Why Did Jesus Not Know the Day or the Hour? | Mark 13:32 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

I invite you to turn in your Bibles with me to the Gospel of

Mark in chapter 13. Today we're going to be looking

at one verse, but I want to read the surrounding passages because

there is a blessing in the simple reading of God's Word.

Mark chapter 13, beginning in verse 32, which will be the

Mark 13 · chapter mention

verse of our focus today we read here.

But 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. Lord, we ask that you bless the

proclamation of the Word, the reception of the Word, that the

Lord Jesus Christ might be exalted through it, more

importantly, through our application of it.

Lord, you know the hearts of all men, and we pray that you give

us, Lord, a willing heart, an open mind, understanding and

clarity, not just for the sake of growing in knowledge, but so

that we can grow in our obedience and worship to You.

We ask these things in the name, the living name, the saving name

of Jesus Christ. Amen.

If God is all knowing. And we as Christians believe

that the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed God.

But at the same time we see that Christ in this one verse admits

to His limited knowledge, namely about the day or the hour of His

triumphant return. How do we as Christians

reconcile this? It is very difficult to defend

the omniscience of the Son of God.

If He confesses in this one verse that he doesn't know

something. Does he therefore disqualify

himself as being divine? Perhaps you have wrestled with

this in your own study of the Gospels, or it's very likely

that in your endeavours to preach the Gospel, someone has

brought this up as an objection to you with the intent of

casting doubt. Because he himself does not

acknowledge that the divine nature of the Son of God.

And it's in this particular verse in Mark, which is also

found in Matthew, Matthew 2436, that is often employed to do

just that, to cause others and to convince them that Jesus

Christ isn't who we believe him to be.

But if you have been wrestling with this particular passage or

you find it difficult to explain it to a skeptic, then I want you

to take heart from the beginning that the focus of today's

message is to bring clarity to it.

And I believe the best way to understand and reconcile what

Christ says here with who Christ is, is by providing this answer

in three steps. In other words, if someone were

to approach me and bring this verse as a dilemma, then I would

first want to ask them if they are willing to patiently receive

a robust answer because it will require a listening ear and a

humble heart in order to have a proper interpretation of this

passage. And if you can remember this

three layered response, and even if you rehearse it just a little

bit, then I can guarantee you that you will grow in your peace

with the veracity of the scripture.

And you will also be able to have the confidence to convey it

to those who may ask you for the reason of the hope that you

have. And so this is a very simple

approach. I want you to take this message

as a format of an individual approaching us and asking as

they quote Mark 1332, how do you believe Jesus Christ to be God

manifested in the flesh if he claims himself that he does not

know something? And the first step to this three

staged answer, if you are taking notes, this will be helpful, is

to ask the Inquirer #1 to consider the implications of

that very verse. That's step #1 Consider the

implications of the very verse that you are bringing to my

attention. Read Mark 1332 slowly with me

once more before we expand on it.

But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the

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

Now when the Lord Jesus says no one knows, what he means by that

is no human being knows. And that would be more obvious

if you held the King James Version in your hands, because

that translation provides clarification in the following

way. This is how it would read in the

King James quote. But of that day or that hour

knoweth no man. But even if you don't have the

King James translation as your go to text, this categorization

is understandable since the Lord would not have to follow no one

knows with anything else. If Jesus meant to say no one

knows to encapsulate absolutely everybody, then he wouldn't have

to say not even the angels of heaven nor the sun.

No, by the way, this is going to be heavier today, so you got to

lean in and pay attention. You don't want to doze off at

one part because you might miss it.

Why is understanding this important?

Because the Lord is making a clear distinction between

classes of beings in His teaching.

In fact, if you read it, you'll notice that there's a hierarchy

here. He mentions how no human being

knows, how no Angel in heaven knows.

Then he speaks of himself by saying nor the Son, but only the

Father. So within the same text that

people often use to dilute the nature of Christ, you actually

have the Lord Jesus placing himself in an order that is

superior. He mentions no one knowing, no

rational, intelligent human being is able to know.

Then he speaks about the angels in heaven not knowing, and after

that he says nor the Son, He separates himself from spiritual

beings and from human beings. And so This is why I say step

one is to consider the implications of the verse

because you have to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ is

conveying something about himself.

There's a intentional difference being spelled out here,

something that I would ask a skeptic and if they're willing

again to listen, then I would show how what Christ is saying

here is in concert with the rest of the Bible.

