Good morning, everyone. If you
would open your Bibles with me to Mark chapter 13, I believe
I have a lesson this morning that will be very, very helpful
in our daily lives. Before we begin, let's seek our
Lord's blessing. Our Father, which art in heaven,
holy and reverent is your bachelor's name. Father, we bow in your
presence this morning. So aware of our need, our need
of forgiveness and cleansing of our sin. We're so much in
need of your presence to be with us, the presence of your Holy
Spirit to enable us to worship you this morning. How desperately
we need a word from thee. Father, I know that no one can
preach, no one can pray, no one can hear, no one can worship
without thy spirit. Father, we beg of you that you'd
send your spirit upon us this morning, that you'd give us a
time of true worship to be able to look into your word and to,
with the eye of faith, see our Lord Jesus Christ and to be awed
at who he is and what he has accomplished for sinful men and
women such as we are. Bless us, Father, we pray. If
you don't bless us and you don't meet with us, we've met here
in vain. And what we pray for ourselves,
Father, we pray for your people, wherever they're gathering together
today, this dark day of false religion in which we live. Father,
bless your word as it's preached. Show us your redemptive glory
in the person of your Lord Jesus Christ, or your son, our Lord
Jesus Christ. And Father, I pray a special
blessing for our children's classes this morning. Father, that you
would bless this time. that you would use this time
to plant the seeds of faith in the hearts of our young ones
that you might cause them in your time to see who and what
they are and cause them to look to our Lord Jesus Christ. Father,
all these things we ask and we give thanks in the name which
is above every name, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's
for his sake and his glory we pray. Amen. Now I've titled the
Lesson, what should I do until Christ returns? I think believers
often wonder, what should I be doing now as I go through my
daily life? What should I be doing until
Christ returns? And the one word answer is watch. Three times in our text this
morning, the Lord tells us to watch. So let's see if we can't
look at them and maybe learn something about what it is that
we're supposed to be doing until our Lord returns. The first thing
is this, when we talk about our Lord's return, we have to understand
this. No one knows when the Lord is going to return. Look at verse
32, Mark 13. But of that day and that hour
knoweth no man. No, not the angels which are
in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Now, no one knows
when our Savior's going to return. and you hear people make predictions
and all these things, and I don't think anybody here would, but
don't fall for that stuff. Just don't even fall for that
stuff at all. Anytime anybody's ever picked
a date, and it's happened several times in my lifetime, they've
always been wrong. and they always will be. This
I promise you, anytime anybody picks a date that the Lord's
going to return, he won't return that day. Now it'll be any other
day but that day, but it won't be that day because no one knows
when the Lord's going to return. And that's good for us. It's
good for us and best for us. If we knew that the Lord was
going to return in three days, we would we would not redeem
the time, would we? It's so wasteful. But if we don't know when the
Lord's going to return, we're gonna keep looking to him by
faith, keep needing him, keep calling out on him, keep worshiping
him, and that's what we ought to be doing, isn't it? Till the
Lord returns. And then our Lord says something
here that just has to catch your attention. He said, I understand
the angels not knowing when the Lord's going to return. That's
not their business. The Lord's not, you know, in
the business of telling his angels what, what, when he's going to
do. But he says, neither does the son, the son doesn't know
when he's going to return to how is it that our Lord can know
he's returning, but not know when the only explanation for
that is he speaking here as a man, he's speaking as a man. Now our
Savior is fully God, isn't He? The Son has every attribute of
the Father. He's eternal just like the Father
is. He's sovereign. He's all-knowing. He's omniscient. He's omnipresent. The Son is one with the Father. They have the same nature. They're
one. But He's also fully man. He came into this world the same
way all of us came into this world. except without sin. He
wasn't conceived from the seed of a man, conceived by the seed
of the Holy Ghost. But he was a real man. He grew
as an embryo in the womb of his mother. Now you think of that. The heavens
cannot contain our God, but he was contained in the womb of
his mother. And when he was born, he was
born as a real baby boy. They took him and circumcised
him. He was a boy of the flesh. He was a boy. And scripture says
that he grew in wisdom and stature. Now, our Lord Jesus always knew
who he was. I've heard people talk about,
well, he didn't realize who he was until he was 30 years old.
