WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 I'm going to read together from Mark's gospel this morning, Mark chapter 13, one last look 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:12.160 at Mark 13, verses 24 to 37. 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:16.320 This is God's word. 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:21.940 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not 00:00:21.940 --> 00:00:26.719 give its light, the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:28.560 will be shaken. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:34.119 And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:39.439 And then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:42.280 of the earth to the ends of heaven. 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:45.399 From the fig tree learn its lesson. 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:50.640 As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:56.920 So also when you see these things taking place, you know that He is near at the very gates. 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:03.640 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:07.480 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:12.120 But concerning the day or that hour, no one knows not even the angels in heaven, nor the 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:14.840 Son, but only the Father. 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:19.320 Be on guard, keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come. 00:01:19.320 --> 00:01:22.280 It is like a man going on a journey. 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:27.040 And he leaves home when he puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:29.719 the doorkeeper to stay awake. 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:33.719 Therefore stay awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:39.760 the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows or in the morning, lest he come suddenly 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:41.680 and find you asleep. 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:46.599 And what I say to you, I say to all, stay awake. 00:01:46.599 --> 00:01:51.599 So we're working through Mark's Gospel, chapters 13 to 16, all the way up to Easter time. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:56.319 And this is our third and final look at Mark 13, which is about the end of the world. 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:59.439 We'll be in Mark 14 next week. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:01.479 This is about the end of the world, as we've been saying. 00:02:01.479 --> 00:02:03.599 How do all the fairy tales end? 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:04.599 How do they all end? 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:05.599 The very last sentence. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:08.079 And they lived happily ever after. 00:02:08.079 --> 00:02:11.079 And that's exactly what every single human being wants. 00:02:11.079 --> 00:02:13.240 That is the object of human desire. 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:15.639 We want to live in a happily ever after. 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:21.240 We long to be standing in a place at the end of the world that is a land of justice, righteousness, 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:22.600 and peace. 00:02:22.600 --> 00:02:28.800 The astronomers tell us that the world, the earth, is someday going to be eaten by a 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:29.800 star. 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:31.240 That that's the death that we can expect. 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:33.760 That's annihilation. 00:02:33.760 --> 00:02:39.360 And for a lot of people, even in the Christian world, the end of the world is ultimately 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:45.000 hitting spiritual golf balls on that celestial driving range, you know, teeing off in that 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.200 celestial golf course above as spirits. 00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:52.439 And Christianity comes and says something different than both those options. 00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:54.159 It's not annihilation. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:57.439 The world will not be eaten by a star. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:01.000 There will be a remembrance of what has taken place. 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:06.839 And at the same time, we will not just be spirits living in heaven, some celestial life. 00:03:06.839 --> 00:03:11.799 Merely note that we've seen every the past couple of weeks that Jesus is coming back. 00:03:11.799 --> 00:03:12.799 He's returning. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:18.360 So you could walk away from this reflection about the end of the world knowing that the 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:21.640 second coming of Jesus is the three Rs. 00:03:21.640 --> 00:03:23.140 Three Rs. 00:03:23.140 --> 00:03:29.320 The return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the restoration of all things. 00:03:29.320 --> 00:03:30.400 Jesus Christ, the three Rs. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:35.600 He is going to make everything sad come untrue in His return, in the resurrection, and in 00:03:35.600 --> 00:03:38.720 the restoration of this earth. 00:03:38.720 --> 00:03:39.720 And embodied life. 00:03:39.720 --> 00:03:41.880 That's what He's coming to give us. 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:47.439 And so right here, He's sitting on the Mount of Olives, 300 feet above Jerusalem looking 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:48.439 out. 00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:54.919 And that's why people call Mark 13 and its parallel passage, Matthew 24, the Olivet discourse. 00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:58.159 Jesus is chat with the disciples from the Mount of Olives. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:03.199 And we said the past couple of weeks that He points out two big events that are going 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:04.199 to happen. 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.240 And the first is in verse 14. 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:12.879 In verse 14, He says that the abomination of desolation is coming. 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:14.280 What is that? 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:22.160 The abomination is a word that first century Jewish people use for whenever a pagan person, 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:27.079 a person who does not believe in the God of the Bible, comes and stands in the temple, 00:04:27.079 --> 00:04:30.199 the temple in Jerusalem and desecrates it. 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:34.920 And that happened in 168 BC with a guy named Antiochus Epiphanes. 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:38.680 And so since then, they said that was the abomination of desolation. 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:42.000 And Jesus says there's another abomination of desolation coming. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:44.759 And it happened, 8070. 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:50.759 The general of Rome Titus stood in the holy place in the temple, desecrated the temple, 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:51.920 then destroyed it. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:58.040 So Jesus predicts an immediate end of Jerusalem here in part of the passage. 