Our scripture reading this evening is Matthew 24, Matthew chapter 24. The most complete chapter in the Bible on the end of time and the signs of the Lord's return. We will read the first 42 verses and pay attention particularly to the end of the chapter. or at the end of the reading, verse 36 through 39, and verse 42, the text for this sermon. Matthew 24, and Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, see ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, his disciples came unto him privately saying, tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? Now I pause there just to note that they're asking him two questions, but they're closely related. When will these things be that the temple will be knocked down? And what's the sign of thy coming and the end of the world? Because those two things are related. The destruction of the temple was a picture of the end of the world. So some things in this chapter have to do with the destruction of the temple and the fall of Jerusalem, and other things have to do with the end of all things. So they're woven together here. Verse four, Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you. And ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. And then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso readeth, let him understand. Then let them which be in the Judea flee into the mountains. Let him which is in the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe to them that are with child. and to them that give suck in those days. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not, there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth. Behold, he is in the secret chambers. Believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds and from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things are fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. And now the text begins here at verse 36. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left, Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." So far we read God's Holy Word. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, Old Year's Evening. The service is a special service that we have bound ourselves to observe. It's not something that is specifically required of us in the scriptures, nor even in the Reformed confessions, except in our church order, which is a minor confession of ours, and that governs the life of the church. By this service, we observe the passing of another year. We call it Old Year's Night. as opposed to the world's New Year's Eve, because we are specifically looking at the end of another year. Why do we observe the passing of a year? Well, the answer to that is found in the very first chapter of the Bible. In Genesis 1, we read that God made great lights, the sun, the moon, and the stars, and that He gave them specifically for signs and for seasons, for days and years. These heavenly lights are for signs. They're signs of many things. We can't go into all of that, but one of the things that it points to is that there is an end of all things. Because God created time, and he created a day, and every day has an end. And every year has an end, and every decade, and every century, and millennium, they all have an end to them. And the purpose of all of that is to remind us that there is an end of all things. God has determined an end to time, an end to this world as we know it, and to time as we know it. It's hard to keep in view that there is an end to this world and to this life. The world refuses to acknowledge that there is an end, but Jesus says there is. His disciples asked him about this. They said, specifically, as he told them, as they first showed him all the buildings of the temple, Herod spent a tremendous amount of money and energy to build the temple for the Jews and to fix it up and add rooms. And they were showing him, and Jesus said to them, see ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And then the disciples wondered, well, when will this happen? When will these things happen? And what are the signs of thy coming and of the end of the world? As I said, those two things go together because the raising of the temple, destruction of the temple, points ahead to the time when the church will be persecuted, when the end of all things comes. and the Lord returns. So Jesus describes in this chapter the signs of his coming, of his second coming on the clouds of glory. But that immediately raises the question, when? When will these things happen? And that, of course, is what everyone wants to know. The text that we consider after Jesus gave all these signs, the text begins with the word, but. And it begins with that contrast because Jesus in this chapter does not say when. And so he specifically says, but of that day and that hour knoweth no man, not the angels in heaven, but my father only. So Jesus said, I can't tell you. I don't even know. That is according to his human nature that had not been revealed to him as God. Of course he knew all things, but according to his human nature that had not even been revealed to him. No man knows. Only my father knows the day and the hour of the end of all things. And yet we are not to forget about it. We are not to live our lives as though It doesn't matter, apparently, when it will happen, because the Lord says in verse 42, watch, watch, for ye know not what hour the Lord doth come. That is an incentive for us to watch, exactly because we do not know the precise time. So let's consider these verses under the theme, watching for the Son of Man's return. Notice in the first place the sure return, secondly, the lesson from Noah's day, and thirdly, the