Nope, he always knew who he was. The one quote that we have from
him when he was a boy, 11 years old, Wish ye not that I must
be about my father's business. He knew who he was. He knew he's
the son of God in the flesh. And as God, he knows everything. As God, he can't learn anything.
As God, he can't grow in stature. But as a man, as a man, as a
boy, he grew in wisdom and stature. As a man, he had the same needs
of the flesh that we do. He grew tired and he needed to
sleep. He was hungry. He needed to eat. He was thirsty.
He had to have something to drink. He asked a sinful woman for a
drink of water because he's thirsty, just like we are. He felt pain. He had emotions. He prayed for
help. Now that's a fascinating thing,
isn't it? He's the Lord of glory who's praying for help because
as a man, he needed the help of his father to do what it is
that the father sent him to do, particularly as he's preparing
to go to the cross to bear that awful, awful burden of our sin,
to suffer and die for the sins of his people. He prayed for
help, didn't he? So he's a man. He's a real man. And as a man, he says, he doesn't
know when his return will be. How do you reconcile that? He
knows all things, but as a man can say that, well, I don't know. I just know this. He's speaking
as a man and as a man, He is truly our representative. Since
he became a real man, he can be our representative. He can
be the second Adam to obey the law for us and make us righteous
the same way as the first Adam sinned and made us unrighteous.
He is a real man. And nobody knows when the God-man
is going to return. Now he's returning, this same
Jesus, the angel said, who you've seen ascend up into heaven, is
coming back, this very same Jesus. This is a man, a man in the flesh
is coming. All right, I don't know when
he's coming, but I know he's coming back. Well, what am I
supposed to do until he returns? Well, the Savior says first,
watch and pray. Verse 33, he says, take ye heed,
watch and pray. For ye know not when the time
has come. Watch and pray. This word watch
that the Lord uses here means to be vigilant over your own
self. Vigilant over your own self.
It has to do with some sense that you're being watchful over
your own self because you don't trust yourself. Because you know
that you would leave the Lord in a heartbeat if he let you.
It's not trusting yourself. It relates to being watchful
over my doctrine, to be watchful over my faith, that my faith
is in Christ, not me plus Christ or Christ plus something that
I've done. Be watchful for that. Look at Acts chapter 20. Here's
another time that this very same word is used in Acts 20. Here, the Apostle Paul has gathered
together the Ephesian elders before he leaves, and he knows
he'll never see him again. He knows that he'll never come
back, that on this trip, it's gonna end up in him being martyred.
And he has some parting words for them. Acts 20, verse 28. He tells them, take heed therefore
unto yourselves, and all the flock over which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my
departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing
the flock. Also of your own selves shall
men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples
after them. Therefore watch and remember
that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone,
night and day, with tears." He says, now, You men, these are
the Ephesian elders. I mean, these men are highly
respected men, highly gifted men, men that have committed
themselves to preaching the gospel there at Ephesus. And Paul says,
now you watch. You watch over your own self.
You watch over your own faith. You watch over your own doctrine
because some of you very men are gonna depart from preaching
Christ alone. Some of you very men are gonna
quit pointing men to Christ and quit seeking the glory of Christ,
and you're gonna start seeking your self-glory, to lead people
away, to follow after you, instead of following after Christ. So
you watch. You watch. And that's what the
Lord's telling us. Be watchful over myself. Be watchful over
myself, that I don't get puffed up. that I don't start doing
something to lead myself and also to lead other sinners away
from Christ. Watch, be watchful. Look at Ephesians
chapter six. Here's another time that this
phrase is used. Ephesians six, verse 18. praying always with prayer and
supplication in the spirit, watching thereunto with all perseverance
and supplication for all saints, watching. It's like Paul saying
the very same thing that our Lord said, watch and pray. Now all of us know when we're
praying and when we're just going through the motions, don't we?
We all know if we're just repeating some little silly child's prayer,
if we're just repeating some religious phrases that we've
heard, and when we're really praying. When is it that you
are truly praying? It's when you're praying about
something you have absolutely no control over. That's when
you're praying. Our Lord says, watch and pray.