00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:02.360 And then that is like a foreshadow of a greater end. 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:05.040 A tribulation that's coming to the whole world. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:07.520 And then at the end of that tribulation, the return of Jesus. 00:05:07.520 --> 00:05:09.639 And that's the two big events He's talked about. 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:14.800 The abomination of the temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, that's a foreshadow of the 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:18.120 ultimate future, the second coming of Jesus Christ. 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:24.199 And you see that verse 24, verse 25, Jesus Christ is coming again in the clouds in power 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:25.639 and glory. 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:28.879 He's not coming in just the clouds above in the blue sky. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:33.439 You know, it's talking about that when Jesus comes down, it is going to be the glory cloud 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:38.680 of the Old Testament falling down upon the earth when He comes and restores everything. 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:40.279 So that's the big picture. 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:47.040 And we have said for two weeks, Jesus turns and then says, okay, be on your guard. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:48.959 Be watchful for this. 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:51.279 Four times He says it in this passage, long for it. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:55.439 Make it matter for your life that this should make a difference in how you're living today 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:59.040 and what you're up to and how you think about your life right now. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:03.560 And so today, let me just give you the final three very practical applications. 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:04.560 We've looked at six already. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:09.519 We're going to walk away from Mark 13 with nine reasons that the second coming makes 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:10.720 it different in your life right now. 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:12.240 I won't rehearse the previous six. 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:13.800 We don't have time for that. 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:15.159 So let's just look at the final three. 00:06:15.159 --> 00:06:18.600 These are, I think, the clearest three in the passage. 00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:22.159 So I've done the obscure ones and now we're coming to the clearest ones. 00:06:22.159 --> 00:06:23.159 All right. 00:06:23.159 --> 00:06:24.959 So here they are. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:31.599 Today, Jesus tells us, thinking about the second coming, the return of Christ, is hope 00:06:31.599 --> 00:06:33.799 for the sleepy. 00:06:33.799 --> 00:06:41.519 Hope for the sleepy is a source for waking up again and ultimately is joy until the sleep 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:43.199 is over. 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.079 So it's all about sleeping today. 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:47.079 Some of you will be asleep. 00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:53.679 Hopefully, maybe this will wake you back up, wake us all up in heart at least. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:59.840 First, Jesus tells us here we need to see that the second coming is hope for the sleepy. 00:06:59.840 --> 00:07:01.759 Now let me show you this. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:06.560 This is an interesting connection between chapter 13 and 14. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:09.000 We already said in verse 14, the destruction of the temple. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:14.680 It's a foreshadowing of the great tribulation that's coming before the second coming. 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:17.360 It's a foreshadow, a prototype. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:22.639 But then in chapter 14, verse one, just if you have a Bible you can look down briefly, 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:26.079 this is happening two days before the Passover meal. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:30.599 The Passover happens on Thursday night in the way that they counted time in the first 00:07:30.599 --> 00:07:31.599 century. 00:07:31.599 --> 00:07:32.599 That means it's Wednesday. 00:07:32.599 --> 00:07:36.000 So two days for them is not Tuesday to Thursday, but Wednesday and Thursday. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:37.000 That's two days. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:38.319 So it's Wednesday. 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:39.800 Passover meal is Thursday. 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:44.639 And right after the Passover, Jesus is going to go remember it into the Garden of Gethsemane 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:47.120 with his disciples. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:51.759 And in Mark 13, the end of the world, what's his big command to us? 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:55.240 He says at the very end, stay awake. 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:56.319 Look for the second coming. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:57.599 Don't forget about it. 00:07:57.599 --> 00:07:58.680 Let it matter to your heart. 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:02.800 Let your heart be awake that Jesus is going to come back again one day. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:08.079 When you get to Mark 14, in the Passover meal takes place, and he goes into the Garden 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:10.159 of Gethsemane with who? 00:08:10.159 --> 00:08:16.039 The exact same disciples, Peter, James, John, that he was sitting on the Mount of Olives 00:08:16.039 --> 00:08:17.599 with in Mark 13. 00:08:17.599 --> 00:08:19.319 And what does he say to them? 00:08:19.319 --> 00:08:25.079 He says, will you be watchful and stay awake with me? 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:28.560 So in Mark 13, he says, be watchful, Peter, James, John, and stay awake. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:33.240 And in Mark 14, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he says, Peter, James, and John, be watchful 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:37.080 and stay awake with me because I go to pray. 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:40.000 Now Jesus, we're told, was in agony in that moment. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:45.799 He was so sorrowful over what was about to happen to him at the cross that he was sweating 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:47.519 blood. 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:50.000 He was in deep emotional pain and anguish. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:56.120 And he said, will you stand here and watch, be watchful, meaning guard the Garden because 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:58.000 it's not yet time for the soldiers to come. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:03.279 I need to pray, watch for me, be watchful, be like a soldier on the lookout for me. