Mark 13:1 As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" 2 "Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Je-sus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him pri-vately, 4 "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?"5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many.
Introduction
Review
When Jesus was leaving the Temple, he prophesied that the building would be demolished. That was a shocking prophecy, because for the Temple to be destroyed, Jerusalem would have to be de-stroyed. Think about how that would hit the disciples. Israel was already controlled by Rome. So what Jesus was talking about was something far worse. The people of God, the city of David, the Holy Land, and the Temple itself would all be wiped out. So it’s no wonder that the disciples took this as a prophe-cy of the end of the world. And they ask Jesus, “When? And what will be the signs?” And those ques-tions kicked off the Olivet Discourse.
19 Commandments
They asked for times and signs about future events. What they get instead is a sermon on how to live while they’re waiting for those future events. They want information to fill in the blanks of their knowledge of the future. But instead of giving them information, Jesus gives them commands. 19 im-peratives in 33 verses.
I mention that because it’s not really the way most people think of the Olivet Discourse. Most of the time this sermon is treated as if it were what the disciples hoped it would be—information filling in the gaps in our knowledge of the future and revealing when things will happen. That’s what they want-ed, it’s not what Jesus gave them, but it’s also what we want and so we tend to pretend it is what Jesus gave them—a clear, detailed explanation of exactly what’s going to happen in the future. And when we treat it that way, we miss the purpose of it which is to teach us how to live. There are a lot of chapters in the Bible with no commands—all information. All doctrine. But this isn’t one of those chapters.
If someone walked up to you and asked about the Olivet Discourse, you might say, “Oh, that’s Je-sus’ sermon about the end times,” or “That’s Jesus’ sermon about 70 A.D.,” but what if someone walked up to you and said, “Are you obeying the 19 commands in the Olivet Discourse?” What would you say?
Farewell
Before we get to those commands, it will help to first understand what kind of literature the Olivet Discourse is. Sometimes people refer to this sermon as “the Little Apocalypse.” They call it that be-cause it’s kind of like a mini-book of Revelation. In one sense that’s true. Revelation does expand on the themes of the Olivet Discourse. Jesus talked about wars and famines and earthquakes, and Revela-tion expands those out in detail. But the Olivet Discourse and the book of Revelation are not the same kind of literary genre. Revelation is the “apocalyptic” genre, where you have lots of symbolism and real-ly strange imagery like a crazy dream. Ezekiel is like that too. But the Olivet Discourse isn’t. It doesn’t have the characteristics of apocalyptic literature.
So what is the literary form? The form it fits most closely is a farewell address. In Deuteronomy 33 we read Moses’ farewell address he delivered right before he died. In 2 Samuel we read King David’s farewell address at the end of his life. Scripture also records farewell addresses from Jacob, Joshua, Samuel, and Paul. And the Olivet Discourse here in Mark 13 is Jesus’ farewell address. This is Jesus giving private instructions to his disciples on how to live after he’s gone. That’s why there are so many commands.
When It Won’t Happen
Now, remember the question that kicked this whole thing off. When will the end come? Jesus re-sponds with a long section on when it won’t come. They say, “Give us the signs,” and Jesus says, “Let me warn you about non-signs.” You want to know what points to the end; I need you to know what doesn’t point to the end. Why? Because the non-signs that don’t point to the end are the very things the false teachers will tell you are signs pointing to the end, and that’s how they deceive people.
Jesus’ first words are, “Watch out.” When we hear the words, “watch out” in relationship to the Second Coming, or a coming judgment, we tend to think in terms of, “Watch out because it could hap-pen at any moment and you need to be ready when it does.” But in this opening section, Jesus says, “The thing I want you to watch out for is a delay. Watch out for it not happening right away. Watch out for a dangerous delay—dangerous because the longer the delay, the more at risk you’ll be of being deceived.” In Luke’s account, we find that one way the false Christ’s will deceive is by saying the end is near. Luke 21:8 … many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them.
