Review
SPOILER ALERT! How to Apply End Times Teaching...
- Pay ATTENTION . (Mk 13:28-32)
- Stay AWAKE . (Mk 13:33-37)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above with your cursor for answers!
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Open up your Bibles to the gospel according to Mark.
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And as you've seen from this fall, we are finishing the gospel of Mark.
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Last year we did Mark chapters 1 through 10, which was the ministry of Jesus, and this year we're doing Mark 11 through 16, which covers the last week of Jesus' life, also called Passion Week, ultimately culminating in his death, burial, and resurrection.
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we are covering Mark, we're breaking it down into three acts, so to speak, and this fall the theme was "He is the Lord." And hopefully as we've been studying through this, you have been moving in your own hearts from "He is the Lord" to "He is my Lord." He is my Lord. And what have we seen this fall? I'm going to Let me review every sermon that we've covered this fall.
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Quickly, we saw that Jesus made His triumphal entry announcing to the world that He is the Messiah when He entered Jerusalem.
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We saw Jesus cleanse the temple.
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And as a result, we saw Jesus challenged by all the religious leaders trying to make Jesus look foolish in the eyes of the people.
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Jesus in turn warned His disciples against these false religious teachers, and that led us up to chapter 13 where the disciples asked Jesus a question. They said, "What is going to be the sign of your return, of the second coming, of the end of the age, of the fulfillment of these things.
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And Mark chapter 13 is the CliffsNotes version, or the abbreviated version of the book of Revelation.
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So part three, spoiler alert on your outline, here is how to apply end times teaching.
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Here's how to apply this.
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Something they teach when you go to preacher school.
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When you preach a sermon, there's really three parts to a sermon.
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There's the explanation - this is what the text means.
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Then there's the illustration, which is let's give color and flavor, help us to understand a little bit.
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Illustration.
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And then the third part is application.
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Meaning, so what should I do with this?
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How can I incorporate this truth of God's Word into my life?
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And that's exactly how Jesus preached, because we see through Mark chapter 13, he gives the explanation to say, here's what's going to go down, and today we're going to see Jesus give the illustration and the application.
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So here's how to apply end time teaching.
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Grab your outline, number one, write this down.
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It's very simple today.
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Number one, pay attention.
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Pay attention.
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Look at verse 28, it says, "From the fig tree, learn its lesson.
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As soon as the branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.
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So also when you see these things taking place, you know that He is near at the very gates." second, first of all, notice in verse 28, Jesus said, "Learn this lesson." And I've heard, you know, preachers and Bible teachers, like, "I don't talk about Daniel. I don't talk about Revelation because nobody can really understand it and it's too controversial." And what was Jesus' attitude here? What did He say to do? He said, "Learn this lesson.
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Learn. Study this. You can figure this out." And for the people that might be sitting here today saying, you know, the Bible is just so hard to understand. It's just the Bible is so complicated. Not complicated at all. Do you see Jesus illustration here? Very easy illustration. He said, when you see the leaves on the tree in the spring, that means summer is near, right? And as Jesus would have been saying this to the disciples, it would have been in the springtime.
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And the last two weeks we had already discussed many of the signs that have already taken place.
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Remember Jesus started this off by talking about the temple.
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Remember one of the disciples was like, "Look how pretty the temple is." And Jesus said, "There's not going to be a stone left on a stone that's coming down." And that was fulfilled in 70 AD.
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And then Jesus talked about history as we are living in right now.
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Do you remember some of the things he said to be watching for?
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He said this is what's going to go down.
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There were, what was it?
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There were wars and rumors of wars and earthquakes and famines and pestilences and persecutions and all of these things.
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You can just pick up a newspaper and just say, look, Jesus was batting a thousand there.
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He hit every single one of those things.
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We have seen these things happen in history.
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Those are signs.
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And then Jesus said there are more signs that are coming.
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Last week we talked about the tribulation, the seven-year period, Daniel's 70th week, a period of seven years in the future when God is going to be unleashing His judgment on the earth, preparing the way for Jesus Christ to return.
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So with all of these signs, Jesus' application here first of all is He says simply this, "Pay attention." Verse 30, He says, "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." This generation, what generation?
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A lot of controversy over this phrase.
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What generation is He talking about?
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It's pretty obvious what generation he's talking about.
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He just mentioned a period of seven years when all of these things were going to go down.
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That's the generation he's talking about.
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In other words, the generation that sees these signs that are kicked off by the Antichrist, the abomination that makes desolation, the generation that sees those signs is going to see it all go down over a period of seven years, meaning this isn't going to be stretched out indefinitely.
