The Revealed Duties While Awaiting Christ’s Return

Introduction to the Olivet Discourse and its Context

0:00 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, June 26, 1988, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:18 Now may I encourage you to turn with me in your own Bibles to the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Mark as we continue our consecutive expositions of this Spirit-inspired record of the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus, Mark chapter 13, and will you follow please as I read verses 28 through 37. Mark 13, 28. Now from the fig tree learn her parable. When her branches now become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is nigh.

1:07 Even so also, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away until all these things be accomplished. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

1:51 Take heed, watch, and pray, for you do not know when the time is. It is as when a man sojourning in another country, having left his house and given authority to his servants, to each one his work, commanded also the porter or the gatekeeper to watch. Watch, therefore, for you do not know when the Lord of the house comes, whether at even or at midnight or at cockcrowing or in the morning, lest, coming suddenly or unexpectedly, he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch.

2:44 And now let us again seek the face of God for God's blessing upon the ministry of the Word, and also let us remember Pastor Nichols. I neglected to write him into the many who are ministering elsewhere today in the midst of his vacation. He is preaching again there in Mebane at the sister church. There were Pastor Hendricks and Pastor Fortner labor. Let us remember him as he no doubt will be standing on his feet even now to preach the word. Let us pray.

3:16 Our Father, we have already, in the hymn we have sung, expressed the deep longing of our hearts, even that the ministry of the Holy Spirit would be so mightily operative, that the darkness would be driven from our minds, that we would be given the spirit of illumination and understanding, that we would know aright your word and that our hearts would be inclined to obedience. And what we pray for ourselves, we pray for those who sit under the ministry of your servant, Pastor Nichols,

4:01 as this hour he will be preaching there at our sister church in Mebane. O Lord, everything we would covet for ourselves, we covet for them. Come, we pray, in every place. where every true man seeks to handle the word aright.

4:20 O God, do your mighty work. By this your holy word we pray, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Review of Mark 13: Prophecy and Inter-Advent Characteristics

4:34 We come this morning to our last exposition of the words of our Lord in the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark. And the focus of our attention will be verses 33 through 37. However, for the benefit of those who have not been with us in the previous studies, of whom there are not a few this morning, let me take just a few moments to sketch in the highlights of what we have seen in this chapter as we have studied it together. Within but a few days of his crucifixion in what is commonly called the Passion Week, our Lord, upon leaving the temple area with its vast and impressive structures,

5:24 made a very startling prophecy in the hearing of his disciples. That prophecy is recorded in verse 2 of this chapter. Jesus said unto him, Do you see these great buildings? there shall not be left here one stone upon another which shall not be thrown down.

5:47 Now although such a thing in many ways was well nigh unthinkable, the disciples obviously did not doubt the validity of the words of their Lord. Rather, they asked him the questions recorded in verse 4 of the chapter, and in a more expanded form in Matthew 24 and verse 3. Tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished? Or in the language of Matthew 24, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and the end of the age?

6:32 Well, with these words burning in their ears that not one stone shall be left upon another, and with this question pressed to our Lord by the disciples, while sitting on the Mount of Olives, looking back upon the temple area, bathed no doubt in the warm, soft glow of the setting sun, our Lord utters what is commonly called the Olivet Discourse simply because he spoke it while sitting on the Mount of Olives. And in that discourse he focuses upon two great epochal events that were yet to come to pass in the life history of these disciples and of the people of God in the ages to come.

7:26 He focuses first of all upon the destruction of Jerusalem which occurred in 70 AD, at which time his prophecy was literally fulfilled. Not one of those massive stones, stones about the size of this platform, were left standing upon another. The temple was utterly razed to the ground in the horrible destruction of Jerusalem. But then our Lord also answers the question concerning His coming and the consummation or the end of the age, and therefore speaks of His second coming in power and in glory.

8:09 And as he unfolds his concentrated attention upon these two events, in verses 5 through 13, he sketches in the major characteristics of the inter-advental period. He says in essence these things will not be signs of the end These things will characterize the entire age From this point in history when he sat upon the Mount of Olives Until the consummation There would be religious deception International disruption Natural calamities and bitter opposition against the gospel But because his discourse is intensely pastoral, as our Lord sketches in the major characteristics of the interadvental period, he exhorts them, do not be deceived in the face of abounding religious deception.

9:10 Do not be troubled in the face of international disruption. These are but the beginnings of travail. these things must needs come to pass, but the end is not yet. These are not signs of the end.

