Be watchful, be ready. – Luke 21:20-38

Okay. So, we are in the um final week

leading up to the cross. Not us now. Uh

but in in the Gospel of Luke um and

verse 37 to 38. So, the end of that uh

reading we just had, they set the scene

for us as to what was going on. Let's

just read that again. And every day he

was Jesus was teaching in the temple,

but at night he went out and lodged on

the mount called Ovette. And early in

the morning, all the people came to him

in the temple to hear him. So the

passage we're considering is known of

the as the oliveette discourse. It

begins as they are in the temple as they

walk away from the temple. It continues

on the Mount of Olives and Aaron took us

through the opening thoughts from verses

5 to 19 which spoke about the

destruction of the temple last week. And

then you thought about the imminent

persecution that was going to come

before and during and after the

destruction of the temple. And uh as

Aaron said last week, these these are

difficult verses. And part of the

problem

is that Jesus seems to combine speaking

about the destruction of Jerusalem and

the end of the world. Now, I'm just

aware there should be a should be a

thingy up there. I haven't got my

blipper. Don't know if someone wants to

run to the front and give me my blipper.

Thank you.

Will's doing double service today. Thank

you very much.

Okay. So, um yeah, part of the problem

is that um we get this sort of Jesus is

speaking about both the destruction of

the temple in Jerusalem and the end of

the world. And it's not always clear

which bit Jesus is referring to at what

time. For my 40th birthday, quite a long

time ago now, unfortunately, CLA took me

to Lake Garter in Italy, it was

beautiful. It was mountainous uh region.

And me at that time being a keen

photographer, I packed my um camera and

all my big lenses and everything else.

And uh it was great, lovely views. But

often as we looked out over the

mountains, it was quite misty and you

couldn't always see where one mountain

began and where the others ended. It was

very hard to get a sense of the

perspective of what was going on, where

what distances are involved in that. And

you can see a picture of um uh some of

the mountains there on the screen. Uh

but that's often used as a helpful way

to think about prophecy. So sometimes

the prophecy concerns things that are

near. Sometimes it concerns things that

are further away. Sometimes it concerns

both things that the near and further

away. And it's not always easy to

discern which belongs to what. And often

as you get closer and closer, suddenly

you see, okay, yep, that bit's close

now, and that bit's a long way away. But

it's hard to see when when when we're

talking about prophecy precisely what

the time scales are. And so it is here.

It's not always easy to see what Jesus

is speaking about. Is he speaking about

the end of Jerusalem or the end of the

world? But at least we have the benefit

of knowing that the end of Jerusalem

came about in AD.70.

Nevertheless, this will be quite a

challenging um chapter or passage for

us. So, I hope I've got your full

attention this morning.

Great. Right. So, we began with a uh so

we we do begin with a somber topic that

is an approaching destruction.

Last week we looked at the destruction

of the temple and that would take place

when Jerusalem was destroyed. But before

all that would happen, the disciples

would have to face all kinds of

persecution. But destruction was coming.

And what was the sign that that was

about to happen? Well, Jesus tells us

verse 20, but when you see Jerusalem

surrounded by armies, then know that its

desolation has come near. Now, in those

days, if an army was approaching and you

lived uh near the city or in the

countryside, you would run to the city

to seek refuge and safety behind the

great city wall. But Jesus warns them,

"No, when you see this happening, when

the armies are surrounding Jerusalem,

don't run to it. Safety won't be found

there. Run away. Run to the hills

because this will be the end of

Jerusalem." And around 40 years later in

April AD.70,

the Roman Emperor Vespasian sent his son

Titus with a large army to Jerusalem and

the siege lasted five horrendous months.

But eventually the Romans overwhelmed

the impoverished city. And although some

people think it's a slight exaggeration,

according to the historian Josephus, the

total number of prisoners was around

97,000 whilst about 1.1 million people

were killed. It was a brutal and bloody

war.