needed admonition to watch. The return of the Lord is certain. The Son of Man shall return to this earth in great glory and power. This is absolutely certain because this is God's will that his son return in power and glory. Jesus made this plain when he says, no one knows this the time, but my father only. He knows the time. He knows the day and the hour because he has determined it. Now, when I say he has determined it, we do not mean by that that God merely knows the date and the time of the day and the exact second when Jesus will appear, as if we could say, well, March 13, 2043 at 10 o'clock in the morning. God knows that, of course, exactly when that will be, but that's not the point. God has determined a plan, and He has included all the events and all the people and all the creatures in it that will work for His purpose. And when all of that has been accomplished, then the end will come. God isn't concerned about a clock on the wall. God is concerned that all the things that He has determined must occur, and then the end will come. He has determined that. when the end, when all things have occurred. He has sovereignly determined all that. The book of Isaiah expresses it in Isaiah chapter 46. Remember the former things of old. This is verse nine and following. For I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning. So he's declaring that he can tell you the end and the beginning. And from ancient times, the things that are not yet done saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. God determines everything. And he says at the end here, and I have spoken it, I will bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also do it. There's no question God will execute his counsel and the end will come when all his counsel has been accomplished. The Son of Man will come again. That's verse 37. So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Jesus calls himself the Son of Man. That's one of the favorite descriptions of himself in his public ministry. And that, first of all, is used by him to indicate his lowliness. He is of the woman born. He is merely a man, flesh and blood servant, the son of man who would be delivered into the hands of wicked men who would be nailed to the cross. So the son of man emphasizes his humiliation, which would lead to his suffering and death and is being buried in the ground. But the Son of Man also indicates something of what will come after that. He will rise again the third day. He will be exalted. The same One who in human flesh was born in a lowly position was persecuted and put to death, that same one in that flesh will be lifted up. He will be exalted, and he will sit at the right hand of God, and he will come again in power and in glory. That Son of Man will come again. Matthew 16, 27, It says, for the Son of Man shall come in the glory of the Father with His angels, and then shall He reward every man according to his works. Also in this chapter, verse 30, they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The Bible emphasizes the Son of Man will come again. He must come again. not only because God has determined it, but God has determined this as a culmination of the work of Jesus Christ saving His people for the glory of God's name. God's Son assumed the flesh in obedience to the will of the Father. He would be delivered into the hands of sinners and die for our sins. And because he accomplished that, the full redemption of his people, God would lift him up out of the grave. God would exalt him to the height of heaven. And the final glorious aspect of Christ's work is His coming again on the clouds. This is the finishing of the work. This is His bringing His people unto Himself in glory. The Son of Man must come in the glory of the Father. So sure was this, that after Jesus spoke all these things to the disciples in verse 35, just before the text, he says, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. In reality though, though we speak of the Son of Man coming in the clouds, coming in glory, Yet from another perspective, he has been coming all through the ages. Since he ascended up into heaven, he has been coming. He's on his way, so to speak. That's why the signs are given of his return. You remember the signs of the Lord's return? The chapter that we read gives Many of them, they are often subdivided into eight different categories. Let me remind you of those signs because they're important for us if we really are intent on watching that we know the signs of His coming. The signs of His coming, first of all, are the preaching of the gospel. That's the central sign, the most important one. Because the preaching of the gospel as it goes out into all the nations is gathering together the church. That's the most important part of his work, gathering his church. When the last of the saints of God, eternally chosen in Jesus Christ, have been gathered into the church, that's the end. There's no more need for time to continue because All God's people have been saved. So that's the most important sign of all the signs of Jesus' return, the preaching of the gospel to all the nations. Secondly, there are the signs in nature. Jesus speaks of pestilence and earthquakes and famine, tornadoes and hurricanes, and all that we see in the creation is a testimony to the coming of Jesus Christ. preaching, signs in nature, signs among the nations, societies, wars, upheaval, all the strife between the genders, strife between the races and the nations, a sign of the coming of Jesus Christ. There are, fourthly, the signs in the church. false Christs. He speaks at length of that more than once in this chapter, of people