WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.200 And let me invite Sue Simmison to come and read for Mark's Gospel, 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:08.720 for us Mark chapter 13 verses 24 to 37. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:21.280 It is on page 850 in the black Bibles. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:28.480 But in those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:30.879 and the moon will not give its light. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:34.480 And the stars will be falling from heaven, 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:37.520 and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:43.840 And then they will see the sun of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:49.200 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:52.240 from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:56.400 From the fig tree learn its lesson. 00:00:57.120 --> 00:01:00.960 As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:04.719 you know that summer is near. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:09.680 So also, when you see these things taking place, 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:12.400 you know that he is near at the very gates. 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:19.520 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:24.239 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:29.519 But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:34.479 not even the angels in heaven nor the sun, but only the Father. 00:01:35.759 --> 00:01:41.280 Beyond God, keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:44.239 It's like a man going on a journey. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:48.959 When he leaves home and puts his servants in charge each with his work 00:01:49.679 --> 00:01:52.239 and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:58.079 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come. 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:03.840 In the evening or at midnight or when the cock crows or in the morning, 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:07.599 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:13.039 And what I say to you, I say to all, stay awake. 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:15.199 This is God's word. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:23.120 We are working through the last four chapters of Mark's Gospel from now till Easter. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:26.879 And last week, we started looking at Mark chapter 13. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:28.479 We're going to look at it this week and next week. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:31.759 So we're really considering the whole chapter these few weeks. 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:34.159 And it's about the end of the world. 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:37.520 Jesus is talking here about what's going to happen at the end of all of history, 00:02:38.079 --> 00:02:39.680 history as we know it. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:43.759 And Christians have thought a lot about that because the Bible talks about it a lot. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:47.759 And it's not just about thinking about the events at the end of history. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:51.680 But when you think about what's coming, what is life everlasting, 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.240 you also think about your destiny. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:55.759 You think about who you are. 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:56.879 You think about your identity. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:00.639 You really start to think about what is life actually for? 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:02.719 What is it all moving towards? 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:04.719 And so Christians have thought a lot about this, 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:06.719 but really everybody thinks about this. 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:09.439 So in our city, everybody's interested. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:10.960 What's going to happen? 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:12.719 What's the ultimate? 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:14.079 What is life everlasting? 00:03:14.079 --> 00:03:16.719 What is life beyond life as we know it right now? 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:19.680 So the richest people in Edinburgh, they're thinking about it. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:22.159 And the poorest people in Edinburgh, they're thinking about it. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:26.079 And the most free and the most imprisoned person in all the world is thinking about, 00:03:26.079 --> 00:03:27.280 what is it that's coming? 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:29.280 Is there life beyond the grave? 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:30.639 Is there life everlasting? 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:31.919 And what does that mean for me? 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:33.519 Now, what is my destiny? 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:35.359 We have to think about this. 00:03:35.359 --> 00:03:38.560 This is something humans have to think about, and we always have. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:39.199 We always will. 00:03:40.079 --> 00:03:42.319 And that's exactly what's happening in this chapter, 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:45.919 right back at the beginning of the chapter in verse four. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:49.679 Four of the disciples asked Jesus while they're sitting on the Mount of Olives, 00:03:49.679 --> 00:03:52.879 overlooking Jerusalem from about 300 feet above it. 00:03:53.359 --> 00:03:56.399 They say, when will all these things take place? 00:03:57.039 --> 00:03:58.639 And that's exactly the question they're asking. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:00.319 They're saying, when is the end coming? 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:01.919 When is the end coming? 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:04.479 When will all this stuff you've been talking about Jesus happen? 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:06.000 What is it going to be like? 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:10.000 And you notice there when they say, when will these things take place? 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:11.359 It's plural. 00:04:12.239 --> 00:04:15.039 And they're saying, what's all the stuff that's going to happen at the end of the world? 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:20.719 And last week we said that Jesus gives you two big events here in Mark 13. 00:04:20.719 --> 00:04:25.279 He says, first look for the destruction of the temple. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:27.360 That's the first thing you need to think about, disciples. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:27.920 That's coming. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:30.079 That happened in 8070. 