Wake Up & Stay Awake | Mark 13:33-37 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

I invite you to turn with me to the Gospel Mark chapter 13, Mark

Mark 13 · chapter mention

13, and please place your finger there.

Verse 33 if you want a little insight of what a preacher has

to go through every week. Yes, he has to prepare and

ensure that the text that he is dealing with is faithfully

interpreted and faithfully and faithfully applied.

But more than that, that same preacher has to seek God for

power, see God for power from on high, to help communicate that

truth, for it to be transformed from a lesson to a heavenly

empowered exhortation. And so if you've ever shared

something, perhaps you felt that dependency on God, the need for

Him to come through, for you to disappear, and for those that

you stand before to see Christ alone.

And I ask you to join with me to seek God for that help from the

Holy Spirit. Can we do that?

Lord? We do ask for real power that

You would subdue any distraction, any walls that have

been built that would resist the truth capturing our hearts

completely. Lord, we know that no matter

what man does in his strength, it will be to no avail unless

the Holy Spirit blesses it. So we do ask for the Holy

Spirit's help. And we do ask, oh Lord, that

joy, encouragement, conviction, whatever is needed in every

heart here, You know the hearts of all men would be delivered

faithfully and powerfully. And so even at this time, may we

hear you and You alone, and may our hearts see you and You

alone. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Mark 13 and let's begin actually

in verse 32, but our main focus will be verse 33 to verse 37.

But now concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not

even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Be on guard, keep awake, for you do not know when the time will

come. It is 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.

Therefore stay awake. 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. And what I say to you, I say to

all, stay awake. After explaining the rising

calamities and devastations and deceptions and persecutions and

tribulations that will pave the way for the coming of the King,

and after depicting the exact moment of the return of Christ,

the Lord Jesus concludes his thoughts, this discourse with a

strong and urgent appeal. We look here at verse 37 and

realize that what he says to these disciples, he's intending

to say to all to all people of all time who take heed to his

word. You see here Christ teaching

about the last days is not meant to simply clarify any

misunderstandings or to sharpen your conception of the

culminating events of human history.

Obviously, what Christ is intending to do with this

teaching is to sober us and strengthen us spiritually.

And that is why in a in a, in a brief segment of verses Christ

and rapid fire succession here is wrapping up everything with

the repeated command to stay awake, stay awake, keep awake,

stay awake, stay awake. And that's how the ESV renders

it. But in other translations it

would be the repeated word watch or keep on alert.

This is what he wants us to do. This is the main application of

the past few weeks. What you're supposed to take

away from this, practically, is this very statement.

Stay awake. But before we delve into these

verses, it's important to clarify what the Lord means by

that statement. Obviously, Christ is not

contending for physical consciousness uninterrupted.

What He is demanding, though, is our maintenance of a vigorous

and vigilant spiritual life. The opposite of being

spiritually awake is what? Being spiritually asleep, right?

And that condition, being asleep, is something that the

New Testament frequently warns about more than one place.

You see it sprinkled throughout the epistles.

And at this point you might be wondering, well then what's the

difference? How do I know if I am

spiritually awake versus being spiritually asleep?

You might be wondering, what does that look like?

You might be wondering what are the practical evidences of it,

and we're going to get the clarification throughout this

message. But if I can offer a basic

understanding of it, to be spiritually asleep is synonymous

with being spiritually inactive or unresponsive.

We all know what physical sleep does.

Somebody who is in slumber isn't participating in anything.

Somebody who's asleep isn't aware of their environment, and

so it is with the one who is spiritually asleep.

They're dormant. There's no activity, there's no

pulse, there's no engagement. And so it is one who is

sluggish, one who is unconcerned about matters that they are

called to attend to. And if that's the case, for

someone who's spiritually asleep, then to be spiritually

awake, to stay awake, is the positive opposite, that you are

active, that you are engaged, that you are in touch, that you

are aware and the very things that God has called you to.

Now, if you're like me, then you would do this.

I'm sure that if you know that there is an important

appointment that you have to meet the next day, then you

might ask a family member to ensure that you wake up by a

certain time. You don't even want to trust

your alarm clock. And though being awakened from

that sleep may not be the most pleasant experience, you

appreciate the one who was faithful enough to shake you out

of your slumber. So today, I want you to view me

in that matter. I want you to see me as somebody

who loves you and is willing to disturb you for no other reason

other than to ensure that if you have come to this place, or if

you have been spiritually asleep, that you won't sleepwalk

out of the same room. And this message in particular,

I'm going to be assigned the role of an alarm clock.

