Mark 13:32-37 Be ready - the master of the house is coming

Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant Church

From: The Holy Bible and J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”

House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text

Pray

Background

The last week of Jesus earthly ministry

Preaching, teaching, performing miracles for three years

Now He is in Jerusalem, to finish His work on the Cross.

Before He begins His trial and execution, Jesus prepares His followers for what will follow. He will come again.

Mark 13:32–37 NASB95

“But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. “It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. “Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. “What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’ ”

Introduction:

This is the end of Mark’s account of our Lord’s prophecy on the Mount of Olives.

In Mark 13, Jesus prophesied the coming tragedy of the destruction of Jerusalem, and then those events that we could expect before He comes again. This included His appearance, when He would come in the clouds, in great glory.

As with the last lesson, this part of the Lord’s prophecy on the Mount of Olives is unfulfilled

They form a summary of what we should remember from this chapter.

First of all, the Lord has kept from us the exact time of His second coming

It is certain that He will come, but the exact day and hour are not given. Mark 13:32 ““But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”

God has shown great wisdom and mercy by His intentional silence on this matter

We have reason to thank God that He has kept this hidden from us

By keeping the date of the Lord’s return from us, He keeps us in a state of constant expectation and suspense - He also wants to keep His followers from disappointment and depression

It certainly would have been depressing for His early followers if they had known that the return would not be for at least 2000 years.

The hearts of great men of the faith, Athanasius, Augustine, Luther and others might have been deeply saddened if they knew that it would be centuries of darkness and difficulty before their Master came back

On the other hand, it has been a great motivator for true Christians to seek a closer walk with God

No one has ever known, at any time, that the Lord might not suddenly return to see how His servants are doing and bring them hom.

This uncertainty has always provided a reason for His followers to live ready to meet Him

One thing we have to be careful of, however - we can’t let the uncertainty over the time of our Lord’s return distract us from the prophecies He made that have not yet come to pass

Many Christians lose sight of the significance of these prophecies, or just forget about them, and fall away from the faith

Because an end of this world is coming, Christians should be energized to share the Gospel - and remain hopeful of their final victory

Unbelievers should be energized to turn to Christ before they face judgement.

For this reason, it is important to study these prophecies regularly. 2 Peter 1:19 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”

Second, we need to know our duties as we await the Lord’s second coming

The Lord tells his followers to do three things, Watch, pray, and work

He tells them that we are not to know the precise hour and date of His coming

What then are they to do? Watch. Pray. Work. Let’s get into those.

We are to watch

We are to live always on guard and stay in an alert, lively state, always ready to meet the Lord

We need to avoid anything like spiritual laziness, deadness or the like

We should not avoid spiritual laziness, dullness, and deadness.

We need to avoid people, time wasters, and friends who lead us to forget Christ and His second coming

1 Thess. 5:6 “so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.”

We are to pray

We need to keep up habits of prayer, devotions and regular time with God

We cannot allow ourselves to become distant from the Father - we need to speak to Jesus daily - so that we can be ready when we meet Him face-to-face

We need to pray for the Lord’s coming and that He may find us in peace,

2 Pet. 3:14 “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,”

Luke 21:34 ““Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap;”

Finally, we are to work

We need to understand that we are all servants of a great Master - He has given each of us our work and expects it to be done

We should work to glorify God, each of us in our specific job and place.

Whatever your work, know it is ordained of God, and you should do it well to glorify Him.

There is something for every one to do.

We need to strive to shine as a light - to be faithful witnesses for Christ, and to honor Him in everything we do

We want Him to find us working and doing; not sleeping or being lazy

Bringing it home

So the Lord has left us simple instructions of what He expects of us - we all need to regularly check ourselves

Are we looking for the Lord’s return?

Do we long for His appearing?

Are we ready? Can we say honestly: Come, Lord Jesus?

Do we live as if we expect Christ to come again?

These are serious questions - we need to give them our attention

Does the Lord require us to neglect any of our duties in life, as we wait for His return? No way.

He doesn’t expect a farmer to neglect his land, or the worker his work, the businessman his business, the lawyer his practice

All He asks is for baptized people to be true to the faith into which they were baptized - to live as a repentant people - a believing people

We are to live as a people who understand that “without holiness, no one can see the Lord”

Living that way we show we are ready to meet our Master when He comes

Not living this way, we are in no way ready for death, for judgment, or for eternity

Living this way is the way to be truly happy, because we are ready for anything that may come upon the earth

We can never be satisfied with a lower standard of faith than this.

The last words of this prophecy and chapter say it all:

Mark 13:37 NASB95

“What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’ ”

The Gospel

Hebrews 10:31 NASB95

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (NASB95)

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Romans 10:9 NASB95

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

Prayer requests