So why did God

allow

and even bring this about? Verse 22,

for these are days of vengeance to

fulfill all that was written. We're not

told which specific writings this refers

to, but scriptures like Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 28 · chapter mention

chapter 28 and 29, you can read them for

your homework if you like, um, explains

the consequences for Israel if they

reject God. And here they have rejected

God. They have rejected God through a

lot of their history. And now they are

rejecting Jesus, God himself, the one

God the Father sent to save them. They

are literally planning

to kill God.

And that sadly reveals the heart of man.

We don't want God. We don't want to

worship him naturally. And and if we

could, humanity would take God and kill

him and do away with him. And that's

what we see happening less than a week

after these events. They take the son of

God and they hang him on a cross and

they crucify him.

This is the state of humanity. We do not

want God. We reject God. And and Jesus

has anticipated the destruction that

he's seen prophetically for Jerusalem.

He's seen that. And we looked at that a

bit earlier a few weeks ago when he came

down. was coming towards Jerusalem and

he saw the city and he wept

aloud because he knew what would happen.

They were rejecting him and rejecting

him and eventually that would lead to

their downfall. So Jesus anticipates the

destruction. He weeps over it. And

notice here even in the shadows of his

own death at their hands he speaks with

sadness. Verse 23, alas for women who

are pregnant. And he he goes on speaking

about that the blessings of being able

to bring a child into into into the

world are suddenly seen as something

that's going to be awful because you're

more vulnerable. You've got someone to

look after.

Awful things were said to happen in the

siege. There were people eating their

own children because they were so

hungry. It was absolutely devastating.

Make no mistake, God doesn't delight in

the death of the wicked.

But make no mistake, God is not to be

trifled with. He is so

merciful and compassionate and

longsuffering.

He is love.

And yet we see in Hebrews 12 29, he is

also a consuming fire.

And for those who consistently reject

him and his son and the salvation he

freely offers,

there will be judgment.

But God gave them time.

He gave them four decades worth of

notice

before that actually happened.

For those who repented and believed

Jesus,

they were saved.

For when the church saw those armies

around Jerusalem,

they remembered the words of Jesus and

they fled across the Jordan to a city

called Pella. And so by believing the

Lord Jesus, most of the Christians were

actually saved.

They weren't swept up in this. And

that's instructive for us, isn't it?

Because the destruction of Jerusalem and

the temple, it's not standalone events.

Remember that mountain range you can see

on the screen there. The judgment of

Jerusalem is in the same mountain range

as the judgment of the world.

One points to the other. And that's why

Jesus speaks about both in this section.

We're not to look back on judgment upon

them and say, "Weren't they bad? Weren't

they awful? Why didn't they get it? Why

didn't they see it?" Rather, we look

back on them and we see the warning.

We're warned for the judgment of God is

coming upon us all. Verses in verses 25

to 28,

Jesus refocuses from Jerusalem onto the

coming worldwide judgment. Verse 35, for

it will come upon all who dwell on the

face of the earth. Can't still be

speaking about Jerusalem. says it will

come on all those who dwell on the face

of the earth. Sometimes people ask,

why doesn't God do something about all

the evil in the world? You know, if he's

God, shouldn't he just come in and sort

it all out? Well,

one of the answers to that is he will.

He will. But when God deals with

wickedness, the wickedness of humanity,

it doesn't go well for humanity.

remember the flood. And we don't like

that, do we? Because that's horrible.

But that's what happens when God deals

with human wickedness because no one is

righteous except for one man. Well,

yeah. No, in those days, but there is no

one who is innocent, no one who is

righteous. We are all rebels. We are all

sinners. We all deserve God to come and

deal with us in judgment. None of us can

go come and God deal with everyone else

but just me. We all deserve to face the

judgment of God.

If we saw the danger we were in, we

wouldn't be demanding justice. Come on,

God. Come and deal with all the bad

people. If we saw the real danger that

we personally were in, we would be

crying out for mercy.

Lord, don't come. Don't judge because

I'm going to fall foul of your

judgments.

That's what sinners do when we realize

we stand before a holy God who is going

to bring perfect justice. It's like the

tax collector we meet in Luke 18:13. Um,

Luke 18:13

brilliant, lovely story. He when he

comes before the presence of God, he

can't even raise his head up to heaven.