And one of the go to passages for this to be echoed is the

book of Hebrews. Turn to the book of Hebrews

chapter one. Do you want to know the goal of

the book of Hebrews? The author there intends to show

why Jesus Christ and the New Covenant is greater than Moses

as the mediator of the Old Covenant and the Old Covenant

itself. And right at the beginning of

this letter, there is no time wasted for the Spirit of God to

demonstrate and declare the greatness and the superiority of

the Lord Jesus Christ. He's greater not just more than

Moses, not just over the Old covenant, but over everything.

He's superior to all things, period.

And we weren't, we're not going to read the 1st 3 verses, but we

read there that He is appointed the heir of all things.

We read there that He is the creator of the whole world.

You read there that He is the radiance of the glory of God and

the exact imprint of His nature. You read there that He's supreme

over everything. And in the same breath, you

realize as you come to verse four that He is even recognized

as greater in the realm of the spirit, more specifically among

angels. Let's read verse 4 together.

Having become this is speaking about the Son of God having

become as much superior to angels as the name he has

inherited is more excellent than theirs.

For to which of the angels did God ever say, You are my Son?

Today I have begotten you, or again I will be to him a Father,

and he shall be to me a Son. And so you see here that the

prominence of Christ is heralded in that he holds a unique title

that no Angel shares and that he has a relationship with the

Father that no Angel has. And if that isn't convincing

enough, you read in verse 6 something astounding.

And again, when he brings the first born into the world, he

says let all God's angels worship him, worship the Son of

God. So not only is he superior

because he has a name that they do not have, not only is he

superior because he has a relationship they do not have,

He is superior in that he's to be worshipped.

He's to be worshipped by these heavenly beings.

Now, there are some who really, really, really don't want to

believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

And so they would say, yes, he is superior.

Yes, he does have eminence, but among the creatures he is the

greatest of all creatures. He is distinguished.

And that is what your friendly Jehovah's Witness believes, that

he was the prized creature and through him God performed

everything, including the creation of the universe.

But if one is honest enough to acknowledge what we just found

in Hebrews in the beginning of the book, then you have to also

be honest enough to honor the rest of what the author says.

Look down here at verse 8. He's still again proclaiming the

preeminence of Christ. And not only does he say that

the angels worship in verse six, but now the Spirit of God

through this author tells us what God says about the sun.

Highlight this if you've never seen it.

This is where God honours and acknowledges the sun in a way

that is undeniable. But of the sun, he says, who's

he? Verse five tells us it's God

who's speaking. So it's the same person who is

saying these things. But if the Son, he says your

throne, O God is forever and ever, who's speaking God?

And what does he say to the Son? Your God?

God is telling the Son of God that He is God.

The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of

gladness beyond your companions. So the same God who declares

that Jesus Christ the Son is superior to angels is to be

worshipped by angels. Himself acknowledges and crowns

him with deity. Your throne, O God, is forever

and ever. You know, this obviously

troubles many cults, including Jehovah's Witnesses and the

Jehovah's Witnesses have their own version of the Bible.

It's a perverted version. It's a satanic version actually.

And what they've done with this particular verse, I'm going to

quote it to you, is there's to go to show how much Satan hates

how he absolutely loathes the truth that God, the mystery of

godliness manifested in the flesh.

Here it is in a New World translation and whoever came up

with that translation is going to is going to be terrified when

they stand before God. Hebrews 1/8 and the New world

translation reads but about the Son, he says God is your throne

forever and ever. What's in your translation?

But of the Son, he says in verse eight of ours, your throne, oh

God is forever. How did the Jehovah's Witnesses

spell it out? God is your throne forever and

ever, and the scepter of your Kingdom is the scepter of

uprightness. And if you do engage with the

Jehovah's Witness, you can actually prove from their own

Bible that whoever mistranslated this actually messed up because

they didn't finish the rest of the chapter.

So they went to the most obvious verse that declares the deity of

Christ from the mouth of God himself.

But God didn't finish speaking in Hebrews 18 and 9:00.

There's a verse 10. Look at verse 10 in your own

Bibles. The the Bible is telling us here

that God is still speaking. Look at verse 10 and quote now

God is still speaking to the Son of the Son.

And you Lord, you Lord laid the foundation of the earth in the

beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands.

