Sermon Tone Analysis

Open your Bibles to Mark 13:21-23.

•We’re continuing our study of the Gospel of Mark.

•More specifically, we are in the fifth week of our study of the Olivet Discourse.

Our text this morning has to do with false Christs and false prophets.

•In these three verses, our Lord Jesus is giving a warning to His infant Church about what they can expect during the days of the Jewish War with Rome in the First Century.

•And one of the things they can expect is for an abundance of false messiahs and false prophets to rise up in those days and deceive many.

•And so, our Lord lovingly warns His People to be on guard and reject such wicked deceivers.

•But He also gives a glorious word of comfort within this warning.

It’s a word of encouragement to His Church.

•And here it is: The Elect, those who truly know and trust in Christ, will not be deceived.

The words of Jesus in our text, though fulfilled in the First Century, nevertheless contain timeless principles that benefit His Church until He returns.

•This passage teaches us that in the face of false Christs, false prophets, and false teachers, we are to be resolved to stick tight to the Lord Jesus Christ, while also resting in His precious promise that He will preserve His Elect.

There is a lot to encourage us in the words of Jesus in these verses.

•There is a lot for us to take heed to as well.

•And doesn’t that just remind us of how good the Word of God is? 

•In His Word, God has been so kind to fill our hopes with hope and joy as well as giving us wisdom and instruction so we know how to walk in difficult days.

A quick word before we begin:

•I will be teaching this text thematically this morning.

•I’ll be dealing with themes in the text more than a verse-by-verse, in order exposition.

•And in order to do that, I’ve organized the material into four headings:

1. False Christs and False Prophets

2. Refuse to Listen

3. The Elect Will Be Preserved

4. Be on Guard

•By God’s grace, that’s where we’ll be going this morning.

•May God bless our time in His Word.

If you would, and are able, please stand with me now for the reading of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.

Mark 13:21-23

[21] And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.

[22] For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

[23] But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.

(PRAY)

Our God in Heaven, 

We thank you for your Word this morning.

Thank you for giving us a sure Foundation to stand on, a sure Word to believe, and a sure Guide for our lives.

We ask now that you would bless the ministry of your Word to the salvation of our souls.

By your Spirit, open our hearts and minds to receive your Word.

And bend our wills to believe and obey.

Grant us faith, love, and obedience to what you have spoken by your Spirit in your Word.

And grant to us greater love and faithfulness to our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We ask these things in His Name and for His sake.

Amen.

1.)

Let’s establish some CONTEXT first:

•Our Lord has been prophesying about the coming destruction on Jerusalem that was fulfilled in AD70.

•In this section of the OD, Jesus has now specifically begun to talk about when things will get really bad in Jerusalem.

•That is, beginning in v14, He has begun to speak about what it will be like when the Roman armies (the AoD), will wage war against Jerusalem.

And also how the Christians need to flee when they see the Romans approaching.

•And now, continuing that theme (the destruction of Jerusalem and war with Rome), which is the theme of vv5-30, Jesus begins to speak of false Christs and false prophets that will become more prevalent in those days.

2.)

And that brings us to our first heading: False Christs and False Prophets.

[21] And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.

[22] For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

V21 begins with the phrase, “And then” in our English Bibles.

•That phrase can be translated “At that time.”

And it often is translated that way in many different places in the NT. 

•And it’s something equivalent to the phrase “in those days” or “then” as in, “Then, at that time I’m speaking of.”

•So then, Jesus is speaking of a further feature of the general period being described.

That is, the period leading up to Jerusalem’s destruction.

•Jesus is NOT speaking of a subsequent phase of history.

Remember, the focus of vv5-30 is to answer the disciples’ question in v4 about the destruction of the Temple.

So these verses are saying that in the days when the AoD is seen/is coming (v14 Roman armies), there will be false prophets and false Christs arise.

•And they will try to convince those in Jerusalem that the city would be saved and not destroyed.

•They would try to lead people astray.

In particular, given the context, they would try to lead astray the Christians.

They would try to convince them to not flee to the mountains as Jesus said that they should in v14.

•They will offer false hopes of salvation through false messiahs/Christs, and false promises of deliverance through false prophets.

•They will arise and lead many ASTRAY.

They will lead people astray from the TRUE CHRIST, Jesus, and astray from what HE SAID about the coming fate of Jerusalem at the hands of Rome.

And indeed, during the time leading up to and during the Jewish War with Rome, and during the time of siege, there were many false messiahs/Christs.

•There were many men who claimed to be some kind of “king” who would rescue Jerusalem from the Romans.

•And, as you know, to be a Jew who claimed to be a king who would rescue Israel from the Romans would’ve been understood by First Century Jews to be a claim to be the Messiah.

(That’s what they were wrongly expecting.)

•And in his historical account, the First Century historian Josephus mentions a few of these false kings/false messiahs by name.

•And Josephus also mentions many unnamed false prophets who prophesied that God would rescue Jerusalem from the Romans by supernatural intervention.

These men were proclaiming that a time of deliverance had come, whether through “the Messiah” or divine intervention.

•And again, remember the Jewish concept of Messiah at that time: They were looking for an earthly deliverer.

They were looking for an earthly nation, an earthly salvation, and earthly freedom (particularly from Rome).

•That’s what they were looking for.

And that’s what these false Christs and false prophets were promising.

Remember also the Jewish beliefs about the Temple: It had to stand until the end of time.

•And since, in their minds, the Messiah had not yet come, the end of the world couldn’t be upon them.

And, therefore, the Temple could not be destroyed.

•So then, God MUST deliver them.

•Their unbelief in Jesus Christ, their rejection of Him and His Gospel had left them open to all manner of deceptions.

And they fell right into all of this.

They ate up all of these falsehoods.

•They believed it.

So many were deceived.

•Anyone who offered hope of some kind of deliverance was gladly received while the Christian message of the true Christ and His warning of judgment was rejected.

•Nobody wants to die.

I think we all know that.

And so, the Jews were ready to receive any messianic pretender or false prophet who promised deliverance.

•And that’s exactly what they did.

Jesus also mentions that these false Christs and false prophets would “perform signs and wonders” to lead people astray.

•Jesus sounds to me like He is paraphrasing Deuteronomy 13:1-4 at this point:

[1] “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, [2] and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ [3] you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.

For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

[4] You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

•God spoke through Moses and told Israel that even if someone gave a prophecy that came to pass, and even if they performed what appeared to be a miracle (something you cannot explain), but then went on to teach something contrary to what God said, DO NOT BELIEVE THEM.

•Such a one is a liar and a deceiver.

And as such, they were to be ignored and, in OT Israel, they were to be executed.