That’s one reason they need to watch out. And here’s another reason: They need to watch out be-cause of what they’re asking. They want to know when. And focusing on the “when” question is dan-gerous because it will make them lose focus on what Jesus wanted them to do before the end. What was that? What’s the plan Jesus had for them prior to the end?
To answer that, we need to understand the structure (remember, Mark communicates a lot through structure and his arrangement of the material). We can start by breaking the discourse into two parts: the dangerous delay, and the dramatic fulfillment. The dangerous delay—that’s the first half (vv.5-22). The dramatic fulfillment—that’s the second half (vv.23 to the end).
You can decide for yourself as we go if you agree with that division. To me, verse 22 sounds like a concluding statement, ending a section. He begins by saying, “Watch out,” then he ends that section by repeating:
22 So watch out. I have told you everything ahead of time.
Then, in v.23 he starts talking for the first time about a new topic—the coming of the Son of Man. And he switches from the 2nd person to the 3rd person (instead of you will be flogged and you will do this and that, it’s they will see the Son of man and they will do this and that). So let’s zero in on the first half—the Dangerous Delay (vv.5-22).
The Gospel Sandwich
I want to show you the structure of how Mark has this arranged. We’ve talked a lot about what they call “Marken sandwiches.” Mark loves to sandwich a point between two bookends, and the princi-ple in the middle teaches us about the bookends, and the bookends teach us about the principle in the middle. That’s a Marken sandwich.
What we have here is a multi-layered sandwich—a full-on dagwood. There are 7 paragraphs in this section. And the way they are arranged, the seminary word for it isn’t dagwood, it’s chiasmus.
A chiasmus is where the first paragraph and the last paragraph go together, then the second and the second-to-last go together, and the 3rd and 3rd-to-last, and so on. So it’s like a sideways pyramid.
Let me line up the 7 paragraphs in this Dangerous Delay section that way and see if you agree that’s what Mark is doing here. Let’s look at paragraphs 1 and 7 (A and A1 in the diagram), the first and last, and see if you think they go together.
First Pair (Paragraphs 1&7)
Paragraph 1:
5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many.
Watch out so you aren’t deceived by false Christs.
Paragraph 7:
21 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not be-lieve it. 22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to de-ceive, if possible, the elect. 23 So watch out; I have told you everything ahead of time.
Section 1: watch out for false Christs so you’re not deceived. Section 7: watch out for false Christs so you’re not deceived. I don’t think I’m too far out on a limb saying those two are related.
Second Pair (paragraphs 2&6)
So what about the second paragraph and the second-to-last paragraph (paragraphs 2 and 6)? Are those two paragraphs related in any way? Do they address the same topics? Let’s read paragraph #2.
7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 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.
What’s the command that Jesus gives in that paragraph? The command in paragraphs 1 and 7 were “Watch out.” What’s the command in this paragraph? Verse 7: Do not be alarmed. Whenever the Democrats would win an election, people would call in to Rush Limbaugh all upset, and he always said the same thing: “Don’t panic. I’ll tell you when it’s time to panic.” That’s what Jesus is saying here—Things may seem dire, but trust me, it’s not time to panic. Famines, earthquakes, wars—that’s just normal human history. It’s not a sign of anything. Don’t be alarmed. That’s paragraph 2.
Let’s drop down and look at paragraph 6.
14 "When you see 'the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong-- let the reader understand-- then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18 Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now-- and never to be equaled again. 20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.
That paragraph is loaded with commands. And they all boil down to basically the same thing: Be alarmed! Paragraph 2—Don’t be alarmed. Paragraph 6—Run for your life! Paragraph 2—Earthquakes, famines, wars—those things happen all the time. No big deal. It’s just normal human history, so don’t be alarmed. Paragraph 6—This will be the worst period of time ever! You don’t even have the 30 sec-onds it takes to grab your jacket. Run!
Those two paragraphs are saying opposite things, but you can see that they go together because both speak about the troubles going on around you and how you should respond. When this stuff hap-pens, don’t be alarmed; when that stuff happens, be alarmed.
