The Things That Are Coming – part 4

Oct 25, 2026 • Rory Mosley

080 The Things That Are Coming – part 4

Mark 13:1-37 (5-6)

October 25, 2026

Well tonight we’re going to finally jump into the meat of the message

\That is Mark’s Olivet Discourse.

We’ve made it through two points, which really serve more as an introduction than the actual point.

#1 THE OBSERVATION

Mark 13:1-2

1) The disciples were amazed at human ability.

Jesus was frustrated by human inability.

2) The disciples marveled at what man could accomplish.

Jesus lamented what man could not accomplish.

3) Jesus pronounced judgment on the greatest human work known to man.

Bring that temple to God as your life’s crowning achievement

And watch Jesus dismantle it before your very eyes.

Human achievement is not as impressive as we think it is.

#2 THE CURIOSITY

Mark 13:3-4

Jesus announces a coming judgment and their chief concern is:

“When will these things be..?”

· SINNERS want to know how long they can stay in their sin before they repent.

· BELIEVERS want to know how long they can neglect the urgency of ministry.

The reality is that “when” is the wrong question.

· SINNERS ought to be asking “WILL” as in will you forgive me?

· BELIEVERS ought to be asking “WHAT” as in what do you want me to do?

THIS WORLD IS HEADED FOR JUDGMENT.

It is barreling at us at a rate of 60 seconds per minute.

God will destroy this place with intense heat.

Earth and heaven will pass away.

Since that is true, believers ought to be volunteering for duty.

It’s that ever convicting illustration of John eating the scroll of God’s judgment in Revelation 10.

· Those judgments turning John’s stomach

· The reality of sinners falling into eternal destruction.

And then the command:

Revelation 10:11 “And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

When Isaiah stood in the presence of God and realized just how useless all of his righteous deeds had been.

· When he contemplated that he was a man of unclean lips

· And that he lived among a people of unclean lips.

· When God asked who would go and tell them their need for true righteousness.

· Isaiah responded, “Here am I. Send me.”

THAT’S THE IDEA.

We’re not asking “when”, we are asking “what”.

Well TONIGHT, let’s get to the “WHAT”.

In view of a world headed for judgment what must we be about doing?

#3 THE PRIORITY

Mark 13:5-27

Clearly this is the long segment of the passage, and we’ll be here a while.

· We’re going to break it down into 6 priorities.

· We’re going to find 6 things to concern ourselves with.

BUT BEFORE WE BEGIN THE FIRST ONE,

I want to just sort of emphasize the idea of PRIORITY here.

When you look at verse 5,

You get the very first words of encouragement from Jesus.

(5) “And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it…”

“See to it” is the Greek word (BLEPO)

And it can be “to see; or perceive; or turn the eyes to”

But here it comes as an intentional focus required by God’s people.

I point that out because Jesus will use it 3 more times in this discourse.

(9) “But be on your guard…”

Same word – BLEPO

(23) “But take heed…”

Same word – BLEPO

(33) “Take heed…”

Same word – BLEPO

However you want to translate the word you see the point.

· There is so much in this life that you can set your gaze upon.

· There is so much in this life that can capture your focus.

· There is so much in this life that you can look to or look for.

But Jesus calls for discipline.

· Set your eyes on these things.

· Set your focus on these things.

· Pay attention to these things.

· Take heed to these things.

It is Jesus’ way of saying there are many things you could do,

But this is your priority.

It falls in line with Paul’s “one thing” we discussed at Disciple Now.

THIS IS THE PRIORITY.

And as I said, Jesus will give us 6 of them here.

Let’s begin…

1) YOU HAVE A DECEPTION TO AVOID (5-6)

(5-6) “And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and will mislead many.”

I love the way Jesus goes right to the point.

The disciples just asked “When will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to happen?”

And Jesus doesn’t flinch.

He overlooks the things that are not important

And immediately goes to the things that are.

“See to it that no one misleads you.”

You’re worried about when the judgment will come,

That’s not what you need to be worried about.

You’re trying to read the newspaper alongside the book of Daniel and Zechariah to see if you can figure out the timeline.

THAT’S THE WRONG FOCUS.