He beats his bread breast. He says,

"God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

He's not demanding justice.

He's crying out for mercy.

I wonder,

have you ever prayed that prayer?

Lord, be merciful to me,

a sinner.

If the sign for Jerusalem's judgment was

to be surrounded,

what's the sign of judgment? The

judgment of the world. Verse 25. And

there would be signs in sun and moon and

stars and on the earth distress of

nations in perplexity because of the

roaring of the sea and the waves people

fainting with fear and with foroding at

what is coming on the world. for the

powers of the heavens will be shaken.

This is a language that's often used um

for the end of the world. Um and

wherever the the Bible speaks about

these things, it uses this kind of

language. Again, you can look in Isaiah

Isaiah 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13, Joel chapter 2, you can read

Joel 2 · chapter mention

this kind of language, Revelation, of

course. Um so, it's not clear when we

get to this kind of language. Is it

figurative or is it an actual

description about what is actually going

to happen?

But what we can see for sure is the

effect that this happens figuratively or

really this effect these things that are

happening it has a real result in the

people there the effect is very real.

So what do we see? They are fainting

with fear. They have this sense of

foroding. So the world can clearly see

what is happening and it is is

terrified. So I think these these

descriptions of this scene these things

going on. They they are real events

cataclysmic events that are going to

happen.

But surely when we read these things

about the sun and the moon and the stars

and all this stuff,

can we really believe that? Is that you

know we meant to really take that is is

that too too outlandish to believe? But

consider if God used Rome to carry out

his reckoning on Jerusalem,

what might he use to bring about the end

of the world?

and we already have enough nuclear

weapons to cause a complete global

catastrophe.

What I'm saying is it's kind of possible

already, isn't it? Even if we don't

think about God doing it, we can blow

ourselves up. So, it's not actually that

outlandish at all. Tech firms are racing

to develop ever more advanced AI.

And you kind of think, well, where how's

that going to end? Where's that going to

end up? We're sabotaging our own

environment. We can't seem to stop

ourselves. So, could humanity be sewing

the seeds of our own destruction?

Oh, possibly, possibly not. I don't

know. I'm just pointing out even just

humanly speaking, we ourselves seem to

be speeding towards fulfilling our own

worst fear about our own destruction.

But God doesn't need our help to bring

about judgment on the end of the world.

One word from him would do. As

Colossians chapter 1:17 says, "In Christ

all things hold together." He is the one

who is holding all things together,

keeping the universe going, holding all

the laws and physics and everything that

keeps everything going. He's the one

that's keeping it all going. He only has

to relax. He's sustaining control and

things will unravel and get pretty scary

pretty quickly.

So, what will this look like in reality?

I don't know.

But when it happens, humanity will see

and we will know something catastrophic

is occurring.

These are the signs of the end of the

world as we know it. And here's the

thing. If Jesus is spot on about the

fall of Jerusalem that occurred around

40 years later,

it seems reasonable to trust him for

this, too.

And it's not just Jesus that speaks

about the end of the world, the day of

the Lord as we call it. It's mentioned

throughout the Bible. There have been

many days of the Lord. Days that fell

upon Babylon, Egypt, Eden, and

Jerusalem. Days when God deals

decisively with evil. They are warnings.

They are examples,

port ends that point to the final day of

the Lord.

So where are we in all of this stretch

of history and this this prophecy? Where

are we now? We are back in verse 10 and

11. Then he said to them, "Nation will

rise up against nation and kingdom

against kingdom. There will be great

earthquakes and in various places

famines and pestilences."

That's that's current. That's what we

experience now. And as the end

approaches, we'll see, as he says, there

will be terrors and great signs from

heaven. And we've just looked at that

from verse 25. So why is Jesus telling

them all about this? Two suggestions why

he's telling them about this. As Aaron

pointed out last week, firstly, when the

world is going through wars and

earthquakes and um famines and disease

and all those things, Christians don't

have to sit there and think, "What on

earth is going on? Has God lost control?

Is everything just falling out of, you

know, out of order?" We don't have to

fear that everything has got away from

God. As Aaron pointed out last week, no,

these things must happen. They're going

to happen. They're part of God's plan.