Third Pair (Paragraphs 3&5)
Okay, now let’s look at the next pair—paragraphs 3 and 5. The first pair: Don’t be deceived by false prophets. The second pair: Here’s when you should and shouldn’t be alarmed. Now what is the third pair about? Both of these paragraphs are about persecution.
9 "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the syn-agogues.
That’s what they will face during the normal times. But what about after the abomination when things get really, really bad and it’s the worse time ever? That’s paragraph 5. It’s still persecution, but it’s a lot worse.
12 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their par-ents and have them put to death. 13 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Being whipped in a synagogue would be bad, but this … can you imagine? I think of one of my daughters turning her sister in. Then it says “a father his child”—I imagine things getting so bad that I turn my own kids in. The thought of that turns my stomach. Or they would turn me in and have me put to death.
So again, the paragraphs correspond because they address the same topic, but they say different things. During normal times, you’ll face normal persecution. After the abomination, horrific persecu-tion. But either way, get ready for persecution.
Climax: Paragraph 4
Why so much persecution? The persecution leads us to the climax—the middle paragraph. This is the paragraph that all the other paragraphs are forming an arrow to point toward This is the meat at the center of the sandwich. This is the pinnacle of the sideways pyramid. This is the main point of the whole first half of the Olive Discourse. Just like the arrangement of the whole book of Mark, where the climactic highpoint is in the center of the book, chapter 8, where Peter says, “You are the Christ,” and then Jesus goes up on the mount of Transfiguration and reveals his glory. Just as that was the center-piece of the whole book, this paragraph, paragraph 4 is the centerpiece of the Dangerous Delay section. Let’s look at it.
9 … On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
The preaching of the gospel to the nations. That’s the centerpiece.
In fact, this paragraph 4 is itself its own little chiasmus. There are three sentences. Sentence 1 and sentence 3 are both about standing trial before the authorities. And what is the meat between those two pieces of bread? What’s the peak of that little sideways pyramid? That middle sentence: “the gospel must first be preached to all nations.”
The paragraphs before it were about normal human history, the paragraphs after it are about the great tribulation, and both normal history and great tribulation all point to one, great, central purpose: the preaching of the gospel to the nations.
It also happens to be the point of the whole book of Mark. That’s what the book of Mark is. Re-member the first line of the whole book?
Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark’s book is the gospel about Jesus Christ. And what did Jesus Christ do in that book? That’s summed up in verse 14.
Mark 1:14 … Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God. 15 "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!"
The gospel is the focus of this whole book.
Even if I’m wrong about all the chiastic structure and everything, still, I don’t think I’m too far out on a limb saying this is the main point of the first half of the Olivet Discourse because it’s the whole point of the whole book of Mark.
Now, I’ll go back and cover each of those paragraphs in some more detail, but I wanted to show you this structure so you’ll understand why I will be looking at all those verses through the lens of how they relate to the preaching of the gospel. That’s where Jesus points them when they ask about when the end will happen. And that’s the main point of end times prophecy. The point isn’t to make up an amazing chart of the last days. It’s not to match up news headlines with verses in Ezekiel. It’s not to play a game of pin the tail on the Antichrist and figure out how every world leader’s name adds up to 666. It’s about God creating a situation where the gospel would be preached to all nations. That’s what Jesus wanted to press home in his farewell address to the disciples.
So when they ask, “Gives us times and signs,” Jesus says, “Uh oh. They’re on the wrong track. They’re focused on the wrong thing. I don’t want them counting days until the end; I want them fill-ing those days full with the preaching of the gospel to the nations.
Watch Out
Okay, so now that we have the big picture, let’s go back to paragraph 1.
5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many.
I told you there are 19 commands in this sermon. Of the 19, six of them are, “Watch out.” Every-thing Jesus says in this section is sandwiched between warnings to watch out so you’re not deceived by false Christs. Many will be deceived, and that many will include the Apostles if they’re not extremely vigilant.
The Apostles Were not Deceived
The word translated “deceived” literally means to wander or go astray. The Greek word is planao. We get our word planet from it (they got that name because planets seem to wander around the sky in relation to the stars, which are fixed). So it can refer to being led astray, being deceived, or being in er-ror.