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:04.720 Now what have we seen the past two weeks? 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:09.720 When he tells us, look for the second coming, it's be like a soldier looking for the second 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:11.439 coming on the horizon on the city wall. 00:09:11.439 --> 00:09:12.960 And he says the exact same thing. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:16.439 And then he says, and stay awake and pray for me. 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:18.280 And he gives the exact same command. 00:09:18.280 --> 00:09:24.360 And then what happens is when he goes to pray, he comes back three different times and it 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:27.880 says that he found them sleeping. 00:09:27.880 --> 00:09:30.160 Their eyes were too heavy. 00:09:30.160 --> 00:09:31.400 That's what the text tells us. 00:09:31.400 --> 00:09:33.120 Chapter 14 verse 40. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:36.320 Now look, you see that there's a clear connection. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:40.560 Jesus knew what was about to happen in the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:09:40.560 --> 00:09:46.040 He repeats the command, be watchful, stay awake, and they fell asleep. 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:49.159 Be watchful for the second coming, stay awake. 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:53.839 Be watchful for my first coming, the crucifixion, and stay awake and pray for me. 00:09:53.839 --> 00:09:56.000 And the apostles, these are the apostles of the church. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.679 They can't do it. 00:09:57.679 --> 00:09:59.120 They're sleepy disciples. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:01.759 They're very sleepy disciples. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:07.199 And what we learn here is that when Jesus says, be awake to the second coming, look for it, 00:10:07.199 --> 00:10:14.759 long for it, make it matter in your life, in your heart right now, that we can't do it. 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:20.080 The disciples couldn't, the apostles could not stay awake when Jesus Christ, the embodied 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:25.039 Christ was standing right next to them saying, I'm sweating blood, pray for me, stay awake. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:27.240 I'm about to go to hell for you. 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:29.559 And they couldn't do it. 00:10:29.559 --> 00:10:33.000 And he's giving us the command in 13, giving them the command and saying, look, you're 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:35.399 not going to be able to. 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:37.519 Now what does that mean? 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:42.200 What it means is I think Jesus is trying to say when he says, be watchful, stay awake, 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:44.279 yet chapter 14, you won't be able to. 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:50.679 He's trying to get us to see that we struggle to stay awake to the things of God. 00:10:50.679 --> 00:10:54.360 You know, do you have that experience that you come on a Sunday, maybe your faith is 00:10:54.360 --> 00:11:00.240 renewed and week to week as the week goes on, you enter into a season of prayerlessness and 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.000 you're not conscious at all of the things of God. 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:07.159 You don't feel like your life is being moved by the gospel and the reality of Jesus in 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:08.319 any meaningful way. 00:11:08.319 --> 00:11:11.879 And he's saying, yeah, you got a sleepy heart. 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:13.139 Your heart's sleepy. 00:11:13.139 --> 00:11:16.080 That's why I'm having to say, be watchful, stay awake. 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:17.080 It's going to happen to you. 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:19.480 It happened to them. 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:22.279 What does it mean to be awake? 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:24.159 It's simple. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:29.080 It's something like experiencing the conviction of sin in your normal life. 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:34.759 It means at a heart level having a daily trust in the reality of Jesus in the gospel. 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:41.399 It means experiencing something of the assurance of salvation on a day different than Sunday 00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:42.399 throughout the week. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:48.679 It means having a real sense of the reality that Jesus really did all this for me. 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:50.519 And he really is coming again. 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:54.199 And this really is the meaning of my life. 00:11:54.199 --> 00:11:55.199 It's a simple question. 00:11:55.199 --> 00:11:57.120 It's a simple application. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:59.959 Are you sleepy? 00:11:59.959 --> 00:12:01.639 Don't answer that out loud. 00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:02.639 Are you sleepy? 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:04.000 Ask yourself in your heart. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:05.759 Are you sleepy this morning? 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.240 And Jesus in some sense is saying, yeah, you are. 00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:14.440 Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love, prone to forget the 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:18.720 God who has rescued me and saved me, prone to walk away. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:19.960 The apostles struggled with it. 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:21.080 We struggle with it. 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:22.240 And that's why he's telling us here. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:24.120 Now I just want to ask you some questions. 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:27.720 These are not meant at all to be guilt inducing. 00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:34.200 And instead, I hope for me that they're just meant to be here to wake us up and to restore 00:12:34.200 --> 00:12:38.799 us and renew us and being watchful, being awake to Jesus and the second coming in the 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:39.799 light of the first coming. 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:40.799 Here they are. 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:41.799 I have six for you. 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:43.279 I'm just going to list them. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:48.319 How real has God been to your heart this week? 00:12:48.319 --> 00:12:53.839 How clear and vivid is your assurance and certainty of God's forgiveness and His fatherly 00:12:53.839 --> 00:12:57.099 love in your life right now? 00:12:57.099 --> 00:13:02.599 To what degree are these things present to you in your life in this season? 00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:10.920 Are you having any particular seasons of sweet delight in God, in God's presence at the moment? 