapter 2 speaking about when anti-christ there is coming a central figure that unlike all the other people who have been against jesus christ this one's going to be just an exaggerated figure against christ and he will be empowered by satan unlike any other human being we've ever heard of and when the lawless one will be revealed whom the lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming well i like that paul is saying look before you panic understand he loses but before he loses they're going to be other losers those who side with him thanks for tuning in to cross reference radio for this study in the book of mark cross reference radio is the teaching ministry of pastor rick gaston of calvary chapel mechanics ville in virginia to learn more information about this ministry visit our website cross reference radio.com once you're there you'll find additional teachings from pastor rick we encourage you to subscribe to our podcast when you subscribe you'll be notified of each new edition of cross reference radio you could search for cross reference radio on your favorite podcast app that's all we have time for today but we hope you'll join us next time as pastor rick continues to teach through the book of mark right here on cross 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