So somebody forgot to miss translate verse 10 because God

is not telling of the Son your Lord.

And he quotes Psalm one O 225 to 27, which in that Psalm ascribes

the creation and all these wonderful things to Yahweh.

So the Lord is not just calling him Lord in the sense that we

see it sometimes in the Old Testament as master as a

superior. When you see that he's quoting

Psalm 1O2, he's actually God is actually saying of the Son,

you're Yahweh, you're Yahweh. So why am I bringing this all to

your attention? Because if back in Mark in our

main verse, Christ contrasts himself from all men and angels

and Hebrews confirms that order that he's superior.

He's he's been appointed the heir of all things, He's

superior to the angels while acknowledging that the Son is

God. Then the skeptic has to

reconsider his weaponization of Mark 1332 because Christ places

himself as the Son above the angels, above all human beings.

And Hebrew elaborates on that and says, yes, He is above all

things, He is above the angels, but He's above in the sense that

He is God over all these things. So what is Christ implying by

him placing himself in that order?

That's why you have to step one. Consider the implications of the

very verse that you are quoting to deny the deed of Christ.

Christ is actually confirming it.

That's step #1. Consider the implications of

this verse. Step #2 is to honour the

immediate context. Honour the immediate context.

So step number one is to consider the implications of

that one stand alone verse. My follow up to that in the

second stage of my response would be to honour the

surrounding passages. Anybody who was honest would

acknowledge that it would be irresponsible and completely

unfair to take one verse out of a body of text and rip it out to

make it say something that is not faithful, that is not

honest, that is not integral. Especially that stand alone

statement is connected to a body and a flow of thought.

And that's exactly what Mark 301332 is.

So if some insist that Mark 1332 means that Christ cannot be

divine, then I would remind the person that Mark 1332 is not the

only verse in Mark. It's not.

Mark doesn't begin in Mark 1332 and end with Mark 1332.

And so if you have been with us in the past, we've been in this,

I think over a year at least, I'm sure over a year, probably

close to two years studying Mark together week after week after

week after week. And we've seen one

demonstration, one display example, illustration after

another, showing us that God is in fact manifested in the person

of Jesus Christ. From his profound teachings and

claims to his demonstrations of divine power, we gladly

acknowledge that Jesus Christ is our God.

He bears the attributes of deity.

So in the very same breath that Jesus says he does not know the

day or the hour, he thunders the following declaration.

I mean, how many places can we go on Mark to show that he is in

fact divine? But you don't even have to go

back to chapter one. You don't have to go to chapter

three. You don't have to go to chapter

5. All you have to do is look at

the immediate context and look at this right before he says

that he does not know the day or the hour.

Look at Mark 1331. We study this briefly last week.

He proclaims heaven and earth will pass away, but my words

will not pass away. For a mere man to declare that

would be absurd would be bold. But Christ is no mere man.

He's no ordinary fellow and the way he fashions this statement

about the eternality of his own words was strategic because as

you remember, this is a little bit of review.

As you remember when he said that in the presence of his

disciples, they would have connected it to what the Old

Testament says about God's word. Here's Jesus saying everything

will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

And those listeners would have said, wait a minute, hold on

because here's what Isaiah 40 verse eight says.

The grass Withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God

will stand forever. And so Isaiah the prophet

declares the exclusive trustworthiness and

indestructible witness of God's Word.

And yet Jesus of Nazareth comes along, and he dares to claim

that his word is on the same level as God's.

The skeptic must make a conclusion.

Either Christ is a blasphemer or he is claiming to be God.

For him to authenticate his word as the same as God's is an

astounding assertion. But it's not even just that.

I mean, we're still in Mark 13. Scroll back to Mark 1326.

And then he says, they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds

with great power and glory. And we touched on that, how he

is borrowing from Daniel's vision and Daniel chapter seven

of one like a Son of man who comes before the Ancient of

Days. And not only does the Ancient of

Days recognize him and attribute to him the prerogatives that

belong to God alone, but everybody will worship this one

who is like a son of man. And most people who come to this

passage just stick with verse 26 and don't realize that verse 27

is jam packed with evidence, further evidence that Christ

himself is more than just a man. Notice what he says.

And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from

the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

So he says one like a Son of man will come in the clouds with

great power and glory. And it's like that's obviously a

reference to Daniel. But then he follows that by

saying, and he the same one, the same Son of man, he's going to

dispatch his angels and they're going to gather the elect from

the four corners of the earth and from even the ends of

heaven. And again, if if you're

saturated in the Hebrew Scriptures, then you also with

verse 27 would say, hold on, hold on, hold on.

