Mark 13 Chapter Breakdown:
1-4 The great buildings will be torn down
5-13 Times of persecution of believers
14-23 Tribulation in the days of the Abomination of Desolation
24-27 The Son of Man comes and the angels take away his people
28-32 The span of time is short; He is right at the door
33-37 Warned to be alert, to keep serving
Message:
Faced with the coming period of persecution, Mark 13:5-13, the Abomination of Desolation and tribulation vv. 14-23, before the Lord comes and the angels snatch us away, vv. 24-27, according to the sequence the Lord lays out in Mark 13, what are we to do?
Sell our belongings and wait on a mountaintop? Head for the hills and hide? Pray more often? Thankfully, we don’t have to guess, for the Lord tells us how to get ready. We are to continue to work as faithful servants, busy at the tasks He has given us, vv. 33-37. When He comes, He will reward us according to our labor.
What work? Whatever He is telling you to do in the Word. Whatever work He has prepared for you to do with the skills at hand, v. 34. The work will advance His kingdom in you and others. He is saying that the work shouldn’t cease in times of trial and trouble.
The epistles are full of directions of what to do (and not to do). Romans 12-15 gives us many guidelines for the work, as does Ephesians 4-6. Ephesians 4:11-16 tells us that church workers equip us that we in turn may build up the body in love. We should do this work with vigor, for by it we partner with God in His work.
Should we sell our belongings and wait on a mountaintop, ready to be with Him? No, for we don’t know the day or hour, v. 32, so it’s not prudent. We stay at our appointed post. He is already with us; and His angels know where to find us!
Head for the hills and hide? Proverbs 28:28 tells us that men hide when the wicked are in power. This Christians do when they meet secretly in house churches to avoid persecution. They hide at times, but they are still working, still building up each other’s faith, still telling others about Christ as their faith gives them boldness.
Pray more often? Sure, but not at the expense of obedience, of responding to the Word day by day. Pray much, yet keep abounding in the work.
The Lord is coming. Before that, persecution and trials will thin the herd, revealing the wheat and chaff. The angels will have no problem knowing which is which. “He who endures to the end shall be saved” (Mark 13:13).
John the baptizer talked about this separation process in Matthew 3:12: “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
“Winnowing” is the laborious process of separating the useful wheat from the inedible chaff. Tribulation will do that, separating the truly faithful from the rest. Those who endure are proving themselves. The angels will gather the “wheat” into the Father’s “barn,” or house.
Are you ready for His return? Your unforced prayer is proof that you want to be with Him. Your service for the Lord is proof that you are making His work your own. Your endurance under fire proves that your faith and hope rest in Him and His promises are real. In all this, the Spirit of God is empowering His yielded servants.
The work is not finished. “The gospel must first be preached to all the nations” (Mark 13:10). If you cannot do this work yourself, regularly support those who do, and continue in your own service. Maranatha. The Lord is coming.
