give ear. Come with awe and serve the Lord, mingle joy with trembling fear. Kiss the Son, His anger turn, lest you perish in the way. For His wrath will quickly burn, all who trust Him bless. Let us turn then to Mark chapter 13. We come to the end of this chapter, this longest unbroken teaching of Jesus in this gospel, though even the parallel account in Matthew 24 and 25 is quite a bit longer. But within Mark's rapid pace Gospel, this is the longest unbroken teaching. And we come now to the end of this teaching, verses 32 to 37 of Mark chapter 13. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, page 1,081 in most of the Pew Bibles. Mark chapter 13, beginning at verse 32. Let us hear the word of the Lord our God. 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. The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, coming to the end of this Olivet Discourse, recorded also, Luke 21, Matthew 24 and 25, We see now again universal language. Remember the very rough outline which we have been operating with? The question is asked in verse 4 by the disciples, 5 to 23, mostly addresses that question as does 28 to 31, but 24 to 27, and 32 to 37 speak more about universal things. Now we come to those universal things again and once again there's a theological shorthand Q, the word that day or that hour and then it's combined with this universal language to tell us that we're back to speaking not about 70 AD or signs similar to that, so not to the beginning of the birth pangs or the birth pangs which continue, but now we're speaking about consummation things again. We're speaking about universal things, the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is where we are then this morning. And clearly the reality is taught in these verses that every day we must be prepared for that day. Or if we were to add one word to that, every day we must be prepared for that final day. And we'll consider this together this morning. First, we'll look at the command given and that point will take longer than the other two. There's a difficult theological question we'll give some attention to. Then we'll look at the command illustrated and the command repeated. So what is the command given? What is that day or that hour? Notice this is again a kind of theological shorthand just as those days in verse 24 is a kind of shorthand combined with universal language and so last week we considered how Joel 2 is an example in the Old Testament of where we have Q words like the day of the Lord or those days. and how Mark 13, 24 to 27 is almost like Joel 2 in miniature form. We could have given other examples. And now we see something very similar, just a different shorthand Q, hint, word, that day, that hour. And so again we can turn to the Old Testament and we will read three verses from the Old Testament. Zechariah 9, verse 16. Here the Q word and in context this is sometimes speaking about the destruction of 586 BC, but that destruction is much different than the destruction of 70 AD because it's a mirror of the final destruction. And so what do we read in Zechariah 9 verse 16? On that day, the Lord their God will save them. So here's a day which has a certain finality to it, and it has salvation for God's people. On that day, the Lord their God will save them. And you can look at the context later, but we'll just read that phrase. Zephaniah chapter one. It's been more than a year now since we were in Zephaniah, but maybe you remember we worked through Zephaniah. Well, what's the that day language of Zephaniah chapter one? On that day, I will punish, verse nine. So we see that day is often a Q word in the Old Testament. We're talking about something that has finality to it. talking about something which brings salvation for God's people. I will save them. Talking about something which brings judgment on those who are in rebellion against God. On that day, Zephaniah 1.9, I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold. And it was more than a year ago now, but we spoke about how that was some of the pagan practices which had been brought into the temple of Jerusalem, things which ought not to have been done. And now it's something which you cannot escape from. And so then there's the language of the search lamps in Zephaniah 1.12. At that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps. I will punish the men who are complacent. There is no place you can hide from my lamps. See you in scripture. There are many words about the destruction of Jerusalem in 586. There are a few words about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and they're very different images in scripture. They are very different images. 586 is a destruction which you cannot escape from. It has finality, and it's a picture, a mirror of the final destruction, the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. By contrast, the destruction of 70 AD is something you can escape from. It's something God's people will escape from. They will find a Pella as we spoke about last week. And so returning to that, that day language, which is tied to final things, we have that Q word in Mark 13. That day or that hour, final things. final inescapable things. You will be saved or you will be judged. That was true in 586. That will be true on a universal scale at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are no longer talking about 70 AD event from which the church, the infant church could escape. We are talking about an event from which no one can escape. Revelation 6 makes that very clear. Is there a final day from which there is no escape, no matter what your position is, whether you be a general or a slave? Revelation chapter 6, beginning at verse 15, then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone slave and free. hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of the wrath has come. And who can stand? No one can stand. No one can escape. This is much different than 70 AD It is a universal 586 BC, there is no escape. Either Zechariah 9, 16, the Lord will save them or Zephaniah 1, 9, I will punish. There are two ways. There are only two outcomes. Now concerning the exact timing of this day, no one knows. That's also much different than from what we've read about 70 AD and the hints of the coming Roman soldiers. Well, unlike that coming for which there will be time to prepare to run away, You'll have to run away quickly. You'll have to leave your field, remember. You'll have to run from your house without grabbing any of your precious belongings. You'll have to leave right away, but you will be able to leave. But this time, we'll have no