I read in many places that there is only one who has the

authority and the ability to fetch for his people from such a

distance, from such a scattered state.

There's only one who possesses that ability and you guess the

right is God Almighty. Here's one among many references

that you can have. Write this down.

Write it down in Deuteronomy 30, listen to what God says to his

people after warning them if they disobeyed, how they would

be in fact exiled. But he promises hope in

Deuteronomy 30, verse three and four.

And here's why I'm quoting this. I'm quoting this to show you

that the things that Christ claims about His power and His

ability and His authority, it can only be linked to one other

person, and that's God himself, and it's no different here.

Here's what the Word of God says in Deuteronomy 30, verse 3.

Deuteronomy 30:3

Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have

mercy on you, and He will gather you again from all the peoples

where the Lord your God has scattered you.

If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from

there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He

will take you. You find it in Isaiah, you find

it in other places. It's sprinkled that whenever the

Lord says this, He attributes that ability to Himself.

And yet here's Christ and His teaching of the end times,

saying me as the Son of Man. When I return, I'm going to call

for the elect. I'm going to dispatch my angels

because they're inferior to me. They serve me, and they will

gather the elect to myself. Who do you think you are?

That's a simple question you can ask in the Gospel of Mark or any

gospel account. Who does Christ think he is?

Never mind what you think, never mind what may be convoluted and

complicated for you. But who does Christ claim to be?

Obviously he is claiming to be God.

So step one, if I'm standing before a skeptic who's saying if

Jesus is God, then how does he not know?

I would say, well, consider the implications of the verse.

Do you realize the order? You realize the hierarchy here.

Where does Christ place himself? Well, I don't know what this

means for Him to be after the angels and the human mix.

Well, let me show you in Hebrews what it means.

And after that I would say zoom out a little bit and look at the

surrounding passages. What does Christ say in the same

breath where He says He does not know the day or the hour?

What does He say about himself? What does He say about what He

can do? Let's not even go throughout the

whole neighborhood. And Mark, let's just stick here

to this one street, so to speak. But this is where it gets

exciting. This is stage 3.

This is step three. If that person is able to endure

everything that I just said, I would then say this.

Not just consider the implications of the verse, not

just honor the immediate context.

You're Step 3 to this answer. Factor the wider testimony of

Christ. Factor in the wider testimony of

Christ from throughout the Bible.

And what you notice about these steps is what we're zooming out,

right? You start in the verse, then you

look at the context just in Mark.

And that's important because some people will say, yeah,

well, that's what this person says.

That's what that book says. But that's not what Mark says.

OK, let's just stay in Mark then, and if they're still

willing to listen, then I would say, let's consider now what the

whole Bible has to say, because all of God's Word is God's word.

How much of Christ being more than just a man is presented to

us? But not just that.

There are even places where we see without a doubt, Christ

claiming or at least receiving the acknowledgement that He is

all knowing, that He is all knowing.

OK, so you have your Bibles with you, right?

Go to John 21. This is very important to see

with your own eyes. How can Jesus be crowned as God

if he is not all knowing? Well consider these verses in

the Gospel accounts that tell us he is all knowing.

John 21 verse 17. Here's Jesus with Peter and some

John 21:17

of the disciples. Peter decided to go fishing when

he wasn't supposed to be fishing.

He was called to Fishman, but disappointment in your

sanctification and in your performance for Christ can

really do a number. He is so just distraught, he

decides to go back to square one before Christ called him to

himself. And Jesus stands on the shore.

What a merciful king we have. And he calls to Peter and the

rest of that boat, and they recognize that it's Christ and

they come to the shore and what do they find?

They find their Master. And what does the Master do?

He prepared breakfast for them. Can you imagine God making you

breakfast? He prepares a meal for them and

he sits with them. And this is so amazing because

he's intending to take this opportunity for Peter, who

publicly denied Christ, to now publicly affirm his love for

Christ. So after their bellies were

full, Jesus turns over to Peter and he asked them twice before

what we're about to read. Do you love me?

Peter says I do feed my sheep. Do you love me?

I do 10 my lambs. And look at verse 17.

He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love

me? Peter was grieved because he

said to him the third time, Do you love me?