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:31.359 We saw that last week. 00:04:31.359 --> 00:04:34.719 And then the second thing he says, but also there's something beyond that. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:36.879 And it's in verse 25. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:40.479 He says, the Son of Man is going to come down with the clouds. 00:04:40.479 --> 00:04:42.240 He's talking there about his second coming. 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:47.199 One of those things has already happened, the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 8070. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:50.639 One of those things has not yet happened, the coming of the Son of Man, 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:52.639 the second coming of Jesus Christ. 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:57.680 Jesus came, in other words, this passage is about the fact that Jesus came once. 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:00.240 He came as a little bitty baby in a manger. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:03.280 And that he's also going to come again one day, the second coming. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:07.920 And so then he says, okay, so what you say today, so what. 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:13.439 And Jesus four times throughout this whole chapter says, here's the so what, 00:05:13.840 --> 00:05:16.000 be on guard, be watchful. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.399 Verse 33 says, be on the lookout, stay awake. 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:24.240 You heard Sue read that, the very last two words, stay awake. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:29.920 And he's talking to you metaphorically as if you are a soldier sitting on a city wall, 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:35.600 looking out and saying, do not fall asleep, be on the lookout for what Jesus, the second coming. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:42.400 So he's saying, here's what you need to do today, friends, you need to be looking for the second coming. 00:05:42.400 --> 00:05:47.439 Like it's just on the doorstep, like the master of the house is about to come and knock on your door. 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:48.960 That the end really is near. 00:05:48.960 --> 00:05:49.759 That's what he says. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:53.040 So Christians are being, if you follow Jesus to today, you're being asked, 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:59.040 to think about the second coming, to ponder it, to look for it, to make it matter for your life today. 00:06:00.080 --> 00:06:05.280 And so last week we saw a couple ways that thinking about the second coming transforms you today. 00:06:05.280 --> 00:06:06.879 Can change your life now? 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:08.879 Let me give you three more this morning. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:15.280 Three more ways that thinking about the second coming of Jesus will change your life now. 00:06:15.280 --> 00:06:21.920 And today the big idea is that we're being asked here by Jesus, I think, to think biblically. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:24.640 In other words, to put on a Christian worldview. 00:06:24.640 --> 00:06:30.960 So thinking about your life in the light of the first coming of Jesus and the second coming of Jesus 00:06:30.960 --> 00:06:33.040 really means that you just have a Christian worldview. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:34.879 You think about things biblically. 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:36.240 You read the world biblically. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:39.520 The Bible becomes a lens through which you see your life. 00:06:39.520 --> 00:06:40.639 So that's what we're doing here. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:41.840 So let me give you three of these. 00:06:41.840 --> 00:06:46.240 First, Jesus is saying, think about the second coming, think biblically. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:51.840 Because thinking about the second coming makes better sense of your desires. 00:06:51.840 --> 00:06:53.439 So here's the first thing. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:57.199 And this is one that's just about the life of our minds and what's going on in our hearts. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:01.600 That when you put on a Christian worldview, which is really just to say Jesus came once, 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:02.800 Jesus is coming again. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:04.160 That's the Christian worldview. 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:07.759 That that actually fits the reality we live in today. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:09.199 It makes a lot of sense of it. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.800 It makes a lot of sense of the things you long for and your life. 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:18.240 John Calvin said that when you think biblically, it's like putting on spectacles. 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:22.560 So he says it's like putting on glasses that all of it, you know, you're born and you're nearsighted. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:23.680 You're farsighted. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:28.720 But then you put on the biblical worldview and now all this smudges and the fuzziness is gone. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:30.240 You can see the world correctly. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:34.960 Now, of course, everybody in our city thinks that's true about their own worldview. 00:07:34.960 --> 00:07:38.160 That their worldview gives them the lens to see the world rightly. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:39.680 And that's what we're doing here. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:43.439 That their worldview gives them the lens to see the world rightly. 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:46.879 So let me say here that I think Jesus gives a better worldview. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:53.680 He gives a better reason to believe in the first and second comings, that they fit reality better. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:54.560 Lots of ways. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:56.800 There's just one here. 00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:03.199 When you think about the second coming, it's like light shining from the future into the present 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:07.759 and illuminating the space around you, being able to see things a little more clearly. 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:11.519 Now, here's how that works in this passage. 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:15.039 The disciples all the way back in verse four, if you have a hard copy of the Bible, 00:08:15.039 --> 00:08:18.560 you can see all the way back in verse four, the disciples said, 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:20.000 when are all these things going to happen? 