Word of Salvation – Vol.42 No.23 – June 1997

 

The Signs of the Times

 

A Sermon by Rev D Van Garderen

on Mark 13:5-8

Scripture Readings: Mark 13:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39

Suggested Hymns: PsH 51; 381; 372; 234:1, 3, 4, 5, 8

 

Dear Congregation,

Most of us will probably recall the very first time we had to do something very important on our own without someone to guide, instruct and take over in case of an emergency.

• Think of the first time you were left in charge at home – without your parents there and in charge of your younger brothers and sisters! Scary wasn’t it?
• Think of the first time you drove a car by yourself! No one was there to keep an eye on the traffic as you tried to look down at your feet to make sure you were about to press on the right pedal – or to remind you to indicate, etc.   Sweat flows freely!
• Think of the first time you had to enter an examination room. There you were, utterly reliant on your own ability to remember things, stay composed and not turn to anyone for guidance. A sense of paralysis!
• Stand in front of the congregation for the first time – to read, to pray or preach!

It’s moments like those that you find yourself dependent on instructions and warnings you have been given earlier on.  It’s moments like these when you finally become truly aware of the just how important it is to listen to what you are being told.  Listen carefully!  The day is coming when you are on your own without Jesus looking over your shoulder!  All what you have to guide you then is the instruction he gave you beforehand.

Jesus, the instructor, knew that physical separation was imminent and inevitable.  It wouldn’t be long before the disciples would have to take over the work he had begun here on earth.  He would be in heaven… and they here.  They would have to rely totally on the power and guidance of the Spirit who would remind them of and lead them through the words/instructions/warnings given by him!  Jesus knew of the utmost urgency and importance of preparing his disciples for the time when they would be on their own.

It is in this context – as urgent, final instructions just before his departure – that Mark 13 is to be read.  Jesus is preparing, warning and equipping the disciples, and ultimately the church of all ages, for what lies ahead, for the future.  The urgency and extreme importance of these final instructions cannot be underestimated.  To ignore or downgrade them is to imperil everything – then and now!

DECEPTION BY FALSE CHRISTS

After Jesus’ departure, one of the ongoing, often never-ending onslaughts the disciples (and the church) would face would come from various self-appointed (and self-anointed) leaders who would try to step into the Lord’s shoes and take over.

Jesus already knew that once his work on earth was finished, there would be many contenders who would claim the authority, power, commissioning and whatever else it takes, to step into his shoes; to claim, ‘I am he!’

Knowing this, he began his answer to the disciples’ questions with an extremely forceful and necessary warning.  Watch out that no one deceives you!  (13:6) Deceivers will never stop crawling out of the woodwork and from out of whatever slimy cesspit Satan hauls them!

How very true it is, both in the New Testament church and right down through the ages, that DECEPTION (being deceived in order to lead you and Christ’s people astray) poses an enormous threat to Jesus’ disciples.

The moment you become a disciple of Jesus, you find yourself involved in conflict, in a war or struggle.  The father of lies, the devil himself, will do all he can to deceive and lead you astray.  Satan and sin crouch at your door wanting to overwhelm and deceive you and the church of which you are a part.

‘Watch out!’ says Jesus.  The devil will use all kinds of means and ways to deceive you.  He can disguise himself as an angel of light – as a pious preacher.  He can disguise himself as a close friend and mentor.  He can even disguise himself as a so-called ‘Christ’ and, with all the piety of the Lord himself, fool you into believing that he is the Christ!  He will, as becomes clear from the book of Revelation, make all kinds of vicious attacks to dishearten, deflect and ultimately destroy you!

As soon as Jesus is physically absent from the disciples, the forces of deception will assemble and begin the process of attack, undermining and unsettling you!  Forewarned is forearmed!  So don’t be surprised when it happens!

Notice the means that will be used.  Deceivers will use the very things that you most fervently believe and trust in as a means to worm their way into your life and the life of your church.

