This morning, let's look at the
last part of chapter 21 of the book of Luke. Luke 21, Lord willing,
we'll finish this chapter. Verse 36, this morning, Luke
21, 36, watch ye therefore and pray always. And remember now
the questions that these disciples asked, when will the temple be
destroyed? And when will the end of the
world be? But think about, focus on what the Lord told them to
do in relation to those questions. He said, follow me only. Don't
be terrified. Not a hair of your head will
be harmed. Look to me. Look up your redemption. This is about your redemption.
It ain't about anything else. And here, watch ye therefore
and pray always. that you may be accounted worthy
to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand
before the Son of Man. And in the daytime he was teaching
in the temple, and at night he went out and abode in the mount
that is called the Mount of Olives. And all the people came early
in the morning to him in the temple for to hear him. So in verse 36, there are two
instructions given and two desired outcomes. The two instructions
first. Watch. First of all, watch. He had warned them in verse 34
to beware themselves, lest the day of the Lord come upon them
unawares. I'm not saying watch for other
things. Watch yourself. Be aware. Wake up. Watch. He's speaking
to them at this time about the end of the world, verse 32, he
says, all will be fulfilled. And in verse 33, he says, heaven
and earth are going to pass away. He's clearly talking about not
just the destruction of the temple there, but the end of the world,
heaven and earth are going to pass away, but not my word, not
my word. And you see in the last part,
he talked, he talked, he talked, they came and heard him. They
came to hear him. That's what's important in all
of this. He warns them to watch and not be caught unawares by
this. And inseparable from his definition
of watch is to pray. Watch and pray. This was our
Lord's word to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane.
when our Lord began there to bear the sins of his people in
that garden. Listen to what he said in Matthew
26, 40. And he cometh unto his disciples
after pouring his heart out to the Father and praying, Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. and clearly beginning
to bear, his soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. There's
only one thing that can cause that kind of sorrow. That's sin,
and he didn't have any of his own. He's bearing mine. And listen, he came and found
them asleep and said to Simon Peter, could you not watch with
me one hour? Watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation, And think about this, he singled out Simon
here. It says he said unto Simon, he
was saying it to all of them, but he's addressing Simon in
particular. Why? Simon's about to betray the Lord
of glory. Not long after this. And so he
says to him, watch and pray that you be not caught in tribulation
and trial, that you not be caught unawares. So watch and pray go
together. You watch by praying. How are
you going to be awake and aware of what's going on unless you
take your rightful place as supplicant before the sovereign? And listen,
the last thing he said to Simon there, he said, watch and pray
that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing.
Simon said, I'll die with you. I won't betray you. I'll die
with you. but the flesh is weak. Therefore, watch and pray." And
that's what he's saying here at the end of the world. And
as we've said, now this doesn't just apply to those who are alive
then, the end of your world may be today. Watch and pray. You watch by praying. What is
prayer? The Lord, think about this about
prayer. The Lord said, when you pray,
go into your closet and pray in secret in your heavenly father,
which seeth in secret. Why did he say that? We pray
publicly when we're gathered in worship together. He's not
saying don't do that, but he was condemning the Pharisees
who went around and just prayed in front of people and said,
you know, religious leaders, they like to say, well, let's
have a quick word of prayer, you know, and let's just pray
publicly just to make a spectacle of how religious they are. He
said, don't do, go in your closet. You know why he said that? Prayer
is between you and God. Even when we pray publicly, everybody's
heart is crying out to God. And someone is leading that prayer,
but everybody, it's between them and God. And he said particularly,
go into your closet and do that. Get alone with God. I've got a real strong feeling
that very few people do that much. They just don't do that
much. He said you don't have because
you don't ask. He's saying to them here, if
all these terrible things come upon you and your whole world
is turned upside down, just look to me alone. There's a lot of
stuff happening, but all of this is between him and you. It's
you and him. That's what matters. Shut out
everything else. Don't be distracted by it. You
remember that word cares in verse 34. We saw that meant divided. Don't be divided. Don't be removed
from the simplicity that's in Christ. Let your attention be
undivided but toward me. Nobody else is involved in me
praying to God. Prayer is looking to him, asking
him for what you need, looking away from this world, looking
away from yourself. It's laying your heart bare before
God. It's casting all your care upon
him. And here's why, because he cares
for me. It's thanking and praising him
in the storm. Don't forget when your world
is turned upside down and everything's falling apart. Thank God for
all of his mercies and his goodness. Paul and Silas in the prison
sang praises unto him and prayed. When they were apprehended for
preaching the gospel, they were in prison, expecting likely to
be killed the next day. That seems to be the expectation.