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:21.199 When will these things be? 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:23.360 Now, why did they ask that question? 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:27.360 You know, they were sitting there, they're relaxing on the Mount of Olives, 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:31.120 overlooking this great city, and they say, when is all this going to happen? 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:33.759 And it's because they longed for it to happen. 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:34.639 You know, they wanted it. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:38.879 They wanted to be out from underneath Roman occupation, 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:42.319 and they believed that when the end would come, that would happen. 00:08:42.319 --> 00:08:43.439 They wanted salvation. 00:08:43.439 --> 00:08:45.840 They wanted a Messiah to come and rescue them. 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:50.080 They longed for it, but part of that, and this should be all of our experience, 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:54.480 you look out at the world, you're sitting on not the Mount of Olives, 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:58.080 but on Arthur's seat, and you're looking out about 300 feet above our great city, 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:02.799 and you say, you know, I long for these things to take place. 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:03.120 Why? 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:06.399 Because I see the pain, I see the misery, I see the injustice, 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:10.560 I see the brokenness, I see the hurt, I see the poor, I know it in my life, 00:09:10.560 --> 00:09:11.759 I know it in other people's lives. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:13.600 They longed for it to take place. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:15.600 Now, everybody feels this. 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:18.480 Modern people are really good at this. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:22.080 Modern people look out at the world really well and see injustice. 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:25.360 You know, modern people love to march for injustices. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:27.039 We're good at that. 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:32.320 We see injustice, we feel, we have empathy, more than ever in human history for people, 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:34.800 perhaps we feel people's pain. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:36.640 We're good at that. 00:09:36.640 --> 00:09:38.320 Christianity comes and says, yeah. 00:09:39.760 --> 00:09:45.920 The second coming is that time when there is a King who really can give a life of justice, 00:09:45.920 --> 00:09:47.360 peace, and rightness forever. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:50.879 You know, anytime you march for justice and you hope for it, 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:53.520 you're only ever hoping for temporary justice. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:56.800 You know that as soon as the next government is installed, 00:09:56.800 --> 00:10:00.320 there's going to be new forms of injustices all the time, any institution. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:02.240 But the second coming says, you know what? 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:05.360 Christianity teaches that there is actually a hope for permanent justice. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:10.560 The thing that we want so much, we long for the end to come, life everlasting. 00:10:10.560 --> 00:10:11.600 Everybody does. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:12.560 And that makes sense. 00:10:12.560 --> 00:10:16.720 But now at the same time, on the other hand, on the other hand, you say, 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:18.400 you know, I long for a better world. 00:10:18.400 --> 00:10:20.160 I long for life beyond this life. 00:10:20.160 --> 00:10:23.440 And at the same time, you say, but I really love this life. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:27.520 Now, have you ever feel that tension where you say, you know, 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:30.639 there's days where I want nothing more than a second. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:32.639 I want to be in the next life. 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:33.919 I want to be in life everlasting. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:35.199 And then the next day you say, you know what? 00:10:35.199 --> 00:10:36.960 I really love my friends. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:40.159 And I love to sit around the table and I love the laughter 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:45.120 and I love the food and the drink and I love the board games and I love books. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.279 And I love my library. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.120 You know, some of you say that, some of you don't. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:52.240 There's all sorts of things that you look out and you say, 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:54.720 I actually love this life too. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:56.720 Here's a tension. 00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:58.320 Some days you say, I love life. 00:10:58.320 --> 00:10:59.279 I don't want to leave it. 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:00.320 I don't want to die. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:02.960 Other days you say, I long for a better world. 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:06.960 And probably in every day you feel that tension between both those things, 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:09.120 existentially, every person does. 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:11.120 And Christianity comes and says, you know what? 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:14.720 The first coming and the second coming makes complete sense of that. 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:20.080 That there really is a time where Jesus is coming back to save everything. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:20.879 But look, look down. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:22.080 Let me show you this. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:26.879 Real specifically here, the passage we started with verse 24, you see what it says? 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:31.520 It says that in those days, the days just before the second coming, 00:11:31.520 --> 00:11:36.720 right at the second coming, the sun is going to be dark and the moon will not give its light. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:39.120 The stars will fall from the sky. 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:42.720 The sun, moon and stars will all be demolished. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:48.160 Now that's not most commentators, I think rightly take this not to be literal, 00:11:48.160 --> 00:11:49.680 but these are metaphors. 