And it's up to you if you hit the snooze button, it's up to

you. If you want to ignore my

efforts, that's OK, because I want to be at rest knowing that

I did my part by God's grace and power to help open some eyes and

for others to help them stay awake and to avoid drifting into

a place where they don't want to be.

And I'm going to attempt to do that this afternoon that we are

breaking bread to give you at least two reasons why being

spiritually awake and staying awake is not optional.

It's absolutely crucial. So if you can remember these two

points, you'll be OK. The first reason why staying

awake spiritually is important is because you and I are prone

to drift into spiritual sleep. Come back with me here and look

at verse 33. Jesus says be on guard, keep

awake for you do not know when the time will come.

Notice that he begins his verse with be on guard and he connects

that discipline to being awake. Now the question is be on guard

for what exactly? If you're telling me to to

occupy a post and to look out for something or to be vigilant

about something, what am I looking for?

What am I to monitor? What am I to supervise?

And it's not until you go to Luke's account of the very same

teaching where you get the insight.

So look at Luke 21, the very same account, though with

different insight and details that help make this more

complete. Luke 21 in your Bibles in verse

34. Here's the parallel teaching

from Luke's vantage point. Luke 2134 reads But watch who?

What? But watch yourselves, but watch

yourselves, lest your heart be weighed down with dissipation

and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that they come

upon you suddenly like a trap, for it will come upon all who

dwell on the face of the whole earth.

So when Mark says be on guard, Luke completes it by saying what

you're watching for is yourself, which means that the greatest

threat to your spiritual health is you.

There are other threats, but the most prominent one is yourself.

So there must be an effort because according to Jesus, our

disposition is not to be careful about our inner man, but to be

careless. So then there's a call for you

and I to again watch and be consistently aware of what are,

what are the interactivities going on here in my bosom, in my

mind? What's my spiritual diet like?

What kind of environments do I place myself in?

What kind of things are influencing me for the better or

for the worse? Jesus says be on guard, don't be

mindless, don't be careless. And notice that the Lord

highlights some examples of what someone who fails to be on guard

to stay awake will eventually be overtaken by.

He names three things according to Luke's version.

The first thing is dissipation, right?

Be on guard, watch yourselves. Let's your hearts be weighed

down with dissipation #2 drunkenness #3 the cares of this

life. He's talking to Christians, He's

talking to believers. Yes, he's talking to all people,

but including his disciples. And so you can pair the first

two things together, dissipation and drunkenness.

What's the dissipation? It's when you get a headache,

when you get dizzy because of intoxicated intoxication.

You could say it's a hangover. And here's the main point.

Jesus is saying if you're not on guard, if you're not going to

watch yourself, your heart can be weighed down by dissipation

and drunkenness. Meaning you know you are

spiritually asleep when you pursue illegitimate pleasures

like substances that impair your judgment, substances that make

you lose control when you chase a high that is not permitted by

God. And you know you are not awake

when you crave and begin to indulge in activities that not

only harm your body but end up harming your testimony.

I'll never forget the time I preached at a conference many

years ago and a young man came up to me and he came to me

sheepishly and he heard a strong message that night and he

confessed that he was struggling to come back to the Lord.

He knew the Lord all his life, but he was in the the worst

place. He admitted.

And I said, what's the main thing?

What's holding you back from walking with the Lord

wholeheartedly again? And he said, I'm bound by weed,

man. I, I can't, I can't live without

a high. I can't function without it.

It's such a part of my life. And when I began to probe and

asked more, I says, well, where did this begin for you?

How did this door even open up for you?

And he told me this. He says, well, it was when I

began to hang out with some of the members of my church,

specifically people on the worship team, because they used

to get drunk and high all the time.

And that's where it started for me.

So don't think what Jesus is speaking about here concerning

dissipation and drunkenness is irrelevant to the church.

It is very relevant to Christendom.

And so there's that guy that I explained to you who's bound in

shackles. I don't know if he ever even got

free. But let's not limit this to

drunkenness either, because Christ is obviously giving us

one example. But it's speaking about sin

altogether because like many truths in the Gospels, you find

in the epistles, but expanded. And so you're there in Luke 21.