Watch, be watchful over yourself that you are staying dependent
on Christ and Christ alone. Don't think that you've grown
so much and now you can stay in some on your own. No, be watchful
that you're staying dependent on the Lord for everything, that
you're always dependent upon him. Peter said in 2 Peter 1
verse 10, wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make
your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, You
shall never fail. Now, how can I make my calling
and election sure? Well, I can't go into heaven
and open up the Lamb's book of life and look for my name. That's
not how it is. How can I make my calling and
election sure? There's only one way. It's by
faith. By faith. If I believe on Christ
and Christ alone, that's the evidence that God elected me.
That's the evidence that God called me to Christ. because
everybody that he calls to Christ, everybody that the father elected,
the son died for him and the spirit gives them faith in Christ. So is my faith genuine? I'm gonna get into this in the
message this morning. I suspect, I know, I suspect
everybody knows for themselves, is my faith in Christ genuine? Do I really trust him? Do I really
depend upon him? I'm not talking about is my faith
perfect. I'm talking about do I trust
Christ? Do I trust him? Or am I putting
on that religious veneer so you'll see it? I suspect if I'm being
a hypocrite, I know it. Do I really find my joy and my
peace of heart in trusting Christ alone? Do I? Is my faith genuine? And I'll tell you what, I want
to know that right now. Today, August 24th, 2025, I want
to know right this second, do I really trust Christ or not?
I do. I don't want to be trusted in
the fact that I've been preaching all these years and been coming
to worship services all these years and been associated with
believers all these years and I know all the terminology. I want to know right now, do
I trust Christ? I'd rather, whole lot rather
know right now, do I really trust Christ than to know when he's
returning. I wanna know right now, and I'll show you why. Look
at Revelation chapter 22. This is too serious a thing to
be deceived about. Revelation 22, in verse 10. And he saith unto me, seal not
the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time's at
hand. Now he said this 2,000 years
ago, the time's at hand. For he that is unjust, let him
be unjust still. And he that is filthy, let him
be filthy still. And he that is righteous, let
him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. I want to know right now whether
or not I trust Christ or not, because the moment I die, that's
the way I'm going to spend eternity. If I'm unjust and I'm filthy,
I've not been washed in the blood of Christ, that's the way I'll
be for eternity. But if Christ has made me righteous
by His obedience, if He's made me holy by washing me in His
blood and washing away all my sins, that's the way I'll be
throughout eternity. And I want to know that. I want
to know right now whether or not I trust Christ or not. And here's the other thing on
this point about watching. Our Lord says, watch and pray.
As you're going through this world, now watch and pray. We're
watching ourselves. I'm not watching other folks.
I'm not being the pleas of other folks. I'm watching myself and
I'm praying. As I go through this world, being
mindful that this world is not my home. This is not my true
home. Just don't get too attached to
the things of this world. Now, everybody here has got homes.
You've got jobs, you've got families, you've got responsibilities,
take care of them. I'm not saying ignore the things
of this world. While you're living in it, take
care of it. Do what it is that God's given you to do, but don't
become so attached to it. Look at 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3. Verse seven. See, we know this,
when our Lord comes, we know this is what's gonna happen.
Verse seven, but the heavens and the earth, which are now
by the same word are kept in store, reserved under fire against
the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Now we know when
the Lord returns, this thing's gonna be burnt up. It's all gonna
be burnt. It's gonna be burnt to ashes. Don't grip it too tight. But
beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing. that one day is with
the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord's not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but he's long-suffering
to usward, not willing that any, any of his elect, any of those
that the father gave him, any of those for whom he died, not
willing that any of those people should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things
should be dissolved, what manner of persons ought she to be in
all holy conversation and godliness? Seeing that all these things
are gonna be dissolved, now how should you treat them? Well,
not with a whole lot of, putting a whole lot of stock into them.
We ought to be looking for and hastening under the coming of
the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness. This is what we're looking for.
We're looking for a new heaven and a new earth. We're looking
for these things of this world to be destroyed and God to bring
us home, where there's a new heaven and a new earth Wherein
dwelleth righteousness. You know, scripture says, prepare
to meet thy God. Now he's coming soon. And I don't
say that trying to frighten anybody into doing something. That's
not why I'm saying, prepare to meet thy God. He's coming soon.