And he said to him, Lord, you know everything, you know

everything. You know that I love you.

Wow, you know, I thought about that.

Never mind. We're making this is very much a

theological session. I get it.

But I just want to pause here. Isn't it amazing that Peter

understood something about Christ that he did not even need

to tell him he loved him. He knew that Christ.

He knew that Christ knew that he loved him or not.

Christ knows your heart. He knows my heart.

The facade might fool others, but he already knows before I

sing a note or preach a gospel message, if I love him.

Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.

You know what Jesus didn't say, Peter?

Now you said I know everything. I don't know everything.

Remember? Remember that teaching when I

said I don't know the day or the hour?

Jesus corrected Peter on many blunders.

You read the gospel accounts, you discover that Peter has a

tendency to just say things right off the whim, right?

And Jesus corrects him, sometimes rebukes him.

But here's Peter saying, Lord, you know everything.

You know that I love you. And Jesus said to him, feed my

sheep. He doesn't misdirect his

thoughts. He doesn't correct.

He receives he receives that acknowledgement.

Now you realize that John 21 is Christ post resurrected, right?

This is after his resurrection. This is before his ascension.

So that is to be taken into consideration.

But go to John 16 and look at another account of the disciples

having a conversation with Jesus where he tells them that he will

no longer speak to them and figures of speech what will

speak to them plainly. John 1629, his disciples said,

ah, now you're speaking plainly and not using figurative speech.

Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to

question you. This is why we believe that you

came from God. So pause, take your time and

understanding what the disciples are saying here, they realize it

dawned to them, the light was switched on.

Oh, you, you know all things. And they followed up by saying

and do not need anyone to question you.

What do they mean by that? Lord?

You don't need anybody to test your knowledge to probe you

because you've convinced us you know everything.

So unlike others who might be subject to scrutiny and

investigation and testing, you stand out among them all because

you know all things. And the omniscience of Christ

moved them to such a degree that they make this conclusion.

Look at the last part of verse 30.

This is why we believe that you came from God.

What compounded their conviction that Christ came from God?

He knows all things. You know everything.

We don't have to wonder about it.

We don't have to second guess it.

It's so plain and so obvious now.

This is a major claim, is it not, for somebody to know

absolutely everything? Wouldn't this be an opportunity

for Christ? This is before his death, by the

way. That's why I'm quoting it to

you. This is John 16.

He hasn't gone to the cross yet. This is him while he's still on

earth fulfilling His earthly ministry.

Wouldn't this be the time for him to say now, Now I did come

from heaven, but I don't know absolutely everything.

Instead, look what he says in verse 31 is his response.

Jesus answered them. Do you now believe like finally

you got it. Finally you understand that yes,

I did come from God. But more than that, he's

acknowledging everything that they're saying that I also know

all things. So we come to this passage.

The Lord doesn't deny it. He confirms everything that

they're claiming. So before the resurrection,

after the resurrection, the Scriptures directly deal with

the person of Christ and declare that He is what all knowing.

So then how do we make sense of him?

How do we make sense of Him in Mark 1332 saying that He doesn't

know something? And this is where you and I have

to take into account the dual nature of Christ.

Everything that was presented up to this point, I hope confirms

to you that Jesus did not cease to be God when he entered into

this world. And we also believe that through

the incarnation that the Lord of glory did come to become a true

human, which means that as much as his divine attributes were

present while on earth, we have to also remember that the

components and the essential ingredients of being a human

were also in function, though without sin.

So he was fully or truly God, but he was also fully and truly

man. And if he was truly man, though

without a trace of sin, you have to understand then that there's

going to be limitations by virtue of being man.

So He has to eat and he has to drink and he has to rest.

And He asked to, as we learned in the Gospels, grow in his

wisdom and knowledge. And part of that growth and

wisdom and knowledge is that there is some restriction to a

certain degree of data, and that is all to again confirm His

humanity. And so the restriction that

Christ underwent is part of His subjecting himself to the will

of God by entering into this world as a man.

Now you might think to yourself, this is so complicated, it can't

be true. How do you make sense of the

mingling of someone being truly divine and and truly human?

What are the intricacies of the mechanics of that?

The Bible doesn't give it. But let me comfort you in this,

and maybe this is something that will help.

Never mind the complexities of two nature working in one

person, your nature alone as a man, we can't figure ourselves

out. You realize that the depths of

consciousness, how your brain functions, why certain things

happen and why they don't happen.