In fact, they are a constant reminder.

They are a warning sign that something

bigger is approaching.

We're meant to look at the disasters and

things going on and go, "Yeah, we see

that." And they are road marks to what

is going to going to happen. You hear

about disease, tsunamis, and

earthquakes, and we are we are moved

over them. We grieve over them. We we we

we we grieve the loss and the pain and

we do our best to help people who are

struggling in these caught up in these

things. But Christian, they are signs of

the age we live in. Signs that keep us

mindful something bigger is coming.

Second reason why I think Jesus warns us

of this, tells us this is um

it is that Jerusalem has been warned. So

there is time to repent. The world has

been warned, so there's time to repent.

And you have been warned, too. Jesus

tells us these things so that we can

turn and be saved. So that we don't have

to be caught up in the devastation of it

all. There is a way out. There is a

savior. So that we don't have to meet

Jesus as judge coming to exact justice,

but we can meet him as a merciful,

loving savior. That is the offer, the

opportunity, the day that we live in.

Come and be saved. Come and be saved.

For those in Christ, that is what the

signs also speak of. Not just an

approaching destruction, but also

an approaching redemption. That's our

second point. An approaching redemption.

when the world is experiencing these

terrifying phenomena at some point in

verse 27 um this shall occur and then

they shall uh they will see the son of

man coming in a cloud with power and

great glory now I I've got a pretty good

imagination I like to think um but I

don't know about you but I I struggle to

picture how this is going to look

whenever I try and picture it just seems

quite unconvincing in my head like I

just can't I can't imagine how it's

going to look. I don't know whether our

imaginations have been ruined and

tainted by so many films, all these

silly things going on and we kind of

just we fall into that sort of way of of

thinking. But just because we we

struggle to imagine how this is going to

look or be, it doesn't mean it's not

going to happen. Jesus says he's going

to come with power and great glory.

Now, he doesn't actually mention

lightning in this passage. There are

illusions to it in parallel passages,

uh, but we won't go into them. But, um,

it doesn't actually say there's going to

be thunder and lightning, but I don't

know if you've been in a big

thunderstorm and you kind of you see it,

but you also feel it. You know, it's

like and the whole house is shaking and

you can kind of feel it, the power. I

wonder I wonder

when when when Jesus returns,

will it be? You don't just see the

power, you feel the power. The whole

world is caught up. This is this is it.

This is momentous. This is shaking of

the heavens and the earth.

He comes not as a helpless baby, but in

glory and in power. There will be no

mistaking who he is. For those who have

lived their lives rejecting him, it will

be fearful. for he will come as the

unstoppable conquering king who will

judge with perfect justice. But for

those who have called for mercy.

Verse 28. Now when these things begin to

take place,

straighten up, raise your heads because

your redemption is drawing near. I think

that verse there, verse 28, it

backtracks slightly. for if it was

speaking about when we could actually

see Jesus in power and glory. Of course,

we know our redemption was was there.

It's point about when you see the signs

when you see those signs begin. Do you

see that word? When when these things

begin to take place, what things were

the signs, the astral marine upheaval,

when these things begin, that suggests

to me that these signs aren't going to

be like bump done, right? That's it.

When they begin, it's not going to be

done in two or three minutes. Perhaps

perhaps these things will develop over

hours, perhaps over days, perhaps weeks,

perhaps months, I don't know, perhaps

years. When they begin,

raise your heads, look up, recognize the

signs. Your redemption is at hand.

When we who trust in Christ um see these

things, we know our redemption is near.

And just like those early Christians

when we see the signs um we know this is

it. This is the time. What is

redemption? Redemption means to release

on payment of price. Is to release on

payment of price.

And this is the other way that God deals

with sinful people. He will come to

judge them and carry out perfect

justice. But there is another way. He

sent his son to take our sins,

to pay the price that we owed.

He carried out the justice that we

deserved on his son. He crushed him so

that we can be set free.

That is the way that we escape.

He takes our place. He pays the price.

He sets us free. That's what Jesus did

on the cross. And on the cross, that has

already been fully accomplished. The

price has been paid. And if you're in

Christ, you are set free. It's

wonderfully good news.