I say that to thrill the hearts of God's people. He's coming
soon. He's coming soon. And since he's
coming soon, Let's seek Him. Let's seek Christ. Let's seek
to know Him. Let's seek to be given faith
in Him. Let's seek mercy from Him. Seek grace from Him. Seek
forgiveness in Him, because that's what we need. Watch that we're
seeking Christ, not the things of this life that are quickly
gonna be burned up and dissolved. All right, now here's the second
thing. What should I be doing until the Lord returns? Watch,
look back in our text in Mark 13, Verse 34. For the son of man is as a man
taking a far journey, who left his house and gave authority
to his servants and to every man his work, and commanded the
porter to watch. Watch ye therefore, for ye know
not when the master of the house cometh, at even or at midnight,
or at the cockcrowing or in the morning, lest coming suddenly
he finds you sleeping. Now this word watch in verse
35 means to be vigilant. Give strict attention to this
and to be active, be active. And Lord, in this example that
he's given, if you want to call it a parable or what, but of
the son of man going on a far journey, leaving his servants
in his vineyards and in his properties, this is good instruction for
servants. Be vigilant, be vigilant about
what God's given you to do. Give strict attention to this
and be active in it. You know, we know our Savior
has suffered and died. He rose from the dead and he's
ascended back on high. I mean, that's just something
that we love to talk about and think about, how secure the salvation
of God's people is. Our Savior already died for our
sins. And He rose again because He
justified His people by His sacrifice. He put all of their sin away.
And He ascended back to the Father to be there on the throne ever
living to make intercession for us. Don't you just love to think
about the risen Savior sitting on the throne at the right hand
of the Father at this very second making intercession for you?
I love that. I just love to think about that
as much as I feel my own sin and my own shortcomings and my
own failures, to think that the Savior right now is making intercession
for me. That's helpful. But don't forget
this, he's also coming back. And while he's gone, before he
comes back, he's given all of his people something to do in
his service until he comes back. That's what a servant does. We
do what the master has given us to do. We don't choose what
it is we're gonna do. We do what the master has given
us to do. Every believer, from the youngest
to the oldest, has been given something to do in God's kingdom,
to serve God's kingdom, to serve him, to serve his people in some
way to honor our savior. Well, now how should servants
behave when the master's gone? Well, whether the master's here
or whether he's gone into a far country, I still got something
to do. So I ought not be sleeping in, sleeping the day away. I
ought not be ignoring my responsibilities and think, eh, You know, who
cares? The master's not here right now.
He'll never see it. I'll catch up later. I'll just
spit and polish everything, you know, right before he comes.
Well, the problem is I don't know when he's coming. Just because
the master's not here doesn't mean I should take a who cares
attitude, right? The servants of God should behave
themselves the same way when our master is in glory and we
can't physically see him as if he's standing right beside us
when we can see him. We ought to be doing the exact
same thing. Nothing should be different. Scripture teaches
us about employees. That's the way we're to be at
work, isn't it? Not as men-pleasers. If your boss is not looking over
your shoulder, you don't want to be lazy and not doing something
and suddenly get to work and act real busy and trying to impress
the boss. That's being men-pleasers, isn't
it? Scripture says, don't do that.
That's not the way that we're supposed to be. Well, if I'm
not supposed to be that way with my boss down at the warehouse,
I sure shouldn't be that way with my master in heaven, should
I? No, the servants of God are to be active in what it is that
God's given them to do. And all of God's people have
different responsibilities, different things that God's given them
to do. And you know, people think about,
Preachers and well, you know, you know, they're the real servants
of God and you know, I'm really not I got nothing to contribute
That's not so that's not so We're to be watchful watchful over
Ourselves that I'm watching to make sure I'm doing what God
gave me to do You're to be watchful that you're watching over that
you are doing what God has given you to do. I Now that can sound
very complicated, and it can be very complicated to think
about. Well, what is it that I'm supposed to do? I don't feel
like I can do anything. I don't have any gifts. It's
pretty simple, really. What is it that God's put in
front of you today? Don't worry about tomorrow. Don't
worry about yesterday. What is it that God has put in
front of you to do today? Whatever that is, do it. Whatever
it is God's put to your hand to do today, do it with everything
that you've got. Look at Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. Beginning in verse four. For as we have many members in
one body, and all members have not the same office, so we being
many are one body in Christ, and every one member's one of
another. We're all members of the same body. The hand does
one thing, the foot does something else, the elbow does one thing,
the knee does something else, but every part has something
to do for the body. Verse six, having then gifts
differing according to the grace that is given to us, Whether
it's prophecy or preaching, let us prophesy according to the
proportion of faith. Let's preach what God's given
us an understanding to preach. Or ministry, that is helping
folks. It's ministering to their fleshly
needs. Let's wait on our ministering.