00:13:10.920 --> 00:13:13.180 Do you really sense His presence in your life? 00:13:13.180 --> 00:13:18.879 Have you been finding scripture to be alive and active in your soul? 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:23.840 Are you finding certain biblical promises extremely precious and encouraging? 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:26.720 Now when you say yes to those questions, it means I'm awake. 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:28.519 My soul's awake. 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:32.320 But I know at the same time right here, this is here because Jesus is saying, I know that 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:35.320 you fall asleep. 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:36.840 That's why He came. 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:38.320 Now let me really show this to you. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.600 We need two things in the light of this, in the light of our sleepiness. 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:42.600 We need one to see. 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:48.360 Remember, the apostles were very sleepy disciples and that gives me comfort. 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:53.920 The apostles were very sleepy quite often, even in the rest of the New Testament. 00:13:53.920 --> 00:13:57.960 But secondly, just lastly before we move on, we need to see a little bit of foreshadowing 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:00.360 here. 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:06.919 Remember that the destruction of the temple was a foreshadowing to the tribulation right 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:10.120 before the great second coming, the second coming of Jesus. 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:15.800 But there's also another prototype, a foreshadowing, taking place in this passage. 00:14:15.800 --> 00:14:20.680 What does He say in Mark 13, verses 24-25? 00:14:20.680 --> 00:14:27.519 At the time of the second coming, the tribulation just before the sun, the sun will go dark. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:29.840 The moon will stop reflecting light. 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:32.399 The stars will fall from heaven. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:33.399 Darkness will fall. 00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:35.120 That's what Jesus says. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:38.320 And then you jump over to Mark 15, 33. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:43.160 And you learn that the moment that Jesus Christ was crucified, the sun stopped giving 00:14:43.160 --> 00:14:45.280 its light. 00:14:45.280 --> 00:14:47.720 Darkness covered the entire land. 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:51.160 You see, in the second coming, when the judge comes on the earth, darkness will fall upon 00:14:51.160 --> 00:14:54.800 the land, but in the first coming, darkness already fell. 00:14:54.800 --> 00:14:58.200 At the moment of the crucifixion, it was dark over the whole land. 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:01.560 Mark 13 says, then the heavens will be shaken. 00:15:01.560 --> 00:15:06.560 Matthew 24, the parallel passage says, the heavens and the earth will shake in the judgment 00:15:06.560 --> 00:15:08.520 when Jesus comes. 00:15:08.520 --> 00:15:11.160 What happened when Jesus was crucified? 00:15:11.160 --> 00:15:14.640 Matthew and Mark both tell us the earth shook. 00:15:14.640 --> 00:15:17.400 The rocks were split. 00:15:17.400 --> 00:15:21.200 And you see, what it's saying to is, when you look at the second coming and you realize, 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:24.520 I'm sleepy, I struggle to stay awake. 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:28.480 I struggle to care about the things of God in my day-to-day life. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:31.480 It's saying, you look at the second coming and you see those things are going to happen. 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:36.759 The hope that we have for standing on that day is the fact that that very judgment fell 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:40.759 upon Him at the cross. 00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:42.120 That the world went dark. 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:44.319 That the judgment already came. 00:15:44.319 --> 00:15:45.600 That the rocks already split. 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:47.079 That the earth already shook. 00:15:47.079 --> 00:15:53.559 That my sleepiness, my failure to have any sense that God is real in my life day-to-day, 00:15:53.559 --> 00:16:00.239 completely landed on Jesus at the cross. 00:16:00.239 --> 00:16:05.000 When the light of Christ appears in His second coming, when that holy light shines down on 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.919 you and He illuminates every bit of who we are, what will that be like? 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:11.079 How can you stand? 00:16:11.079 --> 00:16:18.039 And the answer is, because Jesus Christ already experienced the judgment of the second coming 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:20.319 in the first coming. 00:16:20.319 --> 00:16:22.959 The cross was just like the end of history. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:24.720 It already happened to Him. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:31.960 Now listen, you can never stand in the judgment that Jesus stood in. 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:33.440 You can never stand in the judgment. 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:37.120 We can never stand in the judgment of the second coming when the light comes. 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:42.480 We've got sleepy hearts and Jesus Christ, the judge, has taken on every bit of that judgment 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:45.280 for us, every bit of our sleepiness into Himself. 00:16:45.280 --> 00:16:52.800 Now, I just hope that you know that Christianity comes today and says that is real. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:55.279 That is not mythological. 00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:01.519 And I hope that that lands on you today and that you're persuaded by it and that it would 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:07.680 really move you, really move you to consider what is reality, what is my life? 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:10.519 What could it be like to live life in the light of the second coming? 00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:15.720 Now secondly, and more briefly, now that leads us then to the clearest takeaway. 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:22.200 There's a temptation here to say, okay, I do struggle with sleepiness of soul. 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:27.680 Jesus Christ has taken on every bit of my sleepiness, my judgment, my sin for me when 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:31.240 the rocks were split, when the earth quaked, when the darkness fell over the land at the 00:17:31.240 --> 00:17:32.740 crucifixion. 00:17:32.740 --> 00:17:33.740 So I'm okay. 00:17:33.740 --> 00:17:35.640 Yes, you are. 00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:38.120 If you follow Jesus Christ today, you're okay. 00:17:38.120 --> 00:17:42.840 You will stand no matter how Jesus finds you when He comes. 00:17:42.840 --> 00:17:47.720 He might find you on the sleepiest day of your life when it comes to the things of God. 00:17:47.720 --> 00:17:51.240 But if you're a follower of Jesus, if you trust in Him today, you will stand on that day, 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:53.720 no matter what, when the Master comes. 