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generation that sees these signs happening, they're going to see it completed.
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So Jesus says, "Pay attention.
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Pay attention.
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Pay attention to what's happening.
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Pay attention.
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You should be watching the news.
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You should be reading the newspaper.
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You should be following what's happening in the Middle East.
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Pay attention." But because we are people, we need motivation to pay attention, don't we?
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The past several weeks, my son Cade has been learning a Bible verse a week, and usually Sunday night, I pick a Bible verse that we memorize, and I take a dry erase board, and I write the verse on the board, and we say it several times, explain it, do you understand what this is saying, and then I erase a couple of words, And then we say it again, but he has to fill in the missing words I took out, then I take out two more words, two more words.
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There's not a person on this planet I love more than I love my family.
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Cade, specifically, but I can't mention, can't say him without mentioning the rest of the family.
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I don't favor him over the others.
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I love all three of them equally, but there's nobody on this earth I love more than those three people.
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But let me tell you, I say this in love.
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Cade has the attention span of a pigeon.
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He just does.
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And when Mandy from our Harvest Kids ministry was talking about the kids memorizing a verse, I'll be honest with you, I said there is no way that Kate can memorize a verse.
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I told Aaron, it's just not gonna happen.
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He just can't do it, he has no attention span.
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I had this idea.
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In my shed, I have every toy that I had when I was a child.
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Yes, I'm a big nerd, but in boxes in my shed is every toy that I've ever owned.
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And I thought, you know what?
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I can use that as motivator for Cade.
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So what I do is I take newspaper and I wrap up a toy and then I put it in a Ziploc bag.
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And I set it right beside the dry erase board where we do the Bible verse.
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And I say, Cade, when you learn your verse, you get whatever's in that bag.
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And he has been learning these verses like crazy.
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He knows all of them.
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All I have to do is, what did we say, what did we say, Philippians 2, 14?
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He's got it, he's got it.
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How did he go from, I can't pay attention to the point that I lose focus in the middle of a sentence while you're speaking?
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How did we get from there to, I will sit for a half hour, 45 minutes, and learn a Bible verse?
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He was rightly motivated.
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He was rightly motivated.
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That thing sitting there was just his constant reminder, you know what, I need to pay attention, I need to pay attention, I need to pay attention, and it's working.
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It's working.
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So, for you, I know that you do not have a hard time paying attention.
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But I'm going to give you a couple of motivators to pay attention because Jesus did.
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You ready, jot these down.
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Number one, what motivates us to pay attention?
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Number one, his return is certain.
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His return is certain.
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Now, if you were with us the last three weeks, hearing these things, you're just like, especially last week, like, wow, wow.
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Is that stuff really gonna happen?
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I mean, seven year tribulation and the son going out and Jesus returning, riding a horse.
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Is that stuff really going to happen?
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Is Jesus gonna ride a white horse and return?
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Is that really going to happen?
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Well, look at what Jesus said in verse 31.
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Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, "but my words will not pass away." Why do you think he said that?
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I think because when it comes to these types of discussions, there's a lot of doubt.
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And there's a lot of questioning as to whether this stuff is really literally true.
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And Jesus' response to that is, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." In other words, the Word of Christ will stand when everything else falls.
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There are two places the Word of God has attacked more than any other.
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And that's the beginning and the end, right?
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Genesis and Revelation always under attack.
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Origins.
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How old is the earth?
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And evolution.
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And some model of how we got here without God.
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And Genesis is always attacked, but the other book that's attacked almost as much is Revelation.
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It's not really going down that way.
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That's fairy tale stuff.
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He's not coming back.
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And Jesus' response to that is, "Everything else in the universe will collapse, but my My Word will never fail.
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Not one thing I've said is going to fail to be fulfilled.
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This will stand.
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That Bible that's sitting on your lap, it's going to stand.
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And people have been trying to eradicate it throughout history.
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Wipe it from the face of the earth.
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Those people are gone, but the Bible still stands.
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The Bible's going to stand.
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the words of Christ are going to stand after every arrogant, God-defying mouth is finally proven to be foolish, the word of Christ is going to stand. So His return is certain.
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His return is certain. And secondly, motivator to pay attention, His return is imminent.
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Look at verse 32, "But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." How does Jesus not know something?
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Well, in the incarnation as God became a man, He humbled Himself and He set aside some divine prerogatives that, I'm just telling you, I don't fully understand it, but I believe it.
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As part of his humiliation, he didn't have the information.
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He said he didn't know.
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Now, we know that he's going to return after these signs that he described in the tribulation, but exactly when after these signs?
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Jesus said nobody knows.