9:26 Do not be troubled in the face of the upheaval of nations and famines and earthquakes. And then he concludes with the exhortation, do not be drawn away from Christ, no matter how bitter the opposition may be, for he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. Then in verses 14 to 23, he takes, as it were, the zoom lens and focuses upon that first event, namely the destruction of Jerusalem. And our Lord tells his disciples that a specific event would signal the near destruction of Jerusalem, and when that event came to pass, the disciples were to flee to the

10:14 mountains, and they were not to allow anything to impede them in that flight to the mountains. And so verses 14 to 23 are our Lord's prediction of the imminence of the destruction of Jerusalem and the necessity of defensive retreat for the protection of his people. Then in verses 24 through 27, as so often happens in prophetic literature, without any indication of the precise time period, only that this event will occur after the destruction of Jerusalem. Verse 24.

10:56 But in those days after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, then shall they see the Son of Man. All we know as to its time is that the second advent will occur after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., whether ten years, twenty, a thousand, or ten thousand.

11:20 and that we do not know, but it is certain that the Son of Man will come. He will come amidst great cosmic disruptions. He will come visibly. He will come in manifest glory and power, and He will come according to Mark with this dominant concern to gather together His elect from the four corners of the earth. Now that he has answered their basic questions, when shall these things be? When will the destruction of Jerusalem occur? And he has told them. It is imminent. He has given a specific description of that abomination of desolation,

12:06 which they would recognize as the index that it was time to flee. He has answered that question. What shall be the sign of thy coming in the end of the age? He said there will be no sign.

12:19 The coming itself will be the sign. In the parallel passage in Matthew, then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and that sign is the Son himself. Wars and rumors of wars, they are not a sign of the imminence of the Lord's return. These things, he said, will characterize the entire epoch, the entire interadvental period.

The Structure of the Concluding Section: Imminence, Concealed Time, Revealed Duties

12:46 And so what our Lord proceeds to do in verses 28 to the end of the chapter is to now bring some practical application of the content of the teaching previously given. And the basic structure of this section is this. verses 28 to 31, he tells them that the destruction of Jerusalem is imminent. And he does so by a simple parable, the learn from the fig tree, her parable, a solemn prophecy, verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away until all these things, that is, the things spoken of in verses 14 to 23, and alluded to in verse 23, come to pass, and then by this sweeping pronouncement,

13:39 heaven and earth shall eventually pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Then in verse 32, he now speaks concerning the second advent, and he underscores the fact that the time of the Advent is concealed. But of that day and of that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. The concealed time of the second Advent, however, verses 33 to 37, he gives the revealed duties in the light of the concealed time. One verse

14:28 to assert the concealed time, but five verses to underscore the revealed duties. And so this morning, we concentrate upon verses 33 to 37, in which we have the revealed duties in the light of the concealed time of the second advent. And if ever Deuteronomy 29, 29 has a very apt fulfillment, it is in this paragraph. The secret things belong unto the Lord, but the things that are revealed are for us and for our children that we may do them. And so let us come to the passage

15:17 then, not to find something that will feed the carnal itch for speculation, but the holy passion to know our duty until the voice of the archangel sounds and the heavens part and the cloud of glory appears, and we behold our blessed Lord face to face. In thinking through the passage, I would ask you to note, first of all, the major duties mandated by our Lord in the light of his return. Verse 39, verse 33, the major duties mandated. Then we shall consider, secondly, the central duty illustrated and identified. Verses 34 and 35 and 36, and finally the central duty expanded

Major Duties Mandated: Take Heed, Watch, and Pray

16:12 in its application. First of all, then, the major duties mandated in this passage. Look at the text. Take heed, watch, and pray, for you do not know when the time is.

16:34 Now the contrast with verse 32 is both bold and emphatic. With reference to the day and the hour, no one knows. Not the angels in heaven, not the apostles on earth, neither the Son in his present state of humiliation when he spoke the words of the Olivet Discourse. Therefore we are not to weary ourselves with seeking to be wiser than angels, wiser than apostles, and wiser than the Son at that period of his humiliation.

17:16 But in the light of the concealed time, there is no concealment of our duties. Our Lord follows the words of verse 32 with three present imperative verbs. In other words He drops these duties upon the consciences of his followers with tremendous concentration and intensity Stop speculating about the time but be preoccupied with your duties And those major duties come hung together as three present imperative verbs. You have first of all the general duty, and then secondly the specific duty.

18:05 the general duty, translated in the old 1901, take ye heed. And here is the fourth usage of this particular entreaty and exhortation in the Olivet Discourse. Some have suggested, in a sense, it is a key to the entire discourse. For when he begins the discourse, he begins it with these very words, verse 5, Jesus began to say unto them, take heed. Our Lord's eschatological framework is intensely moral, ethical, and practical. Lord, when are these things going to come

18:50 to pass? What will be the signs? Give us the time reference. Give us the sign index.

18:55 And Jesus says, take heed. Pay attention. Be alert. Be on your guard against false signs.

19:05 So that was the first occurrence of this general duty. He says, take heed that you don't deceive, allow yourself to be deceived by false signs. Then in verse 9, it occurred again. But take heed now to yourselves.

