Well, we're continuing on in our journey through the gospel according to Mark. We're in chapter 13, and we only looked at a portion of the Olivet Discourse last time we were together, so I'm going to pick up where we left off and see how far we get before we run out of time. Let me pray for the Word, and then we'll start our journey. Our Father and our God, we pause before the reading of your word and Lord to remind ourselves in your presence that we're handling here the very word of God. And Lord, I'll confess it's a difficult passage of scripture for me, Lord, to understand and convey. So I need your help, Lord, as we begin to study this continuation of the Olivet Discourse. So Lord, open our minds to understand, our ears to hear, our hearts to receive the implanted word. And we thank you for that, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. I guess let me read a section of this text and then we'll begin to unpack it. But I want to remind you of a few things I said last time we got together. Mark 13, and let's just read from verse 14 down to 23 to begin with. So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, standing where it ought not, let the reader understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. And pray that your flight may not be in winter. For in those days there will be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be. And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, whom he chose, he shortened the days. Then if anyone says to you, look, Here is the Christ, or look, He is there. Do not believe it, for false Christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. But take heed, see, I have told you all things beforehand." Well, before I start to unpack the passage, a reminder of what I said last time we got together. There are a lot of different views on eschatology, the study of end times, the end time passages. And I don't know exactly where I land, to be honest with you. You'll see as I unpack this passage that I tend towards a view that Jesus is saying a lot to his immediate disciples about what's going to happen in 70 AD. the destruction of the temple, the capture of Jerusalem. And I also think in view here is almost a double view of where he's speaking to that more immediate historical event that took place. And he's also looking farther down the path into a future with the original language, parousia, the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is yet to happen. So as I unpack it, that's sort of the stance I'll take as we look at it. There's a lot of other views. And I told you, I don't get real dogmatic with this. I know the other views. I've gone to many prophecies, seminars, and what not, to learn the various views. I have lots of books on this. And I'll probably mention a few of those views as we go through it. But to begin with, let's look at what Jesus is saying here in verse 14. He says, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel. And so I do want to go over to Daniel, not to preach Daniel, but just to look at a passage within Daniel. And I won't unpack it too much, but in Daniel chapter 9, beginning in verse 26, It says, and after the 62 weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and until the end, it says, until the end of the war, desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering, and on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation which is determined is poured out on the desolate." So when Jesus is teaching here on the Mount of Olives, his disciples would have known the passage. He's talking to him there. They would have understood that he's quoting Daniel. He mentions that he's talking about Daniel. What happened in the book of Daniel when Gabriel came to Daniel. gave him some future vision of what would take place eventually. And in that prophecy in Daniel, it says that Messiah, who all of Israel was looking forward to having arrive when Messiah came, that he would be cut off. And I believe that's indicating Jesus going to the cross and dying. He would be cut off from human life. His life would be cut off. He also was cut off in the sense of his being propitiation. In other words, he turned or exhausted the wrath of God that was against sinners. On that cross, when he cried out and said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? There was a sense in which he was cut off in that spiritual way as well. So he's cut off. And the prophecy in Daniel says that he's cut off, but not for himself. Which is the word I would use is vicariously he died. He died for us, not for himself. He had no sin. He's the sinless lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And he was cut off in dying. He was cut off in whatever that separation from the Father looked like as he became propitiation and exhausted the wrath that was against us. And it wasn't for himself. It was for his sheep. It was for us that have faith. in Jesus Christ. So that's the heart of what Daniel's conveying, or what the angel Gabriel is conveying there to Daniel. In that prophecy, he says that there's this group, it says, the people of the prince. There's various interpretations of who's the prince, who are the people of the prince. I believe he's talking there about Rome and when Rome came against Israel and the sanctuary was destroyed, which he mentions also in