Tuesday, December 05, 2017

"Keep Awake" Sermon: Mark 13:24-37



“Keep Awake”
[Mark 13:24-37]
December 3, 2017, Second Reformed Church
            On the first Sunday in Advent, we are encouraged to look at the Second Coming of Jesus, so we will build on what we talked about last week when we saw Jesus coming as King and Judge of all people.
            This morning, we are looking at part of the text that Mark records about these things.  Remember the disciples were in awe of the beauty of the Temple in Jerusalem, and Jesus told them that the day would come when not one stone would be standing upon another – which happened in 70 A.D.
            The disciples then ask Jesus when the Temple will be destroyed and what the signs of Jesus’ Second Coming will be – and Jesus tells them a number of things that will occur between that day and when Jesus returns.
            Here in Mark’s record, Jesus explains that wars will arise and earthquakes will occur – these will be “the beginning of birth pangs.”  And so, Israel and Rome went to war, culminating in the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D.  And there was a great earthquake the day of Jesus’ Resurrection, and many of the dead believers were raised and went among the people proclaiming the Gospel.
            There was a 4.4 earthquake in Maryland on Thursday, which stretched from Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C.  May we be reminded that Jesus is returning to restore this fallen world.
            Jesus explains that believers will be persecuted:  we will be accused before government officials, our families will turn against us.  Jesus promises that the world will hate believers for His sake.  This happens in many ways:  In Africa and Iraq, believers are put to death.  In China, they are tortured and imprisoned.  In the United States, we are ridiculed if we take the stand that there is only salvation in Jesus alone.
            Jesus tells them that when Rome attacks – the Holy of Holies in the Temple will be violated – Romans will pollute and destroy God’s house.  At that point, Jesus tells the believers to run and hide in the mountains – which is exactly what happened in 70 A.D.
            Jesus warns them not to believe people who say that Jesus has returned at that time, because the tribulation will have only just begun.  Rather, they ought to be on guard and hold tight to their hope.  We are to be on guard – not believing everyone who says that Jesus is here or there or has a new message for us – no, hold tight to what Jesus taught and promised in His Word.  Read and reread and pray that God the Holy Spirit will help you to apply God’s Word.  Remember that when Jesus returns everyone will see and hear Him at once!
            Then Jesus speaks of His return, as we read in our text.
            And we see, Jesus will return in power and glory.
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.”
The tribulation will end with the return of Jesus.  That is the hope we hold on to – sin and evil and all that is fallen will end with Jesus’ return.  And Jesus tells the disciples that the sun and the moon will go dark, and the stars will fall down, and the powers will be shaken.
How are we to understand this?  Are we to understand that these things will happen to the cosmic bodies?
No, Jesus is using symbolism here.  The sun and the moon will go dark – the two greatest powers on earth will be blacked out, and the human and spiritual beings that hold power and are against Jesus, will be shaken and even fall from their place.  The whole economic and political structure of the world will collapse.
Then, Jesus will come in power and glory:  the clouds will open, Jesus will be announced with voice and trumpet that will be heard all over the earth and Jesus will be seen by every person on earth as His Glory blazes forth.
Then the dead will rise, and the angels will go throughout the world and gather all the elect to Jesus to meet Him in the air, and the souls and the bodies of the dead will be reunited and glorified, and the living will be glorified, and then Jesus will sit on His throne and judge – as we saw last week.
So, while we must use wisdom and be in prayer, as we see the powers of the world around us coming apart and breaking down, we ought to be encouraged, because it is a sign that Jesus is going to return soon.
Our hope is not in building a Christian nation – or world – but in having the sinful human attempts fall into disrepair and Jesus return to make all things right – reigning in power and glory over the new heavens and the new earth.
Second, the fulfillment of signs show us that Jesus’ Word is certain.
            “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
            Jesus now turns to apply what He has been telling the disciples.
Jesus tells them that just as they can interpret and understand the sign of the fig tree bearing leaves as the beginning of summer, so ”when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.”
What things?  Who is near?  At the gates of what?
Remember, the disciples ask two questions:  When will the Temple be destroyed?  What are the signs of the Second Coming?
Going back to the beginning of chapter thirteen, Jesus says that there will be conflict between nations – here, we’re specifically interested in the wars between Israel and Rome – earthquakes, and increasingly severe persecution of believers – when the disciples saw these things happening –
Then the one who is called “the abomination of desolation” in verse 14 will stand in the place he doesn’t belong – in the Holy of Holies of the Temple – as it is ransacked and then destroyed.  This is Titus and the Roman army with him.
So, the answer to the question is – when you see the wars between Israel and Rome, earthquakes, and severe persecution of believers, then you will know that Titus and his army are at the very gates of Jerusalem.