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:57.960 And so there's a temptation there to say, okay, well, I don't really need to care about 00:17:57.960 --> 00:17:58.960 my life today. 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:01.160 I don't really need to care about change. 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:07.400 And so the clearest application, I think in this whole passage, is that the second coming 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:12.279 is actually the source for waking up now before He comes. 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:14.839 Now look, here's what Jesus does. 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:17.640 You can see He gives us, to us, in a couple metaphors. 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:23.400 If you look down at verse 32, He says, look, when it comes to the second coming, that day, 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:25.880 that hour, no one knows when it's going to happen. 00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:28.720 The angels don't know the Son Himself. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:32.720 The earthly Christ does not know when He's coming back again. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:33.720 And so you don't know. 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:34.720 We saw that last week. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:36.200 We can never say that we know. 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:41.000 But instead, He tells us, but you are living in the end of history. 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:43.640 And so this is how He, Tresor, really drive that home. 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:46.320 Verse 34, He gives you a metaphor. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:53.000 It's like a man going on a journey that leaves home, puts the servants in charge, and says, 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:54.000 stay awake. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.559 You do not know when the Master is coming home. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:00.079 Be busy with your work because the Master can come knock on the door and say, I'm home 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:01.079 at any time. 00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:08.079 Now, Jesus is telling us here that He sees Himself as like the Master of the house, and 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:09.879 He's coming home again. 00:19:09.879 --> 00:19:10.879 So that's good news. 00:19:10.879 --> 00:19:15.359 Jesus thinks that when He comes back to earth, that is Him coming home. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:16.359 He's coming home. 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:19.000 The Master's coming home to be with us. 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:21.159 But He says, you have no idea when that's going to happen. 00:19:21.159 --> 00:19:22.759 When's He going to knock on the front door? 00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:29.519 How is Jesus going to find you when the inapproachable light of heaven shines down into this world? 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:30.519 That's the question. 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:31.519 How is He going to find you? 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:32.519 That's what He leaves us with. 00:19:32.519 --> 00:19:33.599 Stay awake. 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:36.159 How will He find you when He comes again? 00:19:36.159 --> 00:19:38.879 And what He's suggesting here is, will you be found? 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:45.440 Will you long to be found in a state of integrity when He comes again? 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:50.880 In other words, do you, because of His first coming that you are safe in Him, do you now 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:57.800 long to be found in a state of growth, integrity, sanctification as we put it in His second 00:19:57.800 --> 00:19:59.080 coming when He comes again? 00:19:59.080 --> 00:20:01.000 He says, we should long for that. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:05.520 We should have deep desire that when that light shines down and the Master comes and 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:12.200 knocks on the door, He will find us in the secret place in a state of integrity. 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:14.680 That's the ultimate application that He's giving us here. 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:17.279 Now, He gives you another metaphor as well. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:22.879 He says, the coming is like birth pains, you know? 00:20:22.879 --> 00:20:27.039 And you're there and the baby's on the way and all of a sudden, there's the baby. 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:28.039 I've seen this happen. 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:30.279 I've been a witness to this. 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:31.720 And all of a sudden, there it is. 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:33.240 The baby has come. 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:34.480 That's what the end is like. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:41.079 There's going to be unbelievable joy, but how will God find you when the new birth happens, 00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:42.640 when the resurrection takes place? 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:46.039 That's the question He's asking us. 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:47.039 Application. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:52.880 Look, this is not easy, I think, this idea. 00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:54.440 It's very difficult. 00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:59.160 It's very difficult if you're walking through a season where you do feel sleepiness in the 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:01.000 soul. 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:05.039 But I think this is the more specific thing He's asking you today. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:07.680 Do I live a double life? 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:13.839 You know, how will the Master find you when the light of God shines in on this world, 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:15.759 in the secret place, in the private place? 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:17.279 How will He find you? 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:21.359 And I think the questions He's asking that He's been asking in Mark's Gospel is, do 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:22.640 I live a double life? 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:27.119 Now, the word that gets used in Mark's Gospel is hypocrisy, and it's a Greek idea from a 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:28.519 stage play. 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:34.680 So the word hypocrite is an actor that in an ancient, Greco-Roman context would put 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:39.879 a mask over their face and switch masks to play the different roles on the stage. 00:21:39.879 --> 00:21:45.440 That's the hypocrite, a person who out in public wears a different face that then gets 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:48.759 taken off in private, and they're a completely different person. 