Daniel. So he mentions also the end of sacrifice and offering, which is a big portion of what the book of Hebrews is trying to convey to the early church, is that the sin offering at the temple would cease to be. And that was hard for anybody to see coming or understand, because Jesus was the one true sacrifice that really took away our sin. The others really just pushed the debt back, if you will. But Jesus' sacrifice was full and final and complete and acceptable in God's sight. And so that's, I believe, what we're looking at there in Daniel. The fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, people have looked at different events to say, well, what does that look like? An abomination? I mean, it's so cryptic the way it's put. The abomination of desolation. What does that even mean? Well, it's not so much that it's an abomination to men. It's something that's an abominable or an abomination to God Almighty that's taking place in the temple. And it causes desolation, which means that people couldn't come into the temple because it had been defiled. So whatever it was that Daniel's talking about, now Jesus is talking about, had something to do with a desolation because of some abominable thing that took place that was an offense to God and made the temple unclean spiritually. So a lot would turn back to Antiochus Epiphanes, who in 168 BC, and this is before Christ came and walked the planet, but in 168 BC, Antiochus Epiphanes, who is recorded as having sacrificed a pig on the altar, and some also believe that he set up a statue to Zeus. in the temple area. And this would have been an abominable thing. And it did desecrate the temple. And it had to be cleansed and all of that. Well, Jesus here talking about it after that's taken place. So anybody that would have said, well, that was it right there. We saw that Daniel's fulfilled. Now Jesus here in his lifetime after that event took place says, no, there's yet another one to happen. Because he mentions it again as if that wasn't the fulfillment of all this. And could he be speaking here about what happened in 70 AD? when Jerusalem was sacked and the temple was destroyed, not one stone left upon another. And I certainly think it could be. At least that's one view to it, that yes, that did take place in 70 AD. When you look at Jesus' teaching, but go over to Luke's gospel, and in Luke 21 verse 20, He says, but when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. That was a sign that once the armies surround Jerusalem, the desolation is coming. Understand that's a sign to you. And I believe he's talking there primarily about 70 AD when it was sacked and the temple was utterly destroyed. Josephus, in his historical writings, mentions that in 70 AD, which was a horrific, horrific event for the Jews, like 1.1 million people were slaughtered. I mean, if the numbers are accurate, according to the historians. And Josephus said that when they came and they took up the soldiers, the Roman soldiers took up residency in the temple courts. and were sacrificing to their staffs. So they used to have, have you ever seen the eagle at the top of the staff? They were like pagan deities. And so they were basically making offerings to their own pagan deities within the temple grounds, which would have been something that was abominable in God's sight. And so some see that fulfillment of what Jesus is talking about here in 70 AD with the presence of these pagan soldiers. Now some see this as, Maybe that's another fulfillment, but there's yet another fulfillment yet to take place. And there's many Christians that have fantastic theology, it's not like they're out in left field or somewhere, that believe that the temple is going to be rebuilt again on the Temple Mount. And they're waiting for that to take place because they believe that the Antichrist, or the evil one, will come and do some abominable thing in the new rebuilt temple. I'm not sure I really land in that camp myself, but I respect people that take that view. And they don't just take it out of thin air, they're turning to passages of scripture to support their view on that. One of which may be 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, and I'll read it from verse 3 where it says, Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come, unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. And then Paul says, do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And I wish I was there, because I'd like to ask him a bunch of questions about that cryptic passage. But he says he was teaching on that when he was in Thessalonica to the Thessalonians. And he says, remember I was teaching about this? So some would look at passages such as that and think, well, there might be yet another future. event that might unfold. And, you know, very well could be. It's very difficult to unpack these eschatology passages. Well, the stuff that we can land on that there's no doubt about is that Jesus, in teaching this, teaches about when this happens, there's this urgency to take flight. Get out of here, Jesus says real plain. He says, let the reader understand. Understand when this happens, that this is a pivotal sign. He says, then let those that are in Judea flee to the mountains. Well, that's really a reverse of what's intuitive. Because what did people do in that culture in