19:24 Be on guard with reference to yourselves. You are weak. You are vulnerable. The gospel you love and are to preach is not going to be a popular gospel.

19:34 The world is not going to be converted by it. The world is going to oppose it and oppose you as its propagators. Take heed to yourselves. Watch to yourselves that you do not allow this opposition to bring you to a point where you are prepared to save your skin at the expense of losing the Savior.

19:53 Take heed that no one lead you astray. Take heed to yourselves. Then in verse 23, after he had given this prediction about the invasion of Jerusalem and the abomination of desolation and the necessity to flee to the mountains once again. But take heed.

20:14 Behold, I've told you all things beforehand. Don't let my specific prophecies about specific events That are calculated to prepare you for the time when you ought to flee Jerusalem Don't let these things go unheeded Pay attention to them Look at them Keep them before your spiritual eyeballs Three times our Lord has said Take heed, take heed, take heed And now for the fourth time as he seeks to lay upon his people their responsibilities in the light of the concealed time of the second advent, the general duty is this, take heed, see to it that you maintain

21:00 perspectives and attitudes and a spiritual disposition essential for preparedness for my return. So our Lord is again emphasizing that spiritual preparedness does not come automatically, but it comes in the way of conscious, intelligent effort, particularly effort in the area of spiritual awareness. This general duty calls to that which is the exact opposite of forgetfulness. Distractedness Indifference And carelessness

21:46 And mark it down As a fundamental axiom Of all of the teaching of Scripture Concerning preparation For the second coming of Christ Mark it down as a fundamental axiom Preparedness demands effort Conscious, constant deliberate effort. No one will be prepared for the returning Lord who has not diligently sought to be prepared. And so our Lord begins with the general duty. Take heed, be constantly alert,

22:32 and then he descends to two specific duties, hung together by a coordinating conjunction, watch and pray. Now, some of you may have a translation that omits the word pray, and that is omitted by the arbitrary decision of some of the so-called textual experts who give a little bit too much credit to certain manuscript evidence. there is very good evidence that when our Lord spoke these words, He hung together these two specific duties. Again, two present imperatives, be continually watching and be continually praying.

The Specific Duty of Constant Wakefulness and Prayerfulness

23:16 Now let's look at them in that order. The two specific duties of them, the first is constant wakefulness. And I use the word wakefulness instead of watchfulness, Because later on we're going to come across several usages of the word watch, and it is a different word. Now though there are contexts where the two words are used basically as synonyms, in this context it would appear that the shade of difference in meaning is deliberate.

23:48 This particular word is a compound word which comes from two words which mean to chase sleep. And it's the picture of what a man does who's been away on a business trip. And he's missed his wife and his kids, and he could have stayed over another night and driven back the next day, but he's so excited that his business is over and he longs to get back home. And I can remember doing this when I was in the itinerant ministry, that I would set out and say, well, I'll just drive until I feel sleepy and then put up in a motel and make the rest of the trip in the morning.

24:22 but with each passing mile I'd get more and more excited about seeing my wife and my children and several times drove right through the night. But if I felt at any time that beginning feeling that my eyelids were trying to go south, I would slap my face, pinch my cheeks, open up the window. What was I doing? I was doing everything possible to drive sleep away from my eyes.

24:50 Now, I may have been there like a zombie, very little awareness, but I was driving sleep from my eyes. I was keeping myself in a state of wakefulness. And when our Lord lays upon the disciples their specific duties in the light of the concealed time of his return, he is saying to them, you must give yourself to an exercise spiritually of constant wakefulness. You must do as the man driving that car when his eyelids try to go south.

25:30 You must do whatever you must do to keep yourself in a state of wakefulness. What the soldier must do when he's pulled that horrible watch from perhaps 3 a.m. to 6 a.m., knowing that in a time of battle he would be shot, where he found asleep at his post and he does all that he must do, marshalling all of his faculties to keep himself in a state of wakefulness.

26:04 And that's precisely what our Lord is telling us to do. Take heed. Pay close attention that you constantly maintain a state and condition of spiritual wakefulness. Why?

26:22 Well, for the simple reason that under the imagery of wakefulness as opposed to sleepiness, which is constantly in the picture when it comes to the second coming, you see, sleep, among other things, has the wonderful power of cutting us off totally from the world of reality in which we're living. A man may have a string of unpaid bills as long as his arm. He may have a nagging, oppressive, ugly wife, and a bunch of kids that don't appreciate him, and he may have all kinds of problems pressing in upon him, but the moment he drifts off into sleep, he is consciously separated from all those problems.

27:09 They're all there. The bills are still stacked up, and the ugly old nag is maybe in the bed next to him, and the nasty, unappreciative kids are in the roof. But, I mean, as far as he's concerned, they don't exist. The moment he drifts off into sleep, he's out of touch with all those realities.