There is a BIGGER DANGER.

There is a BIGGER THREAT.

WHAT IS THE DANGER?

That someone might “mislead” you.

NOW YOU’VE SEEN THIS WORD BEFORE.

Remember when the Sadducees in the temple gave Jesus that hypothetical about the woman with 7 husbands?

Mark 12:24 “Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?”

The word “mistaken” there was (plah-NA-oh)

It meant “to lead into error.”

We said it was also the word used of a sheep that went astray.

Matthew 18:12 “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?”

· There it was translated “gone astray”.

We talked about how the Sadducees

Had gone way out into left field with their theology.

· They had gone astray.

· They had been led into error.

· They had been mislead.

What Jesus told the Sadducees had happened to them,

He now warns the disciples that they not allow it to happen to them.

There is a liar and a deceiver who deploys liars and deceivers.

Their goal is simply to lie and deceive.

You must make it your priority not to let them deceive you.

Make it your focus to hold fast to what is true and not to be misled.

This is one of those areas that again can be overlooked

Even in the camp of those who love the sovereignty of God.

SOMETIMES WHEN YOU ARE IN OUR CAMP.

· We are those who believe God is sovereign.

· We believe in sovereign election.

· We believe faith is a supernatural gift from God.

· We believe we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

· We believe our salvation is secure.

· We believe God will cause us to stand.

We believe all of those. We don’t yield on any of them.

But if your belief in those doctrines causes you

To grow lazy or apathetic or undiscerning or disengaged

Then you have totally missed the point.

FOR EXAMPLE.

We know that God has sovereignly elected those who are His.

So, does that mean that the elect never have to do anything, they are just in even if they never do a thing?

· No, of course not.

· They must believe in Christ.

And so we say that their believing is the means by which God saves His elect.

· Yes, He gave them the faith.

· Yes, He did all the work.

· But they still have to exercise that faith.

IF THEY DON’T, THEY WILL NOT BE SAVED.

But what I want you to understand is that the same is true of endurance.

· Yes, it is true that God seals His own.

· Yes, it is true that He will cause us to stand.

But the means by which God secures us is our endurance.

· Yes, He gives us the endurance

· Yes, He does all the work

· But we still have to endure.

Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

Hebrews 10:36-39 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

When in a room of Arminians you must preach like a Calvinist

So that those Arminians will quit boasting in what they have done

And give all glory to God.

But sometimes when you’re in a room of Calvinists

You have to preach a little like an Arminian so those Calvinists

Won’t grow apathetic to the responsibilities God has required of them.

Jesus here says, “SEE TO IT that no one misleads you.”

· That’s on you.

· Focus on that.

· Don’t let yourself be led astray.

There is a judgment coming and you don’t want to be caught in it

Having been led out of the fold.

Now, let’s get A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC

As to why this is such a serious warning.

Jesus continues:

(6) “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and will mislead many.”

· Now later, in verse 22 He’s going to talk about false prophets who will work signs and wonders,

BUT HERE HE IS VERY POINTED AND SPECIFIC.

Here the only threat He mentions is that they come “in My name”

And that they say, “I am He!”

“in My name” can actually be translated “upon My name”

That is to say, “claiming My name”

They say, “I am He!”

· If you’ll notice that word “He” is italicized.

· They come saying, “I am”

It is the famous (e-GO-eye-ME)

· It is the declaration of deity.

· When God spoke to Moses and Moses wanted a name, God told him, “Tell

them I AM has sent you.”

It is why Jesus so infuriated the religious establishment when He used the phrase over and over.

SO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE.

These are men who show up claiming deity, claiming to be the Christ.

· They say, “I am the bread of life”

· They say “I am the light of the world”

· “I am the door of the sheep”

· “I am the good shepherd”

· “I am the resurrection and the life”

· “I am the way, the truth, and the life”

· “I am the true vine”

They show up claiming to be Christ.

They show up claiming to be deity.

And Jesus says they will be VERY EFFECTIVE at it.

“and will mislead many.”

AND I FIND THIS VERY INTERESTING, AND VERY IMPORTANT.