idea when it will come. It's inescapable, and the time of it is unknowable. Not even the sun knows. Now, here's a difficult theological point, isn't it? Again, this first point will be a little bit longer because I want to spend some time talking about this. What is the application for us here? Well, the application for us here is certainly our Lord Jesus Christ speaks to us directly about how we are to serve Him, how we are not to be in rebellion against Him, but also we need to just understand more foundationally who Jesus Christ is, right? So the application right here now is, let's take a difficult question about who Christ is, about who Christ on earth as true man and true God is, and seek to understand it a little better. In other words, the application right here is, let's understand the difficult theological point better. Let it not be, hopefully, as confusing to us tonight as it may have been this morning. Well, there is one profound answer, which has truth to it, which sounds like it's dodging the question, but has some truth to it. We could, for example, say with J.C. Ryle, this, quote, that the answer to these questions is to be found in our deep ignorance of the great mystery of the union of the two natures, one human nature, one divine nature, in the one person, Jesus Christ. Though we see clearly and admire, we cannot explain." End of quote. We could just say that. I think scripture does allow us to go a little bit further than that to try to grab hold of what's going on here. It is a profound mystery. It is something we can never understand perfectly, but There are some ways we can think about it to help us make sense of how the Son, the divine Son, Jesus Christ, who is God, would have something that he does not know. And this is to remember that sometimes Jesus Christ speaks as God, and sometimes he speaks as man. Cyril, the ancient church father, spoke about this, and he's been followed by conservative theologians for centuries since then. He took an example from John chapter 11. Again, we're spending a little bit of time here. We're turning to more passages than normal for this point, but here's one more, John chapter 11, and it's a lengthy chapter, a lengthy account of the death of Lazarus and then the resurrection of Lazarus. So we're not going to read every verse by any means. We're going to pick a few out. We're going to talk about the basic structure of what's going on here. And one thing which Jesus Christ clearly says as God, which he can only know as one who's divine. And one thing which he clearly says as man. He clearly says something which shows that he's as man speaking about something he doesn't know. We see both of these things in John chapter 11. So in John 11 verse three, news comes to Jesus and the disciples that Lazarus is ill. News comes that Lazarus is ill. And two days later, in verse 11, Jesus says, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. And the disciples say, well, if he's fallen asleep, he would recover, right? Like they don't get the fact that Jesus is saying that he's dead. And so then Jesus says it clearly in verse 14, no, he's dead. They received news that he was ill. Everybody knew that he was ill. Only God knew. Only Jesus Christ, speaking as God, knew when he died. They were many miles away. It probably took them, the details are a little bit difficult to put together, but it probably took them four days to travel to Bethany, at least two days. So they're many miles away. The disciples do not know this, but Jesus knows that Lazarus died because he can speak as God. He can know something which only God could know. But then as we continue reading, They come to the outskirts of Bethany. They are not in Bethany yet. Mary comes out to meet them and speaks to Jesus about how if he had been there, Lazarus would not have died. So we have a back and forth there. And then it leads to this statement in verse 34. Now at this point, Jesus is just outside of Bethany. Mary has come out to meet him. And what does he ask Mary? In verse 34, he says, where have you laid him? Where have you laid him? Now, how could Jesus Christ, who knew from a great distance that Lazarus had died, after traveling for some time and now being only a short distance removed, not know where he is buried. How can that be? How can Jesus Christ know that Lazarus died when he's many miles away and not know where Lazarus is buried when he's only a few miles away? See, we have an example in John chapter 11. of one who speaks as God and one who speaks as man. Beyond just what Jesus says, we have one who cries, who weeps at the death of his friend, and yet also one who has the divine power to make his friend alive. You see how John chapter 11, this lengthy chapter, helps us to see this is God, this is man. This is man, this is God. So, speaking about this passage many, many centuries ago, Cyril said this, quote, the truth is he knew both as God while he was ignorant of both as man. The son does not know. The son does know. Certainly, now we come to a statement on which there is no theological difficulty. The Father, end of verse 32, knows. Now we have stepped out of the realm of a difficult question and into the realm of that which is clear and obvious. The Father knows. And even as we've spent some time thinking about this difficult question, let us not be consumed by the statement that the Son does not know. Let us not be consumed by the reality that we cannot perfectly penetrate that great and wonderful mystery, but let us simply then keep this in mind. We do not know, the Father knows. The Father knows, but we do not, we are called to be on guard. We are called to be on guard. And that's another reminder of something we've seen throughout this chapter, isn't it? There's some statements here, and we read it, and we're like, what's going on? And at the same time, there are 19 command verbs in this chapter, and those speak to us quite clearly, don't they? Things like run. Things like be on guard. Things like be on lookout. Be on guard. Keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. That brings us into our second point that there is an illustration. Matthew chapter 25 again is an even longer recording of what Jesus has said here. parables recorded there at some length. The parable of the ten virgins, perhaps you're familiar, you remember that parable, even some of our younger members. Also the parable of the talents, where one man is trusted with five talents, another is trusted with two. Well, this is, we might say, the parable of the talents in short order, without mentioning the talents. Because it's a