27:28 And so our Lord is saying, take heed that you do not allow yourselves to get into a condition that puts you out of touch with all of these great realities that I've been setting before you. And in particular, the great realities that pertain to the second advent, the coming of the Son of Man in power and in glory. But then our Lord joins to this matter of constant wakefulness, constant prayerfulness. Take heed, be continually wakeful and continually prayerful.

28:11 Now what is prayer? Why should our Lord introduce it in this context? Well, is not the essence of prayer the felt consciousness of need that drives us out of ourselves to seek the help of another? Isn't prayer the language of dependentness?

28:34 Well, you see, in the context, our Lord has been speaking of the realities that will mark the interadvental period until He returns. It will be a period in which religious deception will continually seek to entice the people of God. It will be a period in which international disruptions could unstring, as it were, the harp of joy and trouble and disturb the waters of the soul and make them turbulent. And he says, do not be troubled.

29:12 The end is not yet. These things are not to distract you. There will be opposition. The gospel will triumph, but it will be bitterly opposed.

29:23 And men will even commit you to prison and to death. But in the light of all of these things, where in the world are such weak, frail creatures such as you, such as I am? Where are we to find strength? How are we in the midst of conditions like this to keep our spiritual equilibrium so that we are not deceived and we have discernment to sort out truth from error?

29:52 Where are we to get that stability of soul that enables us amidst the tumultuous upheavals of nation against nation, wars and rumors of wars and natural calamities, to have a heart that is not troubled? and then when we may personally receive the opposition of loved ones and friends and neighbors perhaps our job at jeopardy for the sake of the gospel our reputation at stake for the sake of the gospel where are we going to overcome the natural tendency to save our own name and to save our own hide and preserve and save our own safety where are we going to get that kind of strength? Our Lord tells us, take heed, ever be wakeful, but wakeful not to just daydream, not having your eyelids open in a state of wakefulness, but out of touch with spiritual reality, but wakefulness joined to eminent prayerfulness.

31:00 continually seeking the face of your heavenly Father for grace and strength in the midst of deception to have keen discernment as to what the truth is, in the midst of international disruption to have the peace that knows God is upon His throne and none of the great ones of the earth can do a thing without the will and counsel and overriding purpose and providence of a sovereign God? Where are weak, vulnerable, fearful creatures like you and me going to get strength if necessary to cling to Christ and to confess Him even if it means martyrdom? Where are we going to get strength like that?

31:48 Well, we can't at times get enough courage to bow our heads to pray in a restaurant without feeling ashamed. How are we going to lay down our lives for Christ?

31:59 Take heed, be constantly wakeful and constantly prayerful. Because it is there in the place of prayer that we exchange our weakness for His strength. For they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles.

The Reason for the Duties: Ignorance of the Time

32:22 They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. so the specific duties are constant wakefulness constant prayerfulness but now look at the reason for the duties we've seen the general duty take heed the specific duties be watchful, be wakeful, be prayerful now what's the reason for the duties? for, for you do not know when the time is ignorance of the time of the end is a call to the performance of these precise duties.

33:03 You see, the uncertain time of the end makes certain the need for alertness and for prayerfulness. because the time of the final crisis is unknowable,

33:20 unceasing vigilance is imperative. You do not know the time. You cannot know the time, but you do know your duty and you must perform that duty in dependence upon God and in the strength of the Spirit. Take heed Continually be looking Be continually wakeful And continually prayerful For you know not when the time is There will be nothing to announce You've got three weeks to get your act together You've got a month to get your act together You know not when the time is

The Central Duty Illustrated and Identified: The Gatekeeper Parable

34:06 and so in the opening part of this section our lord sets before us the major duties now secondly notice the central duty illustrated and identified he illustrates it first then he identifies it so i've worded my heading to follow the path marked out by the text verse 34 it's a chopped up incomplete sentence, a kind of divinely inspired verbal shorthand is what we would call it. But the meaning is very clear. Though the construction is ragged, the meaning is clear. It's almost as though Mark's whole spirit that breathes through his gospel at times took over his grammar.

34:55 And the Holy Spirit so much, as it were, allowing his own infallible, inerrant word to be smothered with the distinct fingerprints of the human author. It is as when a man, and you'll notice the words it is and when are in italics in a good translation because they are supplied to give it a little flow of sentence structure It is as when a man sojourning in another country having left his house and given authority to his servants to each one his work commanded also the porter or the gatekeeper to watch Watch therefore, for you do not know when the Lord of the house comes, whether at even or at midnight or at cockcrowing or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he shall find

35:43 you sleeping. Here we have the central duty illustrated and identified. Look first of all at the illustration.

35:53 Although the construction, as I've indicated, is rough, the substance is clear. Our Lord describes the actions of a householder with a house. There's obviously a large house, and he's probably semi-wealthy. He has house servants.

