The CROSSroads: Personal Lessons from Mark's Gospel by Rev. Mitch Schultz

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:34:23utc

Lesson Forty-Two: PEOPLE GET READY (Mark 13:1-36)

"Do not let him find you sleeping." (vs.36)

The words of a popular contemporary Christian song by Crystal Lewis have become like a drum beat reverberating in my mind. It concerns the return of the Lord. I know God is using the song as a wake up call to the Church to be ready for this one key moment in history. The song is called People Get Ready, and the words are as follows -.

"Lord, I am ready now. I'm waiting for your triumphant return. You're coming so soon, This world has nothing for me. I find my peace and joy solely in you. Only in you. I want the world to see that you're alive and living well in me. Let me be a part of the harvest.

For the days are few. He's coming soon. (chorus) So people get ready, Jesus is coming soon. Soon we'll be going home. People get ready, Jesus is coming to take from the world his own."

Jesus is leaving the temple with his disciples when one of them makes a passing comment about the beauty of the temple's structure. Wanting to keep his disciples focused on his spiritual not temporal mission, the Lord reminds the disciples that a day will come when there will be nothing but rubble to admire about the temple. "Not one stone will be left on another." (vs.2)

Later, in private, three of Jesus' closer disciples ask him what signs they should look for that will accompany these last days. For the bulk of this chapter Mark narrates for us the five major signs that will precede the return of the Lord. While some argue these signs were fulfilled at the destruction of the temple in AD 70, it is self-evident that the full extent of these prophecies has not yet reached fulfillment. Some of these signs are in process of unfolding, but all of them will climax to bring about the return of the Lord. So here are a few things people who get ready should look out for.

People who get ready should protect themselves from deception. "Watch out that no one deceives you." (vs.5) Sadly, the devil is already succeeding in quenching peoples' anticipation of Christ's return through many distractions. Materialism, false doctrines and other ploys are at his disposal as tools of deception. People who get ready need to be sure they are living holy and godly lives so that the return of Christ does not take them by surprise. "The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self controlled so that you can pray." (1 Peter 4:7)

People who get ready accept that they live in an unstable world. (vs.7,8) People who get ready are realists, who accept the fact that the world is in a mess and the situation will worsen before it ever gets better. Wars, rumors of war, natural disasters all serve as reminders that our efforts at global stability lead to failure. Politicians put out one fire only to move to another. While people long for peace, we await the peacemaker himself who will bring all things under his authority. Even personal pain and tragedies are accepted as part of the lot of this life. Imagine a day when there will be no news about famines, genocide, ethnic cleansing and earthquakes. Imagine a day when you will not hurt. Your heart will not ache over the illness of a child. You will not be torn over the tension in a relationship. What a day that will be.

People who get ready accept personal pain if it means the gospel can be spread. (vs.9-13) "You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged... And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.... do not worry about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking but the Holy Spirit." Persecution is the result of the proclamation of the gospel, but it is also the means by which the gospel message is carried. A world that hates Christ will react harshly to those who proclaim him. Throughout history the road of the gospel has been paved with the blood of God's servants. The further the gospel is preached the more intense the persecution. People who get ready even make their own pain available for God to use to spread the message of God's love and grace.

People who get ready are burdened over the increased idolatry around them. (vs.14) The "abomination that causes desolation" that Jesus speaks about will be the most blatant form of idolatry. This image in honor of the devil in what used to be the sanctuary for God will expose without any subtleties the real intent of the enemy and that is to direct peoples' allegiance completely away from God. People who get ready notice the way that is already being paved for such a day. People all around us are abandoning God for self-love, worship of the supernatural and materialism. Observing such perversion of worship drives people who get ready to their knees in worship and honor of the One True God.

People who get ready have an increased longing for the return of the Lord Jesus. (vs.26,27) He will come with "Power and Glory." All who have waited, who have not been deceived, who have endured persecution for the sake of the gospel and have not bowed their knee to an idol shall receive the reward of being taken to be with him. The promise of Christ's return lives as reason for endurance for every believer. We can live with pain, we can put up with rejection and disappointment because someday he is coming back. Such is the value of this promise, we live every day as though he is coming anytime.

It is Christ's exhortation in verse 36 I find most significant to fuel my anticipation for his return. "If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!" Let us be careful that in our appetite to study the end times that we give equal time in preparing for it. Literally Christ exhorts us here to not be caught off guard when he comes. I believe it was DL Moody who when asked what he would do if he knew Christ would return the next day replied; "Oh I would get up at five, meditate on God's word for an hour in bible study and prayer. I would then have breakfast, go for a walk and return to study further God's word. Then after lunch I would visit my parishioners..." (My paraphrase). His point is simple. He was living in so prepared a state that there would be nothing he would change. He would not be caught sleeping when Christ returned. Are you a person getting ready? I hope you are! "What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed it's coming... make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him." (2 Peter 3:11-12,14)

The only way to wait for the Second Coming is to watch that you do what you should do, so that when he comes is a matter of indifference.. It is the attitude of a child, certain that God knows what he is about. When the Lord does come, it will be as natural as breathing. God never does anything hysterical, and he never produces hysterics. -Oswald Chambers (1874–1917)