All right, Mark 13. If you have your Bible, open up there to Mark chapter 13.
I'm thankful to be with my church this morning.
The verses we're looking at are Mark 13, verses 32 through 37.
So let's read this. This is the words of Jesus.
He says,
to my wife, of course, and I've even warned Mike in the past,
if you're ever up here and you look out and you see me dozing off,
I promise it's not you, it's me.
Sometimes, you may not fall asleep as much as I do,
but sometimes falling asleep feels like the easiest thing in the world, doesn't it?
And sometimes staying awake feels almost impossible.
It feels like I just cannot keep my eyes open.
We've all experienced that.
Our King, Jesus, is calling us here in this text to stay awake.
To stay awake in anticipation of the day of his return,
which is a day that we do not know when it will be.
And he says, you don't know when it is, so stay awake.
In Mark 13, Jesus is speaking to his disciples
because at the beginning of Mark 13,
he said something that caught them by surprise.
As they're coming out of the temple one day in Jerusalem,
one of his disciples said to him,
look, teacher, what wonderful stones
and what wonderful buildings here in this temple complex.
And Jesus said to him, do you see these great buildings?
There will not be here left one stone upon another
that will not be thrown down.
He says this temple is going to be destroyed.
So that got his disciples' attention.
And they come to him and they ask him,
hey, tell us when will these things be
and what will be the sign
when all these things are about to be accomplished?
So in chapter 13, Jesus is teaching his disciples
and he's telling them about the signs of these things.
Now the temple was destroyed in the year 80-70.
So we know when that happened.
That's a historical occurrence
that Jesus was predicting at this time.
And so as Jesus is going through in chapter 13,
he's telling them, hey, what are going to be the signs
that tell you that this time is approaching?
But he goes beyond that even.
And as he goes through in chapter 13,
he also starts talking about a day
even beyond the destruction of the temple in AD 70,
the day of his return when he sets up
his full and final kingdom on earth.
And there's a lot of debate
about where in chapter 13
is Jesus talking about the events
surrounding the destruction of the temple
and where is he talking about the signs
and events surrounding his full and final return?
There's arguments about where he's talking about what.
But when we come to verse 32,
and he says concerning that day or that hour,
there's pretty solid agreement
that when he says that day and that hour,
he's talking about his full and final return.
And as we think about Jesus
talking about future events,
there's a word, a term that he uses
over and over again in chapter 13.
He says either, it's either translated
be on guard or see to it.
Either way, but it's the same word.
In verse 5 and verse 23, he says,
be on guard because false Christs are going to come.
Try to lead you astray.
In verse 9, he says, be on guard
because persecution is going to come.
And then in our text in verse 33,
he says, be on guard because you do not know
when that day will be.
So as Jesus is teaching about coming events
and he keeps saying, be on guard, be on guard,
be on guard, another way you could hear this
is Jesus saying, hey, heads up.
Heads up, disciples, I'm telling you
what things are going to be like.
Because here, as in most places in the New Testament,
when we're learning about future events,
the point is not that we can construct
a perfect timeline so that we know
exactly what is going to happen when
and what corresponds to what
and who should we be watching out for.
The point is that we get heads up
about what things are going to be like
so that we know how to live faithfully.
So chapter 13 is a big heads up from King Jesus
to us as his disciples.
And in verses 32 through 37, he's saying,
heads up, you don't know the day of my return.
So stay awake.
Stay awake.
Be on guard.
Don't be found sleeping.
Stay awake.
So if it's so important to Jesus
that we stay awake in anticipation of his return,
what does that mean?
What does staying awake mean to Jesus here?
Obviously it does not mean that
none of us ever sleep physically.
So what does staying awake mean?
In these verses we see three things
about what it means for us to stay awake
in the way that Jesus is calling us to.
Staying awake in obedience to Jesus
means that we live expectantly,
means that we live diligently,
means that we live in the fear of the Lord.
Live expectantly, live diligently,
live in the fear of the Lord.
First of all, Jesus is calling us to live expectantly.
Look at verses 32 and 33.
Jesus says,
concerning that day or that hour,
no one knows.
Not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son,
but only the Father.
Be on guard.
Keep awake,
for you do not know when the time will come.
Now one caveat to make here is that
as I'm talking this morning
and I talk about the unknown nature of that day
or the uncertain nature of that day,
I mean from our perspective,
we don't know when it will be.