36:10 and this man has gone off on a journey. However, prior to leaving for that journey, he gave to the servants authority and responsibility and in the structure of the original, all of these things are subordinate. And the emphasis falls upon his treatment of one man among all of his household servants and that's the man called the porter or the gatekeeper. It is as when a man sojourning in another country, having left his house, given authority to his servants, to each one his work.

36:46 Now here is the finite verb. The emphasis falls here, commanded the porter to watch. After he had taken care of all of these things, the emphasis falls upon the fact that he said to the gatekeeper, now you must be in a constant state, and here is a different word, not merely of wakefulness, but of concentrated watchfulness. You must not merely have your eyelids north, but you must have all of your senses, as it were, intensified to their highest pitch to make sure that no thief is approaching, that no predators are approaching.

37:31 You must guard the main gate, and in guarding the main gate, all of my possessions and my servants and my household's goods will be safe. So a peculiar burden was laid upon the gatekeeper or the porter, and that burden was to be in a constant, unflagging state of intense alertness and watchfulness over the gate of his master's property.

38:04 Now, that's the illustration. Now notice the articulation of the central duty, verse 35. Watch, therefore, for you do not know when the Lord of the house comes. You see, he passes over anything that picks up the strands of authority to the servants, to each one his work.

38:27 Those are simply incidental things mentioned in passing. But that which our Lord concentrates upon is the duty laid upon the gatekeeper. and he says, even as the householder commanded his gatekeeper to engage in constant perpetual watchfulness, watch. Therefore, you are under a similar solemn obligation to continually keep alert and awake and alive.

39:03 not only the eyeballs open, but all of the faculties intensely concentrating on spiritual realities in this life, as they will either prepare or leave you unprepared for the return of your Master. Watch, therefore. That's the articulation of the central duty. Now look how he enforces the central duty.

39:32 He does it two ways. By another assertion of the indefinite time and by the statement of a horrible possibility. Watch therefore for you do not know when the Lord of the house comes.

39:51 You do not know when the Lord of the house comes. and then taking the Roman way of reckoning the night segment, which was the segment of a 24-hour period that we would call night, the Hebrews broke it up into three, the Romans into four, and with this gospel targeted for the Romans, it is broken up into the Roman reckoning, whether at even, midnight, cock crowing, or in the morning. There is the indefiniteness, the hiddenness of the time, And then this horrible possibility, lest, coming suddenly, coming unexpectedly, he find you sleeping.

40:39 Can you imagine what it would be like? Here is a man who pledges his loyalty to the householder. He's about to make his trip into a long country. He's taken care of the servants and all of their responsibilities.

40:54 and as his last and climactic gesture, he sits down with his gatekeeper and he says to him, calling him by name, you have been a loyal and a faithful gatekeeper these many years and now I solemnly charge you as I am about to leave, be wakeful, be watchful, show that you care for my goods and property and my servants and my family, show that you have true allegiance to me by continually maintaining constant alertness. Be watchful. Now, what would the Lord of the house think if he came back from his journey without sending a telegram ahead saying, I'll be home on the seventh of the month at 10.30.

41:43 With no previous announcement, nothing to indicate his soon reproach, he showed up one night at one o'clock and he found the gatekeeper sitting in his chair in the gatehouse.

41:58 Sound asleep.

42:01 And the Lord of the house were to see him in that posture and look upon him with mingled grief, disgust and anger. What would that man feel if coming out of the land of Nod his first consciousness was looking up into the eyes of the Lord of the house who had to shake him out of his stupor and his sleep.

42:26 Why, he'd be ashamed. He would find himself without words before his master. His actions would be saying, I care not for your goods and your property and your family and your servants. I care nothing for the charge that you solemnly laid upon me.

42:44 Now that's the picture here. Watch therefore, For you do not know when the Lord of the house comes, whether at evening or midnight or cock-crowing in the morning, lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping. And in the exhortations pertaining to the second coming, sleeping is an evil thing. Let us not sleep, the Scripture says.

The Central Duty Expanded in Application: To All People of God

43:07 It's not speaking of physical sleep. God knows we need our seven or eight or six or nine hours, whatever it is. But he's talking about that state of spiritual slumber in which we allow ourselves to get out of touch with the great realities which alone will find us prepared at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we've considered the major duties mandated, the general duty, the two specifics, the central duty illustrated and identified.

43:39 Now, thirdly, the central duty expanded in its application, verse 37. And what I say unto you, that is, what our Lord says to the apostles, to the twelve who are gathered around him there on the slopes of Mount Olivet. What I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. And you see, the whole Olivet discourse in Mark's record of it begins with the command,

44:18 Beware! And it ends with the imperative, Be watchful.