I mean, listen to it in Acts 16, 20. They brought them, Paul
and Silas, unto the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews,
do exceedingly trouble our city and teach customs which are not
lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And
the multitude rose up together against them. The magistrates
rid off their clothes and commanded to beat them. And when they had
laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging
the jailer to keep them safely, who, having received such a charge,
thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the
stocks. All of this for telling people
about God's mercy in Christ for sinners like them. And at midnight,
Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God. Their world
was upside down, would you say? You don't have to wait till the
end of the world for your world to be falling all around you. They prayed and sang praises
unto God and the prisoners heard them. I suspect God heard them
too. This is our text now. Don't be
distracted by your circumstances, your fears, your worries, your
selfishness, your anything. Go to God. Fix your heart, your
mind, your affections, and all your hope and trust upon Christ
and Him alone. He said, whatever you ask in
my name, my Father will give it to you. What are we praying for? Here's
the two desired outcomes. We're praying that we might be
accounted worthy of two things. worthy to not get what we deserve
and to get what we don't deserve. You know what that is? That's
the definition of mercy and grace. Not getting what you do deserve
is mercy. Getting what you don't deserve
is grace. We're praying, we're looking
to God now that we might be counted worthy to escape all judgment
and wrath, both temporal and eternal. That's God not giving
us what we do deserve. You see that in the text there?
Pray that you might be counted worthy to not suffer for your
sins. To not suffer God's judgment
upon sinners like you, like you. He said, do you think the ones
at that Tower of Siloam didn't fall on were better than the
ones that did fall on? Not so. Not so. Except you repent, you shall
also likewise perish. There's no difference. We deserve
God's wrath and judgment temporally and eternally. We deserve much
more. People talk about, well, something
bad happened to me. God's punishing me. I don't think we know much
about the punishment of God. You don't want to know. So listen,
we need God to not give us what we do deserve. You see that there,
that you might be counted worthy to escape, to not get what you
deserve. But also, we need God to do that
which is most wonderful for us that we don't deserve. What is
the most wonderful thing that there is? You ever think about
that? People thinking about millions of dollars and treasures and
all this and living forever and things like that. Living eternal
life is not unending life. Eternal life is Christ and to
be with Him forever. You know what the most wonderful
thing in the world is? I say this without hesitation.
To stand before the Son of Man, the Son of God. To stand in His
presence. You think about that. to be with
him, to stand in the presence of Christ. Can you think of something
more wonderful than that? He's saying, pray this, all this
world is gonna pass away and you may well see it. We see it
happening, don't we? By degrees, sometimes more so
than others. And what we perceive is one thing,
what's happening is another. This world is falling apart now,
isn't it? Oh, but here's what matters.
that God might have mercy on our souls and count us worthy
to stand in the presence of his son. Oh, how blessed. Think about that, to stand in
the presence of God's son and to be counted worthy to stand
there. David said in Psalm 130 in verse
three, If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who
shall stand? We're not gonna stand in his
presence. Who can ascend into the holy hill of God, Psalm 2?
Only him that hath clean hands and a pure heart. There's only
one like that, and that's the Savior. But for us to stand,
how can we then stand there, where the Son of God stands?
By standing in him, by grace through faith in him. We stand
in him. And listen, David also said in
Psalm 32, one, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is
no guile. David said those two things in
those two separate psalms. Lord, if you mark iniquities,
we can't stand. We can't stand where you do or
in your presence. But blessed is that man to whom
he does not impute sin. He doesn't mark their iniquities.