00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:49.759 You see what He's saying? 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:54.759 He's saying, are you religious and publicly respectable on the outside in the eyes of 00:21:54.759 --> 00:21:58.039 the world, but then a very different person in the soul? 00:21:58.039 --> 00:22:02.839 If you were to take the mask off the soul and look deep down, would you be an enormously 00:22:02.839 --> 00:22:04.759 different human being? 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:07.559 Not a perfect person, not a blameless person. 00:22:07.559 --> 00:22:12.319 Jesus Christ will come and He will not find any of us perfect, not at all. 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:16.799 But He's saying, are you, in other words, chasing integrity? 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:18.799 Are you seeking sanctification? 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:20.920 Because of your justification, do you long to be sanctified? 00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:21.920 Do you long to grow? 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:24.599 Do you long to experience deep change in your life? 00:22:24.599 --> 00:22:26.680 That's the question that He's asking. 00:22:26.680 --> 00:22:35.720 I once heard a really well-known preacher in America say that the sins that He struggled 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:42.360 with in His 20s were the exact same sins He was struggling with in His 70s. 00:22:42.360 --> 00:22:45.519 And I thought, that's discouraging. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:46.560 But then He said, you know what? 00:22:46.560 --> 00:22:51.360 I know that I'm prone to these very specific temptations. 00:22:51.360 --> 00:22:52.840 All of us are in different ways. 00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:58.639 And He said, and I can look back over my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and now 70s and say that 00:22:58.639 --> 00:23:03.000 I still struggle with the same temptations and sins, and yet there is a big difference. 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:04.000 I've grown. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:05.000 I've changed. 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:06.519 I'm able to resist a lot more easily. 00:23:06.519 --> 00:23:07.839 I'm able to run. 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:08.839 I'm able to fight. 00:23:08.839 --> 00:23:09.959 I'm not the same man I used to be. 00:23:09.959 --> 00:23:11.639 He said, I struggle with the same things. 00:23:11.639 --> 00:23:12.639 I'm not perfect. 00:23:12.639 --> 00:23:13.839 I'm not blameless. 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:14.839 Not at all. 00:23:14.839 --> 00:23:17.000 I've got the gospel. 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:20.959 But I have sought change, integrity, sanctification, growth. 00:23:20.959 --> 00:23:22.799 And that's really what Jesus is saying. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:27.799 When you think about the Second Coming, ask yourself, because of the cross of Jesus Christ, 00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:28.799 I know I'm okay. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:31.440 The judge was judged in my place. 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:35.599 But now in this life, do I long to be more like the Son, Jesus? 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:36.599 Do I long to grow? 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:37.599 Do I long to change? 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:39.159 Do I long to be conformed to Him? 00:23:39.159 --> 00:23:40.480 Do I long to be sanctified? 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:41.480 That's what He's asking. 00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:45.599 Now, we're going to move on to the last point, but let me just say this. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:52.639 Really that fight of sanctification, of being found walking in the light when the light shines 00:23:52.639 --> 00:23:57.719 on you is really about the little things more than the big things. 00:23:57.719 --> 00:23:59.359 Deep change, how does deep change happen? 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:05.039 Have you decided in your life, I really do want to address my particular sin issues? 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:06.159 I want to do surgery. 00:24:06.159 --> 00:24:08.959 I want the Lord to do surgery on me. 00:24:08.959 --> 00:24:10.519 How does deep change happen? 00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:14.480 It happens in the little moments, not the big moments, not the mountaintops, not the biggest 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:15.799 decisions of your life. 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:21.279 It happens in the 10,000 micro decisions that we make every day. 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:26.640 The little moments of temptation, the little moments to allow or not allow the thoughts 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:29.920 of judgment about that person next to us to cross our minds. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:34.079 The little ways to fight the gossip, the little ways to fight the things we particularly 00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:37.519 struggle with, that's where deep change happens. 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:40.839 When temptation comes, we pray instead. 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:45.519 It's the micro steps that lead to big sanctification over the long term. 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:47.519 That's what Jesus is asking. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:51.439 How do you want to be found when the master comes, when the light shines? 00:24:51.439 --> 00:24:54.359 It's not about getting the gospel. 00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:55.480 You already have it. 00:24:55.480 --> 00:24:57.799 It's for followers of Jesus. 00:24:57.799 --> 00:24:59.679 But he's saying, but do you want to grow in this life? 00:24:59.679 --> 00:25:00.679 Do you want to change? 00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:10.840 Lastly, the second coming offers us joy until this sleepiness ends. 00:25:10.840 --> 00:25:15.240 All of us are going to struggle ups and downs in our life with the sleepiness of soul. 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:19.240 The last thing Jesus is telling us here, I think, is that when you look at the second 00:25:19.240 --> 00:25:24.880 coming of the Lord, what it's offering you is the possibility of joy until all the sleepiness 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:27.440 goes away. 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:30.360 Here's how he says it. 00:25:30.359 --> 00:25:34.279 There's lots of little deaths we experience in our life, little moments of sleepiness, 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:39.759 not being the person we want to be yet, not having grown in the ways we want to have grown 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:41.359 yet. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:47.919 We look back and think, I thought my faith would be stronger by now. 00:25:47.919 --> 00:25:50.279 That's the death of the soul, those moments. 00:25:50.279 --> 00:25:52.839 That's the surgery we really actually need. 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:55.359 Then we face another sleepiness of soul. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:26:00.199 That's that one day we will be hooked up to the wires and we will lay down in the sleep 00:26:00.199 --> 00:26:01.199 of death. 