And yet, the full outworking of that

is yet to be ours. We have yet to come

into the full release that we will have,

the full enjoyment of all that Christ

has done for us and achieved for us. So

complete freedom from sin, the

restoration of our bodies, of our minds,

closer fellowship with the Lord, renewed

minds, renewed hearts, all these things

are are now ours in a way, in a small um

degree, but we haven't fully entered

into them.

Salvation is accomplished, but it's not

yet fully completed.

So the Bible speaks about us being

glorified, our final transformation,

ready for the life of glory, proper

reflectors of God's glory. And when we

see these signs, these things happening,

we will know that our redemption, all

that God has has promised us, that is

drawing near.

Can you imagine how that's going to

feel?

Let's say these signs happen over the

course of the next few days. You know,

you wake up tomorrow, there's reports

about the sea doing weird things and the

sun's like flickering on and off and you

go, "Whoa, we were just thinking about

this. How's that going to feel?"

Knowing that the Savior is is coming for

you. He's coming to gather you with his

people to be with him.

And that one day you very soon you will

be standing

before his judgment seat and he will

declare you not guilty for they are

covered by the blood of the lamb. He

will say that about you if you're in

Christ not guilty.

And and on that day we will marvel at

the Lord and all his beauty and all his

glory and and our faith will be replaced

uh by sight. We will be free of

everything that is wrong and sinful and

all those things we keep going back to.

We will be completely freed from those

things. We will have the image of God

fully restored in us. We will be able to

look at our redeemer in the eye and fall

down and worship in a way we we just

can't seem to be able to do right now.

Yes, believer, this day is coming.

And when you see the signs,

then get ready because your redemption

is near.

Jesus tells a short parable about a fig

tree. You see the leaf and you know

summer is near. And it's kind of a good

time to be preaching this because we are

in the change of seasons right now,

aren't we? And everything's sprouting up

there. Daffodils are coming out and

Aaron's sneezing because of his hay

fever. And you know you you know the

seasons are changing. You see the

changes

and we see those signs

and we know not only is our redemption

is near but the kingdom of God is near

too. So when these things start to

happen we will know not only is my

personal um redemption coming but the

kingdom of God is is drawing to a close.

the time when all things will be brought

into conformity to his good and gracious

will and all the wickedness is removed

and he is instated as he really is the

king of kings.

So you look at the seasons, you tell the

signs, yep, it's coming. But there is in

this little parable that he tells in

verse 32

um per perhaps one of the hardest verses

in all of Luke and I feel like I

probably should speak about it a little

bit otherwise you be going you didn't

speak about that bit. Um, so verse 32,

truly I say to you, this generation will

not pass away until all has taken place.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my

words will not pass away. You can

probably spot the problem if this

generation refers to the generation that

is living when Jesus spoke. And if all

has taken place refers to everything

that Jesus has mentioned, well, the

problem is Jesus hasn't returned and

that generation has passed away. There's

a bit of a problem there, isn't there?

But since Jesus has proved right about

everything else, it seems in congruous

to think that he's just slipped up on

this point. What is probably happening

is we are missing the nuance of what is

being said or how it was said.

I don't mean this as a copout and I'm

sorry, but we really haven't got time

this morning to go through all the

different explanations that have been

offered about this verse. Uh it's not

the major point of the passage. It is an

point of interest, isn't it? But we

can't explore everything that's been

said about this. That would take a whole

another lecture or sermon um to do so.

Um but I will tell you what I think is

happening. Um so so when we come to

difficult passages like this obviously

what we need to do is we need to go for

what is the most plausible explanation.

What seems likely? What what what's

going on here? But but it is hard to be

dogmatic and say right that's what I

think and everyone else is completely

wrong and if you think otherwise you're

a heretic. Um we can't do that when when

we're so unclear about something like

this. So I I do reserve the right to

change my mind on this, but my current

preferred explanation is is that the all

things he refers to there doesn't mean

everything that he said. It is a

reference back to the original question

verse 7 about when the temple would be

destroyed,

which certainly did happen in that

generation's lifetime and all the

persecution that surrounded that as

well.

