The Model Life: Alertness, Part 5

Over the many years that I had the opportunity to go to the

land of Israel, there were certain journeys that we would

take when we went. One of the journeys we went on

was called the Journeys of of Jesus.

It was designed specifically to go only to the places where

Jesus himself would have been. And so during those trips we

would get up early the day after we arrived, and we would make

our way to a place called the Tell of Megiddo.

Now a Tell is a a city built upon a city built upon a city

built upon a city. And so there are 25 different

cities that have been built on the Tell of Megiddo over all the

years. So it has risen very, very high.

And so we take them to the tell of Megiddo and we make our way

up the tell to the place where they were able to overlook the

valley of Ezdrelon or the Jezreel Valley, or better known

as the Valley of Megiddo. And there I would sit, everybody

on rocks because there are no benches up there.

There are no chairs up there. There's just a lot of rocks.

And so we set everybody down on on the rocks and they are able

to overlook this vast valley of Megiddo, the Jezreel Valley.

And as they sit there, I take them with their Bibles to the

Book of Revelation. And I tell them, this is what

the Bible says in Revelation 16 verse #13 And I saw coming out

of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast,

and out of the mouth of the false prophet, 3 unclean

spirits, like frogs. For they are spirits of demons,

performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world, to

gather them together for the war of the great day of God the

Almighty. Verse 16.

And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is

called Har Mageddon or Armageddon.

And I take them there first because I take them to the end,

not the beginning. We take the journeys of Jesus.

We don't go to Bethlehem first. We go to the end 1st.

And you know why? Because the end of a matter is

better than its beginning, right?

Ecclesiastes 7 verse #8 If you've been with us on Wednesday

nights, you understand that. So we take them all the way to

the end. And as we're, we're preaching on

how it is that God is going to gather the armies of the East

together in this vast valley, I have them overlook the valley to

the other side, because on the other side of the valley is a

little town that, you know, well called Nazareth.

That's the hometown of, of Jesus.

And I asked him this question. I wonder what it would be like

to to be raised in Nazareth knowing that you are Jesus and

you get up every morning and you're able to climb the the

cliffs around Nazareth and overlook the valley and know

that one day you as the King of all kings are going to gather

together the nations of the world to fight against you.

I wonder how many times our Lord did that?

We have no record of anything that he did except when he was

12 years of age outside of his birth and his dedication in the

Temple. But outside of that, we, we

don't know anything about his early childhood except when he

was 12 and when he was 12. And he went to the Passover and

was there and with his family. And of course they somehow left

him behind. And when they came back to find

him, he was in the temple conversing with the leaders of

Israel. And of course, Mary, his mother

said, where have you been? Don't you know we've been

looking for you? And Jesus said those famous

words. Don't you know that I have to be

about my father's affairs? I have to be about my father's

business? Christ was on a mission.

He was on a unique and and special mission and he knew all

about his Father's will. He came to do the Father's will.

And so the affairs, the mission that Christ was on was one where

he would reveal his, his deity. That's in John 1 and John 14,

the Gospel of John. And not only did he come to to

reveal his deity, he, he came to, to ravage the enemy.

The prophecy of Genesis 3 verse #15 was fulfilled on Calvary.

And so first John 38 tells us that when Jesus came, He came

for this purpose to destroy the works of the devil.

So he says to his mother, I had to be about my father's

business. I have to reveal my deity.

I have to ravage the enemy. I have to remove iniquity.

That's found in first John 3 verse #5 or tells us that the

Son of Man appeared for this purpose, that He might take away

our sins. So He knew at a very early age

that this was His mission to reveal the fact that He was God

in the flesh, to reveal His Deity, to ravage the enemy, to

remove iniquity. He was on a mission.

He was on His father's mission. He came because His mission was

to restore our dignity. That which had been lost in the

fall in Genesis chapter 1, created the image of God had to

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

be restored. And sure enough, first John 31

says that we are the children of the living God.

He restored our dignity. On top of that, He had to, He

had to recover, recover our destiny.

In John 14, he says because I live, you live.

I am the resurrection and the life, if you, if you believe

that you'll never die, He's going to recover our destiny

because that is our Lord. I have to be about my Father's

business. I have to, I have to ratify my

authority. In Matthew 28, it says all

authority has been given unto me, both in heaven and in earth.

John 5, he talks about his authority to to raise the dead.

So he tells his mother, I, I'm about my father's business.

I have a mission. It's right on course.

And I'm going to reveal my deity.

I'm going to, I'm going to ravage the enemy.