00:26:01.199 --> 00:26:05.079 We got all sorts of big sleepy problems. 00:26:05.079 --> 00:26:09.119 The sleep of the body and death, the sleep of the soul in this life. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:13.439 Jesus says, you got to look at the second coming to see that there is a possibility 00:26:13.439 --> 00:26:16.879 of joy in the midst of that sleepiness. 00:26:16.879 --> 00:26:19.799 Here's how he puts it, verse 28. 00:26:19.799 --> 00:26:22.199 He says, look at the lesson of the fig tree. 00:26:22.199 --> 00:26:24.159 He tells you, look at the fig tree. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:26.320 Let it be a lesson to you. 00:26:26.320 --> 00:26:31.840 He says, from the fig tree, as soon as the branch becomes tender and puts its leaves 00:26:31.840 --> 00:26:35.600 out, you know that summer is almost here. 00:26:35.600 --> 00:26:40.560 Today, sort of feels like springtime is almost here. 00:26:40.560 --> 00:26:41.680 That's exactly the same lesson. 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:45.640 He says, you look at the fig tree and you see that first green leaf come off and you 00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:49.080 know summer is about to come. 00:26:49.079 --> 00:26:55.759 And earlier, the birth pain metaphor, he compared the whole second coming to birth and he said, 00:26:55.759 --> 00:27:01.359 when you see the tribulation happening, persecutions and rumors of wars, you'll know that the birth 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:05.119 pains have begun, the beginning of the end. 00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:11.799 And I've been around for four births and I've never experienced any birth pains. 00:27:11.799 --> 00:27:13.559 I haven't had that. 00:27:13.559 --> 00:27:15.359 But some of you have. 00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:18.439 And you know that it's incredibly painful and that's what he's saying. 00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:23.160 And then all of a sudden, remember, just like we said a moment ago, but then there's a baby 00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:25.600 and joy breaks through. 00:27:25.600 --> 00:27:31.720 And sometimes you leave your home for work in the morning and you come back in the evening 00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:37.240 and in your garden, the flowers have bloomed in just a day all of a sudden. 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:40.559 And then you know springtime is coming. 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:43.519 You walk across the meadows in the morning and you come back in the afternoon and the 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:45.759 crocuses have come up. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:48.680 And that's when you know springtime is coming. 00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:53.720 And Jesus is saying, you've got to look at the second coming and know that the ultimate 00:27:53.720 --> 00:28:00.000 spring, the ultimate summer is coming in order to survive the winter, in order to get through 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:03.319 the sleepiness, the winter times that we're all experiencing. 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:05.720 Now look, what is that as we close? 00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:07.960 What's your winter right now? 00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:13.359 What are you walking through that is winter to you and to your soul at the moment? 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:17.519 Jesus is saying whatever it is, you've got to think about the second coming in order to 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:23.359 see the crocuses, the signs, the joy that you can have in the now. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:29.199 Some of us right now this morning, maybe winter is just saying, I am a sleepy Christian. 00:28:29.199 --> 00:28:30.919 I'm nominal in many ways. 00:28:30.919 --> 00:28:33.559 I'm not yearning to grow. 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:34.719 I don't have that heart right now. 00:28:34.719 --> 00:28:35.719 I want it. 00:28:35.719 --> 00:28:38.719 And today's the day where you can just ask God for it and you can pray for it. 00:28:38.719 --> 00:28:40.319 You can say that is winter. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:42.079 That I'm not sanctified. 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:44.799 I'm not growing in the way I want to grow. 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:46.720 But there's a lot of other things. 00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:52.960 And so for some of us today, we are looking at Monday thinking I do not like my job. 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:55.119 I hate the work I'm in the midst of right now. 00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:57.759 I really struggle with it. 00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:00.679 I know that I'm smarter than my boss, you know. 00:29:00.679 --> 00:29:04.559 And the bureaucracy is really crushing me. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:06.960 Or it just feels like I'm not contributing. 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:08.039 I'm idle. 00:29:08.039 --> 00:29:09.720 I'm not giving anything to the common good. 00:29:09.720 --> 00:29:10.960 I don't like the job I'm in. 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:12.799 I don't know if this is the career for me. 00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:15.240 You struggle with the vexation of work. 00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:16.240 You're made for it. 00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:17.240 You're made to be fulfilled in it. 00:29:17.240 --> 00:29:22.440 And yet, and so you long for it, but at the same time, you don't like it. 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:24.279 That's this winter season we're in. 00:29:24.279 --> 00:29:28.000 Work is supposed to be great and it's not always very good. 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:33.120 And for some of us, it's the existential pain we bring into our lives because of our idols. 00:29:33.120 --> 00:29:39.079 You know, we, if you're here today and you came to university in Edinburgh and you came 00:29:39.079 --> 00:29:44.679 to uni and you thought, you know, I do feel like I'm smarter than most people. 00:29:44.679 --> 00:29:48.439 And then you came to university and you realized that there are seven people in the first course 00:29:48.439 --> 00:29:50.919 you took that were smarter than you. 00:29:50.919 --> 00:29:52.559 And it was crushing. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:54.480 You'd kind of built your identity around that personality. 00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:57.519 I'm the smart guy, the smart woman. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:00.319 And then you realized everybody's smart. 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:01.319 And it was crushing, you know. 00:30:01.319 --> 00:30:04.399 And you can take all sorts of things like that and build your life around it. 00:30:04.399 --> 00:30:06.759 These existential idols that we chase after. 00:30:06.759 --> 00:30:08.119 And that's winter time. 00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:09.119 Winter time for the soul. 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:10.479 As soon as we learn the truth. 00:30:10.479 --> 00:30:14.639 Or you can be chasing something, a career, a job, a relationship. 00:30:14.639 --> 00:30:15.839 You came for a relationship. 