But when we say that it's unknown
or it's uncertain,
we don't mean that we don't know
whether or not it's going to happen
or that we're not certain
that it's going to happen
because one person does know
exactly when it's going to happen.
It's the Father.
And he has fixed a date
on when Jesus will return
and set up his full and final kingdom.
He knows when it's going to be.
And so as we talk about,
hey, we don't know when this day will be,
it does not mean that it's not going to happen.
It doesn't mean that it's up in the air.
We just mean that we don't know.
So the unknown timing of that day
should make us people of expectation.
We should be living expectantly.
Our minds should be always oriented
towards living appropriately
in light of our King's return.
The return of Jesus should always be
in the background of our thought process,
in our mental landscape
as we're thinking about our lives
and where we're at.
The return of Jesus is the sunrise
that's always just about to peek over the horizon.
And living expectantly in this way
doesn't mean that we can't make long-term plans.
It doesn't mean that we don't think
about future generations.
But it means as we think about our lives,
if we're living expectantly,
we acknowledge that all of our plans
are always provisional.
There's an old-fashioned saying
that some people still say
in conversation.
They say,
should the Lord tarry?
As they're making plans
and thinking about,
hey, we're going to do this or that next year
or this is what we're hoping for.
They say, should the Lord tarry?
Now, of course,
with all sorts of kind of Christian phrases like this,
we could go overboard.
You know, my wife asks,
hey, what are we having for lunch today?
I say, well, should the Lord tarry,
Janie, we're going to go to La Fogada.
No, we're just trying to have
a normal conversation here, right?
But there's wisdom in keeping that phrase
in your vocabulary.
As you're sitting with your family,
as you're making plans for your future,
as you're thinking about
the growth of your children,
as you're thinking about career moves,
as you're thinking about education,
just always keeping that phrase
in the back of your mind.
Hey, should the Lord tarry?
Because there's a chance
He might return
before these plans come to fulfillment.
So we live expectantly.
When we live expectantly like this,
it frees us from being ruled
by the world's terms.
We're not always running
the calculus of, okay, well,
hey, is this a time
where kind of we're in the clear
and we're safe
to pursue our own ends maybe?
And then later,
as we approach that day,
we'll start thinking a little bit
more about the kingdom.
Jesus explicitly wants us
not to know when He will return
so that all of our lives
will be lived
in readiness and expectation.
We know what specific due dates
tend to do for a lot of us.
It gives us a date
so that we can procrastinate
for a long time
and then the week before
that due date,
we're hitting it hard.
And so Jesus says,
hey, I want you not to know
because I think
when you don't know,
it's going to affect
the way you live
in a certain way
and that's exactly the way
I want you to live.
He thinks there's something good
that happens for us
when we're living
with expectation of His return.
And for us,
the return of Jesus
is the amazing thing
that's always about to happen.
Every day is a day
of anticipation.
So we live expectantly.
You know what a super simple
way to say that is?
We think about that day more.
That's what it means
to live expectantly.
We think about that day more.
So this requires of us
that we give time
and thought
and mental headspace
to anticipating that day.
Staying awake
isn't just kind of a feeling
that comes and goes.
Staying awake means
that we're doing something
with our minds intentionally.
We're asking ourselves,
what does that day mean
for my life now?
And you have to do this
for yourself.
Other people can't live
in expectation for you.
What does that day mean
for my life now?
If Jesus' return
could happen
on your drive home
from church today,
and if not then,
perhaps on your way
to work tomorrow,
and if not then,
then maybe when you're
doing laundry
in the afternoon,
what does that do
to your life?
How do you carry yourself?
How does it impact
your priorities?
How does it impact
the way you live
with the people around you?
Living expectantly
means we think about
that day more
and we ask ourselves,
okay, if that day
really could be
right around the corner,
what does that mean
for me right now?
Living expectantly
thinking about
that day more
also means
imagining what
will it be like?
Practically,
what will that day
be like?
Have you ever imagined
what that day
will be like?
You should.
We imagine everything
that we're looking
forward to.
If you have a vacation
coming up
in the weeks
leading up to it,
you're looking forward
to it,
you're thinking about it,
you're daydreaming
about it,
when you're at work
and you're thinking
about how nice
it's going to be
to get away
from some stress
and if you're going
to a place
that's kind of far away,
you might be thinking
about some enjoyable weather
or a great destination
that you're going to.