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You're like, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
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If these things are all going to take place, doesn't it make sense that as soon as this last sign happens, Jesus returns immediately?
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So how can there be a mystery about his return?" Jot this reference down.
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Daniel chapter 12, verses 11 through 12.
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Daniel chapter 12, verses 11 through 12 says, "And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days." That number is significant. Why? Because when the Bible talks about—math alert—when the Bible talks about the three and a half year period, that great tribulation, the second half of that seven years, it often refers to it as 1,260 days. But all of a sudden, Daniel talks about 1290 days, so that is how many more days?
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30, right.
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Very good.
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And then Daniel says this, "Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1335 days." Wait a minute, how many more days is that?
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Well, you go from 1260 to 1290, that's 30 more.
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And then 1290-1335 is another 45.
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So there's this period after the tribulation of 75 days that Daniel mentions.
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This last 3 1/2 years of the tribulation, there's a period of 75 days or somewhere between 2 months, 3 months.
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See, Jesus is going to return sometime during that 75 days.
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Because look at the text again.
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Jesus said concerning that day or that hour no one knows.
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Notice Jesus didn't say concerning that year.
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I think it's going to be pretty obvious to that generation that knows their Bible, the people that come to faith and have read and understand, I think it's going to be obvious.
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Jesus is coming like this year.
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Well, what day and what time?
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Jesus said, "Well, that's the mystery." Sometime in that 75 days, but nobody's sure which day and which hour.
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Bottom line is pay attention.
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Watch the signs because some of you - some of you here who don't know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and if you choose to not come to faith in Him, some of you here very possibly will be living through these days.
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Do you really think those days are coming, Pastor Jeff?
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Well, Jesus said that they were.
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So you need to pay attention.
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Pay attention.
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Secondly for today, very simply, stay awake.
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Stay awake.
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Look at verses 33 through 37.
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Jesus said, "Be on guard.
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"Keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come.
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like a man going on a journey when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.
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Therefore, stay awake.
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For you do not know when the master of the house will come in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
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What I say to you, I say to all.
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Stay awake.
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So here's a message for those who come to faith in Jesus Christ during the tribulation.
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Jesus said, "What?
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Stay awake." Now I would suggest to you if Jesus says something, you should take it serious, right?
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All in favor?
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If Jesus says something twice in a row, do you think maybe you should sit up in your little bit like this must be important. What if Jesus says something three times in a row? Do you think that Jesus is really emphasizing a point? In this passage I counted four times. Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake. Four times in one passage, and that tells me this has to be as serious as it gets. And you saw Jesus' illustration. Jesus said, verse 34, "It's like a man going on a journey." Obviously referring to Jesus going to heaven, right? He's going on a journey and He's coming back.
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So a man on a journey, Jesus going to heaven, and He leaves His servants in charge. And We have been given authority to get some stuff done.
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But look at this next phrase.
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This is important.
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Jesus says, "Each with his work." Each, first of all, means every one of you.
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With his work, meaning church, we have kingdom work to accomplish.
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And the question is, What has God called and equipped you to do?
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What has God called and equipped you to do?
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Do you know what that is?
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What has God called and equipped you to do?
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And the follow-up question is, are you doing it?
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He said, "I'm leaving each of you a job." And the Bible says that His Holy Spirit empowers us to do that work.
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So are you doing it?
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And that second question is a yes or a no.
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If you're like, "I haven't really been doing much of anything for the kingdom." Jesus says, "Wake up!
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Wake up!" Giving His illustration a modern spin, I can totally relate to this.
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Maybe you can too.
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and giving his illustration a modern spin.
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Jack, let's pretend that your parents say to you, "Hey, we're going shopping.
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And we're going to give you and Jesse and Livvy all work to do, but Jack, you're in charge.
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We're going shopping and we're going to come back." And let's be honest, Jack, wouldn't it be real tempting as soon as mom and dad pull out of the driveway to kick back and watch TV and play some video games?
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Wouldn't that be tempting?
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You're like, maybe for other people, but not for me.
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Let's be honest.
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Wouldn't it be tempting?
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Like mom and dad pull out of the driveway and like, woohoo!
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No parental authority.
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So, hey, let's fire up the PlayStation.
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And you know, let's call some friends over and let's have a party.
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there's a problem. You see, mom and dad said that they were going shopping. They didn't say where they were going shopping. They didn't say how many stores they were going to. Did that mean they were making a quick trip to Target and they're gonna come back within the hour? Does that mean they were gonna drive down to Robinson and hit a lot of places down there and they'll be back in eight hours? You don't know. You see, that's why when you're tempted to say, "I'm just gonna kick back." Well, wait a minute. They could be back at any minute. So, Jack, you, of course, would do what they told you to do. They said, "Hey, we're giving each of you a job, and you guys would each do what your parents told you to do." Why? Because if the work's not done when they come home, they're going to disown you, right?