He sees no iniquity in his elect because of Christ who lived for
them as their representative. God doesn't look to the sinner
who's in Christ for anything, for obedience or anything. Our
obedience is Christ. He sees us in his Son. And not
only did he live as our righteous, he died as our sin offering.
All my sins are gone. That's how I'm gonna stand. Pray
that you'll be counted worthy of that. Pray that when Christ
shed his precious blood, your sins were washed away in that
flood. God, be propitious to me. That's what that publican
prayed. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. That word merciful
there is propitiation, and propitiation is made by blood. He's talking
about the Lamb of God slain for sinners. And may it be true that
my sins were washed away by that blood. Don't miss in our text that word
counted. Pray that you might be counted
worthy. Because let me tell you something, you're not worthy.
But you might be counted worthy. He didn't say do these two things
so that you will be worthy. He said, pray that God will count
you worthy. That's the sinner's prayer. God
be merciful to me. The sinner, think about this
now, counted worthy because in ourselves we're not worthy of
anything but hail from God. The very idea of not imputing
sin recognizes that there is sin. If God says I won't impute
your sin to me, That presupposes that you're a sinner, that there
is sin to not be imputed. But if God counts you worthy,
you're worthy. What God says is true is true. What's true in Christ? Now listen
to me carefully here. What's true in Christ is most
true. You could make two opposite statements
about me, and both would be true. You could say Chris is a wretched,
vile, horrible sinner. He ought to go to hell right
now. Don't pass go. Send him to hell
right now. He is horrible, despicable, and
deserves the eternal wrath of God. That's the truth. You could
also say Chris is spotless and holy and pure, without blemish
before God, and nobody could say a word of condemnation against
him. That's true too. You know what
the difference is? Christ. That's it. Only him. And what's true in Christ is
most true. There is nothing truer than what's
true in Christ. You might say, well, Christ,
Chris is holy in Christ, but that doesn't really mean he's
holy. Yes, it does. It absolutely does. That means
if it's true in Christ, it's true. And there's nothing truer
than that. If God says you're holy and without
blame before him in love, then that's what you are. And that's
true only in Christ Jesus, our Lord. But that's what's real. That's what's real. Listen, his
elect are without spot or wrinkle or any such thing dressed in
his righteousness alone and washed in his precious blood without. That's what he's saying. Pray
that you might be counted worthy to stand before the son of man. It don't get any better than
that. Set your sights high when you pray. You might need a new
car. You might want to ask God, Lord,
I pray that I can afford a new vehicle. That's fine. But you're
going to have to set your sights higher than that. I want to stand
in the very presence of God's son and be worthy to do it. It
don't get no higher than that. Let me emphasize what is as plain
as can be here. He does not say make sure now
that you don't deny me in all this turmoil. Make sure now that
you're worthy of me in this and that you don't sin and that you
don't fall and that you don't, you know, fall away in the tribulation
and turmoil that's about to come so you'll be counted worthy.
I don't want to deny him to you. I don't want to sin against him.
I don't want to be full of unbelief in tribulation and trial like
we often are. I don't want to, I don't want
to say the wrong things and do, I don't want to be selfish. I
don't want it to be all about, oh, woe is me. You know, that's
how we think. We're selfish. I don't want to
be like that. But listen, that ain't what he
said. He doesn't say, make sure you do all the right things and
don't do all the wrong things when tested by this trial. I
do want to be faithful to him always, but my salvation and
my security don't depend on me doing the right things and not
doing the wrong things. How are sinners saved? To begin
with, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. Not whosoever shall get right
with God, Or live the Christian life? No, whosoever cries out
to God for mercy, that's who's going to be saved. What is calling
on the Lord? Watch and pray. That's what it
is. That's what prayer is. It's calling
on His name. Is that how you were saved the
day God saved you? You believer? I don't remember
the actual date that God saved me. It doesn't matter. But I
remember needing Him. I remember crying out to Him.
I remember him asking me, are you thirsty? And I was. And he
said, come to me and drink. I remember that life in our experience,
life, spiritual life begins with calling on the name of the Lord.