You're just imagining,
oh man,
that's going to be so great.
You're running it through
in your head
anticipating it.
We imagine everything
that we're looking forward to.
So if you never imagined
what that day
will be like,
it might indicate
that you don't really
believe that's going
to happen,
at least not
in your lifetime.
So my challenge
to you
this week
is someday
this week
as you're driving
around Kenosha,
maybe you're on your way
to work
or school
or maybe you're
dropping the kids
off somewhere,
maybe you're on
75th Street
or Green Bay Road
or Sheridan,
as you're driving
around Kenosha,
take a few minutes
and ask yourself,
what would it be like
if Jesus returned
right now?
Like right now
as I'm driving.
So maybe you're thinking
to yourself,
okay,
so there's going to be
a trumpet blast,
right?
So you imagine
as you're driving,
boom,
there's a trumpet blast.
You're like,
what is going on?
And you're,
okay,
what is that like?
And then there's light
shining from the sky
and you're like,
what's going on?
You're trying to look
through your windshield
to look up into the air
and you see heavenly armies
in the clouds
and a rider on a white horse
and you're like,
oh,
it's happening.
It's happening.
But what do I do?
Should I call my family?
Should I try to get home
really quick?
I think at some point
I'm going to be like
caught up in the air
to meet the Lord,
so should I get out
of my car right now?
And right now
you might be sitting
right there thinking,
Caleb's like,
talking like really specific here.
Yeah.
We imagine
what we look forward to
so I challenge you
this week to imagine
what is it going to be like
on the day
that the Lord returns?
You don't know exactly.
You can imagine.
You can read the Bible
and get a few ideas
and say,
okay,
what's that going to be like for me?
How am I going to feel?
How am I going to respond?
And it's going to help you
think through,
hey,
how should I be living
right now?
In 2 Timothy chapter 4,
Paul is writing to Timothy
near the end of his life
and he writes
these famous words
that we've all heard.
He says,
Paul says,
I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith.
And then right after that,
Paul says,
henceforth,
there is laid up for me
the crown of righteousness
which the Lord,
the righteous judge,
will award to me
on that day
and not only to me
but also to all
who have loved his appearing.
You see what Paul
is saying there?
Paul never saw that day.
He died in faith
but what he's telling us
is that he lived his life
loving that day.
Loving the appearing
of his king
and Paul says,
God has a reward for me
because I lived my life
loving that day.
And not only that,
Paul's saying,
there is a crown
for all of you
who live your life
loving that day.
All who have loved
his appearing.
So staying awake
for our king
means that we live
expectantly.
It also means
that we live diligently.
Working at what God
has placed before us.
Look at verse 34.
Jesus gives us
a little mini parable
to kind of help us
think about,
hey, what is it like
for us to be
staying awake?
He says,
it's like a man
going on a journey
when he leaves home
and puts his servants
in charge,
each with his work
and commands the doorkeeper
to stay awake.
We are the household of God.
That's what the Bible
calls the church.
And our master Jesus
has given each of us
work to do.
You see what it says there?
He puts his servants
in charge,
each with his work.
He has delegated
his authority
and Jesus has delegated
his work to us.
So if you are a follower
of Jesus,
he has placed in front of you
and around you
good, meaningful,
life-giving,
eternally relevant
work to do.
And it's not just your job
where you're employed
and it's not just
any ministry you might do
here at the church.
It's comprehensive
and it's unique to you.
He has placed you
in your workplace.
He has placed you
in your family,
in your school,
in your church,
in your neighborhood
to be doing good work.
His work.
He's entrusted that to you
and to be awake
in light of the day
of the Lord
is to be fully engaged
in that work,
in those areas of work.
Because just because
they're before us
and around us
does not mean
that we are engaged
with them.
So to be awake
in the light
of the day of the Lord
is to be fully engaged
in these areas of work.
Because our master
has left us
so much more to do
than to just punch in
and punch out
at a workplace
and then zone out
on football highlights
and hope for the weekend.
He has given us
friends who need us
to check up on them,
children who need
full care and attention,
spouses who need
our support,
co-workers who need
to be shown
what it means
to work with honor
and dignity
and integrity
and all of these
are people
who He has entrusted
to us
for us to pray for
and to share
His Word with.
So you don't need
to wonder,
hey, what work
does God have
for my life?
You just need
to look around
at where you are
because He has
entrusted things to you
in His household
for you to do.