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:52.159 And they come from the Old Testament. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:53.279 We mentioned this briefly last week. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:12:00.079 They are metaphors based on the Old Testament where the sun, the moon and particularly the stars 00:12:00.079 --> 00:12:06.079 refer to the principalities and powers of darkness in the heavenly realms in the Old Testament. 00:12:06.079 --> 00:12:08.319 And the prophets, that's what they refer to. 00:12:08.319 --> 00:12:12.319 And you say it means that when Jesus is coming a second time, 00:12:12.319 --> 00:12:18.079 the first thing that's going to happen is personal, conscious, evil. 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:22.720 Personal, conscious, evil is going to be destroyed. 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:28.560 The sun, moon and stars, these metaphors for the powers that seem to be governing our world right now, 00:12:28.560 --> 00:12:30.160 they're going to fall. 00:12:30.160 --> 00:12:34.480 He says step one, first order of business for Jesus Christ when he comes back again, 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:42.720 is he's going to send personal evil, Satan, death, the cosmic powers that are destroying our world, 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:45.360 the supernatural powers into hell. 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.159 That's what that metaphor means. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:50.639 But then at the same time, right after that, verse 26, it says, 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:55.279 And then you will see the Son of Man coming down with the clouds. 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:57.519 Now, very important here, there's the tension. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:03.680 Number one, Jesus is coming, he's going to send every bit of evil into hell, every bit of it. 00:13:03.680 --> 00:13:08.080 And then verse 26, when he comes, he'll come with the clouds. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:14.720 And that is not a reference to Jesus, just you look up and you see Jesus floating around 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:18.879 some nice clouds, some stratus cumulus, you know, whatever it may be. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:25.120 No, instead, it's picking up also on an Old Testament idea that whenever God comes down, 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:31.840 he comes shrouded in glory, the glory cloud, the Shekinah glory, that's the Hebrew word. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:33.440 That's what it's referring to. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:37.600 And it's not a he comes down in the clouds so that you go up to the clouds. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:42.480 No, people have believed that at times in the Christian tradition called the rapture, 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:45.200 but that's not what's being taught here at all. No, not at all. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:50.960 Instead, it's saying that Jesus is coming down in the Shekinah glory like God came down on Mount Sinai 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:54.720 and he's staying. He's not going anywhere. He's sticking around. 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:59.120 You see, there's the tension. On the one hand, he's coming and he's going to put every single 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:04.240 evil into hell. On the other hand, he's going to stick with us. He's going to stay in the world. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:09.600 You know, you know that tension, that life is good, the world is great. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:14.800 God made it good. Food and drink and friends and laughter, all of it. It's so good. 00:14:14.800 --> 00:14:21.840 You know, you know how you know that Jesus Christ, God become human, is going to have a human body 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:27.360 forever. And he's coming down. He's bringing his body down into earth and he's sticking around 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:33.200 to renew this place. You see, the world is good and the world is bad. It's good. He made it good. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.960 He's going to renew it to the good, but yet it's broken at the same time. Only Christianity 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:43.840 can fit those two poles together. Only Christianity can resolve that tension that we all feel. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:47.200 The first coming and the second coming teach you that. They tell you that, 00:14:48.800 --> 00:14:54.639 do you vacillate? Life is good. Life is bad. Life is good. Life is hard. Do you feel that tension 00:14:54.639 --> 00:15:03.120 in your life? I love it. I hate it. It goes back and forth and that's, yes, it's good, but it's broken. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:11.279 But Jesus is going to fix it. At the return of the king, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:16.879 the very last book he titled it, The Return of the King, for a good reason. I think he had the 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:24.000 second coming of Jesus in mind. And at one point in the book, after the ring has been destroyed, 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:30.639 the ring of power and Mordor has been defeated in a great battle, one of the little hobbits, Sam 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:39.519 Gamgee, the protagonist, Frodo's best friend, he turns to Gandalf, his friend Gandalf, and he 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:43.840 discovers that Gandalf is not dead, Gandalf is alive. He thought that Gandalf had died in the 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:49.360 battle. And this is what he says. He says, I thought Gandalf, I thought you were dead, 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:54.639 but I also thought I was dead. And then he asked this very famous question, 00:15:54.639 --> 00:16:04.000 now, is everything sad going to come untrue? Is everything sad going to come untrue? 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:10.240 The answer to Christianity is yes. The first coming and the second coming is the worldview 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:15.919 that can make you say that, that can give you the hope to say that. It's the only one. And somehow, 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:22.080 some way, the fact that everything has been broken, but will be renewed, somehow, some way, 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:25.360 that means that the renewal will be better than it ever would have been. 00:16:27.680 --> 00:16:35.840 Now, secondly, we not only need to think biblically about this tension we feel between the pain of 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:40.639 life and the greatness of life, that the second coming makes sense of that, but secondly, briefly, 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:46.879 also, the second coming will change your perspective on the time you live in, how you read the times. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:52.159 All right, so look, all of us read the times. We talk about what is this generation like? 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:56.879 What is Gen Z like? We love to sit around the water cooler and complain about Gen Z or whatever 00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:02.399 generation you like to complain. We all do that. Actually, the historians have helped us see that 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:08.640 every single generation, pretty much in all of human history, has always said that this must be 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:14.240 the worst generation in human history. Every generation has always said that. This must be 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:19.839 the generation with the worst moral decay ever. We always think that, no matter what time we live in. 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:29.120 So today, there are six, seven generations alive, Alpha, Z, millennials, X, baby boomers, silent 00:17:29.120 --> 00:17:35.599 generation, all the way back to 1924. That's the oldest, about the oldest. You say, I'm part of 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:40.480 this generation, the time I live in is the time of moral decay, however you read it, we all read 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:44.960 it differently. The Bible comes, Jesus comes and says, Christian, if you're a Christian today, 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:49.759 a follower of Jesus, there's a primary way you should think about time, about the generation 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:55.279 you're living in. Let me show it to you. It's right here. Just if you have a Bible, you can back up 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:01.680 just for a moment with me and just notice this. Verse 17, he says, how dreadful it will be in 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:08.319 those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Now, he's talking about the days of the destruction 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:14.639 of the temple. So one of the phrases Jesus likes to use is those days. You'll see it throughout 00:18:14.639 --> 00:18:21.599 the Gospels. In those days, in those days, in those days, in those days, the days of tribulation, 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:28.639 that's what those days mean. He's saying, first, there's going to be those days. That's 66 to 70 AD 00:18:29.679 --> 00:18:33.359 when the Romans are going to come and destroy Jerusalem. That's what he was talking about. 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:38.000 And in those days, if you have a baby in those days, you better hope it's not winter. It's just 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:42.319 going to be a lot harder to get out of the city and flee to the mountains if it's in the middle 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:49.039 of wintertime. He's saying, I hope it's not winter. Those days, in other words, sometimes when Jesus 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:54.240 says this time marker, those days, he's talking about an immediate future, something that's about 00:18:54.240 --> 00:19:00.640 to take place. But then just look down at verse 19, for instance. Then he says, those will be days 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:06.559 of distress, those days unequaled from the beginning of creation. Now, I said this last week, but when 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:12.480 you start to read about this twofold movement, the temple is going to be destroyed. That's one of the 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:17.279 ends of the age. But then also, there's a bigger end of the age, the second coming. You start to see 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:23.839 that you read it almost like a sing-song narrative. It's like poetry where you say, I don't know in 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.359 this verse if he's talking about the destruction of the temple or something much bigger than that. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:32.799 He goes from saying those days when the temple is destroyed to those days will be worse than the 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:37.759 beginning of all creation. Then from the beginning of creation, you say, is that 8070? I don't think 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:43.119 that that fits 8070. It must be something bigger than that. And you see that he's moving back and 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:49.119 forth actually between the immediate future and the ultimate future. He's saying there's going to be 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:56.079 little tribulations all throughout history that are like prototypes of the great future, the ultimate 00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:03.359 future. And then in verse 24, he finally gets to it what language does he use? But in those days, 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:09.759 but in those days following the previous days, that age of distress, the sun will be darkened and 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:15.039 the sun of man will return. Now, you see he's saying then in other words there's going to be ages and 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:22.559 stages of tribulation. But then one day, you'll enter the age, the final age, the end of the age 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:27.599 when the sun of man will return. When is that? Now, if you read, if you just thought about this with 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:34.960 me for a moment, very closely, he actually says that the final days, the last generation, the last 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:41.839 era of history, he says is right after the destruction of the temple. In those days, the final 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:46.480 days of tribulation, that's when the sun will dark and that's when the powers will fall from heaven 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:51.759 and that's when the sun of man will come back. Now, here's what I'm saying. Here's what Jesus is saying. 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:56.400 He's saying, what time do you live in? What generation are you living in? Jesus is teaching 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:01.440 you live in the last days. You live in the end of history, the end of all of history. Do you know that? 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:06.240 That's what the Bible teaches. Paul says that in 1 Timothy 3 and 4, he says, 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:11.839 Timothy, you are living in the last days, the latter days. And that means that you live in the 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:17.599 age just before the second coming of Christ, meaning there's no other big major redemptive 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:22.240 historical events to take place. We're awaiting the coming of the King. That's the time we live in. 