antiquity? If you were in a culture around a city, and you were under attack, you ran into the city. It had thick walls. You could defend yourself in the city. That's what everybody would do. As a matter of fact, that's what everybody did do in 70 AD, except for the Christians. The Christians knew our Lord had taught this, and they fled. It's counterintuitive to flee. You're going to get picked off in the road. But Jesus said, don't go into the city, you flee to the mountains. You get out of here when you see this happen. And when they saw the armies gathering and whatnot, they fled. I hate quoting church fathers, because I don't know how to pronounce their names. So I'm going to pronounce it the way I pronounce it. But I'm going to call him Eusebius. How's that? I'm assuming you guys could probably do better than me. But he was around the year 300 or so. And we have his writings. I actually have his writings, and I can't pronounce the poor man's name. But in AD 312, he wrote from Caesarea, so about 300 years after our Lord's birth. And he mentions something called the Peleflite. And he's talking about what happened in 70 AD when Rome attacked. And I'll just read a little quote of what he wrote. He says, the people of the church in Jerusalem, in accordance with a certain oracle that was given through revelation to those who were worthy in that place, were commanded to migrate from the city before the war and to settle in a certain city of Perea Pella, it was called, to which those who believed in Christ migrated from Jerusalem so that when holy men had completely abandoned the royal capital of the Jews and the whole land of Judea, the judgment of God might at last overtake them for all their crimes against the Christ and the apostles, utterly blotting out that very generation of the wicked from among humankind, he said. He said the Christians got out. And Jesus is teaching that in this sermon that he's, well, it's more of a teaching than a sermon, but the Olivet Discourse. He also mentions not, you know, there's an urgency. You need to take flight. You need to get out of here. He also says how difficult it's going to be. He says, but woe to those that are pregnant, that are nursing babies. You could imagine on the run with an army on your tail. And that's what he's talking about. He tells them to pray in verse 18. He says, pray. Now, if we ever had to, do you have any scriptural support for praying about the weather? Maybe verse 18 is it, because he says, and pray that your flight may not be in the wintertime. Don't have it be in the winter. Now, it wasn't that snowing in the winter, but it was the rainy season. The crops weren't in. If you were on the run, and there's gleaning laws that God had made. If you were going along somebody's row of grain, you were allowed to eat it. and gleaned, but there was no food in that time. So Jesus is saying that would really be difficult if you had to go on the run in the winter. So pray that it doesn't happen in the winter. In verse 19 he says, For in those days there will be tribulations such as not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be. Now that verse is a verse that makes me think, Jesus must be talking about more than just the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Because there's been maybe more horrific battles and losses, maybe even a World War II, than what happened there in 70 AD. And he says this could be unprecedented, and nothing like it will ever happen again. Which leads me to think that there's a future tribulation of some sort that Jesus is referring to here. He says, and unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, whom he chose, he shortened those days. And it's horrible of a picture that Jesus paints there. It's not yet the end. He gives a warning, and he already gave us this warning. We looked at it earlier in the first 13 verses or so of Mark chapter 13. Because he says, then if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, or look, he is there. Do not believe it. He says, for false Christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. I don't know if Jesus in saying that is saying, well, it's not really possible to fully deceive, you know, somebody who's really given their life to Christ, that they would finally fall. That's, you know, people went out from us because they weren't of us, you know, John had said. But he does say that watch out, because somebody might tell you, hey, and this could even be in the 70 AD, where they were told to flee. And somebody goes, well, wait a minute, the Messiah is in the city. We need to go back and get inside the walls of the city. And Jesus says, if they say that, don't believe them. You do what I'm telling you to do, and you take flight. You go to the mountains. Don't look back. You're up on the roof. Don't come down and pack your things. You've got to get out of there immediately. And if somebody tells you there's the Christ, don't believe them. Don't you go and fall for that. R.T. France, the commentator, says, anyone who offered new hope of divine intervention would be eagerly listened to, and the more so if they were able to offer up signs and wonders to support their claim. So Jesus warns and says, watch out for that. And beloved, for us, if some future event is to take place that Jesus is referring to here, be careful