And the unknown
timing of that day
means every day
here counts.
we have limited time
to do what God
has given us to do.
No day is promised
to us.
We can't always
put things off
to the future.
When Jesus tells us
you don't know
the time,
when the time will come,
He's also saying
you've got to get busy.
We don't know
how long we have
to do the work
that God has given us.
And to be honest
with you,
for me right now,
if that day
is today,
I don't think
I'll be satisfied
with what I have done
with the work
that God has
entrusted to me.
There have been
too many wasted days
for me.
And so in light
of Jesus' words
to us this morning,
I'm saying,
hey,
I want to be awake.
I want to be
working diligently
at what He's given me
because one way
or another,
my time is limited
and I want to make it count.
So we live
expectantly.
We live diligently.
Thirdly,
staying awake
means living
in the fear
of the Lord.
Look at verse 35
and 36.
Jesus has just
told this little parable
about the man
who goes on a journey
and so now He's
applying it directly
to His disciples
and He says,
therefore,
stay awake
for you do not know
when the master
of the house
will come,
in the evening
or at midnight
or when the rooster
crows
or in the morning,
lest He come suddenly
and find you asleep.
So Jesus focuses in,
He makes it really clear,
He emphasizes
the master can return
at literally any time
and you must stay awake
because you absolutely
do not want
to be found sleeping.
But here's my question.
Why not?
Why does it matter
if the master
finds you sleeping?
I don't think Jesus
is here suggesting
that being found sleeping
equates to
eternal condemnation.
Jesus tells
other similar parables
that do have some
of that kind of warning
but I don't see it here.
I don't think
that's His point.
So what is our motivation
that would make us say,
hey,
no way
do I want
to be found sleeping?
Well,
it has to be
that pleasing
our master,
our king,
matters to us
very,
very much.
His opinion,
His assessment
of us
carries weight
in our hearts
like no one else.
In other words,
we live in the fear
of the Lord.
Fearing the Lord
means taking God
seriously
in your life.
Taking God
seriously
in your life
means living
as if God
actually is
who He says
that He is
and living
as if He
actually is going
to do
all the things
that He says
He will do.
Fearing the Lord
means taking God
seriously.
So to live
a life
of wakefulness
means living
for the approval
of your king.
When someone
is insignificant
to you,
their opinions
and their instructions
are insignificant
to you,
right?
It's just like,
I don't care
what you think.
But when you
have someone
in your life
who you really
respect
and you really
trust
and also
maybe they happen
to have a lot
of influence
and authority,
you never want
to let them down.
We've all had
people like this
in our lives,
right?
Maybe it was a teacher,
maybe it was a coach,
maybe it was a really
great boss,
but someone
who we said,
their opinion
really matters.
And if they
entrust something
to me,
I never want
to let them down.
Can you think
of people like
that in your life?
To live a life
of wakefulness
means living
in the fear
of the Lord.
We take Him
seriously
and His approval
on that day
matters more
to us
than anything else.
We say,
man,
He could come
at any time.
I do not
want Him
to find me
sleeping.
I want Him
to find me
awake
because what
He says
about me
matters.
I want
to finish
this morning
with a few
specific warnings.
We've all
heard of
sleeping pills,
sleep aids.
In the
pharmaceutical
industry,
these are
sometimes called
hypnotics or
tranquilizers.
I'm going to
go with
tranquilizers.
I like that
word.
I want to
warn us about
three day of
the Lord
tranquilizers that
will put us to
sleep very
quickly.
Three things
that deaden
our expectation
of that day,
that distract
us from the
work that God
has given us
to do,
and that
trivialize the
things of God
so that we do
not live in the
fear of the
Lord.
three tranquilizers,
three things that
will put us to
sleep that we
need to watch
out for.
I gave the
first one a
funny name.
I'm calling it
algorithmic
online activity.
So we all
know, right,
that social media
and YouTube
and Netflix
and pretty much
a lot of the
things we do
online,
they're based on
these different
algorithms that
these companies
concoct,
and their
sole purpose
is to identify
what it is that
gets us most
engaged on that
platform and
then to feed
that to us over
and over and
over again so
that we are
perpetually engaged.
The goal is that
you always keep
scrolling, always
keep watching,
always keep
clicking no matter
what it takes.
so they'll feed
us little funny
videos or things
related to our
hobbies or interests
or things that
we're looking to
buy or stories
about celebrities
that we're
interested in.
