Keep Watch!

Mark 13:23-37

²³ So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’^[c]

²⁶ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

²⁸ “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it^[d] is near, right at the door. ³⁰ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown

³² “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be on guard! Be alert^[e]! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴ It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵ “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

 

This part of the passage begins with a warning to be on your guard. V.23 And the passage ends by saying again to be on your guard and be alert. V.33 Jesus says that they must Keep Watch v.34 And then the final word in the whole passage, V. 35: Watch!

So, Jesus expresses to people that there are reasons to be aware of what is going on in our world. There are very serious things that will be going on. Those who are watching and guarding against personal complacency will do well, others will not. Why is it so important to keep watch?

The first reason is that A Future Day of the Lord is Coming!

 

1. A Future Day of the Lord is Coming

Verse 24: In those days, following THAT distress…

“‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

²⁶ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

Genesis after flood similarities: Genesis 8:

“Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

²² “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

Genesis 9:

⁹ “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you ¹⁰ and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. ¹¹ I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

¹² And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: ¹³ I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶ Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

 

1. A day of judgement

Isaiah 13: ⁹ See, the day of the Lord is coming
—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.

(Sound like the flood?)

¹⁰ The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.
¹¹ I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

Joel 3: ¹ “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
² I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.
³ They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes;
they sold girls for wine to drink.

⁹ Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war!
Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
¹⁰ Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”
¹¹ Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there.

Bring down your warriors, Lord!

¹² “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.
¹³ Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full
and the vats overflow— so great is their wickedness!”

¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
¹⁵ The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.
¹⁶ The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Revelation 19:

¹¹ I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

king of kings and lord of lords.

¹⁷ And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, ¹⁸ so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”

¹⁹ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. ²⁰ But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. ²¹ The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

 

1. A day of salvation v.26-27

He will gather His elect from the ends of the earth.

The punishment of the wicked is always also a day of salvation     for God’s people!

 

1. A day to be prepared v.35-36

“Be on your guard!”

You don’t know when, so you are to always be prepared for Jesus        to split the skies and come down!

II Peter 3:

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

The Second reason that the people need to keep watch is that no one knows when that future Day of the Lord will arrive!

 

1. No One Knows When the Day Will Come

³² “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.

1. Always be ready

Parable of the ten virgins.

The story here about the master returning.

The parable about the vineyard that we read previously.

Just as the Jewish people were not ready for the first advent of Messiah, we must be careful to always be ready for the second coming of Jesus!

 

1. Jesus is guaranteed to return

Quoting from James Montgomery Boice’s systematic theology: Foundations of the Christian Faith:

In the New Testament, one out of every 25 verses deals with Jesus’ return! It is mentioned 318 times in the 260 chapters of the NT. Mentioned in every book except for Galatians, 2 and 3 John and Philemon.

I Thes 4:

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

 

Acts 1:

⁶ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.

⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹⁰ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

John 14: ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

I Cor 15: ⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

Revelation 1:

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶ and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

⁷ “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

 

Revelation 19:

¹¹ I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”^[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

king of kings and lord of lords.

¹⁷ And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, ¹⁸ so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”

¹⁹ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. ²⁰ But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. ²¹ The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

Revelation 22:

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

 

God is criticized for the way He manages history!

 

II Peter 3: ³ Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. ⁶ By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. ⁷ By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

 

1. The faithful are not fearful

These great word pictures with their huge cataclysmic imagery are not told to scare God’s people into compliance. The faithful are not the targets of God’s wrath! That is not God’s way. God tells us these things so:

1. We won’t be surprised at difficulty
2. Imagine yourself living in western North Carolina. Their whole world has changed. What has not changed? God, His kingdom purposes, our calling to be salt and light in the world.
3. We are to draw strength from our calling and our promised hope!

 

III. How to be Ready

 

1. Set Jesus as the Lord of your life

Hear and obey the teachings of Jesus. Recognize Jesus as LORD and understand that those who oppose that fact will oppose you at times in unpleasant ways. If Jesus says life will be this way, then accept that fact and serve Jesus!

Jesus will return again. We will never know the when. We must trust in Him and then, in the end the faithful win!

 

1. Use what you have to serve God

        The set up: Matthew 24:

        ⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?

 

        Parable of the Talents:

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.

²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

 

1. Treat others like you would treat Jesus

Parable of the Sheep and the Goats:

When did we do the things that caused us to be rewarded by Jesus?

When I was hungry and you fed me, when I was a stranger and you invited me in, when I was in prison and you visited me, when I was naked and you clothed me, when I was sick and you comforted me.

“When did we do these things for you Jesus?”

In as much as you have done these things for the least of these brothers of mine, you have done it to Me!

Other people do not deserve mercy. Other people do not deserve your help, your energy, resources, time etc. Jesus does! How can we see Jesus in others?