welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're
here not because we're trying to fill seats, but because we're following Jesus together as one
community, and as we follow Jesus together, we've become convinced there's no one so good they don't
need God's grace, and no one so bad they can't have it, which is why we come back week after week to
hear what God has to say to us in his word. We're continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark. You'll
remember that the Gospels tell the story of Jesus and his life and his death and his resurrection,
and we are in what I said last week was the most difficult chapter in the Gospel of Mark, at least
the most difficult to understand. That's Mark 13, which talks about both the fall of Jerusalem,
the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, and also the end of the world, and it was those two things that
we discussed last week. Remember, we discussed the destruction of the temple. We saw God's faithfulness
to his people in the first century, which reminds and reassures us of God's faithfulness to his
people in the 21st century. We also saw the end of the world, which reminds us that Jesus is coming
back. He is separated from us, but he has not abandoned us. So that's what we looked at in the
middle of the chapter, of chapter 13 last week, and you'll remember I told you that it's easy to get
lost in a passage like this. We need to have a due north clear in our minds, and for that, the heart
of the passage is this. How do we make it between Jesus' first coming and his second coming? That's
what the entire chapter of Mark 13 is attempting to answer. Now, in the past few weeks, we have had
encouragement and comfort, God's provision towards us as we make that journey. This week, we turn towards
challenge and action, because Jesus is going to remind his disciples of the importance of doing
what he calls staying awake. It's with that that I invite you to turn with me to God's word. We're in
Mark chapter 13, starting at verse 32. You can turn with me in your worship guide. You can turn in your
Bible. You can turn on your phone. No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word, and God tells
us that his word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold, and it's sweeter than honey, even
honey that comes straight from the honeycomb. And so, that's why we read now Mark chapter 13, starting at
verse 32. But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the sun,
but only the father. Be on guard, keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come.
It is 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. 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. And what I say to you, I say to all,
stay awake. I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you once again that you have not left us without instruction, but instead
you come to us and you speak to us clearly in your word. We ask that you would do that again this
morning, that we'd understand the hope of Jesus' return. We'd also know the challenge and the
preparation that you've given us, that we would be encouraged and empowered by your grace and
challenged by your commands. We ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Amen. If you are a homeowner and you're anything like me, you know that there is sort of an endless
list of things that need to get done. Let's see if I can stop that. Endless list of things that need
to get done. And so you sort of have to prioritize what is the most important or the most urgent thing,
because it's impossible to do everything at once. So one of the things that's been on my list for
a while is I really wanted to get my fence gate replaced because the gate just drives me nuts.
It does not close really all the way, swirling apart, not really. And it's just a thorn in my side.
So at the end of last year, I decided this is the time I'm going to get the gate replaced.
Here's the thing though. The gate didn't have to be replaced. It didn't need to be replaced. It just
annoyed me. And I wanted to know that in my life, whenever I dealt with the gate, it would just work
exactly the way I wanted it to work. And the reason I did that is because I expect to be in my house for
a long time. And so it's worth it to me to make that investment for my own enjoyment. If I were planning
to put my house on the market in six months or 12 months, the gate would be a complete waste of money
because no one cares when they're trying to buy my house, whether the gate is perfect or not, right?
They're not going to add several thousand dollars to have the house with the new gate.
No, it'd just be complete throwing it away.
Which I bring up to remind you all of just a simple principle, which is that what we believe
about the future, what we think the future holds for us determines how we live and operate in the
present. Because I believe, because I hope that I'm going to enjoy this gate for many years, it's worth
it to me to replace it. If I were shopping around for a new house, there would be other things that
would be more important to fix, other things that might help it actually gain value on the market.
There's been talk recently about how my generation is supposedly going to live longer than other
generations. And so we should think more seriously about saving for retirement because our age is just
going to go on and on and on. Now, whether that's true is a different discussion, but it again
highlights this fact, what we believe the future holds determines how we live now. This passage asks us,
do you really believe that Jesus is coming back? Do you really believe that Jesus is coming back?