And they for
sure will feed
us two of the
most potent forms
of this content,
sexual content
or political
content, so that
either on the
one hand we keep
coming back to
feed our lust or
on the other hand
we keep coming
back to get more
and more agitated
and worked up
to feed our
disgust and our
outrage at our
political opposites.
Algorithmic
online activity
will put you to
sleep if you're
not careful.
It will deaden
your expectation
of that day.
It will distract
you from the
good work that
God has put right
in front of you
for you to do
and it will kill
the fear of the
Lord in your life.
Make everything
else seem more
important or more
interesting.
The second
tranquilizer to
watch out for
is known,
ongoing,
protected sin.
When there is
something in your
life that you
keep coming back
to you that you
know is direct
disobedience to
your king but
you are not
willing to
address it,
you're already
asleep.
And
now here's the
truth, right?
We know this.
We all sin.
We all have
things that we
struggle with for
a long time.
And really the
truth is when
Jesus returns,
he is going to
find plenty of
Christians in the
midst of some sin
at that moment.
sin.
But if there is sin
that you know
about in your
life that you
keep returning
to and that you
are protecting
from repentance,
it will be
impossible for you
to stay awake
in the way that
Jesus commands.
It will kill your
expectation of his
return.
It will keep you
from the work he's
called you to do
and it is the
opposite of the
fear of the
Lord.
So watch out.
Stay awake.
The last
tranquilizer I want
to highlight is
the pursuit of
wealth.
And I said the
pursuit of wealth
because you don't
have to have much
money to be caught
up in the pursuit
of wealth.
Now working hard
and saving and
providing for
yourself and for
others are all
values straight from
the Bible, but we
know that we can
get carried away.
We can always feel
like we need a
little more.
We can start to
feel like our
security and our
happiness is based
on achieving some
level of financial
accumulation.
And we can
sacrifice a lot to
achieve that.
And so we keep
working and planning
and maneuvering like
crazy without
realizing that we've
totally fallen asleep.
And Jesus' return
has no place in any
of our plans or
calculus and we
have no time to
engage with the
various work that
God has given us
and numbers carry
more weight in our
hearts than Jesus'
approval.
It's a tranquilizer
and it'll put you
to sleep.
So be on guard.
Stay awake.
You do not know
when that time will
come.
Live expectantly.
Live diligently.
Live in the fear of
the Lord.
I want to read the
Lord.
I want to read the
Lord.
I want to read the
Lord.
I want to read the
Lord.
I want to read the
Lord.
To close, I just want
to read two texts
about that day
to help generate some
expectation in our
hearts to wake us up
a little bit as we
leave this morning.
The first one is
1 Thessalonians 4,
15 through 17.
For this we declare to
you by word from the
Lord that we who are
alive, who are left
until the coming of the
Lord will not perceive
those who have fallen
asleep.
For the Lord himself
will descend from heaven
with a cry of command,
with the voice of an
archangel, with the sound
of the trumpet of God,
and the dead in Christ
will rise first.
Then we who are alive,
who are left, will be
caught up together with
them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air,
and so we will always be
with the Lord.
Stay awake.
Revelation 19, starting
in verse 11.
Then I saw heaven opened,
and behold, a white horse.
The one sitting on it is
called Faithful and True,
and in righteousness he
judges and makes war.
His eyes are a flame of
fire, and on his head
are many diadems, and he
has a name written that
no one knows but himself.
He is clothed in a robe
dipped in blood, and the
name by which he is called
is the Word of God.
And the armies of heaven
arrayed in fine linen,
white and pure, were
following him on white
horses.
From his mouth comes a
sharp sword with which
to strike down the
nations, and he will rule
them with a rod of iron.
He will tread the wine
press of the fury of the
wrath of God the Almighty.
On his robe and on his
thigh he has a name written,
King of Kings and Lord of
Lords.
That's worth staying awake
for.
Let's pray.
Father, some of us are
wide awake, loving,
appearing.
Some of us are kind of
dozing off and starting up
once in a while, realizing
we've fallen asleep, and some
of us have been sleeping for
a while.
I pray that Christ the King
Church would be a church
that's awake.
Father, by your grace, help
us to see that day, help us
to believe that day, help us
to love that day.
in the name of Jesus, amen.
Amen.
Fingres CREAMS