who will be false prophets, who some even claim to be Christ, the Savior of the church. And then the great falling away within the church, people forsaking the truth, people not going to church any longer. We're seeing that happening And then the uniting of all the churches coming together and that on the basis of the minimum of doctrine, because they will have all sorts of different views, but they will come together and say, we're one, we're one, a false ecumenical movement. With that is the fifthly is the uniting of the nations as all the nations come together into one kingdom. the anti-Christian kingdom. And following that, number six is the great tribulation, such as there never has been because all the world will be united to the destruction of the church. That's their goal, that's their main purpose. And then number seven, after that, the sun. not give its light, the moon will turn to blood, the stars will fall from the sky, and then the sign of the Son of Man," number eight, the sign of the Son of Man in the heavens, which might be actually the Son of Man Himself coming. He's not exactly sure what Jesus means by the sign of the Son of Man, but immediately follows that He Himself will come on the clouds. Signs are something visible Signs are something you can see, something that draws your attention, something that says the Lord Jesus Christ is coming. They are signs. What will it be like, this second coming of Jesus? It will be a glorious event, absolutely glorious. He will come in great power. He will ride on a glorious cloud, coming swiftly. and with him will be myriads of angels, myriads of saints accompanying him, glorified, rejoicing in the coming of Jesus Christ. The wicked will mourn. Their hopes are dashed. Their glorious kingdom will be destroyed. They will in terror cry out for the rocks and the mountains to cover them and hide them from the wrath of the one who is coming. in judgment. But God's people, whoever are left on the earth and whoever is accompanying Him, will rejoice with joy exceeding great. The victory is realized. All their suffering, all their persecution, all the reproach that they endured, it's all gone. They've been vindicated. They belong to Jesus Christ and to God Himself. God, Jesus will separate his people from the rest. He will call them to himself. He will raise their bodies from the grave and reunite them with their souls and bring them with him into his eternal kingdom. But the rest will be left with their terrifying judgment and to be cast into hell itself. The great and final judgment where the Son of Man sits as the representative of God. Joining Him will be the saints joining in the judgment of this world and even of the angels. And He will send every man and every devil to their place that has been eternally prepared for them. That's what He will do. of that hour, of that day, of that year, no one knows at all. That's what everyone wants to know though, isn't it? When? When will these things be? When will He come? And there is so much speculation. War breaks out in the Middle East and it spawns a number of books saying, well, the prophecies are being fulfilled and now it's clear that the Lord is almost here. He's going to come. False prophets arise and predict. Leaders of religious people will make a prediction and say that in such and such a year, such and such a time, Jesus is coming, convince their followers to quit their jobs and sell their homes and simply await for the Lord's return. But he doesn't come because no one knows the time. The angels do not know it. And again, we said even Jesus at that time did not know it. Why does God keep this hidden? Well, I'm sure God has many reasons, but let's point out at least a couple of them. One of them with regard to the wicked is to lull them to sleep, the ungodly. Seeing, they see, but they will not believe. They experience the signs, the terrible and terrifying signs. They've been told that the world will end, and the end of every year is a witness to them as well. But they have no definite date to fix their attention on. And after this catastrophe is over and they have their scientists explaining, well, don't worry about it. This is simply a natural event. It happens because of the plates shifting under the ground. It happens because of global warming. We have all kinds of explanations. Don't worry about any of this. They lose interest until the next horrible sign comes. They lose interest and they forget about any kind of judgment. that might be coming upon them. They are lulled to sleep. But for God's people, God clearly wants his people to watch always, to watch always. to keep our minds fixed upon the return, not fixed on an hour, not fixed on a year, but fixed on His return. The fact that He is coming is what God wants us to focus on. So that we will behold the signs of His coming, that we will see the glorious plan of God unfolding. We live in an exciting time in the history of the world as we are seeing so many of the signs here and in the book of Revelation happening before our very eyes. He wants us to behold these things, not to live without concern and say, well, it's not going to happen now until 2000 something. No, watch. Be watching as the Lord is coming. So he doesn't give us a date to focus on, but he says, watch as he comes. To help us to understand His second coming, and to help us to prepare for that, He gives us a lesson from the days of Noah. A lesson from the days of Noah. Jesus makes a comparison between the days of Noah and the days just prior to His coming. Verse 37, as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. And again, verse 39, and they