Will you live as if that's true? When I bought a new gate to my fence, I was living out my belief that I'm
going to be in my house for a while. Do we live out the belief that Jesus is actually coming back?
Now, remember I told you in chapter 13 of Mark, we're talking about two things. We're talking about the
destruction of the temple in 70 AD, and we're talking about Jesus' return. In this section, we are turning
back. Remember, last week we were talking primarily about the destruction of the temple, at least at the
end, first. And so now the question is, why do we know that in this talk that Jesus is giving, we're
talking about his return, not the destruction of the temple? Because we're talking about both, right?
So why do we know that this parable of the man who's returning to his servants, how do we know this is
about Jesus coming back, not about Jerusalem? Well, there's a few things. First of all, verses 34 and 35
give us an example of an individual who leaves and then returns. The destruction of the temple,
the fall of Jerusalem, is not about one person leaving and coming back, right? That doesn't make sense.
So Jesus' illustration here makes most sense in talking about his return. Second, it stands in sharp
contrast to verses 28 through 31, which we just looked at. Those verses are about watching the signs, knowing
when the fall of Jerusalem is going to come. Here, there are no signs to know, verse 32, but concerning that
day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. And so the
uncertainty of the return also points to the fact that we're talking about Jesus coming back. There's
many reasons. I'm just going to point you to two more. In verse 32, we're told, but concerning that day
or that hour. If Jesus was continuing his discussion of the fall of Jerusalem, he would not say, but
concerning that day or that hour. He would say, and concerning that day or that hour. So, but there tells us
we're changing topics. And finally, that day or that hour in verse 32 is a technical term that appears
throughout the New Testament to refer to the day when Jesus is coming back. With all of that being said,
this passage is not complicated. In fact, it's incredibly simple. It is set up to be idiot proof.
And the main point is clear. The main point is this, stay awake. We know that's the main point
because it's repeated not once, not twice, not thrice. It's repeated four times in verses 33 through 36.
And even before the passage is finished, we're given the summary, the whole point, right in verse 33.
Be on guard, keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come.
And so the point of this passage is very, very simple. Live your life
in light of the fact that Jesus is coming back.
Live your life in light of the fact that Jesus is coming back.
Verse 34,
We have this man going on a journey. What does he do?
He gives each of his servants their work.
He leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with their work.
So there's something these servants are supposed to be doing.
And he commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.
What does it mean then to live in light of the fact that Jesus is coming back?
It means we're doing the work that the master has given us, and we don't want to be found asleep.
We don't want to be found distracted, doing something else, going off on side quests,
being found lulled into a false sense of security or complacency.
Now I could leave it there.
We could pray, and we could sing our final hymn.
Live your life as if Jesus is coming back.
But I want to call your attention to two different ways in which we live our lives in light of Christ's return.
First, the priority of Christ's return.
And second, the urgency of Christ's return.
First, the priority of Christ's return.
And second, the urgency of Christ's return.
And so first, we'll talk about the priority of his return.
There's a man named Richard Sibbes, who is a Puritan,
and he lived during the 1500s and the 1600s.
And he provides this example of the Christian life where he talks about it as if it's a stream.
And he says, imagine you have this stream,
and this stream is split into all these smaller, tinier streams.
What's going to happen to the power and the force of that stream
if you split it in a bunch of different directions?
It's not going to have any power.
It's not going to have any force.
It's just going to be diluted.
And so it's not going to be able to accomplish anything.
On the other hand, imagine that the reverse is true.
You have all these small, little streams,
and they flow into this one large, great stream.
Well, what's that stream going to be able to do?
It's going to be able to bear in on something
with all the force and power of that water.
You're going to be able to focus everything in one direction.
Now, coincidentally, it turns out that you have this illustration
on the back of your worship guide from Richard Sivs.
And he tells us what the main direction is that our stream is supposed to be headed.
This is the last sentence.