Place your hand there. But go to Romans chapter 13 and

Romans 13 · chapter mention

look at verse 11 and you're going to see the same theme

about sleep and how that's synonymous with spiritual

lethargy. And not just spiritual lethargy,

but sinfulness. Romans 13 verse 11 Paul writes

Romans 13:11

besides this, you know the time that the hour has come for you

to wake from sleep. He's echoing Jesus, the hour has

come for you to wake from sleep for salvation is near to us now

than when we first believed. Now keep that in mind.

He's he's still speaking about being asleep and awakening from

sleep. And in verse 12, the night is

far gone. The day is at hand.

So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the

armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the

daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual

immorality and sensuality, not in quarrelling and jealousy.

So again, we're we're still bound to that same theme.

Wake up from sleep and Paul describes what it looks like

when you are spiritually asleep. He brings up orgies and

drunkenness, sexual morality and sensuality.

Here's what shocks me. He connects these things that

are blatant and obvious and offensive with not quarreling,

check this out. And jealousy.

So what's the larger picture here?

For the church? It's this.

If I find myself no longer concerned about personal

holiness. If I find myself in a place

continually seeking, not seeking, God to purify my heart

and my motives. If.

If I'm no longer mindful about my attitude towards believers

and even unbelievers, I'm asleep.

I'm asleep, I'm just drifting with the wind.

If I'm just going wherever the day takes me and I'm not

missional anymore and I'm not examining anymore.

And of course, we're not speaking about intense

introspection where you torture yourself, but your desires, your

longings, your sense of sanctification.

When you're asleep, you put your sanctification on the shelf.

And that's not the only thing that Jesus tells us can lull,

lull us into a comatose state. Go back to Luke 21.

What did he say? Yeah, he mentioned dissipation

and drunkenness. This is where it might hit home.

Remember, on the alarm clock, don't hit snooze.

Don't hit snooze on me, please. He highlights the cares of this

life. You, some of you might never sip

any alcohol, but you might be drunk with the anxieties of this

life. He certainly, by mentioning the

cares of this life, is not denoting anything inherently

sinful. He underscores things that the

average person worries about. Money, clothes, food.

Where am I going to go to school?

How am I going to finish this schooling?

Activities for the children, jobs, the economy, investments,

safety, extracurricular activities, travels.

It's not that the Lord denounces us for being engaged or even

strategic about these things, but he warns that if you don't

want yourself, if you're not on guard, these cares can choke

you. And what they do is they

suffocate you to the degree that you have nothing left, no

energy, no resources, nor time for any matter concerning the

Kingdom of God. Because you see, the tricky part

about these concerns is that we look around us and we see

everybody else involved with them and caught up in them.

And we learned that they are unavoidable realities to our

day-to-day life, and we end our end up underestimating how

dangerous it is to get caught up in them.

So here's what you have to remember as you plow through

your life, as you plan your life, as you desire to enjoy

life. You're a Christian, you're a

follower of Jesus Christ. Your marching orders come from

heaven. You live with eternity and view,

and if you don't watch that, if you don't keep that in the

forefront of your mind, very quickly you can make even such

commands as this suggestive and optional, not central and

primary. So if you find yourself pulling

away from the church, distancing yourself from the Word of God,

no no longer visiting the presence of the Lord in the

place of prayer, you may call it busyness, but you are falling

asleep at the wheel and not even realizing it.

And that's the main part of this message really, is that it

doesn't take much for us to come to this point.

It doesn't take an ungodly adulterous relationship.

It doesn't really even take a major promotion.

It doesn't require a past addiction to resurface.

The cares of this life can do the job.

I remember meeting somebody. I forgot when, but I'll never

forget the conversation. And this came to mind when I was

studying this past. He worked, he did his

day-to-day, 9:00 to 5:00. But man, this guy tried to find

a way to stay connected to Lord and he found one way.

He kept his Bible in his car and he put it in a passenger seat.

Whenever he hit a red light, he opened his Bible and read it,

and then he waited till the next light and it came to a red light

again. He would hope I would read where

he first left off. Now there are things called

audiobooks, so you don't need to do that and I'm not suggesting

that, but just to give you a little idea of someone who

understands that yes, there are things that I have to do in

life, but I can do them with Christ.

I must do them with Christ. I can never afford to stop

walking with Him. I can never allow the things in

this life to take me away from Him.

So Jesus tells us that it's very possible to be overtaken by even

the cares of this life and to fall asleep because of it.