00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:16.839 It hasn't happened. 00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:20.719 You got broken up with. 00:30:20.719 --> 00:30:23.519 You long for that or this or this or that. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:30.079 Or you're struggling with aging and you want to live but you feel the pressure on the body. 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:31.479 And that's winter time. 00:30:31.479 --> 00:30:35.239 That's the winter we're living in, in the midst of this world. 00:30:35.240 --> 00:30:41.000 Really the most painful thing is broken relationships that many of us experience. 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:42.319 The biggest hurt of all. 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:46.599 Broken relationships, family rupture. 00:30:46.599 --> 00:30:51.120 And watching our children grow up and trying to take them into adulthood. 00:30:51.120 --> 00:30:54.000 That being really hard at times for some of us. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:55.440 And we pray. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:58.559 And it's winter. 00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:02.000 And then for all of us we've got to face the sleep of death. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:03.400 We've got to be hooked up to the wires. 00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:05.200 We know it's coming. 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:10.519 Winter all around us and yet Jesus here says to you, what do you do? 00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:17.759 You got to lift up your eyes and you got to look for that first green leaf on the fig tree. 00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:21.600 You got to walk out your front door and look at the crocuses and know that the ultimate 00:31:21.600 --> 00:31:23.400 springtime is on its way. 00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:24.640 It's coming. 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:26.080 What is it? 00:31:26.080 --> 00:31:28.120 Read the rest of the New Testament. 00:31:28.120 --> 00:31:33.680 The first fruit, the first blossom, the first flower, the New Testament uses all the metaphors 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:35.600 is what? 00:31:35.600 --> 00:31:38.519 The resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:31:38.519 --> 00:31:39.519 You know what he's saying? 00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:42.080 He's saying, think about the second coming. 00:31:42.080 --> 00:31:47.600 Think about the ultimate spring and know that the first bloom has already opened. 00:31:47.600 --> 00:31:48.600 And what is it? 00:31:48.600 --> 00:31:51.080 It is, it's Sunday. 00:31:51.080 --> 00:31:52.080 It's the resurrection. 00:31:52.080 --> 00:31:54.080 He's saying meditate on the resurrection. 00:31:54.080 --> 00:31:55.360 You want to meditate on the second coming? 00:31:55.360 --> 00:31:57.720 Well you got to meditate on the first coming. 00:31:57.720 --> 00:32:02.080 And you got to know that because of Sunday the ultimate springtime is coming. 00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:05.119 You know, remember the white witch in Narnia? 00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:09.480 She made it always winter, never spring. 00:32:09.480 --> 00:32:14.240 But there were appearances, stories of Aslan, the great Christ figure showing up here and 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:15.740 there. 00:32:15.740 --> 00:32:20.839 And as soon as the white witch took her sleigh out into Narnia she got stuck in the grass. 00:32:20.839 --> 00:32:24.240 The Christ figure had shown up in the early moments of spring. 00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:26.199 The snow was starting to melt. 00:32:26.199 --> 00:32:29.079 You know, it's not always going to be winter. 00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:31.919 The ultimate springtime is coming. 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:37.480 We ended last week with Heidelberg question about how the second coming, Heidelberg catechism 00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:39.160 question about how the second coming helps you. 00:32:39.160 --> 00:32:43.440 Let me end this week with the Heidelberg catechism question. 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:47.279 How does the resurrection of Christ comfort you? 00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:48.279 Help you today. 00:32:48.279 --> 00:32:49.920 This is what it says. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:58.160 First, by the resurrection of Jesus he overcame death so that we can share today in the righteousness 00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:02.120 he earned for us by that death. 00:33:02.120 --> 00:33:08.759 Second, by his power we too are already raised up into new life. 00:33:08.759 --> 00:33:10.400 You have everything you need to change. 00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:11.640 That's what it's saying. 00:33:11.640 --> 00:33:12.640 Everything you need. 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:21.000 Third, Christ's resurrection is now to me a sure pledge of my glorious resurrection. 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:23.279 The ultimate spring is coming. 00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:24.279 Let's pray together. 00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:30.279 Lord, we ask that you would use this word unto our hearts that we would look out for 00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:35.079 the crocuses and long for the ultimate springtime. 00:33:35.079 --> 00:33:38.559 Three weeks now, Lord, we've thought about what it means to look at the first and second 00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:40.960 coming as the big worldview. 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:45.240 We ask as we close this now that you would send us forth. 00:33:45.240 --> 00:33:50.519 Our church is a church family and body with a big Christian worldview that we stand in 00:33:50.519 --> 00:33:55.279 the time between the first and second coming and that that means everything, our understanding 00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:59.680 of history, of time, of who we are, our identity. 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:05.200 So Lord, that's our longing that we would walk away from this little three-part look 00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:12.840 at Mark 13 and really have a world vision, a lifelong view that the second coming means 00:34:12.840 --> 00:34:14.639 everything to us. 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:19.559 And so we pray now to give us eyes for resurrection, hearts that long for it, and send us forth 00:34:19.559 --> 00:34:23.559 from this place by the power of the gospel, longing to grow. 00:34:23.559 --> 00:34:30.079 So we do long, Lord, to be a church that is known and for being serious about sanctification, 00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:36.279 about deep change, about growing together slowly, about struggling together in our sins 00:34:36.279 --> 00:34:38.440 and away from those things. 00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:39.440 We want that. 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:40.440 We want that, Lord. 00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:46.960 And so we do ask that the Holy Spirit would be at work in our lives amongst our body, 00:34:46.960 --> 00:34:50.840 that we would be Christians who experience deep change. 00:34:50.840 --> 00:34:52.559 And we pray for this in Christ's name. 00:34:52.559 --> 00:34:53.559 Amen. 00:34:53.559 --> 00:35:20.659 Thank you.