Um, we might garner a little support

from verse 27 for that theory. He says

this, "And then they will see the son of

man coming in a cloud with power and

great glory." So Jesus didn't say to his

disciples, "You will see me coming." He

says, "They will see me coming." So

Jesus isn't anticipating his disciples

we around to witness his return, but

they whoever is alive at that point when

he returns. So that would suggest we

would be right in saying the all things

he's talking about is all the things

he'd be talking about in reference to uh

the fall of Jerusalem, not the things uh

later on. It's hard to be sure about

some of these things, but what we can be

sure is what will not happen. So verse

33, heaven and earth will pass away,

right? But my words will not pass away.

So in the face of scary things

that can give us great confidence

because whatever happens, whatever

threats AI brings along, whatever

invention or other stupidity of man

brings to the world, even if we blow

most of our planet to smitherreens with

a divine authority, Jesus assures us his

words will not pass away ever.

And like the early Christians who

trusted Jesus words and so were saved

from destruction of Jerusalem. So we can

trust in his unfailing word for our

salvation. Our faith is in him in what

he did and what he said. It is by faith

that we are saved and our faith is in

him. He says my words are never going to

pass away. whatever else happens, even

if the world falls apart and we're stuck

on half of it, drifting in some asteroid

like I don't know, you know, but his

words are not going to pass away.

But that doesn't mean there's nothing

for us to do. Jesus isn't just telling

us this for the sake of it so that we

can squabble about what his precise

words means. We are meant to live in the

light of this and we'll look at that in

our briefly in our final point. This is

a very brief point. It's perhaps one of

the most important points of the sermon.

So, sorry about that. But here we go. An

approaching danger. Uh when when when do

you give someone a warning?

It's when the danger is real, isn't it?

It would be weird to warn about a

theoretical danger. Matt, watch out for

the dragons. Oh, yeah. Of course. You

know, it's like there are no dragons.

Stupid to warn me about the dragons.

Matt, watch out. Don't touch the lava.

Well, I've always wanted to touch lava

because it looks a bit inviting, but

there's no lava here, so it's not a good

warning to give me, is it? It's not

actually going to happen. Uh, Matt,

don't get clo too close to the edge.

Well, what edge? There's no edge. These

are silly warnings. What are you talking

about? The point is, you warn someone

when the danger is real, not when it's

imagined.

And Jesus knows these guys, his

disciples. He knows what danger is real

for them. And so he says this in verse

34, "But watch yourselves

lest your hearts be weighed down

with dissipation and drunkenness and

cares of this life and that day come

upon you suddenly like a trap."

Dissipation is a weird word, isn't it?

Uh the NIV, that's carousing. It refers

to all the things that that come with

being drunk and intoxicated, dizziness,

headache, groggy, being confused, all of

those things that surround that sort of

drinking, partying sort of um

atmosphere. Uh this is not a state a

Christian should be found in.

Notice Jesus says, "Watch out

or your hearts will be weighed down,

burdened by these things." And instead

of finding our freedom in Jesus,

some will seek their freedom and their

relief from whatever it is they're

facing in intoxication.

But that does no real lasting good. In

fact, it does damage. It's not a real

help. As believers who are waiting for

Jesus's return, we're not to be in such

a state

that we forget Jesus

because we're just so full of chemicals

and whatnot.

Wouldn't it be a tragedy

if you met the Lord and you were drunk?

That's just not fitting, is it?

And the other thing he speaks about is

neither should we allow all the woes and

worries of life take over take center

stage in our thinking in our lives. So,

so all sorts of things we worry about,

you know, work problems, our money

problems, our health problems, and we

worry about our children, we worry about

our retirement, we worry about our

holidays, we worry about our studies,

our exams, and so on and so on and so

on. And some of that, you know, it's

legitimate and we need to give thought

to them and and do our best in them, and

that that's fine.