I'm going to, I'm going to remove iniquity.

I'm going to restore man's dignity.

I'm going to recover man's destiny.

I'm the one that's going to ratify my authority, but he came

so that he could return in glory and reign in majesty.

So when we go on our journeys of Jesus, we take them to Mount

Megiddo to tell them that he came to returning glory, that he

might reign in majesty. He would come, reveal himself as

the Lord of the universe, but he came to die, rise again, so he

could return in glory and majesty.

It's important to know that because I've told you before and

you'll remember this, I hopefully you'll remember this,

that the first prophecy in the Bible from man to man about God

is not the prophecy of his first coming.

It's the prophecy of His second coming.

That's how important it is to know about the return of the

king. It's recorded in Jude, Jude 14,

Enoch, and the 7th generation from Adam prophesied saying

behold, the Lord came. Not the Lord is coming, but the

Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones to execute

judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all

their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and

of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken

against Him. Enoch, the 7th generation from

Adam, would be the one who would prophecy about not his first

coming, but His second coming. And I've already told you that

every time the the first coming is mentioned, the second coming

is mentioned 8 different times. And one out of every 25 verses

in the New Testament is about the second coming of the

Messiah. And outside the doctrine of

faith. The doctrine of the second

coming is the most prominent doctrine in the New Testament.

It's imperative that you understand this.

So Jesus, having grown up in Nazareth, would overlook the

Jezreel Valley every morning, every afternoon, every evening.

You can't miss it. It's humongous.

And he would rise from his bed and he would overlook the

valley. And I'm sure that there must

have been so many things going through his mind, knowing that

he came, that he was going to die and rise again.

But one day he would gather all the nations of the world against

him in that valley for the Great War of God.

I wonder how many times or if any time he ever thought about

that opportunity. And so the very first time that

Jesus mentions his coming again is in Luke Chapter 9.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

If you got your Bible, you might want to turn there with me if

you would. Luke Chapter 9.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

And this is how he says it. Luke Chapter 9, verse #26 For

Luke 9 · chapter mention

whoever is ashamed of me, in my words, the Son of man will be

ashamed of him when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the

Father, and of the holy angels. This is the first time that

Jesus mentions His return. That is going to return in

glory. Thus he will reign in in

majesty. Remember, he refers to himself

as the Son of Man. He refers to himself as the Son

of Man over 80 times in the gospels.

He does that because he wants to take everybody back to the book

of Daniel, the 7th chapter, when Daniel has this vision of one

like the Son of Man coming in great clouds of glory, and

Jesus, when he calls himself the Son of Man, is taking everybody

back to Daniel Chapter 7. And now, for the very first time

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

in His earthly ministry, He's going to refer to His return in

glory. And then he says these words.

But I say to you truthfully that there are some of those standing

here who will not taste death until they see the Kingdom of

God. Well, what does that mean?

That means some of you standing right here, some of you 12

standing right here. I'm not going to die until you

see the Kingdom of God. You go to the next chapter.

It says some eight days after these sayings, he took along

Peter, John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

Matthew's account and Mark's account says six days later.

Luke says some 8 days later. Why is there a discrepancy?

There isn't a discrepancy. Matthew and Mark record the six

specific days in between day one which he made the announcement

in day 8IN which the the the event actually occurred.

So Luke will say some 8 days, Matthew and Mark say 6 days.

So there's no discrepancy. It's very easily understood when

you understand the the timetable of our Lord.

And so it says, took Peter, James and John and went up in a

mountain and while he was praying and the appearance of

his face became different and his clothing became white and

gleaming. Fact, if you read Matthew's

account, his face would shine like the morning sun and be old.

Two men were talking with him, and there were Moses and Elijah,

who appearing in glory. We're Speaking of his departure,

which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

In other words, you're speaking to the Lord about his death, His

departure, that which was going to happen in Jerusalem.

He was going to be crucified. So Moses and Elijah are

conversing with the Son of Man about his impending death.

Verse 32. Now Peter and his companions had

been overcome with sleep. When they were fully awake, they

saw his glory. Matthew says that he was

transfigured. He was he was metamorphosized.

In other words, he he unzipped his flesh and the glory of the

Lord would would shine forth. They saw his glory and they saw

the two men standing with him. And as they were leaving him,

Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here.

Let us make 3 tabernacles, one for you and one for Moses and

and 1:00 for Elijah not realizing what he was saying.

That's very important because Peter, James, and John recognize

Moses and Elijah. How did they do that?

Was Moses carrying tablets of the commandments?