knew not that day that Noah entered into the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. This is an appropriate comparison from many perspectives, but surely one of them is that the flood is a picture of the end of the world. The flood is a picture of the end, the destruction at the end. In the days of Noah, God saw the wickedness of man that it was so great that he saw they were filling up the cup of iniquity. God could not allow the world to become any more wicked than it was because it threatened the very existence of the church. You think of the fact that among the millions of people that existed in that day, when the flood came, there were but eight souls left in the church. Eight souls. That's all that was left. And therefore, to preserve his church, God determined judgment on the ungodly. They filled the cup of iniquity and he brought judgment and destruction on them. He instructed Noah to build an ark for the saving of his house. And at that time, Noah preached. He preached repentance. Turn away from your sin. God would destroy this world with a flood. He announced it clearly to them, but the people would not listen. They mocked Noah, his preaching, and his building. So in the end, the world that then was filled up the cup of iniquity, and this is what will happen in the end of time. They will fill up the cup of iniquity. God will determine when that moment comes, when the cup is full, and then He will send forth His Son to bring judgment upon the ungodly of this world. That's the first comparison that we need to notice. More specifically, Jesus says, the lifestyle and the attitude, the way that people lived in the days of Noah are a lesson for us of what to expect at the end of the world. Particularly, he notes that they were living as though there was no judgment coming. That's how the people of Noah's day lived. Not that they hadn't heard it. Not that they had not been warned. Noah told them why he was building this ark. God would send a flood. He preached repentance. Second Peter said he was a preacher of righteousness. And as they worked day after day, Noah and his sons and perhaps other believers who joined him in that before they died off, that huge arc was a constant reminder of the reality that judgment was coming. They knew it. But their response was unbelief. They mocked. And then when they tired of that, they simply ignored Noah And they went off and lived their life as though nothing had changed. And there was no judgment whatsoever. Jesus speaks of the fact they were eating, they were drinking, they were giving in marriage and marrying. And this was a continuous activity day after day. They continued this way. Total deliberate disregard of the judgment that was announced by Noah. They had no concern for their spiritual welfare. Their only concern was eating and drinking, satisfying the flesh, and so they ignored all the evidence. Even when every morning the air was filled with water as God watered the earth, Even though under the very ground, the ground was established upon the waters, they were surrounded by waters. And as the ark neared completion and was finally complete and the two by two animals came to the ark and Noah and his family went into the ark and God closed the door, they continued eating and drinking as though everything was fine. Until the day that the deluge came, until the day that the flood came, they continued in that same way. So says Jesus, so shall also be the coming of the Son of Man. It's not hard to see that what Jesus is describing here will be the end of the world, the attitude of men, because we are already living in those days when people are living for the lust of the flesh, disregarding all the evidence around them that this world will be destroyed, not by water, but by fire. Fire surrounds us. All the power in this world, not only the power of weapons, but electric power and The power of nuclear atoms and all that this involves, everything is driving our world. There's fire all around us, testifying to the end of the world. But men live in complete, deliberate disregard of the judgment. Their lives are consumed with seeking pleasure, with gluttonous eating. with drunkenness and drug-induced lives. Entertainment, sexual immorality, and especially tonight, especially tonight, because the end of the world is a word from God to them. They don't like to call this New Year's, or rather Old Year's Day. For them it's New Year's Eve. This is a time when we watch the big ball come down. This is a time when we make New Year's resolutions because there's hope tomorrow. We won't worry about the end of all things. We're looking ahead. We're looking toward a new beginning. Tomorrow things will be better because it's a new year. It's deliberate. that on this day especially, they push that all out of the way, all the signs of judgment. They don't want to hear about it. They will eat and drink and party until dawn with the hope of a new year. This country knows that there is an end. This is a country that has heard preaching for years and years and years. And they've been told that there is an end to this world. Jesus himself said it. From now on, you will see the Son of Man coming, and he's coming. They mock that, and yet ironically, they report it in the news. They report it in the news day after day, the catastrophes and the strife and all the things that are pointing to the end, all the signs of Jesus' coming. They are reporting it and then pushing it aside as being not anything to do with the coming of Jesus. It is particularly difficult for the child of God in that atmosphere to watch for the coming of Christ. Even the church