of signs and wonders. If somebody is seemingly doing these deceptive signs, we want to know what the Word of God says. And if somebody can perform some kind of a thing, don't let that dupe you. What does the Word of God say? What did Jesus tell us? And we have to know these things. We don't want to be open to that type of deception. The coming of Christ, according to Matthew, and I want to read a little bit about what Matthew records for us about this teaching. It's going to be a sudden event. Matthew 24, beginning in verse 26, Jesus says, Therefore if they say to you, look, he's in the desert, do not go out. Or, look, he's in the inner rooms. And that may be hearkening, like, go into the city. He's in the inner rooms. Do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. And that could also be translated, there the vultures are gathered. And again, R.T. France says, the son of man will give no warning sign of his parousia, his second coming, he means. There is no sign that lightning is coming, but when it comes, no one can escape this sudden illumination. You don't know a lightning bolt's about to crack. And when it happens, it lights up the whole area. Jesus's coming will be that type of a coming, according to the words of Jesus. It's a sudden event. We don't have to go looking for him. We'll know. When he does return for his church, we'll know. Kind of a grim language. I always had trouble with that verse 28. Wherever the carcass is, there the eagles or there the vultures will be gathered together. There's a lot of different speculation on what exactly Jesus is talking about there. I tend to go over to 1 Thessalonians 4 with that and verse 17 where it says, Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. that I don't have to go looking for Him, I'll be gathered to Him. As a matter of fact, even in this Olivet Discourse, if we get to it, Jesus is going to talk about, upon His return, sending out His angels to gather His elect. So you don't have to go looking for Him, He'll come looking for you. So you'll be okay there. So the coming of the Son of Man, let's pick it up in chapter 13 again, beginning in verse 24, and I'll take it to 27. Jesus continues and says, But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send his angels and gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven." And I'll throw this out there for anybody that holds a position, just so I can make you mad. He says this post-tribulation. but in those days after the tribulation. So you know me, I've thought of this before. I'm one who's kind of convinced that the church will have to go through the tribulation. And that's okay. I'll, you know, I told you before, if we get sucked upwards and I'm like, oh, I guess we didn't have to go through that after all, I will apologize to you. But yeah, it seems to me like the church is going to go through some difficult days at some point. And also the early church did. I think there's a two, there's a double view of this, that Jesus came in one sense, in wrath and judgment to Jerusalem in AD 70. But I think there's a more full fulfillment of this yet to happen, where he does gather his elect and all that. I think that's a future prophecy. So what is he talking about here with these celestial signs, this catastrophic event in the heavens? What's going on with that? I personally think it's highly symbolic because of the way the Old Testament records judgment on the nations. For instance, where the Bible speaks of judgment that was falling on Babylon, in Isaiah 13, it says in verse 10 of that judgment, "...for the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light, the sun will be darkened and is going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine." And then in Ezekiel, when judgment is pronounced on Pharaoh in Egypt, it says in Ezekiel 32, beginning in verse 7, Then I put out your light. I will cover the heavens and make its stars dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land, says the Lord God. Now it could be that some kind of a real manifestation of some celestial thing will happen. It's difficult with future prophecy because we're not there yet. And I think it's one of those things, when we finally are there, if it's our generation that is here for the coming of our Lord, we'll know. We'll see things, we'll think of these passages and think, Wow, I mean, this is just like right out of the Olivet Discourse. I think we'll know when that happens, but it's certainly, if nothing else, it's definitely symbolic of a catastrophic judgment that's to come. There's a passage in Hebrews, because our Lord says that the stars of heaven will fall, and then he says, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Now, this is kind of a wild thought, but Jesus himself upholds all of the universe with the power of his word. The Bible says that he was co-creator with the entirety of the Godhead, and he's the glue that holds everything together, if I can put it that way. And whatever upheaval is taking place at his return, Everything that everybody else thinks is rock solid. You just assume you're going to walk out your door and you're in your garage. You just assume you're going to get in the car and the car is going to start. You're going to drive out. And there's not a cliff out there. It's a road. There's so many things that