How do I know if I'm spiritually awake?

Then? How do I know with all the

things that I am called to do and all the responsibilities and

all the How do I know if I'm in the right place?

While the Lord gives us answers at least two major ways, and one

is found here in the very same passage in Luke, Look at Luke

Luke 21:36

21, 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. What does Christ expect of us if

we are people who are awake? You're praying, you're praying,

You're praying because you have this awesome revelation that you

need His strength, that you depend on Him.

And so you seek Him continually. You draw from His power, you

inquire of Him, you include Him. So notice that Christ is

attaching staying awake with praying.

So how do I know if I'm spiritually awake?

I don't know if I'm staying awake to the degree that you are

praying. If you are weakening in prayer,

you are falling asleep. If you have ceased to pray

completely, you are sound asleep.

Yes, you're busy. Yes, you're physically awake.

Yes, you have all these things to accomplish, but spiritually

speaking, you're sleeping. That's not the only thing that

Christ highlights concerning what it means to be spiritually.

We have to go back to our main text on Mark 13, Mark 13, verse

Mark 13:33

33 and 34. Again, when there is no more

personal communion with the Lord.

I'm not where I'm supposed to be, but it's something else that

we have to also be mindful of. He says be on guard, keep awake,

for you do not know when the time will come.

It is 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. So Mark merges staying awake

with praying, or Luke rather. And Mark now links working with

staying awake. Working what?

The work of the ministry and notice how specific the Lord is,

he says each with his work, his work.

And so it's not an exclusive type of service that the Lord

has in mind here. No, rather one that the Lord has

individually commissioned each of us too.

And so if I'm awake to some degree, I'm serving, I'm working

for the Kingdom, I'm doing something, I'm involved, I'm

contributing, I'm active. And I know some might be

wondering, how do I know what work I'm called to?

I'm glad you're asking that question and there are different

ways of answering. But I encourage you in the

meantime, though, you're on this quest to discover your ultimate

call, your ultimate mission. Can I suggest something, find a

need and fulfill it because serving God will help you stay

awake and to find a need and to occupy it is the best thing that

you can do for yourself and for others.

You know, I was thinking when I, when I came to this point last

night, I was thinking about all these different examples, men

and women of God who served God. And one of my favorite examples

is the man David, the man after God's own heart.

When you read about David in, in first Samuel 16, he was under

the age of 20 for sure, because he was not at war with the

Philistines. And he was chosen by God to be

the next king, the succeeding ruler of the nation of Israel.

Samuel the prophet approaches him and anoints him in the

presence of his father, Jesse, and his siblings.

And we're told here at the end of First Samuel 16 that the

Spirit of God rushed upon David. And so that was a powerful

moment. Imagine as a teenager being

given a sure word that you will occupy the throne of Israel one

day. And that's how First Samuel 16

ends. And then you come to chapter 17

and you think, OK, here it comes.

David is summoned to the palace. Because at the same time, when

the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David, the Spirit of the

Lord removed himself from Saul, and a tormenting spirit came

instead. And so he needed therapy.

So news went around that there is this musician from Bethlehem,

and he was able to play in such a manner that it soothed you and

it healed you. And so they brought David into

the courts of the king, and he played music.

And you're thinking to yourself, OK, I see what God is doing

here. The Lord is leading him to the

palace. Next thing you know, he's going

to get promoted to be a soldier maybe, and then he's going to

get it to the throne. You can see the trajectory.

And then all of a sudden you realize that David goes from a

full time musician, full time therapist to part time.

That kind of happens when you serve the Lord.

You think you're going somewhere and then there's a set back.

And so now he's part time and he's called from time to time.

So he's back at his father's fields and this man who's been

anointed to be the king of Israel, we're told, was asked to

do the following. You don't have to turn there.

Just listen to this. And First Samuel 1717 And Jesse

said to David, his son, take for your brothers and EFA of this

parched grain and these 10 loaves and carry them quickly to

the camp to your brothers. Also take these 10 cheeses to

the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well

and bring some token from them. What's David called to do?

Deliver cheese sandwiches, Resources for his brothers.

You know what's interesting? You read.

You read of the several brothers who are called the World War.

But it's not all his brothers. And he had many other brothers.

Why didn't Jesse as the other brothers?

I think it had something to do with David's work ethic.

Jesse knew that he could trust David.