What does that have to do with the preaching of the gospel to the nations? Step one to spreading the gospel to all nations is making sure you don’t get deceived about what the gospel is. Jesus left the Apostles with the task of spreading the gospel to the world. He whispered it into their ears, and their job was to shout it from the rooftops after he was gone. They’re the only ones that have the gospel message. If they get deceived and start following some false messiah, that’s it. The gospel is lost. Jesus said many would be deceived. But it was crucial that the Apostles not be among that number. Other-wise the gospel is lost altogether.
So what do we see in the book of Acts? Remember, Jesus said this would all be fulfilled in that generation? The book of Acts is the story of the Church of that generation, between Jesus’ time and 70 A.D. So do we see the fulfillment of this in Acts? We definitely so those other paragraphs fulfilled. Acts is loaded with stories of them being flogged by the Jews and dragged into court before governors and kings and preaching the gospel and all that, but what about this? Are there lots of stories in Acts about false Christ’s that arose and deceived many? No. The word “deceived” is never used a single time in Acts. Nor is there any mention of any false messiahs.
Did it happen in that generation? Possibly. There is no historical record of anyone claiming to be the Messiah prior to 70 A.D., but there were some messianic-type figures that arose and gained a fol-lowing. So it might have happened. But if it did, the Holy Spirit didn’t see it as something we needed to know about. It’s not recorded in Acts.
So what is recorded in Acts? Acts is the story of the Apostles not being deceived. We see them obeying this command, taking Jesus’ words to heart, and being real careful to watch out and make sure they weren’t deceived or led astray.
It wasn’t easy. They faced some hard questions about the gospel—some questions Jesus hadn’t taught them the answer to, like whether Gentiles had to be circumcised. So when that question came up, they took it very seriously. All the Apostles and the elders and church leaders from all over gathered in Jerusalem for a big conference to hash it out. And there was some lively debate, and they gave seri-ous consideration to both sides, and then Peter and James showed some strong leadership and made the right call. Then they were careful to communicate that decision throughout the Christian world. That was kind of a close call. Later we read that Peter stumbled a little bit in his commitment to the gospel, but Paul reeled him back in right away. So it wasn’t easy, but they did it. Acts is the story of the Apos-tles doing exactly what Jesus said to do: watching out and making sure they weren’t deceived so the message Jesus gave them remained intact.
Were there many who were led astray by false Christs and false prophets during that generation? Possibly, but what God wants us to see isn’t that; he wants us to see that however many were deceived, the Apostles weren’t among them. They didn’t go astray, they preserved the message of Jesus, we can have full confidence that what they gave us in the New Testament is the true Gospel. The new Testa-ment really is an accurate record of what Jesus taught.
Deception in the Church Age
What about in the Epistles? How did the later Bible writers apply Jesus’ words from this part of the Olivet Discourse? Do we read of people being deceived by false prophets or people speaking in Jesus’ name in the Epistles? Jesus said it would happen—was that prophecy fulfilled?
The book of Revelation talks a lot about deception, but the language it uses fits better with the de-ception language in paragraph 7, down in v.22. So we’ll get to that when we get to verse 22.
The most direct statement I can find in the Epistles using this language is in 1 John 2.
1 John 2:26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. (same word for deceive that Jesus used)
He was talking about a group of people he called antichrists. The most common meaning of the Greek preposition anti is “instead of” or “in place of.” So a better translation might be alt-Christs—alternative Christs. They were teachers who claimed to have the authority of Apostles, but they had a new angle, so they separated from the Apostles. Jesus said, “Many will come in my name” (v.6). Com-ing in Jesus’ name can refer to acting on the authority of Jesus, or claiming to represent Jesus, or even claiming to be Jesus. So this language in 1 John fits. These were deceivers who claimed the authority of Christ and led many astray. So this is the closest fit I could find in the NT to Jesus’ language in para-graph 1 of the Olivet Discourse. But 1 John was probably written well after 70 A.D. Most scholars place it somewhere between 85 and 95.
