Marcos 13

Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin

Marcos 13

Spurgeon wrote that "There seems to be an inveterate prejudice in the human mind against this doctrine (of election) and although most other doctrines will be received by professing Christians, some with caution, others with pleasure, yet this one seems to be most frequently disregarded and discarded." Three times in Mark all in Mark 13 - Mk 13:20, 22, 27; Who shall the Lord's elect condemn? 'Tis God that justifies their souls, And mercy like a mighty stream O'er all their sins divinely rolls. Isaac Watts Chose (1586) (eklego from ek = out, out of, out from + légo = select, choose) means literally to select out, single out or choose out of. The idea in eklego speaks of the sizable number from which the selection is made. It implies the taking of a smaller number out of a larger. For example, in secular use, Virgil's Eclogues (from eklego) are short, selected excerpts taken from a more larger collection of poems. A H Strong explained it this way - Election and sovereignty are only sources of good. Election is not a decree to destroy, it is a decree to save. When we elect a president, we do not need to hold a second election to determine that the remaining millions shall be non-presidents. Sinclair Ferguson was correct when he said "Until we have come to the place where we can sing about election with a full heart we have not grasped the spirit of the New Testament teaching." Oh, happy day, that fixed my choice On thee, my Saviour and my God! Well may this glowing heart rejoice, And tell its raptures all abroad. Philip Doddridge Shortened ("amputated," "mutilated") (2856)(koloboo from from kolobos = maimed, cut off) means strictly speaking to cause something not to be full length and so to cut short, to curtail, to abridge, to mutilate, to amputate (Lxx - 2Sa 4:12 "cut off their hands and feet"). Figuratively as used in all 4 NT passages koloboo refers to a reducing in number or extent. Our English word halt, in the sense of lame, is related to it, since it refers to a person whose walking ability has been cut short or curtailed. Notice Jesus' use of the aorist tense which here speaks of a future event as it were a past completed action (Proleptic). In other words, God has decreed in the past that the yet future Great Tribulation will be cut short. Question - Who are the elect of God? Answer: Simply put, the “elect of God” are those whom God has predestined to salvation. They are called the “elect” because that word denotes the concept of choosing. Every four years in the U.S., we "elect" a President—i.e., we choose who will serve in that office. The same goes for God and those who will be saved; God chooses those who will be saved. These are the elect of God. As it stands, the concept of God electing those who will be saved isn’t controversial. What is controversial is how and in what manner God chooses those who will be saved. Throughout church history, there have been two main views on the doctrine of election (or predestination). One view, which we will call the prescient or foreknowledge view, teaches that God, through His omniscience, knows those who will in the course of time choose of their own free will to place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation. On the basis of this divine foreknowledge, God elects these individuals “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). This view is held by the majority of American evangelicals. The second main view is the Augustinian view, which essentially teaches that God not only divinely elects those who will have faith in Jesus Christ, but also divinely elects to grant to these individuals the faith to believe in Christ. In other words, God’s election unto salvation is not based on a foreknowledge of an individual’s faith, but is based on the free, sovereign grace of Almighty God. God elects people to salvation, and in time these people will come to faith in Christ because God has elected them. The difference boils down to this: who has the ultimate choice in salvation—God or man? In the first view (the prescient view), man has control; his free will is sovereign and becomes the determining factor in God’s election. God can provide the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, but man must choose Christ for himself in order to make salvation real. Ultimately, this view diminishes the biblical understanding of God’s sovereignty. This view puts the Creator’s provision of salvation at the mercy of the creature; if God wants people in heaven, He has to hope that man will freely choose His way of salvation. In reality, the prescient view of election is no view of election at all, because God is not really choosing—He is only confirming. It is man who is the ultimate chooser. In the Augustinian view, God has control; He is the one who, of His own sovereign will, freely chooses those whom He will save. He not only elects those whom He will save, but He actually accomplishes their salvation. Rather than simply make salvation possible, God chooses those whom He will save and then saves them. This view puts God in His proper place as Creator and Sovereign. The Augustinian view is not without problems of its own. Critics have claimed that this view robs man of his free will. If God chooses those who will be saved, then what difference does it make for man to believe? Why preach the gospel? Furthermore, if God elects according to His sovereign will, then how can we be responsible for our actions? These are all good and fair questions that need to be answered. A good passage to answer these questions is Romans 9, the most in-depth passage dealing with God’s sovereignty in election. The context of the passage flows from Romans 8, which ends with a great climax of praise: “For I am convinced that... [nothing] in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). This leads Paul to consider how a Jew might respond to that statement. While Jesus came to the lost children of Israel and while the early church was largely Jewish in makeup, the gospel was spreading among the Gentiles much faster than among the