The main desire must be to be saved
and by grace to have communion and fellowship with God in Christ Jesus.
Unless this be the main care,
the soul can produce nothing good.
To stay awake,
to live in light of Jesus' return,
is to say all of our streams,
every piece and point of our life,
converges in this one direction.
It goes back to the first catechism question.
What is man's purpose?
To glorify God and enjoy him forever.
Whatever you do,
it's meant to be driven in that direction.
And so that's the priority of Christ's return.
Whatever we do,
we want the first question to be,
how does this contribute to being prepared for Jesus to return?
And so it means that as we are raising our children,
we are keeping first things first.
We are more concerned about preparing them for Jesus coming back
than we're concerned about preparing them for college admissions.
Because the kingdom of God,
heaven,
is more important than Harvard
or USAPHA
or UCCS.
It means that as we are training our bodies
and staying strong
as fitness is important for us,
we are not doing it for vanity.
We are not doing it out of anxiety or fear,
but so that we can do productive work for the Lord.
That Ephesians 5, 16 would be true of us,
that we would be making the best use of the time
because the days are evil.
It means that when the church gathers to worship,
you are here.
Because this is part of how you stay awake.
This is how you're reminded of what is most important in life.
This is how your stream is constantly redirected
in the right direction.
Being in worship pushes out other things in your life
not the other way around.
If Jesus is coming back and he is,
this is how we stay awake together.
It means as we arrange and think about our lives,
success is not as important as character
and godliness and holiness.
Better to love God
and no one to know our name
than to be famous
and be separated from him.
For what does it profit a man
to gain the world and lose his soul?
For what can a man give in return for his soul?
It's Mark 8, 36 and 37.
Every yes is a no.
Everything that you say yes to,
you are saying no to something else
because you have seven days and 24 hours
in each of those days.
Your resources are limited.
Staying awake means
when you make difficult decisions in your life,
you always say yes to the kingdom of God
and no to other things.
Stay awake.
And so I'm pleading with you all this morning
on behalf of Jesus Christ.
If you are not awake,
wake up.
Make first things first.
Every yes is a no.
If you are awake,
keep awake.
Stay awake.
Now,
I do want to say
in relation to that,
there are some
who take teachings like this
and they make the Christian life
as a result of it
a life of unusual
and constant sort of austerity
and intensity.
You know,
I preach this passage
and suddenly
it's mandatory
for everyone to be in church
six times a week.
There's a famous preacher
who at one point
told people
they were,
had their priorities off
if they were collecting seashells.
Somehow that was a sin.
Okay.
That's more a reflection
of someone's personality
and their anxiety
than it is a biblical teaching.
And so I want to just say
on the one hand,
it's good to enjoy
all sorts of things
in the right perspective.
God created this world.
He's glorified
when we enjoy it,
right?
On the other hand,
pleasure here and now
is not our ultimate goal.
Okay.
So we do all sorts of things
to the glory of God.
There's all sorts of things
we can point into that stream.
Do them
to the glory of God.
Do them in light
of eternity,
whether it's your work
or your play.
It doesn't mean
we don't enjoy this world.
There is a way
to ski
in light of Jesus' return,
but do it
in light of Jesus' return.
Keep it in the right place
and perspective
in the right season.
We take all things,
everything in our lives
and we assess them.
We direct them
towards the fact
that Jesus
is coming back.
We want
all our small streams
to be part
of one large stream.
And so I'm saying
two things.
On the one hand,
it doesn't mean
we stop enjoying
any of God's gifts
and we live sort of
this monk lifestyle.
On the other hand,
it doesn't mean
there aren't real sacrifices
and trade-offs.
We do say no
to good things sometimes
so we can say yes
to God
and his kingdom.
We've talked about
the urgency
that we are putting
first things,
excuse me,
the priority
that we're putting
first things first.
There is also
an urgency.
We're not just doing
first things first,
we are doing
first things now.
There are some things
that are simply
daily actions, right?
