Turn with me to Matthew 24. Matthew 24. Six weeks ago, six
Sundays ago, We started Matthew 24 and we looked at the whole
chapter in one Bible study, 51 verses in one Bible study. I wanted us to get a overview
of the whole big picture of Matthew 24. It was on the destruction
of Jerusalem and Christ's second coming. But I mentioned to you
that I wrote down, as I read through all these verses, I wrote
down many individual things that our Lord said throughout this
chapter that I wanted us to come back and look at. And over the
last six weeks, off and on, we've been doing that. And what we're
going to look at this morning is the next subject matter on
the list. It's the next one on the list
that I wrote down. And I've been thinking about
this for a few weeks now and I'm so glad that this subject
matter lined up with today because this is the last day of the year. Tomorrow we roll out a brand
new year and I could not think of a better word from our Lord
to start the new year with than this right here. The first word
of verse 42, our Lord said, Watch, watch, watch, be watchful. Up in verse
37, he said, as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming
of the son of man be. or as in the days that were before
the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark and
knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So shall
also the coming of the Son of Man be. Then shall two be in
the field, the one shall be taken and the other left. One will
be taken and the other left. That's how it's going to be.
Now of those two, which one thinks they're going to be left? Neither. They both think they're
going to be taken. But one is going to be taken,
one is going to be left. Verse 41, two women shall be
grinding at the meal. The one shall be taken and the
other left. Watch therefore, for you know
not what hour your Lord doth come, but know this, that if
the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief
would come, he would have watched and would not have suffered his
house to be broken up. Therefore, be ye also ready,
for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh. Who
then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler
over his household to give them meat in due season? Blessed is
that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so
doing. Verily I say unto you, that he
shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil
servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming and
shall begin to smite his fellow servants and to eat and drink
with the drunken, the Lord of that servant shall come in a
day when he looketh not for him and in an hour when he is not
aware of and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with
the hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's a word to heed right there.
That's a word to heed, especially considering who it's coming from. Now let's begin this by answering
a few questions. Do we believe that our God is
sovereign? Yes, we do. Do we believe that our God purposed
all things before the foundation of the world? Do we believe that
our God purposed all things before the foundation of the world?
Yes, we do. Do we believe that everything
is under the power of His control? Nothing moves. He calls a bird,
you know, from the east or wherever it's from. He says, do this and
do that. A sparrow does not fall to the
ground. A hare does not fall out of a
head without his permission and his control. Do we believe that?
Yes, we do. Do we believe if we are his people
that our steps are ordered And our providence is set and our end is secure and nothing
and no one can remove us from the saving hand of our God. Do
we believe that? Yes, we do. Do we believe our God's word
to us? Do we believe we ought to heed
our God's word to us? Yes, we do. Yes, we do. And this is his word to us. Watch. That's his word. Watch. I want
us to find out this morning what that means. I want us to head
into 2024 knowing what that means. You know that this is the week,
you know, we're going through the book of Matthew and you know
that where we are right here, this is the week leading up to
his crucifixion. He went into the temple each
day. He'd go spend the night in Bethany and he'd get up the
next morning and come into Jerusalem and preach in the temple. This
is the week leading up to His crucifixion. And you know from
our study of this that He has finished speaking to the multitude. He said all to the world that
He was going to say. We finished that. He is only
speaking to His disciples now. And to them, to his disciples,
he said, watch. Watch. Look at chapter 25, verse
13. He said it again. Watch therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of Man cometh. Look at chapter 26, verse 38. Then saith he unto them, My soul
is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry ye here, and
watch with me. And he went a little further,
and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples
and findeth them asleep and saith unto Peter, What could you not
watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. He said, I'm telling you to watch
because you are going to be tried. And you're weak. Your flesh is
weak. And our Lord is right, isn't
he? He's right. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5. I
just want us to see here for a second the continued exhortation
from our Lord. 1 Thessalonians 5. Verse 1. says, But of the times and the
seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon
a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye brethren
are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a
thief. You are all the children of light
and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of
darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. Watch and be serious
about watching. Turn to Revelation 3. Revelation 3 verse 2 says, be
watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to
die, that are ready to die. For I have not found thy works
perfect before God. He's saying I'm not pleased with
you. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold
fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch,
I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know what
hour I will come upon thee. We need to take this word from
our Lord seriously. He said, you better be watchful. Look at verse 14 right here.
