PREACH THE GOSPEL IN THIS WORLD

Mark 13:1-25
Key Verse: 13:10

     "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations."

     In the last chapter Jesus taught highly educated Pharisees and
Sadducees about the spiritual world by talking about why King David calls
Jesus, "Lord." It is philosophically a very controversial item. However,
spiritually it is a very appropriate verse to understand the spiritual
realm and God's covenant to mankind. Next, Jesus mentioned about a poor
widow's offering. The amount was very little. But the quality of her
offering and her offering attitude excelled their arrogant act of putting
bundles of money in the offering box. God wants our hearts, not the
sacrifice. Today Jesus talks about the signs of the end of the age. When
we think about the signs of the end of the age, they seem indeed horrible.
We feel unfortunate that we are born into the world. But we should not.
We have a great mission to carry out and fulfill for the glory of God.
What are the signs of the end of the age?

I. The beginning of birth pains (1-8)

First, the disciples' false fantasy about glory (1-4). Look at verse 1.
"As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look,
Teacher!  What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!'" This
one verse again reveals Jesus' disciples' minds, crazy for the
fantastic dream world and the elegant temple stones and the priests'
garments. The disciples firmly believed that Jesus would establish
an earthly messianic kingdom and they would all be cabinet members,
including Bartholomew. Even though they had not had even a necktie each,
they dreamt that they would have better garments and better temple
stones and ten times better honor and glory. Those who followed the
footsteps of Jesus went crazy for the things of the world for the time
being. There are many who, like the disciples, never lived in the real
world. There is a man who has been an undergraduate for the last eight
years. He wants to be a medical doctor. But his grades do not reach the
level of entering medical school. He never took the MCAT exams. Now he
married. Still, the fantasy about being a medical doctor, and later a
rich man, makes him crazy every day. There is a boy who is attending a
renowned university. He first entered engineering school to make a huge
amount of money after graduation. But he could not catch up with school
studies and homework. So he changed his major from engineering into one in
which he can just get a diploma. But after graduation nothing is likely to
happen. So he wants to go to France as an exchange student. In the past,
when Napoleon Bonaparte ruled and when DeGaulle ruled, France was called
"The Glory of France." But these days, France is a tourist attraction
and the place of enjoying physical desires.  It is difficult for anyone
who goes there to come back without losing his or her integrity. It is
difficult for anyone to get out of there without experiencing an event
which turns out to be a nightmare. His vanity to go to France might be
his fantasy after giving up engineering study. It is indeed a dangerous
occasion for him. He may regret it throughout his lifetime. He will be
a man of vacances. If a person becomes a man of vacances, his future is
that of a lifetime wanderer like Cain in the Old Testament.

     I don't mean that one should not have a fantastic and romantic
dream. As a young man, one who does not have a fantastic dream or desire
to become a cabinet member has something wrong with him. But we must do
what we must do. At the same time we must have a fantastic and romantic
dream. But if we only have a fantastic and romantic dream, we become
a man or woman of vacances. In short, we become descendants of Cain or
disciples of Jean Jacques Rousseau.

     Look at verse 2. Jesus answered them, "Do you see all these great
buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will
be thrown down." Jesus was teaching about the vicious cycle of human
history. According to Toynbee, world history is composed of challenge and
response and another result comes out. In a word, his view of history is
based on Hegel's dialectics. Jesus' view of history is more simple. Jesus
said, "Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be
left on another; every one will be thrown down." The immediate prediction
was the destruction of the temple. It actually came to pass. In 70 A.D.
Jerusalem fell to the besieging army of Titus, the Roman general. He
desecrated the temple and demolished it completely until not one stone
was left on another. This was done in order to take out the plated gold
in between the stones. The historical fulfillment would come when the
temple was torn down and a Muslim mosque replaced it. What a tragedy. But
fact is fact. In order to remove the mosque from the temple place, they
had Christian crusades for 174 years. But they failed. Jesus' prophesy
concerning the temple building is also an allegory of human civilization,
which dazzles the human mind but whose resources are nothing but stone,
the dust of the ground. Nevertheless, men as incorrigible sinners, have
an indomitable desire to possess the things of the world in their hands.