That's not the main point. You would think that after you

were anointed in the presence of your father and your brothers

that you're going to get some kind of good treatment.

You would expect it, right? You would expect them to say,

OK, you're the next king. So we're going to pamper you and

we're going to lavish you and we're going to prepare you,

serve you. I love Jesse.

He's like, come here, boy, I need you to deliver some stuff

to your dad, to your brothers, and tell him that dad loves them

and check up on them. You would think that David would

protest. You would think that with his

special calling in mind that he would resist.

You would think that this man who's been destined for great

things, for God, would reserve himself for only great things.

But instead he gives himself to small things, menial things.

And what I see here is an example among many of the

attitude that is necessary to see any advancement in God's

assignments for us. You know what, if you think

about it even further, if David had rejected this, if he had

resisted, he would have missed out on Goliath because it would

be this humble obedience, this willingness to apply himself to

where there is a need that would lead him to meeting Goliath.

Providence and Providence doesn't work with passivity.

Providence works with faithful activity.

And so if you're in a place wondering, well, I know the

Lord's asked me to stay awake and if that means to pray and

remain in communion with them, OK.

But if he's commanded each with his own work, a spiritually

awake person will say, I want to work for him.

I talked with a handful of brothers who are visiting us

this weekend. And one of the gentlemen who

moved to another state told me that he plugged himself into a

church. And he said that he's serving

there and he's ready to become a member.

And I so appreciated his approach in the season of his

life. He said, I walked into the

church and he said, what's the need here?

And without hesitation, I know how the pastors feel.

They said, sound, the sound board.

We need somebody on the sound board.

No experience with the sound yet he learned.

I don't know much about the brother, but according to Jesus

words, I think he's awake. I think he's awake.

We must be conscience, we must be vigilant.

We must be aware that our default is to drift.

Our default is to fall asleep. Our default is to allow things

to weigh us down, to strip things away from what matters

most, not to negate these other things.

But in your heart, have a heartbeat that says, I want to

stay connected to my Lord and I want to serve him in whatever

capacity he has called me to, whatever capacity has been made

available to me. But there's a second reason why

we must stay awake, and it is this.

We must stay awake because Christ's return is unexpected.

Christ's return is unexpected. That's Mark 13.

We read it in verse 34 already, but he emphasized on again in

verse 35. Therefore stay awake.

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 suddenly come and find you asleep.

And when I say to you, I say to all stay awake.

So notice here now Jesus is highlighting different time

stamps of the day, different watches of the day, and he

essentially covers the entirety of it.

So since you don't know when he's going to come, it can be in

the evening, it can be in the midnight, it can be in the

morning. What's he trying to convey here?

That when we are called to stay awake, we're called to stay

awake at all times, at all times.

Can't afford to fall asleep at any time.

And I'm sure you've seen it. I've seen it too many times that

there's so many who are, who are awake at one time, but because

of a phase in life or a milestone in life, they, they

slowly fall asleep. They were once excited, they

were once focused, they were once energetic, they were once

sacrificial. And then they distance

themselves and they get quiet and then virtually shut down.

So the Lord here is being even specifically saying, look, I'm

telling you at all times in all seasons, make sure that you stay

awake because you don't know when I'm coming and when I come,

I have a desire. Yes, Jesus has desires and his

desire is that he would find you and I awake.

He would find us abiding in Him. He would find us serving Him.

And what's shocking to me is that sometimes you even talk to

individuals and yes, I understand that they're good

hearted and they're even humble and admitting it.

But you inquire, how's your walk with the Lord?

And they know that they're not where they're supposed to be.

They even look down there embarrassed to look you in the

eyes and say, I, I, I'm weak, man.

I'm weak. I'm, I'm distracted.

I'm caught up in this and that. And that's fine.

You need to be able to at least admit it.

But with so many of those same people, they admit it, but they

don't change anything about it. As though confession in itself

is what's needed and required alone.

No, you, you realize it then you say, OK, now what needs to

change? And let me give you one of the

most motivating verses of my own life that have helped me stay

awake all these years. First John, turn your Bibles

there in chapter 2, verse 28. First John 2/28.

Remember, John is speaking to Christians in this verse and he

says the following. And now little children abide in

him so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not

shrink from Him in shame that is coming.

There's so many things to say from this verse, but one thing

that I personally took from it is that a true spiritual leader

will care and will call for his people, the people that God's

entrusted to him, to remain in fellowship with Christ.