Revelation three, verse 14. And unto the angel, that means
the pastor, he's talking to the pastor. Okay. Unto the angel of the church
of the Laodiceans write, these things sayeth the amen, the faithful
and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know
thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou work
cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Who's
he talking to here? The pastor. Because thou sayest,
I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing
and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor
and blind and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold
tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich. and white raiment, that
thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do
not appear. And anoint thine eyes with eye-sab,
that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, I will come in to him." How are we going to
hear? He's going to have to give us ears to hear. How are we going
to open any door? He's going to have to open that
door. I'll come in and sup with him. He with me, verse 21, to
him that overcometh. How are we going to overcome?
Only in him. He said, be of good cheer. I
overcame. To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and
am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear,"
only God's people have an ear. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Unto the churches. What's he saying? Watch. Watch. Go to Revelation 16. Verse 15. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and
keepeth his garments. lest he walk naked and they see
his shame. Can we see that our Lord's word
to us is watch? Can we see that? His word to
us is watch. He said, if you're not careful,
you're going to find yourself in a lukewarm state. And oh,
how true that is. I'm talking to you from experience. Oh, how true that is. What is
a lukewarm state? It's a state of indifference. It's a state of not caring. I
don't care anymore. I just don't care anymore. It's a state of no urgency. None. Do you feel hot? No. Do you feel cold? No. Do you care? No. Lord help us. Lord help me, help
me. Turn with me to Matthew 26. Matthew 26 verse 31. Then saith Jesus unto them, all
ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it is written,
I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall
be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I
will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto
him, though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet
will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, verily I
say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow thou shalt
deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, though I
should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also
said all the disciples. These are the disciples. These
are the disciples. Peter said, Nope, I'm a believer. I'm one of the Lords. If anybody's a follower of Christ,
I'm a follower of Christ. What does that sound like today?
No, I'm good. I'm a member of Kingsport Sovereign
Grace Church. I'm the pastor of Kingsport Sovereign
Grace Church. I don't know what everybody else
is going to do, but I'm not worried about me. Brethren, let's watch. Let's watch. We know what the
end of this was for Peter. Look at verse 69. Peter sat without
in the palace and the damsel came unto him saying, thou also
was with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all
saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone
out into the porch, another maid saw him and said unto them that
were there, this fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again,
he denied with an oath. He said, I swear. I don't know
the man.' And after a while came unto him they that stood by and
said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them, for thy speech
betrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to
swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock
grew. And Peter remembered the word
of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow thou shalt
deny me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly.
One of the other accounts says the Lord looked at him. The cock
crew and he looked over and the Lord Jesus was already staring
right at him and it slayed him. Oh, that God would look at me. Oh, that the Lord Jesus would
look at me. Because of that right there,
Peter is the one who said, Brethren, trust me. Trust me. I am speaking from personal experience. We need to watch. Listen to what
he said in first Peter five verse eight. He said, be sober, be
vigilant because your adversary, the devil as a roaring lion walketh
about seeking whom he may devour. Where does he walk about? The congregations of God's people,
pew to pew. This is where the adversary walks
about, right here. God's people and the assemblies
of God's people, they are the target of all of his fiery darts. He is at war with God's people. He cannot be at war with God. So he focuses all of his attention
on God's people, all of his attention. He's not in the gutter or the
bar. That's we're good. He focuses all of his attention
on God's people and he tries to devour God's people by way
of ruining what they have received and experienced together and
enjoyed together in Christ. His goal, I'm telling you, Peter
and Paul, and these men are telling us the truth, his goal is to
ruin and devour our love. His goal is to ruin and devour
up our unity so that there is none left. His goal is to make it so that
there is no esteem for one another. No grace, no mercy, no forgiveness. Now we know that from Job's story,
the book of Job, And we know from Peter's story that the only
way the adversary could do this is if God allows him to. God
has to allow it. But if God allows him to, he
will devour up every fruit of the Spirit until there is no
peace left. No patience left. No gentleness,
no goodness, no joy, no faith, no meekness, no temperance, nothing. Nothing. There will just be lukewarm,
don't care, nothing. Brethren, let's watch. Let's watch. I'm telling you,
we are not wrestling with flesh and blood. We are wrestling with
principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this
world that are doing everything they can do to devour us. Peter
said, Paul said, Christ said, watch. Watch. Now, how do we do that? I'm a
short preacher. I'm the shortest preacher I know,
and I try to be that, but it's going to be a little longer. I'm going to get through this.
I need to get through this. How do we do that? If the Lord
will bless his word to us right here, and if he will open our
eyes to see the seriousness of this, and if he will impress
upon us the great need for us to watch, how do we do that? How does a child of God watch?