world at large is not looking for the coming of Christ. They're busy with their supposed common grace, working with the world to build a better world, to build a better kingdom. They're working to establish the kingdom of Antichrist, thinking that somehow They're doing God's service. Materialism reigns and plans are being made long into the future so that when you look at this world, you would say, who? Who is expecting judgment? The world ignores it. The church ignores it. And it seems as though it will never come. So Jesus says, don't be fooled by that. That's exactly the way it was in Noah's day. They pretended nothing would ever change. They pretended there was no judgment. They ignored the preaching of Noah. And they went on living their lives as though this world would go on and on and on, nothing to worry about. That's exactly what you will see down to the last day of this earth. The day when Jesus comes on the clouds, the wicked will live exactly that way. His coming will be sudden. His coming will be absolutely unexpected, and it will be final. As a thief in the night, the way the Bible describes it, when people least expect a thief to come, that's exactly the way in which Jesus will come, when they least expect it, that he will come. It could not be much more unexpected than what you have just those two verses. which aren't really part of the text, but verses 40 and 41, then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the other one shall be taken and the other left. And the point is especially this, ordinary life goes on. No one will wake up in the morning and say, I think this is the day. I think this is the day when the Lord is coming. No one will have any indication of that whatsoever. When the Lord Jesus comes, There will be no lights. There will be no warning bells. He will simply come. He will come. Though, yes, the sun will stop shining, the moon will turn into blood, but immediately thereafter, the Lord Jesus Christ comes. And His coming will be final. That will be the end of this world. He will make that separation between His people and the ungodly of this world, take His people to Himself. Either you will be ready or you will not be ready. There will not be time for anyone to get ready for the coming of the Lord. Understand, then, the urgency of Jesus. Watch, therefore. Watch. What does he mean by that? What exactly does Jesus expect us to do when he tells us to watch? The word watch is simply to look at, first of all, to look at something, but it has a little added emphasis in the word. It means to give strict attention to. So that there will be a lot of things that you have to pay some attention to, things that you have to look at and take care of. But the focus, the strict attention of your life must be on this, watching. That's his point. Pay attention to the signs. That's what watching involves. First of all, that's why it's at the end of this chapter where Jesus gives these signs. To watch is to pay attention to them, so that when you hear of a tornado that kills scores of people, you don't say, oh, what a terrible thing, and then go on with your life, but you say, the Lord is coming! When you hear of a flood, when you hear of a pestilence, when you hear of a war, when you hear of ungodliness rising in the nation, you say, the Lord is coming! That's what we must do. Watch for the signs. Notice how they are indications of the Lord's coming. When the false church unites and the false church is united and becoming more and more one and it all these churches together becomes the whore of Babylon. Not a single denomination. But all the churches together, united against the cause of Jesus Christ, that is the whore of Babylon. We see that happening. We see the world coming together and unifying, becoming very unified. We see godlessness abounding and pleasure madness abounding as it was in the days of Noah. When we see these things, we must say, another sign. Another sign of the Lord's return. Understand that these signs are not mere indications that Jesus happens to kind of put up in front of us to remind us of his coming, but these signs are actually working his coming. There are signs that are part of his coming. If I may illustrate that, if you were upstairs and there was a wood woodman down in the basement, a carpenter was making something, you could hear from the sounds where he's at in the building of his cabinet. You'd hear the saw. And then maybe you'd hear the drill. And then maybe you'd hear some pounding or some working of the drill, putting in screws. And then maybe you'd hear the sander working or some sandpaper that is on there. And then maybe the lid of the can of varnish is lifted off and you hear that. Those aren't mere signs. That's an indication that he's working, that he's accomplishing what he wants to do. And that's the way we have to understand these things. If you examine the various signs of the Lord's return, they are not mere empty signs, but He is coming through them. Through them. That's why it's so important for us to pay attention to the signs. Don't ignore them. The Lord is coming through these various signs. This watching has an effect on our lives. Because someone who is watching with strict attention recognizes not merely that these are reminders, but that He is actually coming, and therefore we must be ready. Watchfulness and readiness go together. Isn't that obvious? If you were to be visited this week by an important dignitary, maybe the president of the United States was going to come to your house, you would get ready for that. You'd have your house cleaned up. You'd be dressed in your best clothes. You wouldn't