Just as sure as a baby's cry at the moment of birth is assurance
of life. We call upon him. What then are
we to do at the end? Life begins with calling on Him.
Maybe we'll live a full life in this world and if we're alive
at the last day that this earth stands and the end has come,
what will we have graduated to then? Will we have progressed
beyond and surely we'll have moved past where we started?
No, we're still gonna be crying to Him. Listen to Acts 2.19,
I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth
beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned
into darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable
day of the Lord come. Sounds kind of like he's talking
about the end there, doesn't it? The great and terrible day
of the Lord, the notable day of the Lord. And it shall come
to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. That's the next verse. I'm going
to wrap this thing up. The sun's going to be darkened
and the moon turned to blood and the great and notable day
of the Lord is going to come. And whoever calls on him in that
day will be saved. If I'm alive on the last day
that this world stands, think of it. The last day, the last
one. The last time the sun rises in
the east. If I'm alive on that last day,
God make it so. that I shall be doing what I
did on the first day that I truly lived that first day you know
what I cried in my heart the first day I lived Jesus thou
son of David have mercy on me and that's what our Lord is saying
pray in the end in the end pray that you might have mercy from
God and that you might be counted worthy to stand in his presence
I can't think of a better prayer for that great and terrible day
of the Lord. Can you, if you're alive on that
day? Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And look at
the beautiful language of these last two verses, keeping in mind
what the Lord said in verse 33. Now my word, verse 33, heaven
and earth will pass away, but my words are what's important. That which is eternal, that which
is temporal, Those things that pass away,
what matters is what's eternal. What's eternal? The word of God,
the gospel, the truth of God in Christ. And in the daytime,
he was teaching in the temple. He was saying things that are
going to be true before this world ends and after this world
ends. And at night he went out and abode in the mount that is
called the Mount of Olives. And all the people came early
in the morning to him in the temple for to hear him. I hope that that's what I'm doing
when I come to the worship. It says they came to him. It
doesn't say they came to church. They came to him to hear him. Is that why we come? I pray that
it will be the thing to do on that day. Think about it now. The day that he was speaking
to them and answering these questions and telling them what was important,
the thing to do that day was to go to him and hear him. And
on the last day, that is what will still be important. Everything else is going to be
burned up. The gospel is primary and most vital. Christ is all,
and he is the one thing needful. God, when he spoke audibly from
heaven, said, this is my beloved son, hear him. What do you think
God would say if God actually spoke? I don't know what it would
sound like, some kind of a thundering voice that would scare you to
death. I don't know what his actual voice would sound like
to you. I don't know, I wasn't there. But we don't have to wonder
what he would say. Here's what he did say, here's
my son, hear him, hear him, hear him. It says in Matthew 12, 46,
while he yet talked to the people, the Lord Jesus spoke with a group
of people in someone's house. Behold, his mother and his brethren,
his earthly family, stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then
one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand
without, desiring to speak to thee. Picture this in your mind.
Now he's in this house teaching some people the word of God,
preaching the gospel of himself, the kingdom of God to a group
of people. And somebody said, your mom and brothers are out
there, they need to talk to you. And he answered and said unto
him that told him, who is my mother? And who are my brethren? He not being disrespectful to
his mother, he's just telling the truth. There's nothing more
important than hearing the gospel. Whatever they had on their agenda
was going to have to wait. Listen, he said, who is my mother
and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand
toward his disciples. Who were sitting there listening
to him preach and said, behold, my mother. And my brethren. That's pretty clear lesson. Luke
1038 listen to this. It came to pass that they went
the Lord and those who were with him that that he entered in.
To a certain village and a certain woman named Martha received him
into her house. And she had a sister called Mary.
Which also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word. Picture this,
now Martha's house, her sister Mary's over there, she's sitting
at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, hearing him speak. But Martha was cumbered about
with much serving. She's fixing dinner. And came
to him and said, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left
me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she helped
me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou
art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is
needful. One thing is necessary. Whether we have dinner or don't
have dinner, you need to hear from God. And Mary hath chosen
that good part which shall not be taken away from her. You see what this is all about? What's important now is what's
going to be important on the last day. To hear from the Lord
Jesus Christ the truth of how a wretch like you can be saved
through his precious blood and righteousness. What will comfort
you if the world does fall completely apart while you're still alive.