44:26 No room for idle speculation. No room for spiritual daydreaming. No room for resting on our oars. But in the light of his return, our Lord takes the central duty, and he expands it in its application, if I may say it reverently, and stretches this imperative form of the word watch, stretches it until it extends over the entire interadvental period.

45:00 From the destruction of Jerusalem until the consummation, wherever it is, this word comes to all of the people of God in every age and in all circumstances. Watch. Be continually watchful, alert, awake. all of your faculties in a heightened state of spiritual awareness as you think of the return of your Lord. And with a consciousness that is nothing short of amazing, our Lord speaks as the great prophet of the church and its supreme lawgiver in Zion. And in this capacity, He intimates that the time of the second coming will transcend the lifetime of the apostles.

45:50 You see the hint of that? We had one other hint of it in verse 26. The only time, He says, and then shall they see. They see.

46:03 Third person plural. Everything else is second person plural. You this, you this, you this, you this. They shall see.

46:12 an intimation that the second advent was something beyond their lifetime. And here we have another intimation of that. What I say unto you, I say unto all, wherever and whenever, in whatever place, for however long my gospel comes, I say unto all of my people, Watch, for the Son of Man shall come. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father.

46:47 And therefore your task and the task of every Christian in every age, in all circumstances, is the great task of ever being watchful. The duty of the individual Christian is not to be clever in trying to fit together the pieces in the puzzle of prophetic detail, not to be inquisitive, plying into mysteries that are none of his business, not to be precocious and no more than the Son of God knew in the days of his humiliation. Rather, our duty is to be watchful, to keep awake to spiritual realities, to be committed to present duties, and that in turn will keep us prayerful and watchful,

47:36 which in turn will make the doctrine of the Lord's return not something about which we debate, nor something to which we occasionally point a finger as a tenet we believe, but it will make it to be to us what it is to every healthy soul, the blessed hope of the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The spirit which should mark the people of God in every generation is that of loyal expectation of the absent one who is sure to return. Edersheim in commenting on the Olivet Discourse

48:24 wrote several sentences that I found so moving that I felt I should read them to you and I want to read them to you before coming to my concluding application here Edersheim the peculiar attitude of the church with loins girt for work since the time was short and the Lord might come at any moment with her hands busy, her mind faithful, her bearing, self-denying and devoted, her heart full of loving expectancy, her face turned upward to the sun that was soon to rise, and her ears straining to catch the first notes of heaven's song of triumph,

49:10 all this would have been lost had he revealed the day and the hour. What has sustained the church during the night of sorrow these many centuries? What has nerved her with courage for the battle, with steadfastness to bear, with love to work, with patience and joy and disappointments would all have been lost. The church would not have been that of the New Testament had she known the mystery of that day and hour, and not ever waited as for the immediate coming of her Lord and Bridegroom.

49:54 and what the church of the New Testament has been and is, that her Lord and Master made her, and by no agency more effectively than by leaving undetermined the precise time of His return. There is wisdom, infinite wisdom, in cloaking the time of His return in mystery that every generation from that generation till now should have its whole religious life shaped by the expectation of the certain return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power and in glory.

Application for Believers: Turn from Drowsiness and Reject False Teachings

50:42 Well, let me say now in my concluding application, first of all, to the people of God, Your duties and my duties are clearly set forth by our Lord. We are to take heed. We are to be concerned that we keep wakeful and prayerful. We are to continually maintain this intense spiritual watchfulness, keeping in touch with the world of spiritual reality.

51:16 God, the Father, Son, and Spirit, sin and holiness, and bearing a good witness in individual home and family life, in the place of business, occupying ourselves with revealed duties, having a life of meticulous conformity to the Word of God, out of a devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ who loved us and died for us and whom we shall see face to face at His return. That's the great emphasis of the passage. Take heed. Be wakeful.

51:55 Be prayerful. You know not when the time is. Watch therefore. You know not when the Lord of the house comes.

52:03 What I say unto you, I say unto all. Be continually watchful. Now if that is the pith of our duty and our privilege in the light of the certain return but unrevealed time, then I exhort you, turn from anyone and anything which draws you into spiritual drowsiness and prayerlessness. Anyone or anything which draws you into spiritual drowsiness and prayerlessness is an enemy of your preparedness for the Lord's return.

52:44 If he says, be wakeful, be prayerful, watch, watch, watch, than anything that erodes my ability to be wakeful to be prayerful to long for to yearn to have all of my faculties intensely concerned with keeping in touch with spiritual reality that person that thing is a mortal enemy to my soul. However innocent its garb may be, however innocent its form or name may be. Turn from anyone or anything which draws you into spiritual drowsiness and prayerlessness.

53:31 Avoid any teaching which feeds carnal speculation rather than practical expectation.