     What was the disciples' response? Peter, James, John and Andrew
were greatly surprised at Jesus' words. Their surprise was twofold. One
was their understanding of human culture. The other was their lack of a
sense of history. Anyway, their surprise was an end to all their fancy
dreams. One of them came and asked Jesus privately, "Tell us, when will
these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about
to be fulfilled?"(4) To Jesus, the disciples were future leaders through
whom the world should be changed and world history should be set on its
right track. However, they had no insight to see the world and its future.

Second, the world is the place of deception (5). There are many companies,
banks, stock markets, governments, capitalists and peasants. When
we watch carefully what they are doing, they are cheating and being
cheated. So St. Paul said that the world is the place of deceiving and
being deceived (2Ti 3:13). Most companies compete with each other to
destroy each other. They merge and one company is destroyed. They have
abundant money. But this competition by the brain melts their bones
every day. Banks are the same. There was a bank. It was inferior to
another bank. Finally, it was merged and its employees were all dismissed
overnight. There are many kinds of industries. America thought China was
the best market for the people of the United States. But now Chinese goods
occupy all the stores of the American market. We cannot buy much that is
not "made in China." Because of this, America is very competitive with the
people of Chinese industry. Generally, all men who wear pants think they
are smarter than others. If one should realize his inferiority, he finds
a more inferior person. Then he lives thinking of the one who is inferior
to him. But he cannot get out of competition. He cannot be an exception to
the deception of the world. He must fight back against the competition and
deception of the world and the burden of life and the insecurity of the
future. In order to deceive or defeat our opponent we must work hard. Dr.
Isaac Baek goes to the Argonne Laboratory at 6:30 a.m. and returns home
at 9:00 p.m. Otherwise, he cannot keep his position. In order to finish
at the University of Chicago, one must overcome the curve system, defeat
all others and get a diploma. Maybe Northwestern is even harder. How nice
it would be if the world were like the paradise which God made first!
But after the Fall, the world became like a place of deception.

Third, false prophets (6). There are two kinds of people. One kind
is the people whose hearts are like flintstone. The other kind is very
gentle and weak-minded. Brutal and strong people mask themselves as witch
doctors and deceive weak people to empty their pockets. In 1998, I came
from Korea after the World Mission Report. In the Chicago UBF, thirty of
the members had contacted witch doctors. Witch doctors sprinkled water
on their foreheads and told their fortunes. Even though it was lying,
they felt good. When they thought about the witch doctor's lying again and
again, they began to feel that the lies were true. Then the thirty of them
became useless to God's world mission ministry. Soon after, they formed
their own group and went out to make a hallelujah fellowship. Among them,
one man who finished his Pharm.D. died suddenly at his desk, sitting in
the chair. Another one died of a heart attack. One was sincerely asked to
remain as a prayer servant. But he ignored the request and ran away. On
the way he had an accident. Only his head is alive. After that they
became very quiet and didn't bother campus evangelism and world mission
work in UBF. What a gorgeous America! What a gorgeous-looking American
people! What gorgeous blonde-haired and blue-eyed American women! But even
President Reagan's wife Nancy Reagan visited an astrologer regularly. The
number of astrologers is more than 20,000 in this country. Formerly,
Christianity was known as the national religion.  But school prayer is
forbidden and those who preach the gospel are known as a cult group. One
day an IVF man came to me and said, "Any organization that does not
accommodate modern culture is a cult." I knew the IVF founder Stacy
Woods. I knew his secretary, David Adney and Dr.  Hans Berke. They
found in me something, and wanted to make me an IVF man. They invested
in me a reasonable amount of money for 15 years and let me go around
to 34 countries to speak. But I was crazy for UBF ministry. Their plan
to make me an IVF leader failed. One Chinese American IVF staff called
me a mellow Stacy Woods. It meant I was a successor to Stacy Woods. But
now such a strict Bible study group as IVF is accommodating 21st century
culture, which forbids school prayer and encourages human rights and a
pleasure-seeking lifestyle. It is common sense that until one finishes
college he should not drive his own car. But these days young high school
kids are driving their own cars and going around many nights a week. False
prophets are very happy to devour them. They say, "It is not necessary to
live a life of self-denial and carry the cross daily and devote yourself
in the world mission purpose. That's the old style." On the other hand,
God is continually keeping up to fulfill his purpose of making America
a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. But to a 21st century person,
America, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, sounds so awkward that
they cannot open their mouths properly to pronounce this sentence.