Or he that teacheth on teaching. Or he that exhorteth. He that
comforteth, that encourages the others. Let him focus on his
exhortation. He that giveth, let him do it
with simplicity. He that ruleth with diligence,
he that showeth mercy, do it with cheerfulness. Let love be
without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil and
cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affection one to another,
with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another, not slothful
in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in
hope. patient in tribulation, continuing
instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of saints, giving
to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you,
bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice
and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind, one toward
another. Mind not of high things, but condescend to men of low
estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. recompense to no man
evil for evil, provide things honest in the sight of all men.
If it be possible, as much as life in you, live peaceably with
all men. Now there's quite a list. You
can do all that you want. Just do all of it with everything
you got. And you know, as I was reading
here, something just stuck out to me. Verse eight, he that showeth
mercy with cheerfulness, How useful do you think it is to
the other children of God when you show mercy with cheerfulness? Oh, you're so helpful. I mean,
it doesn't have to be a big public thing. Just whatever it is, whatever
opportunity that God has put in front of you to do today,
to do one of these things. Do it, do it with all your might
and worry about the outcome later. Do it. because it pleases the
Lord. Do it because if for no other
reason than it pleases the Lord, you know what? You may do it
and somebody not going to appreciate it. You're going to, you're going
to do something and people are still gonna, gonna, gonna kick
you in the teeth. Um, Someone recently talked about
the lesson that the Lord gave in foot washing, and she said,
yeah, it seems like a lot of time the people washing feet
then end up getting kicked in the face. Maybe. Wash their feet anyway. See,
you're not doing it to get praise and recognition of men, it's
because it pleases your Father. It's a joy, not a duty. So do what the Lord has given
you to do with joy. With one eye out on this, he's
coming back. And when he comes back, we're
at real joy, aren't we? All right, here's also this thing
about sleeping. You know, I don't want to be
a servant who's found sleeping when the Lord returns, being
lazy, being indifferent. I know I'm not gonna lose my
salvation if the Lord comes and finds me in a time when I'm spiritually
lazy and indifferent, spiritually drowsy. I'm not gonna lose my
salvation. I understand that. But I'm not serving the Lord
out of seeking a reward from him. Why would I want to be spiritually
drowsy and sleepy and being active and not being helpful? I wanna
serve the Lord because I love my master. because I love his
kingdom, because I love his people. I don't wanna be sleeping on
the job. I wanna be vigilant, watching, that I can be helpful
to you if God gives me an opportunity to do it. And then our Lord closes
with emphasizing that we're to watch. Verse 37, and what I say
unto you, I say unto all. The Lord wasn't just saying this
to his disciples there, he's saying to all of his people,
he says, watch. And this word watch means watch
lest a calamity overtake you. You'll be awake, don't be drowsy
so that you miss things. And I know our day has become
very, very casual. Maybe in some ways that's good,
I don't know. But don't be casual about the
things of the Lord. Don't be casual about the worship
service. Don't be casual in prayer. Don't
be casual in watching yourself. Don't be casual about the word
of God. Don't be casual about serving
others and helping others. Don't take salvation for granted. Now, I'm not telling you to constantly
doubt yourself and say, oh, I don't know if I'm saved or not. I can't
find any assurance. No, you look to Christ. When
you're looking to Christ, when you're being diligent to see,
am I looking, do I trust Christ? You'll have assurance when you
trust Christ. but don't take salvation for
granted in this way. Be sure that today you're seeking
Christ the same way you did when you very first came to Christ.
How is it that you very first came to Christ in total need
of him? I need him to be my, my, my,
Redeemer, I need him to wash me from my sin. I need him to
forgive me of my sin. I need him to give me life. I
need him to give me mercy. I need him to give me grace.
I need him. Seeking the same way today, because
you don't need him less now than you did when you first came to
Christ. And seeking, because you don't trust this old man.
I mean, if this old man starts directing our paths, a calamity
is going to come upon us. Don't trust this old man. Be
vigilant to trust Christ until he returns, and you'll find joy
and peace for your soul now and in the day when he returns. All
right, hope the Lord bless that to you.