53:41 Avoid any teaching or any teachers which feed carnal speculation rather than practical expectation. Some of you are going to ignore that exhortation and mark my word, you're going to end up in spiritual shipwreck. Your whole mental cast and personality is such that sin has, as it were, woven itself into the texture of your soul and given you a peculiar bent, an itch for speculation. And if you don't mortify that, that could as much be the very step into apostasy that inordinate sexual passion or inordinate desire to accumulate money can be to others.

54:32 You could end up an apostate as much through un-mortified speculative desires as through un-mortified carnal sexual passions or covetousness. Our Lord's emphasis falls repeatedly upon the necessity of maintaining that disposition of practical expectation in contrast to carnal speculation. And then I exhort you to reject all views of the time before the end which contradicts contradicts our Lord's description of the inter-advental period. Our Lord said the whole

55:21 inter-advental period is going to be marked by wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines. It's going to be marked by religious deception. It's going to be marked by opposition to the gospel. Everything our Lord said is affirmed in the apostolic writings of Peter and of Paul.

55:42 There is not one shred of evidence that one inspired apostle ever set before the church. A prospect that a time would come, this side of the second advent, when the gospel would conquer the nations to such an extent, we'd have Christian nations, we would have Christian governments, we would have, as it were, the Christian religion, protected and nursed, as it were, at the breast of human government. No, that is not the picture.

56:15 And in direct proportion that men get preoccupied with that picture, such an age of glory becomes their hope rather than the returning Lord.

56:29 Oh, but someone says, don't you know that's a defeatist theology? Someone who knows a little theology may say, that's old defeatist negativism, amillennialism. And my friend, swallow your cheeky talk. It's not an issue of terminology.

56:46 This is the issue. This is the issue. Did Jesus know what he was talking about? Did the great apostle know what he was talking about?

56:54 John himself said, children, it's the last hour. Why? Because things are getting worse and worse. You've heard that Antichrist is coming.

57:03 And many Antichrists are now present. It is the last hour. John didn't say, can't be the last hour, because the latter day glory is not dawned yet. John was no post-millenarian.

57:17 My Bible says, they that know God hear us. I listen to the apostles and not Rush Dooney. I listen to the apostles and not Greg Bonson. And I listen to the apostles and not some of my esteemed Puritan forefathers who thought they were going to set up the new Canaan here in America.

57:36 Dear people of God, this is a vital issue.

57:42 You must give your energies to that which Christ says they ought to be given to. And you must give your energies to the nurturing of your heart, the keeping of your heart. We don't have time to turn to the parallel passages in Luke and in Matthew. We'll be looking at one in Matthew.

58:01 But he says to his own, beware, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life and that day take you unawares. He says to his disciples, it's your heart that I'm concerned should be kept wakeful and watchful and expectant. And anything that begins to put its tentacles around your heart, excessive eating, excessive drinking, excessive preoccupation with things, that day will come upon you unawares. No man whose God is his belly longs for the return of the Lord Jesus.

58:42 No man whose God is his things longs for the return of the Lord Jesus. They're all going to be burned up at His coming. Reject all views of the time before the end which contradict the Lord's description. Does that mean we cannot expect that God may yet visit hidden areas without pourings of the Spirit and save tens and twenties and hundreds?

59:07 No! If God were to save 50% of the population of Montville in the next week, we'd still be the minority, my friends. 20 million, 25 million people in a 35-mile radius in this area.

59:23 May God save the tens and the twenties and the thirties and the hundreds. But the gospel is never going to be the popular majority. Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

59:40 The servant is not greater than his Lord. And you see, it's sinking down into that realism that puts you in a mode of true wakefulness and watchfulness, because you never settle in down here. You can sing while you're alone. We wouldn't sing it in public worship.

Application for Unbelievers: The Days of Noah and the Suddenness of Judgment

60:04 This world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. my treasures are laid up not somewhere beyond the blue but in the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwells righteousness and what do I say to you who are strangers to a saving knowledge of Christ I close by pointing your attention to the parallel passage in Matthew 24 what does watchfulness mean for you is there any legitimate application of this great call to watchfulness that comes to you? Yes, there is.

60:43 Jesus said in Matthew 24 in the parallel passage, starting in verse 37. Notice verse 36, But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only. And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man. What marked the days of Noah?

61:08 Great signs of a coming flood? No. Look, as in those days that were before the flood, they were eating. Nothing wrong with eating.

61:18 Drinking. Nothing wrong in terms of what and how much you drink. And marrying. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled.

61:27 Giving in marriage. If he giveth his virgin in marriage, he hath not sinned. 1 Corinthians 7. None of those things sinful in themselves.

61:35 They were eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage. Until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two shall be in the field, one is taken and one left. This is not a reference to some secret rapture.

61:58 The flood wasn't secret, friends. But the flood separated, that's the point. So shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Two in the field, one is taken.

62:10 Taken where? Taken by the angels. To be gathered to his Lord with all of the elect from the four corners of the earth. While another is left.