If you were told that you would live through that bad time, would
that comfort you? That you're going to make it
through somehow. You're going to live physically. Would that comfort
you? You're going to die anyway soon enough. Oh, I lived through
the tribulation. You're still going to die. Here's
comfort for a sinner. Listen to what the Lord said
in Isaiah 40 verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished. Tell my people
the war is over. That's what comforts the people
of God. The natural mind is enmity against
God. We're at war with God by nature
as we're born into this world. We grow up shaking our fist in
the face of God. and despising God. We nailed
his son to a cross. We murdered him in the most humiliating
and disdainful way that we could think of to murder God. That's
what we did. But you know what his message
to sinners is? The war is over. And listen, here's why. Here's
why the war's over. Tell her that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." Now think about
that with me. Think about that passage in Isaiah
40 verses 1 and 2 there. The war is over. You're at war
with God by nature now. Your carnal mind is enmity against
God. And God is your bitter enemy.
By nature, you're a child of wrath, even as others. Now, that
doesn't mean that God ever hated his people. He's always seen
us in Christ. But by nature, as we are in our sinful flesh
before God, we're children of his wrath. God hateth all workers of iniquity. It does say that in the scripture
now in Psalm chapter five. And sinners are bitter enemies
of God by nature. Listen to Romans 118, the wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. His wrath is
revealed against you. Did that describe you? Ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men. You got any of that? who hold
the truth and unrighteousness. That's all of us by nature. There's
mortal conflict between God and the sinner. Either God must be
cast down from his throne, which can never happen, or the sinner
must suffer eternal punishment and torment under the unmitigated
wrath of the holy God. But the gospel message comes
from the very throne. We're ambassadors of the king,
the one that sits on the throne. And here's his message to sinners.
The war is over. The Lord Jesus Christ hath made
peace by the blood of his cross. And if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. How did Christ
accomplish that? By dying. How did him dying on
a cross humiliated and And to all the world, to all appearances,
a failure. How did his death accomplish?
How is it that the death of God's Son reconciled those to God who
could not be reconciled any other way? God hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all of her sins, all the sins of his
people. In other words, in and by Christ
crucified, by the death which he accomplished on Calvary, God's
wrath against our sin has been fully poured out on Christ, our
substitute. Ample satisfaction, complete
and utter satisfaction for sin is made. What is it that God
must receive of our hand for sin? Justice, punishment, the
satisfaction of his justice and Christ fully satisfying the justice
of God for us on Calvary means that our sin is paid for double,
that is more than enough. Was Christ's blood precious enough
to pay our sin debt? Doubly so, doubly so. And notice the word received,
the Lord hath received it. In other words, it's done. It's
not a contingency plan. If you do something, then the
Lord is satisfied with those for whom Christ died. It's done. That's why the Lord said it's
finished, because it was finished. Salvation is finished. Not only
is Christ's blood sufficient to redeem me, but it has done
so. That's what he said. Comfort
you, my people, with that. That's pretty comforting, isn't
it? it is done for all for whom he died the war is over your
iniquities pardoned and here's how he poured out all of his
wrath upon his son in your place and salvation is accomplished
by him for us here's the here's what's comforting you can't mess
it up he finished it for you Tell me of Christ crucified and
then let the world end. Can you say that? I say that
with all of my heart. Tell me of my Savior. Comfort
the heart of this wretched sinner with that gospel truth that Christ
accomplished salvation for me on Calvary and then let this
world end. Let me hear his word as these
ones in our text did in that last verse and be content Come
what may. Shall the Lord come today and
burn this world up and everything in it? Even so come Lord Jesus. Can you say that? Safe though
the worlds may crumble and they will. Safe. Though the stars
grow dim. Under the blood of Jesus. I am
secure. In him. Amen.