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:26.480 That's the generation we live in. That's why he's saying, don't you realize the master can come 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:30.079 knock on your door at any moment? You're living in the last days. Now, do you think about your 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:36.000 life like that? I'm living in the moments before the coming of the King. And you say, it's been 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:44.240 2,000 years. It doesn't kind of feel that way. But you know, 2 Peter 3, to the Lord who stands 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:50.559 outside of all space and time, a day is 1,000 years and 1,000 years is a day. To the God who 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:55.599 stands outside and apart from time, he looks at every moment, he looks at all of world history in a 00:21:55.599 --> 00:22:01.440 moment. And that means that it's only been a couple of days. It's only been a couple of days for God. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:06.400 A day is 1,000 years and 1,000 years is a day. You're living in the last times. Now, let me 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:11.039 move towards our ending with a couple specific applications about that. That's a biblical 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:15.759 worldview, a Christian worldview. That means that tomorrow, when you're at work, if you're at work, 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:21.039 you know, your colleague comes to you and says, hey, what time is it? You say, it's the latter 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:27.599 days, my friend. You know, that's what you say. It's the end of history. No, don't do that. Don't 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:33.200 be weird, all right? But that is the time. That's what the Bible teaches. That's the age that you 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:38.000 live in, the time just before the second coming. Here's the specific application Jesus gives us. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:42.799 It's a negative one first, and then we'll close with a positive one. The negative one is, look 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:49.119 down at verse 28. He says, learn the lesson of the fig tree. What do I do with this? Well, here's 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:54.640 the lesson from a fig tree. This is what you need to learn. He says, as soon as you see the twigs get 00:22:54.640 --> 00:23:00.000 tender, the leaves come out of the branch, you'll know that the flowers are coming, that the blossoms 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:05.839 coming. And he's saying, as soon, what he's saying there is, as soon as the temple is destroyed, 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:11.039 that's like the early blossom. That's like the leaves coming out the first time, just before 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:15.919 the beginning of spring. He's saying, as soon as the temple is destroyed, which he's compared the 00:23:15.919 --> 00:23:19.919 temple to a fig tree many times in the gospels, he's saying, you will know that you have now 00:23:19.919 --> 00:23:24.399 entered into the end of history, the latter days, the time before the coming of the king. 00:23:25.199 --> 00:23:28.319 All right, so on the one hand, that's how you should read your life. That's what he says. But 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:32.720 then on the other hand, look down at verse 32 and 33, then all of a sudden he says, 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:40.559 but when is that day going to come? You do not know. No one knows the hour. Not even the angels 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:48.079 know. Not even the son of God himself knows. So Jesus, in his incarnate state on earth, 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:54.160 he's saying, I do not know the day that I'm going to return. He says, only the father 00:23:54.960 --> 00:24:01.039 knows at this moment. Right? Okay. What is he saying to us? He's saying, look, live your life as if 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:07.599 the king is about to be here tomorrow. Today, live life in such a way. And at the same time, 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:14.639 never, never try to read the news cycle next to that idea. He's saying, never try to get specific. 00:24:14.639 --> 00:24:19.680 Never try to read the times and say, well, if this government topples, then that'll be the end. 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:26.399 If this happens in this war, then that's surely going to be it. 70 years from now, 10 years from 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:32.080 now. Now there have been thousands of books written that do exactly that. They try to predict the 00:24:32.080 --> 00:24:37.519 exact day that the end will come so far they've all been wrong. Why? Because Jesus said, you don't 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:43.280 know. Stop it. Don't do that. In other words, live your life as if Jesus is knocking at the door. 00:24:43.280 --> 00:24:49.519 He's about to come, but never try to get specific. And instead, James Edwards, one of the commentators, 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:54.800 he says, when he comes, you will not miss it. Every eye will see him. You're not going to miss it. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:59.519 Don't worry. You will see it when it happens, but don't try to guess when it's going to be. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:03.440 Instead, live your life in such a way that you are awaiting the coming of the King. It's coming 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:08.879 at any moment. Now, lastly, let's get more personal here with what that can mean for you today. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:16.319 That Christian worldview needs to drive us all, no matter what you believe in this morning, 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:21.919 to self-awareness. And that's what it has the power to do, to drive you and to look at your heart, 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:29.360 to use your mind to really look at yourself this morning. Verse 33, he says, what do you do with 00:25:29.360 --> 00:25:38.240 this Christian worldview, first and second coming? Be on guard. Be watchful. Be awake. Be alert. 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:43.759 Have your mind opened and ready. Be looking. One of the first things you look at, we'll look at 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:47.440 two more things you look at next week, but one of the first things you have to look at, 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:52.559 if you are willing to believe in the first and second coming of Jesus today, is your own self. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:58.640 That's what I think one of the first things he teaches us here. Here's how. Verse 26, what is it 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:05.360 going to be like when Jesus comes back? Well, we're told you are going to see him coming in the 00:26:05.360 --> 00:26:12.640 Shekinah glory. So every single one of us, not just us, it says every single human being, 00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:18.160 the living and the dead will see him when he comes. You'll put your eyes on to him. You will 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:25.360 actually see him. That's what we're told here. And what will you see when he comes with the clouds? 