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Like you're no longer in work. No, that's not the case. That's not the case at all.
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The issue is you love your parents, right?
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They're watching. You love your parents, right? Of course you do. I know you do. You love your parents and you realize that the work that they gave you to do is important. That's why you do it.
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And church, that's the motivator that we have.
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Understand, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, this isn't a threat of judgment that He's coming back for you.
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If you're a follower of Christ, He's coming back to take you into His eternal kingdom forever.
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So this isn't threat of judgment.
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But church, the same thing should motivate us that motivated the Orts, is to say, you know what, why do we get to work?
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Because we love God.
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And, listen, the work is important.
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And I think a lot of times that's why people don't get motivated to get involved in ministries because they just don't think it's that important.
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It's not that important.
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It is important.
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It's important because these are kingdom things that we're doing.
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And it's important because He equipped us to do them.
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God didn't empower us to rearrange the deck furniture on the Titanic.
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This kingdom business is stuff that impacts eternity.
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So we do it because, yeah, He's coming back.
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And certainly we don't want Jesus coming back and finds us sleeping.
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But because we love Him and because the work is important, we do the job that He empowers and commands us to do.
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So the application for those in the tribulation is really the same application for us, right?
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Urgency.
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Urgency.
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Because truth is, even though we don't live in this time now, same application, your time is limited.
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Your time is limited, right?
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How many more days do you have left on the earth?
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Christ could come back and rapture His church today.
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That would cut our time short.
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Or not to be grim, but you could be debilitated, whether through being involved in some kind an accident or having a stroke or a serious health issue, you could be debilitated.
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Or you could die.
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All of that to say your time is limited on this earth.
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And I don't know how many more days that you have, but I know that you have today.
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Today is opportunity.
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Today is opportunity.
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From Jesus, in light of each grain of sand falling through the hourglass, every tick of the clock getting us a second closer to these events taking place, Jesus says, "Stay awake." You're like, "But Pastor Jeff, there's a lot to do." Just do your part.
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God hasn't called you to do everything, nor did He equip you to do everything.
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But He's called you to do something.
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Do your part.
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You're like, "But Pastor Jeff, I don't know if I can." God is your strength.
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"But Pastor Jeff, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do." Call me.
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We'll figure it out.
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724-306-1012.
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Call me.
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We'll figure it out.
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Like, I cannot wait until tomorrow.
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You might not have tomorrow.
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Stay awake.
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If you want to evaluate how your walk with Christ is currently, or even if you have one, as we've looked at Jesus' teaching on the end times, let me just simply ask you this, does the return of Jesus Christ scare you to death, or do you long for it?
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You have to answer that one.
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Does it scare you?
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Like, oh gosh, I hope he doesn't come back today.
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In fact, I hope he doesn't come back, like, any time before, like, the year 2018.
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Like, does it scare you?
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Or is it something that you long for?
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Like, I can't wait.
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I can't wait until he returns.
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I can't wait until all these things take place so I can fully be in the presence of my Savior.
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Stay awake. Abide in Christ. Be doing what He called you to. You love Him, and it's important. Stay awake. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you first of all for revealing truth to us.
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We are not a people who are wondering.
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I wonder how the world's going to end.
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Are nuclear weapons going to destroy the world tomorrow?
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We don't have to wonder that stuff because Jesus laid it all out for us.
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And then Jesus made a statement.
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He said, "And what I say to you, I say to all in God." That includes us.
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He said all.
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Every single one of us are to stay awake.
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And God, it is so tempting to check out of society.
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It would be so tempting to buy a log cabin in the middle of nowhere and just let the world go down the toilet.
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But that's not faithfulness.
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Jesus said that the Master left His servants in charge each to His work.
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And God, I believe that You have equipped and empowered Your people carrying out the ministry of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.
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So Father, I pray for myself and for my household, and I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ at Harvest Bible Chapel, that we would be people who stay awake.
28:44-28:49
That we do what we do because we love you, and we do what we do because we see how important it is.
28:51-29:00
Father, keep us awake, joyfully and delightfully serving our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
29:00-29:02
It is in His name that we pray.
29:03-29:03
Amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Mark 13:28-37
What is the lesson of the fig tree (Mk 13:28-29)? What are the signs to be looking for?
Do you expect the Rapture / Second Coming Events to happen in your lifetime? Why or why not?
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another to live in the expectation of the certain and imminent return of Jesus.