Jews. In fact, most Jews saw the gospel as a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 1:23) and rejected Jesus. This would lead the average Jew to wonder if God’s plan of election has failed, since most Jews reject the message of the gospel. Throughout Romans 9, Paul systematically shows that God’s sovereign election has been in force from the very beginning. He begins with a crucial statement: “For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel” (Romans 9:6). This means that not all people of ethnic Israel (that is, those descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) belong to true Israel (the elect of God). Reviewing the history of Israel, Paul shows that God chose Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau. Just in case anyone thinks that God was choosing these individuals based on the faith or good works they would do in the future, he adds, “Though they [Jacob and Esau] were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad – in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls” (Romans 9:11). At this point, one might be tempted to accuse God of acting unjustly. Paul anticipates this accusation in v. 14, stating plainly that God is not unjust in any way. “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Romans 9:15). God is sovereign over His creation. He is free to choose those whom He will choose, and He is free to pass by those whom He will pass by. The creature has no right to accuse the Creator of being unjust. The very thought that the creature can stand in judgment of the Creator is absurd to Paul, and it should be so to every Christian, as well. The balance of Romans 9 substantiates this point. As already mentioned, there are other passages that talk to a lesser extent on the topic of God’s elect (John 6:37-45 and Ephesians 1:3-14, to name a couple). The point is that God has ordained to redeem a remnant of humanity to salvation. These elect individuals were chosen before the creation of the world, and their salvation is complete in Christ. As Paul says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30). (Source: GotQuestions.org) Mark 13:21 "And then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ'; or, 'Behold, He is there'; do not believe him; BGT Mark 13:21 Καὶ τότε ἐάν τις ὑμῖν εἴπῃ· ἴδε ὧδε ὁ χριστός, ἴδε ἐκεῖ, μὴ πιστεύετε· NET Mark 13:21 Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'Look, there he is!' do not believe him. NLT Mark 13:21 "Then if anyone tells you, 'Look, here is the Messiah,' or 'There he is,' don't believe it. ESV Mark 13:21 And then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. NIV Mark 13:21 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. De 13:1-3 Mt 24:5,23-25 Lu 17:23,24 21:8 Joh 5:43 Related Passage: Matthew 24:23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. EXCLAMATIONS TO BEHOLD ARE NOT TO BE BELIEVED! And then - This links the present warning with the scene of extreme suffering just depicted. if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ'; or, 'Behold, He is there - A plethora of false Messiahs will come on the scene in the days of the Great Tribulation and this makes sense because the global chaos will produce fear which these fakers will thrive on! . Hiebert points out that "the repeated Behold underlines the excitement with which these professed revelations are made during that time of pressure and fanaticism. A host of pretenders will arise claiming to be the Christ, the expected Messiah. (Gospel of Mark) Do not believe him - Do not believe is a present imperative with a negative = stop believing or do not begin to believe. Mark 13:22 for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. NET Mark 13:22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, the elect. NLT Mark 13:22 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones. ESV Mark 13:22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. NIV Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect--if that were possible. if it: Mk 13:6 Mt 24:24 Joh 10:27,28 2Th 2:8-14 2Ti 2:19 1Jn 2:19,26 Rev 13:8,13,14 17:8 Related Passage: Matthew 24:24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. BE WARY OF WONDERS! For (gar - term of explanation) false Christs and false prophets will arise - Jesus explains that these men described in the previous passage will arise. Hiebert adds that "the preceding admonition was conditionally stated; now the explanatory fact is explicitly affirmed. There shall arise, as a future fact, false Christs and false prophets, pseudo-Christs and pseudoprophets. The pseudo-Christ will falsely give himself out as being the personal Messiah, a pretender to the messianic office; the pseudoprophet will falsely claim to speak as God’s spokesman, having a message directly from God. The plurals indicate that they will not be isolated cases." NET Note - "false christs"; both "Christ" (Greek) and "Messiah" (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean "one who has been anointed." and will show signs and wonders - "Signs denotes things, whether frequent or rare, which have significance as pointing to something outside and beyond themselves; they are finger posts to a higher reality. Wonders views these signs with reference to the astonishment that they produce; they are startling, amazement-evoking portents. Whether pretended or real signs and wonders, these deceivers will not hesitate to resort to their use in order to gain their purpose. This element, not mentioned in the warning in verse 6, will greatly increase the danger. " (Hiebert)

Marcos 13

Spurgeon reminds us that "Behold is a word of wonder; it is intended to excite admiration. Wherever you see it hung out in Scripture, it is like an ancient sign-board, signifying that there are rich wares within, or like the hands which solid readers have observed in the margin of the older Puritanic books, drawing attention to something particularly worthy of observation." I would add, behold is like a divine highlighter, a divine underlining of an especially striking or important text. It says in effect "Listen up, all ye who would be wise in the ways of Jehovah!"