If you’ll stop and ponder what Jesus says

You are probably not surprised to see that “many” are misled.

· We know for a fact that anti-christ is coming

· We know that there are many anti-christs already here.

· We know that men in our world are easily deceived.

We even know that in many cases

The deception of men is a working of the judgment of God.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”

· Men who ignore the truth and take pleasure in wickedness are often given over to the deceptions of Satan.

· We have read in Romans 1 how God gives men over to a depraved mind to do things which are not proper.

· While we are grieved and sickened by the gross immorality of our culture we are not confused how it happened.

They have been exposed to the truth, ignored the truth,

And God is judging them by allowing and even causing them

To believe what is false.

WE UNDERSTAND THAT.

· We understand the appearance of deceivers like Jim Jones or David Karesh.

· We even understand why men would believe them and follow them.

So it’s not all that shocking to us when Jesus warns of false Christs

Who will claim to be Him and then lead many astray.

But I hope you read our verse a little closer than that.

· Jesus here is only talking to Peter, James, John, and Andrew.

· Those are the 4 who are identified up in verse 3.

This is a small conversation among the most intimate of all His disciples.

He didn’t say.

“See to it that no one misleads them…”

He didn’t say:

“Guys you’ve got to go out there and make sure

The masses don’t follow those false Christs.”

· Now obviously that would be implied.

· And obviously we would labor to expose such deceivers so that men would not

follow them.

But that is still not what Jesus said.

He looked into the eyes of Peter, James, John, and Andrew and said,

“See to it that no one misleads YOU.”

WAIT A SECOND!

Are you telling me that there was even a threat that in the coming years one of these 4 men might actually believe and follow the wrong Christ?

Apparently.

You say, “No way that could happen!”

What about this?

Matthew 11:1-3 “When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”

The John there is John the Baptist.

· Remember the forerunner?

· Remember the one who actually baptized Jesus?

· The one who heard the voice from heaven?

· The one who saw the dove light on Him?

· The one who told Andrew and John that Jesus was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

THAT JOHN.

· And here he was asking “shall we look for someone else?”

WHY?

· Well, perhaps John didn’t expect to be imprisoned.

· Perhaps John didn’t expect a Messiah that would lead to suffering.

What might have happened if another Messiah came along and offered to spring John from jail?

NOW JOHN DIDN’T DEFECT.

Jesus gave John the proof he needed and John endured to the end.

BUT DO YOU SEE THE THREAT?

DO YOU SEE THE DANGER?

Jesus says you are going to have to “See to it that no one misleads you.”

“Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and will mislead many.”

You can’t be one of them.

AND I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU,

But this opens up a lot of questions and meditation on my part.

What if a man walked into the back of our church and said, “I am He! I have returned!”

What if he performed signs and wonders?

· What if he healed your little girl?

· What if he cast a demon out of someone in your presence?

· What if he did that for several people?

· What if the masses started following him?

I mean, what does Jesus look like?

How would you know Him?

We read it last Sunday night:

2 Corinthians 5:16 “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.”

Peter said it:

1 Peter 1:8 “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,”

You don’t even know what Jesus looks like.

And even if you did know, that all changed after His resurrection.

Remember His encounters after His resurrection?

John 20:11-17 “But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”

· Mary had no idea and she was talking to Jesus.

· Not until He called her name.

John 21:4-7 “But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.” And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea.”

· Peter and John talked to the man, but had no idea until He multiplied that catch of fish.

Or those two men on the road to Emmaus

Who talked to Him but did not recognize Him.

SO EVEN IF YOU KNEW WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE.

How would you recognize Him now?

Obviously it can’t be through physical recognition.

· But that won’t work.

Jesus is here warning 4 men

Who have been closer to Him than other 4 men ever.

Not to be misled by someone claiming to be Him.

How would you know?

It can’t be miraculous power.

· Jesus said Satan is going to work signs and wonders.

So a man could claiming to Jesus.

· And physically speaking we wouldn’t know.

And that man could work miracles like Jesus.

· So that we have no way to expose Him based on power.

HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?

Are you just going to “feel it”.