We can't even figure that out. And here we are not renouncing

our existence. And so it's it's something for

us to take into account that we ourselves are complicated beings

and yet we're willing to throw away the truth just because we

can't wrap our minds around the person of Jesus Christ in his

incarnation. There is a ceiling that you will

meet in this. And the Bible does not give us

this in depth kind of insight into how those things work.

All it does is give us the evidence and we're supposed to

acknowledge that evidence and humble ourselves at a certain

point. Say you are God.

That's why Timothy tells us that this is the mystery of godliness

that God manifested in the flesh.

It's a mystery. It's a mystery and we as

creatures have to humbly accept mystery in our faith that we are

a rational faith. We're not people who who blindly

accept things, but there's some things that we must be joyfully

surrendered to. But again, this is the part

where we go from wondering to worship, because again, the

restrictions of man is something that Christ willingly surrender

to. And that's why in Philippians

27, you read this in Philippians 27.

But he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born

in the likeness of man. So Paul tells us, not only did

he humble himself by becoming a man, but he became a servant.

Yes, human, but not a king, not a human king, not a not a human

ruler. No, He came as a man, but as a

servant. And what's so amazing is that

Jesus Christ indirectly speaks about one of the elements of

being a servant. That sheds some light into him

not knowing the day or the hour. If you want to see it, you're

already in John. I hope go to John 1515 and

you'll be able to under score what I'm conveying.

John 1515 No longer speaking to his disciples.

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does

not know what his master is doing.

Paul tells us that when Jesus came to this world, he became a

servant. And look how Jesus qualifies.

What a servant the limitations of a servant.

At least he says a servant doesn't know what his master is

doing. But I've called you friends, for

all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to

you. Ah, Christ becoming a servant is

willing to subject, subjugate himself to a role in which he

restricts his knowledge. So how do we tie this all

together? As a man, as the perfect servant

of the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ would not be able to

recollect that which the Father chooses only to make known to

Him. So he he surrendered to the

Father, revealing to Him everything that He needed to

know as a servant. At the same time, the ability

for Christ to recall all things always remained, so He

surrendered Himself to that limitation in His humanity.

But in His divine aspect He did know all things.

How to make sense of that? Not easy, it's not easy, but the

evidence is plain, and so the intricacies of it, the

harmonization of it, may not be plain, but what it is plain is

that He does know all things. And yet in His humility and His

mission to come save us to identify with man, He applied

limitations as a servant, only being able to convey and bring

to mind that which the Father as his superior would make known to

him what we can under there. Hopefully you know now the three

steps to answering that question concerning that that verse.

But there is an alternative view.

There is an alternative view that I want to present to you.

And it's a good case to make many people make it.

Maybe this is the first time you've heard it.

Maybe this is something that you believe.

Go back to Mark 1332 as we're prepared to close in a moment,

he says. But concerning that day or that

hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,

but only the Father. Now the word know in the

Scriptures can mean something else depending on the context.

It can also mean to make known. So to know something isn't

limited to the Bible in the sense of having cognitive

understanding of something that word know can also mean to make

known. It's almost like a verb to

reveal or to disclose. And the the best example of that

being the case is in First Corinthians chapter 2, verse 2,

1 Corinthians 2:2

where Paul tells these Corinthian believers the

following. For I decided to know nothing

among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

So what's happening here is Paul admitting that he knows

absolutely nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

No, no, that's absurd. That's not what Christ.

That's not what Paul rather is saying.

He's telling these Corinthian believers as he's reminding

them, that when he came to them to preach to them, he decided to

make known. I decided to know in his

language, nothing among you. My central message was the

gospel, the person of Christ and what he's done on the cross.

But notice the verbiage here. For I decided to know nothing

among you. And so the alternative view is

when you take this and apply it back to Mark 1332, it could read

the following way. But concerning that day or that

hour, no one knows one because they don't have the ability to

know. Human being knows that they are

the hour, not even the angels in heaven, because they also don't

know. They're not omniscient.

They don't have access to that, nor the son, not because he

doesn't know, but because as a servant, because he is subject

to the father, he does not have the prerogative or the right to

make it known. I cannot make that known unless

the father gives me access and the authority to make it known.

I do know cognitively, but I can't, like Paul says, I can't

make it known to you. That's up to the father alone.