we just take for granted that we assume are rock solid. We just know if you go out and they say it's a full moon and there's no clouds, we're going to go look up and we're going to see the moon. I mean, this is a nice cloudless day. We're going to see the sun. These things we assume. And the Bible says, at the return of Christ, that everything that the world assumes to be the rock-solid foundation is going to be shaken. And the only thing that's unshakable is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. And what the Bible teaches us is if our confidence is not in the things of this world, but our confidence is in Jesus Christ, and looking forward to His return, that when everything else is shaking, and your neighbors are losing their minds because everything is in upheaval, that you can confidently say, but my foundation hasn't shaken yet. Because my foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He's sovereign. He's in control of even all this celestial upheaval and whatnot that's going on. My God is in control. And you can speak the gospel to your neighbor who's losing their mind, because you're on the rock-solid foundation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, where am I looking at in Scripture for that? Hebrews chapter 12, in verse 26, it says, Speaking of God, whose voice then shook the earth, and he's talking about Mount Sinai when the law was given. Remember the mountain shaked and the smokey and all that. He says, whose voice then shook the earth, but now he has promised, saying, yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven. Now this, yet once more, indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. And then he makes this concluding thought, Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. The only thing, when Jesus returns, and the Bible teaches about the new heavens and the new earth, the only thing that will not be shaken is the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And that's where we need to have our feet planted solidly, is the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Be prepared for this. And I want to talk a little bit about what Jesus says here in this passage about His coming in power and glory. He says, verse 26, "...then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory." Jesus prays to the Father in that high priestly prayer in John 17, and part of that prayer Jesus says in verse 5, And now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I had to stop and think on that for quite a while, because that's quite a prayer. And I remember I heard a preacher one time say, and Jesus didn't pray for things that didn't come to be, because he always prayed within the Father's will, right? I mean, you know, it's a perfect prayer. And he's praying that he would receive the glory that he had when he was with the Father before the world ever was. That's quite a thought. And there's a sense in which our Lord laid aside his glory, or maybe we can say cloaked his glory in humanity. And you think of like the Mount of Transfiguration where they just, I think they just got a taste of what His glory looked like. And they were floored. They fell down like they were dead. Until Jesus finally came over to them and got them, you know, got to get them back up again. But this is the glory that Jesus has inherently in Himself. That's not going to be cloaked. It's not going to be hidden. It's going to be full, blazing glory and holiness when Jesus returns. The writer of Hebrews says this about Jesus, in Hebrews 1.3, that Jesus, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, meaning the Father, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. This is the all-glorious Savior who's not shielded and hidden any longer. All-glorious, the brightness of the glory of the Godhead. He's the express image of the person of God. When Jesus is questioned at his trial, and we're moving into that section in Mark, by the Sanhedrin in Mark 14, It says that he kept silent. Jesus wasn't answering their questions, because it was just foolishness. But he kept silent, he answered nothing, and again the high priest asked him, saying to him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? Now, the priest wouldn't even mention the name of God for reverence, right? They wouldn't mention that. But he says, are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? Now, in the Jewish mind, that would have been equating himself, Jesus, with God, is what they were asking. And Jesus does answer that question. And Jesus said, I am. And then he says, and you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power, he means the father, and coming with the clouds of heaven. That's a remarkable statement. And they charge him with blasphemy at that point. But it was true, it is true, that they would see him as the son of man sitting at the right hand of the power. And he's just emanating from his own self glory, glory. I found this little poem, it says, the Lord shall come, but not the same as once in lowliness he came, a silent land before his foes, a weary man and full of woes. The Lord's shall come with dreadful form, with rainbow wreath and robes of storm, on cherub wings and wings of wind, appointed judge of all mankind." And Jesus is not coming back to this earth in the humility that he came the first