IF YOU EVER WATCHED LORD OF THE RINGS

There’s that scene were Aragorn the bounty hunter is helping the Hobbits escape and a couple of the Hobbits are unsure if they should trust him.

Frodo says, “I think a servant of the enemy would look fairer and feel fowler.”

Is that how you’re going to do it?

It just didn’t feel right…

YOU’RE DOOMED IF THAT’S YOUR MEASURE.

CHURCH HOW DO WE KNOW CHRIST?

I want to tell you how you know.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. “You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.”

This almost seems like a dirty trick.

· God had made it clear that the way you know if a prophet is legitimate is if his sign comes true, or if his prophecy comes true.

And then we get this strange scenario.

· We get a false prophet who wants you to go and serve and worship other gods

· And he performs a sign AND IT COMES TRUE.

Well what are you supposed to do now?

What does God say?

“You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

· God says not to follow him.

· In fact, it is a test to see if you will cling to God or not.

HOW DOES THIS WORK?

IT’S VERY SIMPLE.

· How did the children of Israel know they were supposed to love God with all their heart and soul?

· How did they know they were not supposed to worship other gods?

· How did they know they were not supposed to make graven images?

GOD’S WORD HAD TOLD THEM.

So even though this man could work miracles and produce true signs how did they know he was false?

Because he counseled them to do what was forbidden by God’s word.

That’s the only way they would be able to spot that guy as a fraud.

That’s the only way they would be able to see through him.

So how are you going to protect yourself

From the deceptions of the false Christs?

BY KNOWING HIS WORD.

It emphasizes for us the calling of Paul from disciple now doesn’t it!

Philippians 3:10-11 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

· Paul said, “I want to know Him”

AND THAT SHOULD BE OUR CRY TOO!

KNOW HIM THROUGH HIS WORD.

Failure to do this only makes you vulnerable to the deceiver.

Listen to what Paul wrote to the Corinthians

2 Corinthians 11:1-4 “I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”

They were led astray.

· And they were led astray through false preaching and false spirits.

How would they have known that the preaching was false?

How would they have known that the spirit was false?

By the word of truth.

They didn’t know the truth and so they didn’t spot the deception.

And they were led astray from Christ to follow an imposter.

IT IS SUCH A DANGEROUS THREAT.

And Jesus warns the disciples right here, “SEE TO IT that no one misleads you.”

THIS IS A PRIORITY FOR THE CHURCH.

THERE IS A JUDGMENT COMING.

· There is a deception that will precede it.

· Many in the world will fall victim of that deception and be secured in the

judgment.

THAT MUST NOT HAPPEN TO US.

A church confused about who Jesus is, is of no benefit to the world.

· We must know Him.

· We must know Him through His word.

· We must know Him according to the truth.

· We know what He preaches.

· We know what He teaches.

· We know what He requires.

· We know what He commands.

· We know how He responds.

· We know how He reacts.

THAT’S HOW YOU KNOW HIM.

Suppose someone came up to me and said,

“I just talked to Carrie, she’s in Lubbock. She’s at a bowling alley drinking beer and smoking cigarettes and she said you’re supposed to join her.”

I don’t know who you talked to, but it wasn’t my wife.

WE MUST KNOW JESUS LIKE THAT.

And the call of Jesus here is that

The church make it a priority to continue to know Him

And know Him so intimately

That we cannot be deceived by an imposter.

BUT EVEN BEYOND THAT:

I could give you a clue that the guy walking into the back of the church working miracles isn’t Jesus.

Matthew 24:27-31 “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”

· Jesus said when He comes He won’t slip in the back door.

· He’s going to be like lightning flashing across the sky.

· Don’t believe anyone who comes any other way.

Revelation 1:7 “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”

The revealed manner of His coming

Will help us recognize when it’s not Him.

But I hope you gain the first point.

Don’t set your concern on figuring out when the end will come.

If you want to set your mind to know something, set it to knowing Jesus.

· Know Him so well that no deceiver can fool you.

· Know Him so well that no impersonator can trick you.

Know Him through His word.

Commit yourself to the study of Jesus Christ.

It’s not a fleshly recognition.

It’s not a feeling recognition.

We know Him by the only way He has revealed Himself to us