00:26:25.360 --> 00:26:33.200 What kind of, what will you see? What will your eyes be put on? Look, remember, he came, he came 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:40.480 in swaddling clothes, laid in an animal's feeding trough. But when he comes back, he's going to come 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:47.039 back, he's going to come riding the clouds in full array of glory. He came the first time, poor, 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:52.720 nowhere to lay his head. He's going to come back in regal majesty. That's what you'll see. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:27:00.079 He came the first time as one from whom men have to hide their faces, one who is not beautiful, 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:07.599 one who is not, who men did not want to look at, we're told in Isaiah. And when he comes again, 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:14.399 he will come as the fairest of 10,000. He came the first time as weak, humiliated. He came to die. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:19.759 He came to be murdered by his own creation. That's the first time, but when he comes again, 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:24.559 he's going to come. What's the picture as king? That's what you'll see. You'll see a king, a king 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:30.319 like you've never seen before. A king like you cannot imagine. That's what you'll see. Now, 00:27:31.199 --> 00:27:35.039 let's close with this. One of the things that means is that when you see the king, 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:40.720 you learn from the rest of the Bible that what you're putting your eyes on is the judge of all the 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:47.680 earth. The king in the Bible is the judge. He is the one who determines justice. He sets things to 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:54.399 right. He says what's wrong. He issues punishment. We need a government to do justice, and the king 00:27:54.399 --> 00:28:00.319 is coming to do justice. He's coming to be the judge of all the earth. Okay, good, right. 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:06.319 Lord Jesus, king, come and get all the injustice out of the world. Punish all the bad people. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:10.720 Get all the bad wicked injustices of the people around me out of this world. Look, friends, 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:16.159 when you realize what you will see, the king is judge, you've got to look at your heart. You've 00:28:16.159 --> 00:28:22.559 got to look at yourself. Because if this is actually God we're talking about that's coming back, 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:28.319 the king of all the earth, what does the creed say? He's coming again to judge the living 00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:34.159 and the dead. That's what he's coming for. When you say that you've got to be willing to admit 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:40.240 that in your heart, in your life, deep down, that sometimes you're not just the victim, 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:45.759 you're the oppressor, all of us. That there's deep injustices at the bottom of every one of our 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:53.519 hearts and interactions. Want to try this? This is something I did for myself this week. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:29:00.000 What if, forget the standards of the king himself, forget the standards of God for a moment, don't 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:06.480 forget them, but set them aside and just ask, can you pass this test? What if we held ourselves, 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:13.279 everyone of us, to the standard of everything that we tell kids? What if just for a moment, 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:18.559 you say, if you're a parent, what if you held yourself to the standard of every command you've 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:23.599 ever given your children? Maybe you're not a parent today. What if we're all held to the 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:28.480 standard of everything you were told by your parent, every command that you were given? Now, 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:34.399 what do we say to kids? What do you say to your children? You say, you have to be honest, no matter 00:29:34.399 --> 00:29:39.039 what. You say, you must always tell the truth. If you do something wrong, you need to come and 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:43.759 confess and tell me immediately so we can reconcile. You tell your kids, do not speak badly 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:50.240 about other people, don't think badly about other people, don't judge people, be fair, be honest, 00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:56.480 don't cheat, don't cut corners, do it right the first time, right? Do everything you do well 00:29:56.480 --> 00:30:03.440 the first time. We say, you've got to be kind. We say, you've got to use your tongue to build 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:07.680 people up and encourage people, not to cut people down, not to slander people. You've got to love 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:12.400 your family, you've got to love your siblings, you've got to share, share your stuff, share your 00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:17.120 time, share your money, share your talents, share everything that you love in this world. 00:30:17.120 --> 00:30:21.840 You've got to turn the TV off. You've got to stop watching so much TV. You're addicted to 00:30:21.840 --> 00:30:26.880 screens. You've got to put your phone away. You've got to stop spending so much time on social media. 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:31.120 You've got to do that. We say, you've got to stop wasting your time. You've got to study. You've 00:30:31.120 --> 00:30:35.759 got to work harder. You've got to be more dedicated. You've got to be humble, but you've got to be 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:39.920 confident. You've got to be an encourager, right? You've got to build people up, but you also got 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:44.240 to know that you're really valuable and you're really worth something. Don't roll your eyes. 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:50.720 Don't roll the eyes of your heart. Be patient with other people. You've got to have more self-control 00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:55.519 in your life. You're not self-controlled enough. We say, don't do what you want to do. Do what you 00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:59.920 have to do. Do your duty. Do what's necessary. Do what's required. You've got to be disciplined. 