be in a drunken stupor. You wouldn't be counterfeiting money in the basement. You would be ready for him to come. That's the idea also of watching. Watching for the coming of the Lord means we're getting ready for Him to come. We're eager for Him to come. That's included in watching. It means we seek to keep His commands. We hear His admonitions and we seek to do them. That's what it means to be ready for the coming of the Lord. We need this admonition. Let me give you four reasons why we need to hear this admonition from Jesus to watch. In the first place, we need this admonition because it's been a long time since Jesus left. Almost 2,000 years now, Jesus has been gone. And that makes people to become rather lackadaisical about it, but it also brings this spirit that people say, you don't really think he's going to come in your lifetime, do you? It's been hundreds and hundreds of years, and all through the last 2,000 years, there have been people who said, well, now surely he's coming. Now, surely he will come this year. Look at the terrible catastrophes. Look at all of the ways that the church is being persecuted. The Reformation, they butchered thousands and thousands of people, and they thought, surely the Lord is coming now, and he didn't come. So, you shouldn't have such ideas that he might come in your lifetime. And so we can think, well, that's true. The church has thought that many times. I guess I, maybe I don't have to worry about it. I don't have to think about it. He probably isn't coming, not in my lifetime. So we need this admonition because it's very easy for us to imagine it's a long ways off yet. I don't have to think about it. But Jesus says, We must watch. Secondly, we need it not only because it's been a long time since Jesus left, but we need it because we are sinners surrounded by a sinful world that is denying the coming of Jesus. The world is always seeking to cover up. cover up the coming of the Lord, to obscure the signs, to turn their attention and all of our attention to other things, not to focus on the one central thing, but to have all sorts of diversions. And we're glad to do that. Our flesh wants to stay here. We're very comfortable. We're very comfortable here. We need, therefore, the admonition to watch because the world is trying to divert our attention. The flesh is perfectly willing to go along with that. Jesus must come and say to us, watch. Thirdly, we need this admonition because this is a very difficult event to keep in our minds because it is a spiritual event. It's almost otherworldly. Jesus is on the throne. He's directing the course of history. Through this, He is coming, and yet we don't see Him coming. It's a spiritual event. But we are so much of the earth, and the job, and the clothes, and the house, and the food, and the people. That's what gets our attention. The things that are spiritual are hard for us to hold in our mind. We need, therefore, the admonition. No, watch. Watch it carefully. Keep this before you. And finally, from a different perspective, the other three were why we need this, but we need it from a different perspective because there is such tremendous comfort to knowing that the Lord is coming. What if Jesus had not promised this? What if he had not promised that he was coming back? Will the world just keep on going until it ran out of resources? Will the world keep going until men destroy themselves and the planet? Maybe it would just keep on going forever. Then you understand there is no hope of a final completed salvation where all God's people are gathered into heaven and into the new heavens and earth. There's no final salvation. If this world is simply going to keep on going and people will reproduce and there'll be more saints born into this world until the forever, then there's no end. There's no conclusion to this great work of salvation. But he is coming. He promised. He promised. There is an end to this world. We don't have to stay here. And the church doesn't have to stay here forever and ever. If you are watching, you will see it. You'll see that he is coming. That's what he wants you to do and me. We will see and know when we see the events when we see all the things that are happening. The Lord Jesus is on his way. Blessed is that servant. Who is ready? Amen. Let us pray father in heaven. We bow before thee. Glorious thou art, thy works and ways are far beyond us. We thank thee that we may have the instruction of the Lord and the admonition and pray that thou will give us wisdom, strength of faith in all of the adversities and the trials not only but even in the joys and in the comforts of this life, faith to believe and to be eager for the coming of the Lord. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen. We sing Psalm 275. 275. This speaks of the fact that the end will come, as one forestands, as one lays a garment by, thou wilt change the starry sky like a vesture worn and old. But thy years will never be told. That is, never come to an end. We sing all the stanzas, 275. Lord God, have mercy this I know, through the ages that shall stay, Praise to them eternally. Alleluia. Love of the skies. Death for Zion's humble rise. And thy praise to her appeal. O come, O come, Emmanuel! Christ the Risen shall be born, for the glory of the Lord, and the sin of the world. When all life's engraved, and never doubt is freed, and never shall pass away, dreams I love that symbol. Alleluia! Alleluia! have the glory of the Lord. Alleluia! Alleluia! Thank you, Christ, for all our sin. Praise the Name in higher favor. All that we do is praise the Lord. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.