They will often come in Jesus’ name, claiming the authority, commissioning and power of Jesus.  They will be such ‘neat’, caring, charming and charismatic people!  They will be so understanding, thoughtful and strong.  They will claim the authority of anointing with the Holy Spirit, the office of Christ.  Never forget this.  They will be very successful.  Jesus warns us, ‘(they) will deceive many’ (Mark 13:6).

The history of the church from Pentecost till now is filled to overflowing with such characters – religious frauds and charlatans both from inside and outside the ranks of the Body – who have led many astray.

In the days of the first generation of disciples – the years leading up to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD – the Jewish authorities and various groups of people did indeed promote quite a few such ‘anointed ones’!  The Jewish historian Josephus who lived at this time mentions some of them.  The great Jewish teacher Gamaliel is quoted in Acts 5:33-39.  He mentions two: a certain Theudas and another called Judas the Galilean!  In the years 135 AD, the authorities backed a man called ‘Bar Cochba’ – (son of the stars).  People readily listened to such deceivers.  Many, many lost their lives as they were led astray!

But it didn’t stop there.  Through the centuries the church of the Lord Jesus has had many, many so-called ‘Christs’ who led groups of people astray.  The fellows make great claims, promises and interpret the ‘signs’ of the times to prove their authenticity and the truth of their prophetic messages.  False prophets, false teachers – most of them now long forgotten – have forever been a favourite instrument of deceit!  Read any church history book and names leap out at you from all kinds of places and in all different ages.  Remember that history only names and records the smallest fraction of some of the better known ones.

In this day and age, if you care to look, deceivers claiming God’s anointing, claiming to be God’s men and women, still abound.  They proclaim ‘anointing’, the authority to propose and call you to believe their ‘new theologies’, ‘new insights’, ‘new experiences’, ‘new revelations’, ‘new words of wisdom and prophecies’.  For proof, visit the Christian bookshops and it soon becomes plain that the shelves of the religious supermarket are crammed to overflowing!  How easy it will be to be deceived.  Many, many always have been and will continue to be!  The watchword is as urgent as ever.  Watch out that no one deceives you!’

THE ‘SIGNS’ USED BY THESE ‘ANOINTED’ ONES

But how come people will be deceived so readily?  What makes these false Christs, false prophets and teachers so successful?  Possibly their greatest tool and source of authority will be in the area of interpreting the ‘signs of the times’ and making dire predictions/prophecies as a result of that.

Men (and women) of this ilk invariably make their mark claiming deep insights into spiritual truths and then using various signs of the times to prove their points and then make people dependent on them by means of various prophecies, etc, and insights which only they possess.  The best known recent examples: Jim Jones (mass suicides in Guyana), David Koresh (Waco Texas) in New Zealand: the Cooperites in Christchurch (Hopeful Christian), Bert Potter of Centrepoint.

Again, Jesus knew and predicted the tools these false prophets, teachers and Christs would use.  They will use various ‘signs’ to prove their point and will interpret these signs to suit their own agenda.

In Mark 13:7-8 the Lord Jesus identifies the commonly used so-called signs of the times.  There are ‘wars and rumours of wars’.  There will be great uncertainty as ‘nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.’  Natural disasters: ‘earthquakes in various places,’ famines.  These are the typically signs by means of which false prophets, teachers and Christs will agitate, unsettle and gain followers.

Let me explain how this happens.

1.  The ‘signs’ which Jesus mentions occur throughout history.  Some periods are more intense than others – but these kinds of events are very much a part of life in this fallen, broken world.

These signs are also events which happened in times of great upheaval in the days of the Old Testament prophets.  They are therefore mentioned by most prophets as signs of God’s anger and coming judgment.  You certainly find that in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.

There was a lot of political uncertainty and upheaval in the final years leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem’s temple in AD 70.  Rumours of terrible disasters within the Roman Empire, and predictions of war, famine etc, also in Judah and Jerusalem, were common.