time. It'll be with blazing glory. And then Jesus speaks of the gathering of the elect. He says, and he will summon, verse 27, he says, and then he will send his angels and gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven. Robertson, the Greek scholar, says that the Greek here is very brief. It says, from the tip of the earth to the tip of the heavens. That's basically it, from the tip of earth to the tip of heaven. He says that phrase appears nowhere else in the Bible, but Jesus says it's this all-encompassing gathering of the elect. And he says he's going to do it by sending forth his angels. He's going to dispatch the angels to go and gather the elect. Hebrews tells us the function of these angels in Hebrews 1.14, that they're ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation. And that's exactly what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus had said in Mark 8, for whoever's ashamed of me and my words and this adulterous sinful generation of him, the son of man also will be ashamed when he comes in his glory, the glory of his father, with the holy angels. If you can get that in your mind, of Jesus coming with the Father's glory, and his own inherent glory, and he comes with the holy angels. In Matthew 25, Jesus taught, When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. That's our Lord coming in blazing glory. And he's coming to gather the elect. Revelation speaks of this a little bit, of what does it mean from the ends of earth to the ends of heaven, or the tip of earth to the tip of heaven. But Revelation 20 says, speaking of this, of the sea giving up its dead that were in it, and death and Hades delivering up the dead that were in them. And then Corinthians tells us about those that are still alive. He says, behold, I tell you a mystery. We'll not all sleep, meaning die, but we shall all be changed in the moment. in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." And when we see this happening, and I pray it's in our lifetime, it would be just wonderful. And we're to live with the anticipation of looking up one day and seeing Jesus come in blazing glory with all of his holy angels, and they immediately are dispatched to go gather everybody. all of his elect together, that we might be with the Lord forever. And it says in Luke, what do we do when we see all that? We look up. That's what it says. Luke 21 verse 27 says, Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. It's time. And you say, I thought it was already redeemed. It's an already not yet redemption. We've been purchased by his blood. I always like that story, Toy Story, if you ever watched that cartoon. And Woody, the little boy that owns all the toys, the boy wrote his name on the bottom of Woody's foot. So when he falls down, he can see the kid's name on his foot. And what he meant was, you're mine. And there's a sense in which the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit being that deposit, that down payment. He's basically written his name on you. You're his. It's invisible. You can't see it. Don't look at your foot tonight. It doesn't say Jesus. But somewhere, his name's written on you. But even though he's purchased us, he died for our sins, he hasn't gone to the pawn shop, so to speak, and got the item back yet. He's coming to get us. That's the redemption that we're waiting for. We've already been paid for. We're just waiting for him to come get us. And in the meantime, we have work to do. He goes on to talk about timing a little bit in verse 28. He says, now learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near, at the doors. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. but of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch, and pray, for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all, watch." And isn't that the admonition to me and you, is to watch. We tend to be like those virgins in the parable that fall asleep and our oil runs out. We need to be watchful, to be sober-minded, to be looking for the day, because it could be very, very soon. It could be today. I personally believe nothing else has to happen before Jesus returns. That's my own personal view. And I always think today, is it today, Lord? I'll say it to my wife sometimes, is today the day? So I won't get into all the controversy about the verse that's difficult for anybody, which is, this generation will not pass away. Some say, well, he meant the Jews that won't cease to be. There's passages that might support that, even though they were mightily defeated, God has his remnant, right? And the time of the Gentiles will end, according to the Bible. And so some say it's the Jews, some say it's Christians. Like this generation of believers will not cease to be until all these things come to be, you know. Some would say humankind. We're not going to end the world because of global warming. That's not going to happen. God's sovereign. Doesn't mean we're not responsible to take care of the planet. But that's not how it's going to end. You don't have to worry about that. So I don't know exactly what Jesus means there. You can read other people's books and they seem to know. But you can see what they think. Some think it was actually his disciples that he was talking to. And all of this was fulfilled in 70 AD. that some of those would not die before 70 