62:21 Left to what? Not the seven years of tribulation and another chance to believe the gospel. No! Left to the same Lord.

62:29 to consume you with His fiery judgment and cast you into hell. One shall be taken, another is left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill. One is taken, one is left.

62:42 Now notice, watch therefore, for you know not on what day your Lord comes. Oh, my unconverted friends, listen to me. This has been one of the great stumbling blocks throughout the history of the church. It was a stumbling block in Peter's day.

63:00 The mockers were going around saying, Ha, ha, ha, coming! Our fathers talked about His coming. Everything's going on as usual. My grandfather talked about some words that Jesus said about coming back.

63:15 He's dead and Jesus hasn't come. My old man talked about it. He's dead and he's gone. Ha, ha, ha.

63:23 Peter says there shall be mockers saying, where is the promise of his coming? All things continue now as they always have, but he says this they willfully forget. And you know what he refers to? The flood.

63:36 This very incident. He says this they willfully forget, that there was a time when the world was inundated by the waters of judgment, and when the day of God's appointment came in God's decree, the heavens opened, The earth and the fountains of the deep opened up until the entire earth was inundated and one family was saved. So shall the coming of the Son of Man be. People say, ah, yes, sitting here today, it's all right to hum and hear this stuff preached.

64:10 Pastor, I appreciate your earnestness. I admire your sincerity, but really, I can't get too upset about this. I'm young. I mean, I haven't been married yet.

64:22 I'm getting hungry. I haven't had my meal yet. They were eating. They were drinking.

64:29 They were marrying. What's the picture? It's the picture of men so preoccupied with things legitimately in themselves that they won't take time to do what they must do to be ready for the returning Lord. And my friend, far better that you miss your meals for three days.

64:49 You won't die. and you run from your sins and you run to Jesus and you give concern to this matter of being saved and not rest until you know that should the Lord Jesus come tonight should He come tomorrow you would be found ready how ready? ready because your sins have been washed in His blood You had been clothed in His righteousness. You had been given a heart that loves Him, desires to serve Him, a nature and a disposition at home with righteousness and holiness and purity.

65:32 That's the only way to be ready. You see, you can only be ready to meet the returning Lord when you have rested by faith in this Lord, who at the time He spoke these words was on His way to die. In a couple of more days, he would be hanging upon an instrument of Roman execution. He would be inundated beneath the billows of the wrath of his own father.

65:59 And with the heavens shrouded in blackness, he would cry out of the depths of the felt pangs of his own soul, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? My sinner friend He was to do all of that That you and I might have a refuge That we might have a just pardon That we might have a righteous forgiveness And I beg you in Christ's name Be ready to meet him As in the days of Noah So shall the days of the coming of the Son of Man be That day will dawn And it will be business as usual and before the day is over, all of his own will be in his presence,

66:48 and all who have rejected him will be assigned to outer darkness.

66:59 May God help you, my friend, not to put off this issue, not to table it for eating and drinking and marrying and other concerns. Give yourself no rest until you know you're ready to meet him at his appearing with joy and we who are his people.

Final Exhortation: Be Ready and Stir Up Expectation

67:26 May God help us as we've come to the end of our study of this Olivet Discourse to do more in practical ways to stir up our expectations for our Lord's return. I've had to confess to God in these weeks of preparation, Lord, I don't love your appearing as I ought. Days pass. I've had to confess it to God, Lord, days pass, and I don't spend 30 seconds thinking, Thou art coming, Thou art coming, Thou art coming, blessed Lord.

68:01 Dear friends, let's stir one another up. Let's provoke one another. Let's graciously ask one another, Brother, sister, when's the last time you had conscious thoughts of the returning Lord? Tell me, what practical impact did those thoughts have upon you?

68:19 Teach me how I may better watch and be wakeful and hold my spirit by the grace of God in loving expectation. Of my returning Lord. Let us pray.

Closing Prayer

68:42 Our Father. We bless you for the words of our Lord Jesus. We thank you that though we do not know the day nor the hour. When he shall come.

68:55 We gladly confess this morning our confidence. that as surely as this day has dawned, as surely as we now breathe into our lungs the breath you give us, that the heavens will be resplendent with the glory of that Shekinah cloud, with the voice of the archangel, the trump of God, and we shall see him. For you have said, Every eye shall see him. Even so come Lord Jesus And even as we plead for your coming There is that in us that cries out Lord delay your coming Because there are some

69:41 Even here today Yet in their sins Lost under your wrath Oh God stir them we pray Give them no rest until in repentance and faith they embrace your beloved Son. As we leave this place, we pray that the great issues that have been set before us will be riveted to our minds, embedded in our consciences, and that by your grace we may live in the light of them. Hear our cry and dismiss us with your blessing. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

70:21 Amen.

70:51 Thank you.