And that's why he says, but only the Father.

So that is a view that many do hold to even his historically.

That is a view that many have held to and explained this verse

in that way. But All in all, this is how I'm

going to end because I don't want to end it on that thought.

But concerning that day or the hour, no one knows, not even the

angels in heaven, nor the Son. But only if I what is he talking

about that day or the hour? The day or the hour of his

return. And when he returns, he's coming

to judge. So we were in school today, we

this was heavy theology today and that's good.

The church needs it. But I want to end by giving you

an opportunity to receive the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know, verse comes to mind and I want to quote it to you.

It's in Acts 10 where the apostles say the following in

Acts 1042. And He commanded us to preach to

the people and to testify that He is the one appointed by God

to be judge of the living and the dead.

Let me tell you something. Jesus Christ was not just

appointed to save the world. He's been appointed to judge the

world. Judgement Day is coming.

And for you who might be bothered by that message, you

have to come to this verse and try to explain it, because these

are telling us that they were commanded to preach.

What judgement He commanded us to preach to the people to

testify that what he is the appointed 1 by God to judge the

living and the dead. Not a lot of talk of judgement

from preachers today, but this is Apostolic and so I want to

let you know that there's a day coming where God is gone to by

the Son. Take into account every single

thought, deed, action, lack of action, and bring retribution to

it. There is a day coming where

you're going to give your final breath, and the very few seconds

after that, your eternal destination will be sealed.

And I heard somebody say it this way, that the job of the

preacher is to preach and convince others to change their

eternal address. You're going somewhere, I'm

going somewhere. I know you want to try to live

here as long as possible, but I heard another preacher say this

way, that he stood on the side of many deathbeds where people

have fought for their breath and they couldn't keep it.

Explain the sight and the sound of it that there have been

people who try to hold on to their breath and it's going to

leave you. No matter how strong you are, no

matter how many vitamins you've pumped into your body, no matter

how many weights you've lifted, no matter how many things that

you've done for you to be as healthy as possible, there's

going to be a day where your breath is going to leave you and

you can't do anything about it. And the moment you give that

final breath, you're going to enter into a world more real

than this one. And what's going to happen is

this. What you did with Jesus here

will determine what Christ will do with you then.

He's been appointed by God to judge.

He's going to judge every wicked deed, every unbelieving thought,

every single conviction that contradicts His truth will not

be winked at. It will be acknowledged and it

will be dealt with by a holy God and the scrutiny of His

Holiness. No man can dare stand there and

even think that they can defend themselves.

The very sight of His being will cause you to melt and realize

that you have no chance. You have no chance to receive

eternal life. But that's not the only thing

that the apostles said here in Acts 1042.

We're told that they were were to preach this message.

But look at verse 43. To him, all the prophets bear

witness that everyone who believes in Him receives

forgiveness of sins through His name.

So it's not just judgement, it's grace forgiveness.

Judgement Day is coming, but you can escape it.

Judgement Day is coming, but you can be forgiven.

And notice that forgiveness for any sin, any deed, any action,

any misaction, is only applied and accessed through His name,

the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom I serve.

And I present to you that name. If you have not believed on that

name, if you have not repented from your sin and received and

applied your heart to that name, today is your day.

Let your heart be at rest this afternoon, knowing that you've

made peace with God Almighty. Let your heart be at rest,

knowing that you have received salvation as a gift from this

Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And so I want to invite you

today if you have never made that choice, if you can't

remember a time where you have decided I will turn from my sin

and I will receive the shed blood of Jesus Christ to wash

over me, why would you deny such a request?

There is a time coming where many, many people will realize

the foolishness of them rejecting this message that I

present to you. You think we're just a random

ball floating in the blackness of space and this just all

happened? You think this is going nowhere?

No, no, no, no, no. Every Rd. is leading to Judgment

Day and God in His great love and steadfastness has made a way

for us to hide from the wrath to come and to receive not just

forgiveness, but fellowship with God, fellowship with God.

This is not just you erasing your account so that when when

he comes, he's going to examine you, say, OK, you pass, now just

tuck yourself somewhere in the peripheral of heaven.

This is God in his great love, though Judge is also one who

desires to extend himself as Father to his creatures, and he

wants to receive you and know you, walk with you, love you,

and for you to share an eternal communion forever.

And so I herald this truth to you today.

Repent from your sins and flee to the cross of Jesus Christ.