parable, it's an illustration that we are like those who are servants, who are stewards, who are given a position. Specifically, it mentions the position of doorkeeper. And we are to be alert. We are to actively fulfill the service which the Lord has given to us. We are to be on guard. We are to be alert. We are to be awake. Then in the end of verse 35, the standard divisions of the Roman watch are listed. The evening, midnight, the rooster crows, the morning, those are the four main watches of the Roman military. So it also takes on, we might say, a kind of military-like connotation, we're to be on guard. This is an important task, right? If a military man ignores the watch which he is given, well, that's a major problem, right? You'd get in trouble for that if you were found sleeping at the watch and you had your post. Well, what is our post? It's our entire life. We're always to be on guard. We're always to be ready for that second coming, whenever it comes. We're always to be alert. Of course, it's an illustration. It's not saying never sleep, right? But the idea is this. Your life, the time which God has put you here, is the time where you are to be on watch. So maybe you were born in 1960. Maybe you were born in 1980. Maybe you were born in 2000. Maybe you were born in 2010. But we're all alive here in 2020. This is the time where we are to be alert. This is the time where we are to be on watch, and we're to be on watch today and tomorrow and the next day, as long as the Lord should tarry, always ready for him to come, never knowing when that moment will be. We are active servants, actively on watch. As we come to our conclusion, we'll think a little bit about, a little bit more specifically, about what we are on watch for, but for now let's come to point three, that the command is repeated. And again, there's command verb after command verb after command verb in the midst of this chapter, this lengthy teaching, 19 of them. And so we end, fittingly, with a couple more. And clearly universal. Again, we've spoken about how sometimes it's difficult to see, are we speaking about 70 AD or speaking about past that? Well, again, this is clearly universal. We not only have the clue words that give us a hint that we're quite possibly speaking about something universal in verse 32, but now the context makes it abundantly clear, especially verse 37. What I say to you, I say to all, stay awake. Universal language speaking about an event which has universal consequences. So there's universal application. You will either be saved or you will be punished. I say to all, stay awake. So there's the final warning in verse 36, lest he comes suddenly and find you asleep. Imagine for a moment hypothetically that we did know one day the Lord was coming. Hypothetically, we don't know. Let's just imagine hypothetically that we did. And that the day was December 2, 2034. Oh, that might be tempting to say, the Lord's not coming till 2034. could be rebellious as I want until December 1, 2034, couldn't I? Or imagine if it was, you know, 2300 and it was 300 years away. And you are one of the Christians who is suffering from severe persecution, either personally or socially, at this moment. It would be extremely discouraging, because you would know that you're going to have to suffer through that, that the Lord's not coming for another 300 years. God, in His wisdom, has told us the time is always near But we never know exactly when it's coming. So we have the last warning and the last command. Are you old? Are you young? It doesn't matter. Are you ready right now to meet God? Of course, that's true in the event of an unexpected death, but it's true in the event of an unknown regarding the exact time coming. One way or another, at any moment, you can be brought before the face of God. Some will be saved, some will be punished, Which brings us back to our conclusion and to think about why are we on guard? Why are we on guard? And to think again about the radical difference between what the Christians are called to do in preparation for 70 AD and what the world is called to do in preparation for the second final day coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the earlier verses, especially 5 through 23, there's lots of language about be on guard against false teaching, be on guard against persecution, run away from persecution, all these kinds of things. And now, we have a much different image, don't we? Now there are two primary applications of be on guard. One is be on guard as an active doorkeeper, an active servant of our Lord Jesus Christ. But what's the other thought of be on guard? Who are we on guard against? We're no longer on guard against the Romans. We are on guard against the coming of God himself. When the Romans come, there's a way of escape. When God comes, there is no way of escape. People of God, be on guard. What is the only way you can really be on guard against the wrath of our God who comes? It's to be covered by the blood of the Savior, Jesus Christ, who came to die for your sins. That's the only way you can really be on guard against God himself, is to be covered by God himself. Repent and believe, trust in Jesus Christ alone. Be on guard against God himself. This time, This final time, there's no other escape. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our Lord, we pray that you would make us to be watchers, on-guard-ers, Those who are not only prepared, but also diligently longing for, actively desiring your final coming. Surely the world itself needs renewal. Surely. You are coming and you know the day even as we do not. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. People of God, let's stand and sing number 390. Let's stand and sing number 390 together. ♪ From her groans and trials cease ♪ ♪ Let the glorious proclamation ♪ ♪ Both restore and faith increase ♪ ♪ Christ is coming, Christ is coming ♪ ♪ Come thou blessed Prince of Peace ♪ cross and pain. She shall yet behold thy glory when thou comest back to reign. Christ is coming, Christ is coming, let each heart repeat the strain. On thine exile home and be. But in heavenly masters shining, they their loving Lord shall see. Christ is coming, Christ is coming, face the joyous jubilee. Main standing people of God we will Come now to our parting blessing for this morning. Following that, our doxology 567, praise God, from whom all blessings flow. And then again, the offering in the back. And then after a few minutes, also the presentation this morning. Let us hear people of God, the parting blessing of our God. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Yeah.