to the last six verses of Mark
chapter 13. The lesson this morning is the believer's
expectation. Now we've been talking about
the last days, talking about the end of time, when Christ
shall appear in clouds with great glory. all of his father's house. And before anything happens in
this world, he's gonna call out his elect from the tombs. He's
gonna gather all of his elect from the far, from the uttermost
part of heaven to the uttermost part of the earth. They're all
gonna be with him. And this world's gonna see him.
Not as they do now, in indifference, in rejection, but they're gonna
see him in all the glory of his father's house. The believer
alone has an expectation, and this is what I wanna talk to
you about. So I hope you'll follow me as I read through these verses,
beginning with verse 32. But of that day and that hour
knoweth no man. No, not the angels which are
in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch,
and pray, for you know not when the time is. For the Son of Man
is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house and gave authority
to his servants, to every man his work, 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 cock crowing, or in the morning, lest coming, suddenly he find
you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say
unto all, watch. I have four things I want to
point out in these verses this morning concerning our Lord's
second coming and concerning his elect who have hope in the
same. First of all, a blessed yet frightening fact. He is coming. He is coming. In the book of
2 Peter, you'll find some men out there who said, well, we've
been hearing this for a long time, and we don't believe it.
We don't believe it. Been hearing this for years.
Well, this was written 2,000 odd years ago, so man's been
hearing this for a while, hasn't he? But Peter said, it's a sure
thing. And our Lord said, it's a sure
thing. The Lord is coming, the Son of
God, the Son of Man, the Creator, the Sustainer, and the reason
for it all. He's coming. How is He coming? In clouds with power and great
glory. Why is He coming? He's coming
to gather all His elect together and to judge men and to bless
His people. His coming to the believer is
an end to all the torments of sin, all the threatening punishment,
all the danger of it, all the power of it, all the presence
of it. All should be gone to the believer.
No more dying. No more sickness. No more pain. No more persecution. When he
comes, He should gather all his elect, he said, from the uttermost
part of heaven to the uttermost part of the earth. The scripture
said, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump,
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible. We should be changed. How long's
that gonna take? Not even a blink of an eye. That's
how fast, not even a blink of the eye, it'll be done. It'll
be done. He goes on to say this mortal
shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on
incorruption, and death shall be swallowed up in victory. What
a blessed event it is to think on the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you're a believer, If you're
a believer, it's a blessed thing. It's not a day to dread. It's not a day to cause you anxious
cares. It's a glorious day. I remember
as a kid, I used to really look forward when I was real little
for Christmas. We didn't have much, but I'd
always have something under that tree. Man, I'd pace the floor
for a month waiting on that day, waiting on that day, waiting
on that day. Well, this day we wait on, that's how we look for
it. We look for this with great expectation,
the believer does, because there's nothing in it but blessings,
unexplainable, untold blessings. And as great as regeneration
is from spiritual death, even so, is the greatness of that
day when all sin shall be taken away. I just wonder, Paul described
it this way, we see through a glass dimly. We don't see things as
we shall. In that day we'll know as we
are known, but now we just see in part, we know in part. The
things that we know are glorious things, but in that day we'll
see them as they are. But it's also a frightening thing.
If you're here today and know not the Lord, how will you fare
in this judgment? How will you fare in his coming?
What are you gonna do? You're gonna leave this world
one way or the other. You're either gonna die as this
world continues on, or you're gonna wake in judgment. One or
the other. One or the other. Don't you find it a frightening
thing to think about standing before holy God in your sins?
Standing before God as you really are? You can hide things from
me, but you're not hiding anything from him. He understandeth our thought,
he said, afar off. So his coming is both a blessed
thing and it's a frightening thing. And then secondly, we
need to think about the day of which he's talking about, this
day in which we live. We're living now in a very, very,
very special time. There's nothing in eternity to
compare with these days. And if you want to put it in
its proper perspective, time. We're talking about from the
beginning of creation until Christ comes. Seems like a long period
of time. It's not even a tick of the clock
in eternity. It's just a tiny little space
in eternity. It's just a click of the... A
tick of the clock. And yet in this tiny space of
time, God has fixed a window to manifest his sovereign mercy
and grace upon a people he chose in Christ before the world began. A time to manifest the condemnation
of the world. And at the same time, the glorious
grace of God. And during this time, we'll manifest
the condition of our souls for eternity. If you go out of this world an
unbeliever, you'll continue for eternity in your sins. If we are to be saved, it'll
be during this time and no other. No other. We're living in a dying
world, a world judged of God and Adam, a world under the curse
of sin and spiritual death. To continue on in this world,
hoping for relief in the one to come is insanity. If God doesn't do something for
you here, he's not going to do anything for you there. Now let that sink in. I know
we want to shove God off in the corner somewhere. We want to
be indifferent toward these things. We don't want to think on these
things because they're frightening. The reality of it is frightening. But we'll manifest the condition
of our souls for eternity. If we're going to be saved, you're
going to be saved during this time and no other. Christ didn't come to condemn
in His first coming. He came to save. That's what
He told them. I didn't come to condemn the world. The world's
condemned already. I condemned the world in Adam.