Run to him. Flee to the city of refuge

before it's too late. I know many people want to make

other people feel good. You can make people feel good

until they go to hell. That's not my job.

That's not the job of the preacher, the job of the

preachers, to proclaim salvation and for people to enter into

abundant life through His name alone.

I'm not inviting you to a drudgery.

I'm not inviting you to some kind of weighty way of life in

which you're always looking over your soul.

I'm inviting you to joy. And joy abundantly can only come

for the One who made you, can only come from the One who

created. You can only come from the One

who saved you, wants to restore you, make you whole.

You are a frag. You are creating the image of

God, but it's fragmented. You are created to reflect His

glory, but sin has muddied it and only Christ can cleanse it.

Only Christ can restore you and make you whole.

And I want to tell you today in my closing that this Jesus

Christ, who I proclaim to you is not just the way into heaven,

He's the way into. You can know freedom here on

earth. He sets free.

He breaks any shackle, any bondage, any turmoil.

Let me tell you something. When I got saved, I know I got

saved. Not into sinless perfectionism.

No, no, no, no, no. But I can tell you that the

weight came off. The burden of sin, the power of

iniquity was removed from my life.

And it's been 12 years and I can look back and still say I'm a

free man because of Jesus Christ.

I invite you into freedom in Christ, my brother.

Do you struggle, dear? Do you have bad days?

You better believe it, but I have Christ in my life, and I

rather be with Christ on a stormy day than be without

Christ on a sunny day. I want Him.

I have nowhere else to go. You are a wanderer.

You are lost. You are abandoned without Him.

But here He is now, inviting you to know fellowship and

relationship with your Maker. Do not deny it.

He is stretching His hand to you on the Sunday afternoon, and

he's pleading with you to come and receive the assurance of

eternal life and life today. And so I beg of you, come,

receive the living bread of heaven.

I beg of you, drink of this living water.

If you come and sip from this, you will never have to look at

another well again. I assure you that if you drink

from this fountain, you will never have to explore another

day in your life to no satisfaction.

It's completely found in him. And there's a day coming that

this invitation I present to you has an expiration.

There is an expiration date. You cannot afford to wait.

Did you notice what we read in the beginning?

After speaking about that day or the hour in which he will

return, he urges his listeners stay awake.

We're going to talk about that next week.

You don't know when it's going to happen.

Don't. Don't allow yourself to stay

asleep. Get up from your slumber and

realize that the day of salvation is now, is now.

So I beckon you to get saved. Listen, if you don't know Jesus

Christ as your Lord and Savior, the elders will be here.

Whoever came with you as a believer will be here to answer

any questions and to help you find the light in Christ.

That's what this is about. We're not here to play church.

They didn't sign up for this thing to just go through an hour

and a half every single Sunday and just go home.

Souls are hanging in the balance every week.

And so I want to let you know that we take this seriously.

If you need to be saved, find one of us.

Find one of us and ask, and we'll be glad.

It will be considered a privilege to help you see the

glory of Jesus Christ. I'm done.

Let's pray together as the praise team comes up, before the

actually praise team come up, and then I'll pray.

I just want you right now in the silence of your own heart to

evaluate yourself. If you're somebody here who

doesn't know Christ, ask yourself, why would I deny this

gospel? Why would not I accept this free

gift of salvation? Believe if you're here, just

rejoice in knowing that this Bible that you hold is the

truth, and give God glory in knowing that you have everything

you need in Him. Lord, we do thank you from the

bottom of our hearts for this session in which we were able to

understand the depths of Scripture.

Thank you for confirming to us that even in places in the Bible

that may seem to be challenging and those who may say he's

contradicting, you've given us answers.

We praise you for that. But Lord, in this day or the and

then in this hour, we realize that the gospel must be

proclaimed. Yes, explanations, but also the

gospel that saves. Explanations can only go so far.

It's this gospel that renews and redeems.

So we pray that if even if there's one person in here that

doesn't know Christ, that your Spirit will continue his work.

They're bringing that conviction that brings about change if it's

responded to appropriately. Lord, at this time, we worship

you. We thank you that you did send

your Son, the superior one who humbled himself and became a

servant to serve sinners. There is no God like you and we

worship you and give you your due on this Sunday afternoon.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Let's stand and give him glory and praise and exaltation.

He is worthy. He is the King of kings.

He is the Lord of Lords.