Was Elijah on a chariot filled with fire?

What? What would they have?

A big E on his chest? How did he know this was Moses

and Elijah? That this goes to tell you that

when you get to heaven, you'll recognize everybody that's

there. That's just a good thing.

You all say, well, where's the apostle Paul?

You'll know where he is. Although when you get to heaven,

that won't be your first look up.

It'll probably be me, your pastor.

No, that's not true. It'll be the Lord Jesus.

You'll be consumed with him. But interesting that they were

able to recognize Moses and Elijah.

And so why does, why does Peter say, let's build 3 Tabernacles

here? What we told you last week,

Zechariah 14 that in the Kingdom of God they will celebrate the

Feast of Tabernacles. So Peter, knowing the Old

Testament like he did, would say, well, let's build 3

Tabernacles right here. One for you and one for Moses

and and 1:00 for Elijah. And he would also know Malachi 3

and Malachi 4 that before the coming Kingdom of God and the

day of the Lord, one like Elijah would come.

So he knows that. That's why he's saying let's

build 3 tabernacles. Quite a scene.

While he was saying this, the cloud formed, began to over

shadow them, and they were afraid as they entered the

cloud. Then a voice came out of the

cloud saying, This is my son, my chosen one, listen to him.

And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

Now notice this, it says. And they kept silence and

reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had

seen. How could you not do that?

How could you not say anything when we know from Matthew's

account that Jesus told them, don't say anything.

And the voice had come from heaven, which is the Lord God

his Father, who said, This is my beloved, said, Listen to him.

So whatever he tells you, listen to him.

And Jesus then says, don't tell anybody what you just saw.

Why? Why?

Why not tell anybody? Well, there could be several

reasons. One, because if Rome found out

about it, they would think that this one, Jesus would be

deciding to have some kind of insurrection to set up his

Kingdom or the Jews would would incite him to be their leader.

And they already wanted to be their leader because he fed the

5000 earlier. They wanted to be the leader.

So this would always increase that all the more that could

possibly be. But I think there's something

much more important than that. And that is in order for the Son

of Man to be glorified, he had to die and rise again.

That has to happen. He has to.

He has to. After revealing his deity, he

must ravage the enemy. That's a prophecy of Genesis

315. It must happen.

He he must remove iniquity. But he can't do that unless he

dies on Calvary's cross. All that must happen first.

He must restore man's dignity. He must recover man's destiny so

that he will one day return in glory.

But the order is very important. So he tells them, don't say

anything. And they didn't until Peter

spoke about it. And second Peter 116 to to 19

And John spoke about it in John chapter one we beheld his glory.

The glories are the only begotten of the Father, full of

grace and truth. Same would be true of James.

They would speak about it after His death, burial, and

resurrection because they wanted everybody to know that He's

going to return in glory and reign in majesty.

The King is coming again. So important to understand this.

So important to realize that Jesus is going to come again.

We are right in the midst of Paul's first letter to the

Thessalonians. This is our ninth week in

chapter 4 verse #13 through chapter 5 verse #11 and we won't

finish this week, and we might not even finish next week.

But that's OK. Because you see, you must

understand how important this is for your life.

It's all about living, as we have seen in first Testimonies

413 and 18, about anticipation, about expectation.

That's the model life, living in anticipation of the day of

Christ and then living with alertness.

That's chapter 5, verses 1 to 11 for the day of the Lord, the day

of Christ stands around the rapture of the church and the

day of the Lord stands around the retribution and the

revelation of God at the end. And therefore it's important to

understand all that's happening and why we can't give you all

the details we we have on our website a series called the

Return of the King. If you want to know a a step by

step process through the coming of the King at when it when it

comes for his own until the very end, the eternal state, that

series would be one for you to listen to as you go back and

forth to work or back and forth to school wherever you go.

Because it goes into great detail about why Jesus must come

again and why the church won't go through the tribulation.

And how do you know that? And what is it about the rise of

the Antichrist and how does that happen?

And what about Israel and what about the future?

And it just goes into great detail from the beginning to the

end to show you how the end is all about the King, His glory,

His Majesty, His coming again. It is my heart's passion for

people to understand the coming of Jesus.

It motivates everything in life like nothing else does.

And so I want to talk to you about the coming of Jesus.

And I'm not going to finish it today.

It's obvious, but at least I can begin it for you today and let

you know that His coming is a sure event.

You can bank on it. We know that from what Zechariah

tells us. Zechariah Chapter 14 verse #1

Zechariah 14 · chapter mention

Behold, today is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from

you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the

nations against Jerusalem to battle.