Look at this term of endearment, little children.

There's sensitivity that there's love there.

There's relational language there by saying, listen, I'm

asking you to abide in Him. I'm calling you to stay daily in

touch with Him because I want you on that final day when He

does come for you to have confidence and look at this and

not shrink from shame. Why would a Christian shrink

from shame the coming of the Savior?

Perhaps one reason is because in that one moment they would be

overwhelmed by the thought that they've wasted perhaps many of

those years that they were asleep, that they have not been

in commune with the Lord, that they have not been working the

work that He's called them to. You know, when you think about

sleeping characters in the Bible, you might come to some

interesting conclusions. I think of Jonah.

Jonah was asleep on the ship. He was running away from God's

call for him, and he was heading in the opposite direction.

And as he was making way to Tarshish, he was asleep.

And what happened? God orchestrated a storm, but it

wasn't just a storm for him. Primarily, yes, for him.

But there was other people who were suffering in that storm.

You had pagans, yet idol worshippers who were on that

boat, and they were being impacted in part because the man

of God was not where he was supposed to be.

He was asleep. Can I tell you something?

When you and I as Christians are sleepy, it impacts the world

negatively. The world that needs a church

that is vigorous and active and fruitful.

When we fall asleep like Jonah, we do a disservice to the people

who don't believe around us. Not just Jonah, I think of

Samson. Samson was asleep at a critical

point in his life, not on a boat.

His head was laying on the lap of a vicious woman, Delilah.

And while he was asleep, she was playing with his hair, ready to

cut it off. And that was what was needed for

him to remain in the power that God had called him to.

And so as a sleeping St. What was the risk for him

forfeiting the call of God for his life?

So sleepy Christians not only do a disservice to the world,

sleepy Christians also risk cancelling God's awesome plan

for their lives. Stay sleepy long enough and you

can miss out. That's what Samson represents.

What about uticus? He's not as well known.

Acts chapter 20. Paul is preaching, and he

Acts 20 · chapter mention

preaches much longer than I preach, by the way.

And Uticus, a young man in the service, is sitting at the

window, and what happens? He falls asleep.

People fall asleep in church. You know, and I take comfort to

know that people fell asleep when Paul preached.

He falls out of the window, he dies.

What happens? The meeting ends.

Paul stops preaching, and we're told there that the church was

alarmed. Sleepy Christians.

They make a negative impact on the world.

They do disservice. They put themselves at risk like

Samson, but they also harmed the church.

They don't help the church, they don't participate, they don't

build. And I love what Paul does with

the authority of an apostle. He raises him from the dead and

he goes back to the sermon. It's my kind of guy.

But as much as it is a horrible thing to think that me remaining

asleep is a disservice of the world, it puts my call at great

risk of being forfeited. It doesn't help the body

believers I'm connected to. 1st John 228 always strikes my heart

the most to disappoint my master when he comes.

And so I want you to understand that it doesn't have to be that

way for you because the Bible also describes another

possibility for when the Lord arrives suddenly, and it's in

our final text before we break bread, it's in second Peter,

chapter one. And look at verse 10.

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your

calling and election. For if you practice these

qualities, you will never fall. Peter, are you suggesting

consistency in the Christian walk?

Are you actually displaying a hopeful truth that I can live my

Christian walk free from scandal, fruitlessness?

Yeah, he says if you practice certain qualities, you will

never fall. But notice verse 11.

For in this way there will be richly provided for you an

entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ. What a difference from John's

words. So abide in him so that you can

have confidence and not shrink from shame.

And here's Peter, and he says, listen, if you practice certain

qualities, if you through your life not win your election, not

win your salvation, but confirm it, what does he say?

In this way? There will be richly provided

for you an entrance. You know, Paul speaks about

barely being saved, that all your work's burned to ash, but

you escape the fire. That's not that's not what Peter

is trying to describe. He's talking about those gates

swinging wide open. And it being a celebratory,

exciting encounter with Christ, no awkward conversation needs to

happen, just straight to embrace and rejoicing and reward for

who? For those who are awake.

And if you want an idea of again, what it looks like to be

awake, Peter describes it in great part.

And so look there. Let's look at the verses before

this. I wasn't planning to, but it's

worth it since we're there. Look at verse five of the same

text. For this very reason.

Make look at this language. Please look at this language for

this very reason. Make every effort to supplement

your faith. Does that sound like a sleepy

Christian? No, only somebody who's awake

can make every effort to supplement.