I didn't come, my appearance here is not to condemn. It's
to save. It's to save. He goes on to say,
he that believeth on him is not condemned. But he that believeth
not is condemned already. Because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is a condemnation. Light came into the world and
men loved darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds
were evil. All of them, religious deeds,
worldly deeds, thoughts, motives, their deeds were evil. Salvation will be manifest in
this place and time and condemnation right along with it. He that believeth not. shall
be damned. Isn't that what the scripture
said? That's exactly what it said. You go into all the world,
preach my gospel. Preach it to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. And during this little space
of time, his gospel will be preached. The gospel of Jesus Christ. And
God's providence will declare the place and the opportunities
and faith and unbelief will mark out the objects. If you live
out your days in indifference and you die in your sins, your
sins will follow you throughout eternity. It's here and now or nothing. Now that's just so. That's just
so. And then I want you to Think
about this. There is a here and now. We're experiencing that right
now. Right now. Every breath we take, we're experiencing
it. There is a here and now. He didn't mop up this place after
the fall of Adam. He allowed this world to continue
on. He allowed sin to go right ahead
as his gospel was being preached. He allowed condemned men to go
on and live out their day. Why? Because he has a people
that he chose in Christ before the world was. He chose them,
he said, from the beginning to salvation. through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. Paul said, whereunto he
called you by our gospel. There's a space in eternity for
men and women to repent and believe. And this time is not given for
us to gratify our flesh or see how much we can squirrel away
for our kids to squander after we die. There's a time ordained to manifest
the glory of God and the salvation of a people through the person
and work of Christ. Take advantage of it. Don't treat
it with indifference. Don't shove it off in the corner.
Don't file it on a shelf and think, this is my fire escape.
I'll grab it when I hear the fires come. No, you won't. Take advantage of it. Rejoice
in it. Beware, lest you waste this precious
time. How are we going to escape, he
said, if we neglect so great salvation? How are you going
to escape? What are you going to do? What are you going to
tell him in that day? If you're permitted to even speak,
what are you going to tell the God of glory? How are you going
to explain to him how you treated the sacrifice of his son with
such indifference? How you gonna explain this to
God? Here it is. He said, I've opened my arms
to you and you regarded me not. Read it over in the book of Proverbs. You pulled your shoulder from
me. That's how the prophet described it. The Lord, as a gentle friend,
put his hand on your shoulder and you pulled the shoulder away.
You've been mad, you know what I'm talking about. Exactly what
we do. Now calm down, you friends. Pull that shoulder away. I'm
mad. Let alone the blatant unbelief
of men who hear this glorious gospel and say, not for me. Not
for me. Our only hope here in this world
is the sovereign grace of God. That is for God to intervene
in our lives and give us the power that it
takes, enable us to repent and believe. I don't know what people think.
I just have to watch how I live. And if I live a certain way,
I've got a chance at eternal life. But if I don't live up
to that expectation or that line, wherever that line is, then I
don't have a chance. No, that ain't how it is. All
God has to do to send you to hell, to condemn you forever,
is leave you alone. Now you think on that. That's
all he has to do. Just leave you alone. Just fix his providence where
you don't hear the gospel anymore. Just fix his providence where
you have no interest in the word of God whatsoever. That's all
he has to do, just leave you alone. You'll self-destruct because
destruction and misery are in your ways. My friend, I don't know if you
think about it much, but we're just one breath from eternity. Let's say the Lord don't come
back and we die in this world. You're going to wake up to the
very same thing. You're going to wake up to eternity. We're just one breath from eternity. I have a very vivid memory of
my wife just before she died. Her breathing was shallow and
rapid. It just seemed like she was just breathing like she'd
just run a race. She just couldn't get a deep
breath in, and she was breathing like that. And I don't know how
many breaths she took, but I do know this. There was a last one.
There's a last one. One breath away from eternity. That's it. I said, we don't want
to think about that, do we? We won't think on things here.
Pleasant things and run we're dying. Did you know that? We're
dying All right, here's the third thing
I want you to think about in this text none, but God knows
the day in the hour Do not give heed to these applaud-seeking
false prophets who say they've got it all figured out. You're
watching a man on TV and he's talking about these things and
he gets his little graph out and he starts to draw on this
day and pointing to this and that. Turn it off. Just turn
it off. In Mark chapter 13, verse 32,
he said, But of that day and that hour knoweth no man. Oh, but this one doesn't know.
No, he don't. He's a liar. He don't know. Isn't
that what that says? Of that day and of that hour
knoweth no man. Not the angels which are in heaven. Those who sit in the company
of God. Those who've been listening to
the gospel since it was first preached. Those to whom this gospel was
declared in eternity past, those who knew, they don't know
today. They don't know now. And I'll
tell you what's more amazing than that, not even the Son. Huh? Not even the Son, only the Father. Oh, well let me say this first.