The city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women

ravished, and half the city exiled, but the rest of the

people will not be cut off from the city.

Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as

when he fights on a day of battle.

And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,

which is in front of Jerusalem on the east.

And the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to

West by a very large valley. So half of the mountain will

move toward the north and the other half toward the South.

Now you think about that and think about what the Jewish

people know. Think about the triumphal entry

into Jerusalem. And to see the people saying as

praises that they would quote the Old Testament about Psalm 40

and Psalm 110 about the coming one or Psalm 118, that the one

who was about to come the, the title for the Messiah, blessed,

I see you, comes in the name of the Lord.

And remember, they took off their garments and they, they,

they took palm branches and they began to, to, to, to wave them

back and forth in honor. And they take their clothes off

and garments so that the king, when he wrote over them, it

would show their, their total submission to the King's

authority. And the Bible tells us in Luke

19 that that they, they praised him not for his for his message,

but for his miracles. But remember they, they were

thinking of Zechariah 14. He's coming down the Mount of

Olives. They're on the Mount of Olives.

And they're thinking that Zechariah 14 says he's going to

stand on the Mount of Olives. He's going to split the Mount of

Olives. This is the king.

And they know Zechariah 9 verse #9 that's a prophecy that was

fulfilled on that day. Zechariah 99 says, rejoice

greatly, O daughter of Jerusalem, shout and triumph, O

daughter of Jerusalem. That's exactly what they did.

They were shouted in joy. Behold, your king is coming to

you. The coming one is arriving.

He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on

a donkey. So they know this.

These are Jewish people. They're well versed in the Old

Testament. Here is the king coming on a

donkey. Zechariah prophesied that.

He also prophesied. He'll stand on the Mount of

Olives. He'll split the Mount of Olives.

They didn't see any gap between his first coming and his second

coming. They didn't see that.

They didn't understand that. They saw all this one arrival. 1

Advent but there are two advents.

There were two comings and so they would praise him, but he

didn't split them out of olives. No, he he went to the city,

looked around and left, came back the next day and cleanse

the temple, cursed the fig tree, came back the next day and

preached all day. They're like, where is the

splitting of the mountain? Where is the the rivers that

will flow? Where is the king?

And by Friday they yelled, crucify him.

They didn't meet their expectations yet.

Because He will. Because He's coming again.

That's why in Luke 9, when Christ referenced everything

about his coming and glory and the Kingdom of God, his men

would understand that there's going to be another arrival,

another coming. He would know that as He was

raised in Nazareth, get up and overlook the city, overlook the

Jezreel Valley. In fact, if you recall, even in

Luke's Gospel in the 4th chapter, when he was going to

read in the synagogue, says in verse #16 And it came to

Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as was his

custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath.

That's what Jesus did. Every Sabbath He was in the

synagogue. Every self respecting Jew would

be in the synagogue on the Sabbath.

That's what they did. Instead of to read, What was he

reading? And the book of the prophet

Isaiah was handed to him. Why?

Because there's a very systematic reading of the Old

Testament in the synagogue. And it just so happened that in

the Providence of God He was asked to read on this day

because he would read from Isaiah 61.

That was the reading for the day.

So the Providence of God, he opened the book and found the

place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon

me because He anointed me to preach the gospel of the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives,

recovery of sight to the blind, set free those who are

oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

And He closed the book. Isaiah 61 verse #1 He stops

right there. Why?

Because this was the day where He would reveal His deity.

This was the day He came to ravage the enemy.

This is the day He came to remove iniquity.

This was the day He came to recover man's destiny.

This was the day where he came to restore man's dignity.

The favorable year of our Lord, the year of redemption.

For the very next phrase in Isaiah 61 says, and the day of

vengeance. But this wasn't the day of

vengeance. Not yet.

It was coming, but it wasn't the day.

There would come a day of vengeance.

But on this day in Nazareth, it was not the day.

And you know the story. They, they marvel at what he

said. Is this not Joseph's son?

And then they, they became so angry at what he would say to

them later on in that conversation that they would

take him to this, this brow of a Cliff to throw him off so as to,

to kill him because they were so angry with him.

Wow. But he escaped by divine

Providence. He escaped through the crowd.

We go to this place in Nazareth, this Cliff, not necessarily the

literal place, but it is a traditional place.

It's a high Cliff. It overlooks the Jezreel Valley.

But they could not kill him. Why?

It wasn't. It's time to die.

And he wasn't going to die that way anyway.