But such periods are a continuing pattern of history.  I can’t go into detail here – but would make my point by reflecting on what has happened in the second half of the twentieth century – since the second world war Wars, rumours of wars, natural disasters are so common place and happening with such intensity that you begin to wonder if the times have ever been as calamitous as they are right now!

Therefore, the ‘signs of the times’ have always been there – sometimes with greater intensity and frequency than at other times – but nevertheless, always there!

2.  The second thing I want to point out is that such events have forever been ‘interpreted and given special religious or revelatory significance by God’s servants and prophets.

Recall for example how Joel interpreted a series of locust plagues as sure signs of God’s judgment upon the nation.  Isaiah and Jeremiah point to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 586 BC as a sure sign of God’s wrath and judgment.  Wars, natural disasters, human suffering etc, are all events that take place under the sovereign power and according to the will of God.  Nothing happens apart from it being included in God’s plan and purposes – and nothing happens apart from it being a warning and reminder of God’s power and promises.

In this sense God’s servants – those anointed with the Holy Spirit – may point to these signs as being from God and as warnings.  They are reminders that God is God and that his wrath against a sinful world remains real.  Judgment is no fantasy.  Hence the signs of the times are timely reminders, warnings and indications that the present age is temporary and will pass away!

3.  But there is also a wrong and evil way in which these signs can and have been used – especially by false prophets and Christs.  I refer to the practice, both ancient and modern, for self-appointed spokesmen to point to signs as a means of promoting themselves and their religious deceit.

For example, it was very easy and simple for self-appointed messiahs to gather power and authority in the few years leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem.  They did so by claiming that the wars and rumours of wars, the nations rising against each other, earthquakes and famines, were divine signs which they had the authority to interpret.  They used these signs to unsettle, upset and make people depend on them.  Often they claimed that God had revealed to them that these signs show that the age was on the brink of coming to an end.  Their message went along the lines: ‘God has sent me to you to explain these signs and to warn you to listen to me – to believe what I am saying and do what I tell you to!’

See it?  ‘Experts’ – claiming the power and authority of God – take the ‘signs’, interpret them to suit their own agendas.  They stir up the people by frightening them no end in order to make them more and more dependent on themselves.  These types usually begin to predict dates and seasons for Christ’s return – and at the same time to present themselves more and more as special channels, messengers and anointed servants of God.  In the end they begin to believe and in fact arrogantly turn themselves into Christs!  Examples abound!  (cf the ones Gamaliel mentioned and in our day sects such as: JWs, SDAS, World Tomorrow, etc.)

THE WARNING

See now the purpose of Mark 13:5-8?

Knowing that the future would be filled with uncertainty, political instability, rumours and tales tall and true of wars and atrocities; knowing that there would continue to be times of great natural disasters and holocausts; knowing that the whole of creation would continue to be subject to bondage and decay and often cry out like a woman in travail.  Jesus revealed the real truth!

Don’t let these grubs worm their way into your houses, churches and hearts!  They’ll stir you up, upset you!  They’ll get you all excited and thinking of nothing but the ‘end’!  They’ll get you to overlook the real priorities: believing, preaching, living sober and quiet lives!  They’ll get you to believe the most bizarre things and thus make you no more than an object of ridicule and derision whose crazy beliefs pour scorn on Christ and his church.  That’s exactly what the prince of deceivers wanted in the first place.

Jesus’ point is simple.  Don’t be deceived!  Watch out!  Stay sober!  Stay calm!  Such things must happen.  These signs will certainly continue and they will continue to be real signs of God’s promises and the coming judgment.  But don’t get stirred up and all agitated by them.  Why not?  Because ‘these are the beginning of birth pains’.  They indicate BEGINNINGS.  The age of Messiah is still future and to be looked out for and longed for.  These signs are NOT predicting that the end is at hand, it is the BEGINNING of the birth pains.

Therefore keep your head down, stay sober and keep on doing what Jesus told you to do!  See now what the real message of Mark 13:5-8 is?

Amen.