But actually, if they are the things

that are taking up our our thoughts and

occupying all our energies, that's

that's not going to be helpful. It's

going to weigh us down. Similarly, we

can bloat our minds and our thoughts and

our lives with other things like

entertainment,

books, reading, podcasts, music, films,

games, hobbies, reals. We can stuff so

much into our lives that we're kind of

weighed down by we've got no time to

think about the Lord.

We need

to give time to have the capacity to be

able to see the signs to be ready to

stand before the Lord because we shall

all stand before the Lord one day.

Whoever you are, you will stand before

the Lord one day.

What a tragedy if you were too busy

playing your game,

numbing your mind with substances,

filling your life with trivial

distractions so that you were not ready

to meet the Lord.

And Jesus knows this is a real danger.

It's not theoretical. So he warns us,

"Watch yourselves.

Be careful.

This is something that is so dominating,

so distracting

you so that Jesus barely gets a look in

in the week.

Days go by, just don't really think

about him.

Jesus gives us the remedy. Verse 36. But

stay awake at all times, praying that

you may have strength to escape all

these things that are going to take

place and to stand before the son of

man. Stay awake at all times. Does he

really mean but we can't go to sleep?

I don't think that's what he's saying.

It's rather don't sleepwalk through

life. Don't just be so dull that you

just unaware blundering through life.

Think. Recognize the times you live in.

Adopt this attitude of prayer. See the

spiritual realities around you. See the

signs that are going on around you. See

the earthquakes, the disasters, the

wars, and come to the Lord in prayer.

And I just thought about this as this

this morning as I was packing up my bag

to come over here. Isn't it a wonderful

thing that he says, "Pray for strength."

He's not saying, "Do this on your own.

Pull your socks up. You know, you can do

this. you've got this. He says, "No, no,

no, no, no. You pray for strength

because we need the strength to to be

able to stand through all of these

things, seeking his strength to keep us,

to help us, to guide us. This world is a

dangerous place. And yet, how many of us

just just blunder through life, not

giving that much thought to where it's

all going, how it'll all end, how we

should live. We need to pray, Lord, help

me. Give me the strength. keep me.

And and what can happen is so many

things come into our lives that we lose

that gospel urgency. That's part of why

we're trying to well hopefully launch it

soon. This this this this mission that

we're going to be doing as a church.

It's part of the many churches

throughout the country to to remind us

we have got a a mission. There's a

gospel urgency

because the trouble is we're so

distracted by so many things. So Jesus

tells us, "Watch out. Be alert. Pray for

the strength as we await his return.

Don't do it on your own. You can't do it

on your own. How well he knows us,

doesn't he? How weak we can feel, how

distracted we can be, how prone we are

to wonder.

So, this is a lifesaving warning given

to us from our savior. Verse 36, but

stay awake at all times praying that you

may have strength to escape all the

things that are going to take place and

to stand before the Son of Man.

So as we close, let me ask you, will you

do that?

Will you take the time?

Will you take the danger and the call to

prayer seriously?

Are you going to do that?

The early Christians were saved from

destruction because they heeded the

words of Jesus.

So what about you?

I wonder how your life would change if

you were alert and living in the light

of his return.

I wonder if you are watching and

preparing and ready to stand before the

Son of Man who will return in power and

in glory.

Put your faith in Jesus and pray for his

strength to help you and keep you.

Let's be quiet before the Lord for a few

moments.

Father, forgive us

when we play at following you.

Forgive us

when our lives are so full of

everything except for you.

Forgive us when we are not looking to

heavenly things, but to earthly things

only.

Forgive us when those days go past and

we've barely prayed,

not opened your word.

Lord, we we pray then for strength

because you know our weakness.

We pray that you would help us, Lord.

Stir our hearts.

move us, help us to seek you, to look to

Jesus, to look to to our world, to see

the spiritual realities that are

unfolding around us, to realize we are

closer now to your to Jesus's return

than ever before. Lord,

ignite in us

um a spiritual fervor. We ask,

Father, we pray um that we would be

those who are preparing, who are getting

ready, who are quick to share the good

news before it is too late,

Lord, calling others to turn and be

saved. We thank you that the day we live

in is the day of salvation, a day of

mercy.

So Lord, help us to proclaim the day of

your salvation. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.