Fourth, rumors of wars among the nations (5-8). Look at verses 5-7.
"Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come
in my name, claiming, "I am he," and will deceive many. When you hear of
wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but
the end is still to come."  In verse 7 Jesus talks about wars and rumors
of wars and we are alarmed by the wars and rumors of wars. America grieved
over the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. China
grieved because they did not want to follow the exact communist manifesto
of the Soviet Union. So there was another cold war between the Soviet
Union and the People's Republic of China. Hong Kong and Taiwan were part
of China. Taiwan is still independent. But the leaders of Taiwan are all
suffering from intensive constipation. After taking heavy drugs for the
constipation they go to the toilet. They see dark and small mice-like
things come out. The most serious problem was the war between the United
States of America and Vietnam. France formerly colonized Vietnam. After
World War II they wanted to occupy Vietnam again. But the leader of
Vietnam, whose size was three inches shorter than someone we know,
and whose weight was ten pounds lighter, decided to die to defend his
country. Finally, many American young people's lives were sacrificed and
many mental patients came back. They could not find any honorable title
for the war. Jesus said in verse 8, "Nation will rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and
famines. These are the beginning of birth pains." It is marvelous. Jesus
did not think that this troubled world, which makes us grieve all the
time  and sigh every three minutes, was bad at all. Trouble is the birth
pain of fulfilling the world salvation plan.  It is the starting point
of making America a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

     Here we learn we must have a Christian world view. What a marvelous
commentary of Jesus on the troubled world. This is the beginning of the
glorious day. This is the beginning of gospel preaching.  This is the
beginning of world evangelization by American people. Who can think
like this? Yes, we can! We are not looking at the world as it is.
We are looking at the world through the Bible.

     From five years ago, we began to pray, "May God make America a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation."  At that time, those who prayed
this prayer topic looked absent-minded. Some stared at me with anger. Each
time I gave them the announcement, "May God make America a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation," they prayed with a mosquito voice and left
the church building. But these days our members are beginning to love
God. They want to do something for the glory of God. No one wants to be
a couch potato. Everyone wants to be a great servant of God, greater than
St. Paul or St. Peter. Their eyes are shining. They know how to overcome
human limitations. These days, when I announce, "We must establish a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation by means of one-to-one Bible study
and discipleship training," they say, "Amen." These days a young boy is
attending our services. He carefully listens to the word of God. He said
to his mother, "I want to go to Africa as a missionary." Then his mother,
even though she is a wonderful Christian woman, became sad and said,
"If you go, then I will go too." Many Americans are conceiving world
mission vision in their hearts. This is the birth pain of making America
a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. From God's point of view, the
troubled world is not trouble. Trouble is the beginning of the birth
pain of fulfilling God's plan of world salvation. We love America so we
pray that America may be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. But God
hopes the world may become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation and
God's kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven. When we recite the
Lord's prayer, it is really wonderful. "Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but
deliver us from evil.  For yours is the kingdom and the power and the
glory, forever. Amen."

     As we know, birth pain is very painful. In reality,  men do not
know what birth pains are like. But all mothers know that birth pains are
very difficult. They are a matter of life and death. But men can know by
standing at the side of their wives who are groaning and sweating like
a fountain. They can figure out what birth pains are like. The meaning
of birth pains is "just beginning." Already 2,000 years have passed away
since our Lord Jesus Christ came to this world. But the world is nothing
but a birth pain. Therefore, we should not live in the fantasy world. We
should not be deceived by witch doctors. We should not be frightened
by the wars and rumors of wars in the world. They are all children's
soldier games. God has a great plan for each of us.

     Yet our Lord Jesus Christ was not convinced that his disciples would
not be deceived by false prophets. So in verses 5-6, Jesus said to them,
"Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming,
‘I am he,' and will deceive many."