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:05.920 You've got to work harder. You've got to be great. You've got to be humble. You've got two ears, 00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:15.200 one mouth for a reason. You need to listen more. Now listen, what if God took the divine recorder, 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:23.440 you know, the iPhone above that can film everything and he played back for you just one hour, 60 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:28.560 minutes of your life after every one of those commands were given. And it played for you the 00:31:28.560 --> 00:31:35.440 depths of your heart. Every thought, every word that came through your mind, every way you viewed 00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:40.960 other people around you. Look, talk about standing before the king of all the earth, the one who 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:46.160 does right all the time. We cannot measure up to our standards. You can't measure up to your 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:50.480 standard. I can't measure up to my standard. I can't measure up to the standard I expect of my 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:56.880 children. Who is going to stand when the king comes? Who will stand on the day of judgment? 00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:01.600 Nobody. And look, no matter what you believe in today, no matter what your worldview is, 00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:06.000 you've got to be willing to admit that. I cannot even live up to the standards I expect 00:32:06.719 --> 00:32:13.359 for eight-year-olds. I can't do it. And we've got to be willing to say, what is the hope? 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:17.759 What is the hope for a world of justice, a world of peace? What is the hope when the king comes 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:23.919 again and he's coming? He's coming. And the only hope that we have in the second coming is that 00:32:23.919 --> 00:32:29.839 you realize the beauty of the first coming. You realize what he came to do the first time. 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:35.759 Jesus is coming back to be the judge of all the earth. This is when he's saying all this, 00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:42.639 this is Wednesday of Passion Week. So we're 48 hours from the cross at this moment. We're 24 00:32:42.639 --> 00:32:48.879 hours from the Passover. 48 hours away from the cross, he has his eyes set to Golgotha right 00:32:48.879 --> 00:32:54.480 now as he says this. You know, in his heart, in his mind, he knows the only hope these people have. 00:32:54.480 --> 00:33:02.960 And the second coming is this moment, the first coming. And here's the truth. The judge is coming 00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:09.759 again. He will judge the living and the dead. But when he came the first time, the judge himself 00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:15.759 was judged in our place. The only way that you're going to be able to stand on the judgment day is 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:20.960 if you lift up your head and you look and you see and say, the judge himself was judged for me. The 00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:25.279 judge himself has already stood in my place so that on the day of judgment, I'm not going to be 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:31.600 judged. I'm going to be called friend. I'm going to be gathered. I'm going to be part of the community. 00:33:33.120 --> 00:33:36.720 Why did Jesus Christ come the first time? He came to set the world to right. He came to judge the 00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:42.000 world actually. He came the first time to judge the world, but how did he do it? He judged it in 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:47.840 himself. He judged the world the first time by judging himself, by bringing justice down on his 00:33:47.839 --> 00:33:55.039 own soul and his own body, by going to hell for us so that we never have to. I'll give the last word, 00:33:55.039 --> 00:34:00.720 the Heidelberg Catechism this morning. Question 52. Last question, the Heidelberg Catechism. 00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:05.199 Heidelberg Catechism was written in the 1500s during the time of the Reformation in Germany. 00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:10.719 And it really summarizes everything that we've talked about this morning. And here it is. 00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:19.199 What comfort is it to you that Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead? 00:34:20.319 --> 00:34:24.959 What comfort can you get from that? And here's the answer, that in all my sorrows, 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:33.519 all my hardships, and we might add, and even the depths of my sins, I lift up my head and I look 00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:43.360 for the very same person who offered himself to God for my sake the first time, and thereby has 00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:51.599 removed from me every curse of judgment forever. He shall cast all my enemies and his enemies into 00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:59.199 condemnation, but he will bring me into every joy and every glory. That's the hope of the second coming. 00:34:59.199 --> 00:35:07.359 Let's pray. Father, would you today cast us with a biblical worldview, give us a biblical worldview, 00:35:07.359 --> 00:35:12.399 that we might think of our lives in between the first and second comings, that that would mean 00:35:12.399 --> 00:35:19.439 everything to us? Lord, we give thanks today that the most important thing it means is that the 00:35:19.439 --> 00:35:25.439 judge has already, that the judge was judged in our place so that we don't have to be judged. 00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:32.240 We are found in him. You are a God of mercy and love. How can you set the world to rights without 00:35:32.240 --> 00:35:37.599 sending us into condemnation? Oh, because Jesus has already been judged. Thank you, oh Lord. 00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:42.480 I do pray this morning that somebody would realize that for the first time, that that's not 00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:51.360 mythological, but real. I pray, Lord, that you would help us this morning realize that that is 00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:57.120 no tale that has been told throughout the centuries that was invented, but one that actually is not 00:35:57.120 --> 00:36:04.160 only historical, but makes the most sense of life now, that every other worldview has huge issues. 00:36:04.720 --> 00:36:12.800 Lord, so speak to us now by the Spirit, both the intellectual value of believing this, 00:36:13.599 --> 00:36:19.519 and then the deep soul value. Give us both of those things, mind and heart, meaning this morning. 00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:24.320 And we ask for that, we pray for that, we plead for that. Come Holy Spirit and do work on our 00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:30.400 hearts now as we sing, our closing hymn. Don't leave this word void. We know you won't. Make it 00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:50.639 powerful to us, make it flow over us as we sing now, and we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.