They're just,
you're just being faithful
day after day
as you live life
in light of Jesus' return.
There are some things
that you're just going
to do every morning
because Jesus is coming back.
There are other things
that are tasks
that we are tempted
to put off
and so that takes us
to the urgency
of Christ's return.
Imagine for a second
that you're a student,
maybe you're in college,
and you show up to class
and the professor announces
there's a major research paper
that's going to be
a large portion
of your grade
for this class.
And at the beginning
he says,
you'll notice
on your syllabus
there's no deadline
for this paper.
And the reason is
I'm just going to roll
into class one day
and ask for you
to hand it in.
But you don't know
which class
that's going to be.
What are you going to do?
Well, hopefully
when that class is over
you're headed
to the library, right?
You are going
to get to work.
That's the only chance
to hand it in.
There's no late assignments.
You can't run back
to your dorm
and get the paper.
No, you need to be ready.
If you come to that class
you want to know
that if he asks
for the paper
you have it
to hand in.
You're going to get to work.
You're going to write.
Procrastination
is deadly
if the deadline
is unknown.
Procrastination
is deadly
if the deadline
is unknown.
We're told here
remember verse 32
concerning that day
or that hour
no one knows
not even the angels
in heaven
nor the son
but only
the father.
Live life
in light of Jesus' return
and you don't know
when he's coming back
so there's an urgency.
There are things
that need to be
taken care of
now.
There are certain things
that are on
a limited time offer.
here's a few of them.
Addressing
broken
and strained
relationships.
Living
in light
of Jesus' return
means that we are
tenderhearted
and quick
to reconcile.
We do not want
Jesus to return
and to find us
nurturing
and coddling
bitterness
and grudges
and lists
of complaints.
Reconcile
now
before
it is too
late.
Do you want
Jesus to come
back
and find
that you're
in the middle
of an intense
conflict
with someone else
in the church?
No.
Can you imagine
what that would be like?
Jesus is coming back
in his glory
and what are you doing?
You're like spitting
it out with someone.
No.
Stay awake.
Live in light
of Jesus' returns.
Be quick
to forgive
and repent.
Don't delay
in healing
your marriage
because Jesus
is coming
back.
Stay
awake.
Do you want
Jesus to return
in this picture
that he's given
for us
on earth
of what his
relationship
with the church
is going to be like?
You're in the midst
of destroying
that picture.
No.
Jesus is coming
back.
Stay
awake.
Don't delay.
Your money
here on earth
will be worth
nothing
when Jesus
returns.
do you want
Jesus
to return
and find
that you
have stored
up no
treasure
in heaven?
Stay
awake.
We don't
want Jesus
to return
and find
that all
of our
treasure
is here
on earth.
There
is an
urgency.
There is
a limited
time
offer.
the story
is told
of a man
who had
millions
and millions
of dollars
and at
one point
he had
to declare
bankruptcy
and someone
asked him
in light
of the fact
that you
ended up
having no
money,
do you
regret
any of
the money
that you
gave away?
Because you
could have
that money
that could
have helped
you in this
bankruptcy
suit.
and he
said,
the only
money I
kept
was the
money I
gave
away.
Brothers
and sisters,
when Jesus
returns,
the only
money you
will have
kept
is the
money you
gave
away.
Stay
awake.
Live
in light
of Jesus'
return.
Don't
miss
the chance
to give,
not just
financially,
but in
other ways.
Don't
miss the
chance to
do good.
You may
not have
it tomorrow.
People
who are
experts in
leadership
talk about
the fact
that good
leaders have
a bias
towards
action.
They get
things done.
I'm going
to suggest
to you
this morning
Christians
have a
bias
towards
doing
good.
Do
as much
good
as you
can
in light
of and
because
of Jesus'
return.
Making
the best
use of
the time
because
the days
are evil.
Finally,
there is
an urgency
to repenting
of our
sins and
following
Jesus.
No one
knows
the day
or the
hour.