So you get the sense from the NT that people being deceived by false prophets and false Christs is a lot like the earthquakes and famines and wars. It’s not a sign of the Second Coming, it’s not a sign of the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D.—it’s just normal church life in a fallen, cursed world. It spans the whole Church age.
Takeaways
So what are the implications for us when we read paragraph 1 of the Olivet Discourse? Two pri-mary implications. First, you can trust your Bible. Jesus warned the Apostles not to be deceived, they heeded that warning, and so Christ’s gospel remained pure and intact.
And second, the warning is for all Christians throughout the Church age. You and I need to follow in the Apostles’ steps. Most Christians don’t think they need to concern themselves with this. They worry about a lot of things—finances, their health, their kids, the direction the country is going, but the danger that they may be led astray by false teachers—that’s way down on the list. But remaining faithful to the gospel wasn’t easy for the Apostles, who got the gospel firsthand from Jesus himself, and it won’t be easy for us. There are a million ways we can become deceived.
Spiritual Insight
So when Jesus said, “Watch out,” that’s for us. That word translated “watch” that Jesus repeats so often in this sermon is the Greek word blepo. That’s significant because it’s the word Mark has been using all through the gospel to refer to spiritual insight. In chapter 4 Jesus said the reason he spoke in parables was so that “they might be ever seeing, but not seeing” (Mark 4:12). (That’s the word blepo both times.) In chapter 8, when the disciples didn’t understand his warning, he said, “Do you have eyes but fail to blepo?” Then he did that two-stage healing of the blind man to illustrate the concept of see-ing but not understanding what you see. So Mark has used this work numerous times to refer to seeing that which can’t be seen with physical eyes. It’s like Jesus is saying, “Everything I’ve taught you all this time about insight and spiritual discernment—you’re going to need every bit of that. Without that spiritual eyesight, you will be deceived.”
He repeats this later in the context of the great tribulation. When it comes to the end times, whether they are way off in the future and times are normal, or if you’re right in the throes of the worst of the great tribulation, either way, it’s critically important that we see beyond the physical world and have keen insight into spiritual realities, otherwise we’ll be deceived.
And the way to avoid that is to do exactly what the Apostles did—remain glued to Jesus’ teaching. Everything must be tested by the gospel. The only protection we have against false christs is the true Christ. Hold fast to his teaching, and you won’t fall for their deceptions.
Lies about God’s Promises
What is it specifically that these false prophets are going to try to convince us of? It’s interesting—as I was tracing this word for “deceive” through the NT, I noticed it’s used only one other time in Mark—and it’s in this same context of Jesus confronting the Temple authorities. It was when Jesus was debating with the Sadducees, who reject the idea of resurrection, and Jesus uses this word twice in talk-ing about deceived they were—how far they had wandered from the truth (Mark 12:24,27). In their case, the deception had to do with doubting and end-times reality God had promised, namely, the resur-rection. Many end times prophecies are vailed or cryptic—hard to interpret. But the fact of the resurrec-tion isn’t in that category. It’s crystal clear, but they still rejected it.
That may be one of the chief ways false teachers will deceive people about the end times—by cast-ing doubt on things God has clearly promised. In 2 Thessalonians 2:2 the church was in turmoil be-cause of people claiming to speak for the Apostles who were saying the day of the Lord had already passed. In 2 Timothy 2:18 some had wandered from the truth and were saying the resurrection had al-ready occurred. And that wasn’t a small error. Paul says it actually destroyed some people’s faith.
We live in hope of what God has promised, and so when someone casts doubt on those hopes, it can shipwreck our whole system of belief. So whether it be the resurrection, Judgment Day, or the Second Coming, it’s crucial that we hold fast to those doctrines.
And that’s especially true about Judgment Day. All through the OT, what’s the #1 thing the false prophets would say? “Don’t listen to these doomsday prophets like Jeremiah, telling you judgment is coming. You’ll be just fine.” False prophets are always trying to convince you there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to judgment. God is Santa Clause. He would never hurt you.