II.  And the gospel must first be preached (9-11)

     When we preach the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ, at first
we think people will like it and treat us with delicious gourmet food.
Instead of treating us well, they arrest us and beat us up and we are
handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. Here
"synagogue" generally means all the places the children of God
gather. After birth pains, usually a mother smiles looking at her
baby. They smile more if a boy baby is born. Our gospel workers' birth
pain is to be persecuted.  Jesus knew that and said, "On account of
me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them"
(9). This is the verse spoken to St.  Paul. Acts 9:10-12 say, "In
Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him
in a vision, ‘Ananias!' ‘Yes, Lord,' he answered. The Lord told him,
‘Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man named
Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias
come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." To Ananias, Saul
was terrifying because he persecuted the church of God.  But the Lord
said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name
before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I
will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Wonderful is the
grace of God who forgave the bitter enemy Saul until he repented. He
called himself "Paul," a little one. God used him as a shepherd for
the Gentiles. Actually, the chosen people Israel could be numbered. But
the Gentile people were so innumerable that they could not be numbered.
God is different from the narrow-minded and bigoted traditional Jews.

     In this confused world we want to marry. We want to make money.
But we don't know what to do next, even though we live as Christians. But
here we learn what we should do in this troubled world. Look at verse 10.
"And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." Jesus does not
force us. Jesus loves the world and wants to save people one by one, and
finally save all the people. Do you know the first words of Jesus recorded
in Mark's Gospel? Jesus said in Mark 1:15, "The time has come. The kingdom
of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" There was a man who was
so handsome and his pride was sky high. When he was under 30 he became a
Sanhedrin member of the Jewish Council. He drove a four-stallion chariot,
saying, "Yeah! Yeah!" with his Sanhedrin robe flowing in the wind. But
he did not have eternal life. He had everything.  He had scholarship. He
had money and fame. But he felt like dying. You know what Jesus said to
him? John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one
and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life."

     In Jesus' time usually women were not numbered because they
lacked labor power and did not make money and the social structure
was male dominant. However, Jesus visited Mary and Martha's house one
time. Jesus said to Martha in Luke 10:41-42. "Martha, Martha, you are
worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary
has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." The
story is as follows: Martha was the older sister. Mary was the younger
sister. But Mary wanted to be loved more than Martha every time Jesus
came. This time also, she grabbed Jesus and began one-to-one Bible
study with him. Their one-to-one Bible study was endless. Meanwhile,
Martha was preparing food for Jesus and his hungry disciples. Many times
Martha called Mary to come and help her. But Mary pretended as if she
had not heard her request. Then Martha came to Jesus and complained.
But Jesus admired Mary that she studied the Bible one-to-one with him.
In this way Jesus spoiled Mary even more. What an interesting story. But
Jesus always has a point to teach those who are interested in Bible study.
How can we describe the entire story of Jesus' teaching the Bible: in the
house, on the way and after the sleepless night. It was not through speech
alone, but through his examples. Finally the passion week came. Jesus
was in Jerusalem. He was supposed to be hanged on the cross and shed
much blood and finish his life. But one day in the early morning he went
out and met a person and taught the person the Bible very prayerfully.
This is the true meaning of Jesus' birth pain of fulfilling God's hope
of world salvation. Anybody would be trembling before death. Jesus also
was bracing himself. But he did what he had to do. He taught the Bible
to someone near the temple.

     Here we learn how to live in this troubled world. What must we do
in this troubled world? Shall we be a dead fish floating downstream or
do we have to be men and women of God who know the birth pains of our
Lord Jesus Christ? In this troubled world the first thing we must do is
to preach the gospel to all people. Amen. God bless you.


STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Read verses 1-2.  What was the comment of one disciple as they left
   the temple?  How did Jesus reply?  To what event was he specifically
   pointing? How did his view of the world differ from that of the
   disciples?

2. Read verses 3-4.  Where was Jesus and who was with him? What two
   questions did they ask Jesus? What were they thinking about?

3. Read verses 5-8. What was Jesus' warning? What are some signs of the
   end of the age? Why does Jesus refer to these times of suffering as
   "birth pains?" What should be our view of the world and history?

4. Read verses 9-13. Who will persecute Christians? How can we turn the
   time of suffering into a time of opportunity?  Why will those we love
   hate us? What must we do (10)? What promise is given (13)?

5. Read verse 14. To what does "the abomination that causes desolation"
   refer?  Read verses 15-25. How are the times of distress described? Why
   must we put our trust in God in these times?