He's going to die on Calvary's cross.

It was all predestined, all predetermined.

And so through a miracle, he escaped the crowd.

They did not kill Him on that day.

Why? Because there would be a day He

would die on Calvary's cross. He would rise again.

And what He would say in Acts chapter one, or the angels, or

the two men in white apparel would say, Men of Galilee, why

do you stand gazing up into heaven?

Do you not know that the same Jesus will return in the same

way in which He left? It is a sure event is ironclad.

He's coming again. We gathered together to

celebrate the Lord's table because we proclaim his death

until he comes. That's why on the

Transfiguration, Christ said to his men, don't say anything.

Why? Because you need to proclaim my

death until I come again. They need to know that I, I came

to die. I I came to remove their

iniquity. I came to ravage the enemy.

I came to do all this. I came for this purpose.

I have a mission. I must be about my Father's

business. I want to one day returning

glory, but not yet. But I am coming again.

It is a sure event. A sure event and in Revelation

Revelation 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22, last chapter, book of the Bible, three times, verse

#7, verse #12, verse #20 Jesus says, behold, I'm coming

quickly. The last promise of the Bible is

I'm coming. I love that I'm coming.

I'm you better be ready, I'm coming.

That's why the model life is built around anticipation and

alertness. You live in anticipation of his

arrival, and you're alert because no one knows the day nor

the hour. But let me close with this.

It's not where I planned on closing, but I'll close here in

Luke's gospel, the 17th chapter, This event we'll talk about next

week. It's not just a sure event.

It is a surprising event. It is a sudden event.

It is a supernatural event. It is a slaughtering event.

It is a sovereign event. It is a satisfying event.

And I'll cover all these with you next week, but it is a

sobering event, a very sobering event.

Listen what Jesus says in in Luke 17.

He says in verse 24, we're just like the lightning when it

flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of

the sky. So will the Son of Man be in his

day, but first he must suffer many things and be rejected by

this generation. And just as it happened in the

days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man.

They were eating, they were drinking, and they were

marrying. They were being given in

marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood

came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in

the days of lot. They were eating, they were

drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were

planting, they were building. But on the day that lot went out

from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and

destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the

day that the Son of Man is revealed.

On that day the one who was on the housetop and whose goods are

in the house must not go down to take them out, and likewise the

one who was in the field must not turn back.

And they says these words. Remember lots wife, Why did you

put that there? Because she, like so many,

desired the world. She could not divorce herself

from the world. She loved Sodom.

She desired the things of the world.

And because she desired the world, she would defy the word

of God. Those who desire the world will

always defy the word of the living God, the Angel said.

Do not look back. There's nothing there for you.

Everything before you is what you need to be looking toward,

not behind you. Jesus said no man, having put

his hand at the plow and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of

God. There's nothing back there for

you. Your past life has nothing for

you. But she desired the world so

much that she would defy the word of the living God.

Why would she do that? Because in her heart she

disbelieved the warning from God.

She didn't think anything would happen.

She thought that God was the God of love, God grace, compassion,

mercy, and he is. But when he gives a warning and

says don't do this, he means exactly what he says, don't do

this. And so in her desire for the

world and in her disobedience to the Word of God, she disbelieved

the warning from God. And thus she died.

On the way from Sodom, she was turned into a pillar of salt.

How tragic. You see, the coming of Christ is

a very sobering event. Many people will die, many loved

ones will be left, and therefore we must understand the

imperative to preach the gospel. That's why we celebrate the

Lord's Table. As a reminder, as often as you

eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim my reason for

coming until I come again. You proclaim my death the way to

life until I come again. It is a sure event.

I wonder if you are ready for the return of the King, His

coming again. You can be like those the second

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

Peter chapter 3 who mock the coming of Jesus.

Where is the promise of us coming?

It's been 2000 years. Everything goes as it's always

gone before. Nothing's going to change but

escapes to notice that one day our Lord warned about a coming

flood and it happened, destroyed the world.

And one day he's coming again. But he won't destroy the world

with water, He'll destroy it with fire.

But he's coming because He promised.

And our God is the God of truth. He never lies.

He's coming again. My prayer is that you'd be ready

for his return. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for today. So much to say, so very little

time to say it yet. We trust that the things that

were preached today would be what You wanted us to hear.

And as we partake of the Lord's Table, may we be ever mindful

that You are certainly coming again.

Your death was not the end, it was the beginning of the end.

It was everything. And we celebrate that because

you are the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

Pray this in Jesus name, Amen.