Here is how. Matthew 26, look at verse 38. Then saith he unto them, My soul
is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry ye here and
watch with me. He said, I am going to watch. You watch with me. And then this
is what he did. Verse 39. And he went a little
further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, oh, my father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Now was he talking about the
cup of bearing the sin of his people? Is that the cup he was
talking about? Was he saying, would you let
the cup of me bearing the sin of my people pass from me? Was he talking about the cup
of judgment and punishment? Was he saying, Lord, would you
let your judgment and your punishment just not come upon me and go
to somebody else? Would you let that pass from
me? Was he talking about the cup of death? Was he saying,
if there's any way that I cannot die, Would you please let death
pass from me?" Absolutely not. He wasn't talking about any of
those things. He said, for this cause came
I into the world. What was he talking about then?
He was talking about the exceeding sorrow because of that sin. He was talking about the horrible
effects of that sin. He was talking about the wretched
feeling of our infirmities that he had to touch and know. Oh, he came to bear the sin. He came to be judged in the sin. He came to die for the sin. But
oh, the horror of having to touch the feeling of all the effects
of that sin, knowing what sin produces in us, he said, you
need to watch, you need to in humble brokenness Cry out to
your Heavenly Father. Ask him, Lord, if it would be
possible, would you let all the effects of this sin pass from
me? I'm telling you, Gabe Stoniker
is so full of pride, it's shocking to me. It blows my mind. Lord, would you let all this
pride pass? If it's possible, would you please
let this arrogance pass from me? Lord, if it's possible, would
you please let envy, strife, and division pass from me? Lord, if it would be possible,
would you unite us under your blood? The blood that saved us,
would you let that blood unite us? The end of verse 39, he said,
nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. He said, I
bow to your will in this. I bow to your will in all things. How do we watch? By saying, Lord,
you know best. We look to you. How do we watch?
By saying, Lord, we look to you. How do we watch? By saying, Lord,
I'm looking to you. I'm looking to you. Everything
you do is good and right. You do all things well. So we
turn our eyes to you. How do we watch? By turning our
eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we watch? By looking to
the Lamb of God. How do we watch? We do it by
saying with that publican in the temple, who would not so
much as lift up his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast,
crying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. That's watching. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. We watch by saying, Lord, I need
mercy from you. I need mercy from you. If it be possible, would you
let me be merciful to others? As you laid down your life for
your brethren, would you let me lay down my life for my brethren? Lord, if it be possible, would
you let Christ crucified reign in me? And in my congregation
of brethren, would you let the three words, for Christ's sake,
be our motivation for everything? Lord, would you please not let
our house be broken up? My house right here, this is
my house that my soul lives in. And this is the house that the
Spirit and the people of God live in. That roof that we sleep
under every night, that doesn't matter at all. This is the house
that matters. And I'm not talking about these
studs and this drywall. This is the house that matters.
This is the house that matters. Lord, if it be possible, please
don't let this house be broken up. How does a child of God watch?
I mean soberly watch. Turn to Ephesians 6, and I am
almost done here. Ephesians 6. Verse 10 says, Finally, my brethren,
be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. put on
the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole
armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil
day And having done all to stand, stand therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth." What is truth? Christ is truth. Verse 14 says, and having on
the breastplate of righteousness, right there on top of our hearts,
the breastplate of righteousness. What is righteousness? Christ
is righteousness. Verse 15, your feet shod with
the preparation of the gospel of peace, peace with God through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, peace with each other because
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 16, above all,
taking the shield of faith, looking unto the Lord Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. wherein you shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." That is successful
watching. Verse 17, and take the helmet
of salvation, let everything in the mind be ruled by and influenced
by the salvation that we have in Christ our Savior. And the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God, Praying always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints. Praying for all saints. And he
said, as you remember each other and you pray for each other,
pray for me. Pray for me. This is what watching
is. Verse 19, he said, pray for me. that utterance may be given unto
me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery
of the gospel. Pray that no matter what, this
is just me to you, pray that no matter what, I stay on the
gospel. You all start praying that. You
want to be watchful? Pray that no matter what, I stay
on the gospel, the gospel of the finished salvation through
the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Verse 20, for which
I am an ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak boldly as
I ought to speak. Verse 23, he said, peace be to
the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Amen. I want to encourage all of us
to take a moment sometime soon and read 1 Thessalonians chapter
five. Make a note of that, put a marker
in your Bible, read 1 Thessalonians 5. It'll be an encouragement
to you and it'll help all of us to watch.