What a blessed thing it is to know that our heavenly father,
that one that we know and acknowledge as our father, the giver of all
blessings, the giver of Christ, his son to us. What a blessed thing to know
that our heavenly father, he who loved us, made provision
for us, predestinated us under the adoption of children by his
son. Our heavenly father who's greater
than all and holds us in his hand. He alone has set the day
and he alone shall declare the time. Would you want that to
be in anybody else's hands? Everything the father has done
has been to bless us. Did you know that? Every good
and heavenly gift, it cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no wearableness, neither shadow of time. All these
gifts, they all come down from him. Would you want that to be
in anybody else's hands? Oh, my soul, no. Let it be in
his. Let it be in his. He's not gonna
declare that time to all his elect, per se, every one of them. He's not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance. Scripture said, we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. That's Ephesians 111. And then
secondly, know this. There'd be little difference
between dying now and being alive when the Lord comes back, you'll
be facing the same eternity. Nothing's going to change concerning
your soul. Nothing's going to change concerning
your future or your standing with God. To die here and now
is to await to eternity. If you close your eyes in death
now, you will await before the Lord of glory. The scripture
said it's appointed unto man once to die And after this, the
judgment. The difference between those
who believe not and those who believe is a new creation and
the total banishment of sin. How much does sin play a part
in our lives right now? How much? Huh, it affects your
thoughts, it affects your motives, it affects your words, it affects
your deeds, it affects everything you do, it affects your worship. I don't think we really understand
just how much sin pollutes us. It's worse than any disease.
The Lord chose leprosy to demonstrate it and he called them dead while
they lived. Oh my. The total banishment of sin,
what a blessing. And then thirdly, what an amazing
statement. Not even the son knows that day
and hour. Jehovah's servant, our representative,
waits before God in perfect submission to his father concerning that
glorious day. I know the commentators, they
all like here to divide the divinity and humanity of Christ. You can't
divide the humanity and divinity of Christ. That's absurd. He's
as much God as if he were not man and as much man as if he
were not God. He's the God-man. He's the God-man. He's one with us. There is no
division. He's not God part of the time
and man part of the time. I don't want to hear that nonsense. I'd rather take this position,
just sit there and be amazed and wonder, huh? I cry with Paul, oh, the depth
of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable
are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For of him
and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever
and ever. Amen. Why don't we just take,
we like to stand up and say, I'll tell you how Christ was
made sin. You ain't got a clue how Christ
was made sin. Just sit back and look at it
in wonder and awe that he was. How was he? I don't know. If
you make it there, you ask him. He'll tell you. Everything else
is just the speculation of men. who grew a little too big for
their britches. Of him, through him, to him are
all things. We want to differentiate things.
We want to make divisions in God so we can explain things. Some things are unexplainable,
just leave them alone. Just sit back and awe and wonder.
He said, for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Now nobody questions us being
made the righteousness of God in Him, only Him being made sin. It's just as impossible for you
to be made righteous as it is for God to be made sin, isn't
it? Well, why don't we stand in awe and wonder of both things? And then here's the fourth and
last thing I want you to think about. A clear picture. Verses 33 through 37. Take ye
heed, watch, and pray, for ye know not when the time is. 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 you know
not when the master of the house cometh, but even, or midnight,
or cockcrowing, or in the morning. And here's the thing, when he
does come, how's he gonna find you? Sleeping? And what I say to you, what I
say to you apostles, my future apostles, my disciples, Those
who are going to carry their personal testimony made to the
world. Those whose words I'm going to
inspire and put in a book. What I say
to you, I say to all. Watch. Watch. A great man having a great holding
must take a far journey, but he's carefully chosen and trained
his servants to do the work necessary to maintain that house. And so
he appoints these stewards and to each assign certain duties. And then he leaves. He doesn't
say when he's coming back. He just said, I'm coming back. He didn't say how long he'd be
gone. He said, I'll be back. but he does give them a word
of caution. Watch ye therefore, for you know
not when the master of the house cometh. Now he gives us some
signs, some signs of the times. He gives us these warnings, but
we don't know the day or the hour. And I find it a humbling
thing that we who have been given such great mercies and such great
honor and privileges been shown so much of his great love and
kindness should need to be admonished to look, my soul, think of what
God has given to you. And yet we need to be admonished. No one in heaven and earth stands
to gain more at his coming than you and I, more so than the angels
who are higher than us. And yet we must be told to watch
for him. No one owes him more or who have
been blessed above those gathered right here in this place today. And yet we must be warned to
watch. Christ is your hope of glory,
then you've got nothing but glory to look. Oh, to hear him call my name. Call my name. Come up here. Come
here. Come up. Come up out of that
grave. Come up out of that dust. Come up here to me. That's expectation. That's expectation. Eager anticipation. One of Brother
Don's favorite sayings was watching for him on the tiptoes of faith. Right on your tiptoe. Now let me close with the Lord's
own words. What I say unto you, I say unto
all. Watch. Watch. Are you watching? Lord help us
to do so. Thank you.