1 Thessalonians 5:3 While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
No religious doctrine is more popular in our culture than this—God is nothing but love. He loves everyone, he loves everyone the same, he loves everyone unconditionally, he would never judge anyone or condemn anyone or punish anyone. He certainly wouldn’t consign anyone to hell. Be on your guard against that.
Unhealthy Curiosity
And not only do we need to reject people who try to delete truths from the gospel, but we also need to watch out for adding to it. We are never more prone to forcing the Bible to say more than it really says than when we are studying end times prophecy. We want the Bible to answer the question we have. And when it doesn’t, we are tempted to imagine it does. And that’s when we fall into what I call hermeneutical hallucination—seeing things in the Bible that aren’t there. The more you want the Bible to say something, the greater the danger of being deceived into thinking the Bible is saying it.
Remember, it was when the disciples asked the “when” question that Jesus hit them with this warning about being deceived. Later he’ll tell us that God hasn’t revealed the day or hour. God hasn’t revealed when. And so when we start asking questions about when, that’s the time we’re especially vulnerable to deception. Because what the Bible doesn’t provide, false teachers are happy to provide.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
Look again at v.6.
Mark 13:6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many.
Why do they have so much success? What happens when Jesus himself makes that claim—”I am he”? Skip ahead just one chapter.
Mark 14:61 … Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" 62 "I am he," said Jesus.
That’s exactly the same phrase. Did they believe him? No, they crucified him. When Jesus says, “I am he,” they don’t believe him. But when false messiahs come and say, “I am he,” people fall for it left and right. Why? Because we believe the preachers who say what our itching ears want to hear.
People will fall for the false Christs because they need an alternative to the Christ they rejected. Je-sus offers us things we desperately need, like guidance from God, a solution to our guilt, divine protec-tion and wisdom. Every soul craves those things, and so when you reject the source of those things (Je-sus), that doesn’t quiet the cravings. Your soul will seek out an alternative. People will say, “I’m not going to enslave myself to God. I’m my own man, I’m not going to be told how to live.” Then they turn right around and bow their knee to Oprah, or Black Lives Matter, or this or that celebrity. They can’t help it. When they reject the true Christ, they’ll soul will seek out an alternative whether they realize it or not.
So the first lesson we gain from the Olivet Discourse is, beware of unhealthy curiosity. Beware of times when you want to know all about X, but God wants you to focus on Y. When the disciples’ ears start itching for information about times and signs, Jesus warned them about deception because they were barking up the wrong tree. The time prior to the end is a time for vigilance, not calculation. The soldier on guard duty doesn’t try to figure out exactly when the attack will come and set his alarm for then. No, he just keeps watch all night. Don’t try to figure out the time; just live so that any time will work. And never let speculation about end times muddy up your understanding of the gospel.
Guard Your Heart
And guard your heart. Most Christians don’t take Jesus’ warnings about deception seriously be-cause deep down, they really don’t believe they could ever be led astray. “Lots of other dummies out there could be led astray, but not me.” But Jesus gave this warning to the Apostles. If it was an issue for them, it’s most definitely an issue for us. It may not seem like it now, but that’s because we don’t feel the pressure now. If you faced beatings and imprisonment and death, and someone offered you a teaching that would allow you to bypass all that, you might be more open to that teaching than you think.
The Gospel
And remember, the point of all this is for the gospel to be preached to the nations, and rule #1 in doing that is getting the gospel right. You can preach until you’re blue in the face and it won’t do any good if you’re mixed up on the content of the gospel. So master the gospel. Do you have to be a Bible scholar? No. Do you have to learn Greek? No. Do you have to master theology and apologetics and all the rest? No. But you’d better have a solid enough grasp of the gospel so that when really convincing people come along with really slick arguments, you aren’t led astray.
Conclusion
Are you obeying the 19 commands in the Olivet Discourse? Unless you’re on high alert and taking great care to avoid being deceived, then the answer is no.
But if you are vigilant and you cling to the true Christ and his gospel, you’ll be safe no matter what happens around you.