Do not
be like
Herod in
Mark 6.
Do you
remember what
Herod loved
to do?
Herod
loved
to listen
to listen.
But
he would
not
act.
He
loved
other
things
more.
I say
this with
love for
you.
Some of
you are
nibbling
around the
edges of
our church
and nibbling
around the
edges of
Christianity.
Jesus is
coming back
and no
one knows
the day
or the
hour.
The time
to repent
is not
tomorrow,
it is
now.
Procrastination
is deadly
if the
deadline
is unknown.
Stay
awake.
Now,
I gave
you an
illustration
a little
bit ago.
That was a
terrible
illustration.
I told
you about
a college
professor
who was
going to
come in
and just
announce a
deadline.
And I
compared that
to this
passage to
highlight the
urgency.
And there
is a
point,
except
excuse me,
did not
announce a
deadline,
announce an
assignment.
You didn't
know when
it was
due.
There's a
point in
which that's
true,
and the
point is
the point of
comparison
that's
true is
that we
don't know
the day
or the
hour.
Here,
though,
is why
that
illustration
was
terrible.
Jesus
is not
an absent
college
professor.
And your
work for
him,
your staying
awake,
is not
a stressful
deadline.
Remember
what we've
looked at
in this
passage.
Jesus
is the
one who
loves us
and cares
for us.
He is
returning
to us,
not having
abandoned
us,
but returning
to us
after a
separation.
He's
made
promises
to us.
Remember,
he's faithful
to the
church in
the first
century.
He'll be
faithful to
you in
the 21st
century.
He made
a promise
in verse
11 that
if you're
in persecution,
he's even
going to give
you words
to speak.
And then he
gave us this
promise two
sermons ago
in verse
13,
but the
one who
endures to
the end
will be
saved.
Jesus
is not
some
absent
and
irrational
college
professor.
No,
he is
the one
who is
coming back
for his
people,
has made
promises
to his
people.
And so
staying awake,
being prepared
for his
return,
is not
us
trembling
in fear
at an
administrator
who's coming
to evaluate
our lives.
No,
we are
making
things
ready
for our
heavenly
father
to
come
back
and
he
will
stay
awake.
The story
is told
of an
air force
pilot who
returned
from the
first war
in Iraq.
He had
finished his
300th
mission
and so he
was immediately
sit home
without any
notice.
He and his
team were
put on a
plane.
They flew
in that
plane to
Massachusetts
and then
they immediately
got in a
car and
drove to
their home
places in
western
Pennsylvania.
So they
drove all
the way
through the
night to
get home.
His family
had no
idea that
he was
returning.
He gets
dropped off
in the
driveway of
his home
just as
the sun
is rising
and as
he arrived
he was
surprised to
find a
banner across
the garage
door that
said,
welcome
home
dad.
And he
was surprised
because he
told no
one that
he was
returning.
He says
this,
when I
walked into
the house
the kids
about half
dressed for
school screamed
daddy.
His daughter
Susan came
running down
the hall.
She looked
terrific,
hair fixed,
makeup on,
and a
crisp yellow
dress.
How did you
know?
He asked.
I didn't,
she answered
through tears
of joy.
Once we
knew the
war was
over,
we knew
you'd be
home one
of these
days.
we knew
you'd
try to
surprise
us,
so we
were ready
every day.
Stay awake
for no one
knows when
the time
will come.
Let's pray.
Our Father in
heaven, we
praise you
and thank you
that you are
not a
cold and
calculating
administrator
coming to
see if we've
dotted our
I's and
crossed our
T's.
you're not
an absent
and arbitrary
college
professor,
but you're
the one
who loves
us and
cares for
us.
You've
made promises
that you'll
protect us
and you'll
provide for
us, and
most of
all, that
you will
come back
to be
with us.
We ask
that you
would drive
that reality
home to
our hearts,
that we
would live
more and
more in
light of
your return.
We ask
all of
these things
in Jesus'
name.
Amen.