And Jesus gives them a time frame:  these things will happen while this generation is still alive.  The Temple will be destroyed, Titus will profane the Holy of Holies, Christians will flee into the mountains – in the lifetime of the youngest disciples.  We know this all happened in 70 A.D.
And then Jesus says that heaven and earth will pass away – in their fallen state – but His Word will never pass away.  His Word is true.  It cannot be broken.  It cannot be wrong.  And we see that within forty years – within that generation – all these things were accomplished – the Temple in Jerusalem was no more.
And we might say, “Well that’s nice, but what does it have to do with me today?  Jesus predicted the Temple would be destroyed within the disciples’ generation.  He gave the signs that the end of the Temple was near.  Everything came to pass as He said.  But that was 2,000 years ago.”
The point is this:  everything Jesus said, everything that God said, everything that is written in the Word of God – written under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit – all of it is true and perfect, infallible and inerrant.  And so we can be sure about it.
You may remember a bumper sticker that came out about forty years ago:  “God said it.  I believe it.  That settles it.”
            R. C. Sproul points out that the middle clause should be dropped – whether we believe it or not does not add to it’s being true:  “God said it.  That settles it.”
            We have people in our denomination – and probably in every denomination – who look at some passages of the Scripture and say, “Well, this was written by an ancient culture that didn’t understand science and psychology like we do, so we can’t take everything they say seriously.”
            And if this was not the Word of God, that might be true, but if this is the Word of God, written by humans in their styles with their abilities – yes, but superintended over by God the Holy Spirit – and God does not and cannot make mistakes…
            The question is, is this the Word of God or not?  If it is, it shall never pass away, and we ought to submit to it and obey what we are taught in it.
            Third, Jesus commands us to be ready for His return.
            “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, 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.”
            Jesus now turns to the second question – the question of His Second Coming.
            Jesus tells them that no one know the day or the hour of His return except for God the Father – not even Him.
            Despite what Harold Camping, Edgar Wisenot, the Jehovah’s Witness, and others have done in reading through the Scripture and calculating this and that and adding the other and coming up with a date, Jesus says that’s not possible – nobody knows when His return will be except for the Father.
            I don’t know about you, but if Jesus says there is absolutely no way anyone is going to know the answer to this question, I would say that we have reached the end of that discussion.  What is the date and the time of Jesus’ Second Coming?  We don’t know and we won’t know until that sky is parted and we hear and see His return.
            What we do know is that the unravelling of the world and the persecution of believers will continue as we walk through this tribulation until He does return.  And yet, we take hope, as Paul writes:
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, ESV).
Next, we ask the question, why didn’t Jesus know the date and time of His return?  If Jesus is God – equal with the Father and the Spirit – the One True God – how could He not know?
The answer is in the mystery of the Incarnation:  Jesus is at the same time in the same person, the real human being Jesus of Nazareth and the One True God.  He is 100% human and 100% God in one person.  One person with two natures and two wills and two minds – and the Divine mind is able to keep information from the human mind.  So, it is in this way that God, the Divine person, kept Jesus, in His humanity, from knowing the time and date of His return.
Yet, the date and the time really aren’t that important, are they?  Jesus has promised to return, so He will.  We have the promise of the Judgement and the Restoration of the Creation and the full indwelling of the Kingdom – and these things shall happen.
What we are to do – what we must do – as servants of the Great King – is to be ready at all times for His return – to keep awake – to stay awake – to not be taken by surprise should it be right now or years from now.
Of course, Jesus is not saying that we should never sleep.  No, we would eventually die if we attempted not to sleep.  What Jesus is telling us is to be about the work that He has given us to do.
We are to love God with all of our heart and mind and soul and strength – every part of our being is to be engaged in doing all those things that God has commanded us to do and not doing any of those things that He has commanded us not to do.  It also means that we are to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves – doing everything we can to make their lives better – especially as we direct them to the Gospel.  And that means we need to know what the Bible says.
Do we believe that the Word of God is God’s Word?
Do we believe that Jesus’ Word is certain and true?
Do we believe He will return in power and glory one day – and we will be with Him?
Then let us be ready by being obedient.
Let us wait in hope and faith, trusting that as the world falls apart around us, all is well for we who believe.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, as we consider the return of Your Son, we want to put it on our calendars so we can be ready and work Him in amongst our other plans.  But You have chosen to keep His return a secret so we would always need to be about our Master’s business, always awake, always alert, ready for Him whenever He comes.  Help us to trust and believe in every word that You saw fit to have recorded in the Scripture, and send the Holy Spirit to help us to be ready.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

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