OK, I'm saved. Praise God, you're saved.

What do I do now? You make every effort to

supplement that faith that saved you, to add to it, to grow in

it, to strengthen in it. Make every not some effort.

This is the reason why you live now to supplement your faith.

Now what do I supplement it with?

With virtue. And virtue with knowledge.

Knowledge is important. Come to Bible study.

You'll get more knowledge and knowledge with self-control, and

self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with

godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and

brotherly affection with love. Now look at this in verse eight.

First, these qualities are yours and are increasing.

They keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the

knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's what it looks like when you and I are awake.

We supplement and we increase. Here's what it looks like when

you're asleep, verse 9. For whoever lacks these

qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten

that he was cleansed from his former sins.

So you and I have a have a chance today to recalibrate and

to refocus and to tell the Lord, Lord, I want to be awake no

matter what season of life I'm in.

And Lord, if it means to be prayerful and means to be

working, then give me the grace to do it.

And today, if you are asleep, Christ is willing to help you

wake up. If you know yourself, if you

know that you have been weighed down by sin or even by the

anxieties of this life to the point that it has completely

crippled you, Christ is here to help you.

He's going to help you. And he can even give you the

wisdom he can give you the he can, he will be able to shine

light upon how you, yes, busy dad, yes, you mom, husband,

wife, student, businessman, He's ready to help you because every

command he gives, he gives the grace to fulfill it every in any

command. And so I invite you today to

respond to this truth and to say, Lord, please help me wake

up. And Lord, not just to wake up,

but to stay awake. He's able to do that.

Oh, I wish I can say more, but we have to break bread together.

But at this time, I want to invite you to respond to that

very same truth. I'm, I'm asking you if you're in

a place where you need to humbly confess to the Lord.

Lord, I know that if you were to find me where I am today, that

I'm more likely to shrink from shame instead of know that

there's going to be a richly provided entrance.

Place me where you need to place me, Lord.

Save me from these things. Oh God.

That is what we ask from you, Lord.

We ask that as your people, Maranatha Bible Church, would be

vibrant, would be alive, would be fragrant with the fruits of

the Spirit. And we ask, Lord, that you would

protect us from anything that would cause us to doze off, to

slip into sleep, and to stay there.

And Lord, as we even prepare not to partake of this bread in this

cup, we ask that the revelation of our forgiveness, salvation

freely given, would stir us to worship you, to love you, and to

serve you. Again, we ask these things in

Jesus name, Amen. Amen.

The praise team is going to come up at this time.

We're going to sing and then we're going to partake together.

I want to let you know today that as we're about to break

bread, if you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, this is

reserved for Christians. And so we humbly ask that you

reserve yourself from participating, but you're free

to obviously stay and remain in the service.

I just want to exhort you and and challenge you that you can

participate in this wonderful feast upon one premise, and

that's you acknowledging your need for a Savior, and that

Savior is Jesus Christ. If you have never at any point

repented of your sins and believed on him to be your

salvation, I want to use this opportunity to give you a chance

to do that, to realize that you have no hope of eternal life, no

hope of attaining salvation apart from what he's done for

you. That's what these Christians are

ready to do. As a church, we're going to

gather, and essentially why we're here is to celebrate the

fact that we have been redeemed graciously.

We have been forgiven by him, not by our own merit, not by our

own efforts, what he has done alone.

And so at this time, I, I, I call you to examine your own

heart and to ask yourself if you truly know him.

And if you don't, you can, you can speak to him and you can

give him your sins. You can give him your

allegiance. And you can leave here a changed

man. You can leave here a changed

woman believer. As we sing these songs, you're

reflecting upon what he has done for you.

You're rejoicing the fact that it's his performance that has

sealed your redemption, not your own.

But at the same time, you're also confessing here that you're

1 body with the church and that you are walking in the calling

of the gospel. And if you find yourself in a

place where you're saying, I know that I'm walking in

conscious, unrepentant sin, repent of it.

Turn from it. Give it up.

If you know that you ever reconciled with a brother or

sister, Christ would be more pleased with you to reconcile

than to partake, to make that emergency protocol.

And so this is a time for all of us to pause, to remember, to

rejoice if needed, to repent so that we can eat this in a way

that would be worthy unto Him. Can we stand and sing and

rejoice in the Lord?