A.D. took place. That's a view called preterism. That all of this is historical. I don't hold that view. I think a lot of it was talking about that event, but it's too much there that seems to me that it's more grandiose than what happened in 70 A.D. So our marching orders are to take heed, Jesus said, which means listen up, be attentive to this, take heed, And watch like a doorkeeper. A porter, the King James says. You have all the people at work and there's one person that kept the door. Made sure only the right people came in. But when the master came home, he was to make sure the master... The master's at the door. And he was the one who would open the door to the master. That's what Jesus is saying. And he says, you don't know when the master's coming. He's the master. We don't know when he's coming. He says, nobody knows that exact date. And then he gives all four watches, according to Rome, when the soldiers would have their watch, you know, from like 6 to 9, 9 to midnight, midnight to 3, 3 to 6. He gives all the watches. In other words, he says, be absolutely vigilant. It's not just like, well, I'll keep watch from 12 to 3. He goes, no, you have to be watching all the time. Not that we're date-setting, not that we're getting so excited about the second coming of Jesus that we're not doing the work He gave us to do. But we are to expect Him at any moment, any hour. We don't know when He's going to return. And that's what Jesus is trying to teach us here. And he tells us, take heed to watch, don't be found sleeping, and pray. That's what he says, and pray. Remain in close contact with our commander, Jesus, right? Refocus our thoughts to spiritual things. Not to things we can see and touch, although we have to navigate this world, but that we have to really have our thoughts there where Jesus is seated in the heavenlies, the Bible tells us. So we're to be praying about these things. close contact with our Lord, realigning our lives constantly to spiritual realities as they're conveyed to us in Scripture. It says in Ephesians 6.18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful, there's that word, to this end, with all perseverance and supplications for all the saints. We're to pray for each other. We're to pray for each other and other saints we know, and pray for your neighbors, that they might come into the fold right before the Lord returns. So two concluding passages I will read you to think about. One is 2 Peter 3, beginning in verse 11, where Peter says, well, if all this is true, how should we be living out our lives? Think about that. If all this is true, how should that change the way we live our lives? And Peter says, Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved... Remember we talked about everything being shook and shaken, except for the kingdom of Christ? Since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. That's what we're to do, to live at peace with one another, to be unblemished by the world, to live in holiness, awaiting the day of His arrival. Awaiting His arrival. Last passage I'll read to you is James chapter 5. And I'm reading this out of a transliteration. That's probably the wrong word. Paraphrase is probably a better word. I'm reading this out of a paraphrase, which is the New Living Translation. But this is James chapter 5, beginning in verse 7. He says, dear brothers and sisters, you must be patient as you wait for the Lord's return. Consider the farmers who eagerly look for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They patiently wait for the precious harvest to ripen. You too must be patient and take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. Don't grumble about each other, my brothers and sisters, or God will judge you. For look, the great judge is coming. He is standing at the door. James wanted his readers to have a picture in their mind, maybe not so much Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father, but it's the day that he was told to rise and put your hand on the doorknob and come back to planet Earth with the angels to gather the elect. He's our great high priest. I understand the significance of his being seated at the right hand. But beloved, one day he's going to stand up. And he's coming. And James says, he's at the door. Live out our lives as if he's at the door. Let me pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you for the truths contained in all that we studied today. And Lord, it's with great excitement that we await the soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And may we, as your bride, be a bride without blemish. Father, we heard a good testimony today that as Christians we do stumble in this world and all we have to do is cry out to you and confess our sins and receive a cleansing, even though we hadn't lost our salvation, but we sometimes hurt our relationship with you. So Father, I pray that this day everyone within the hearing of my voice might cry out to you in their own private prayer time. Be cleansed and then be ready and watchful for your soon return. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. Receive the Lord's blessing. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his confidence upon you and give you peace. Go in the peace of Christ Jesus to a world that desperately needs to hear the gospel. In Jesus' name, amen.