Mark 13:32-37 "The Olivet Discourse: Watch and Pray!"

Good Morning Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Men… I enjoyed being with those of you who could attend the Outreach with David Guzik yesterday!

Mind your own business and clean up your camp! Right? Guys who attended will understand.

Please pray for me, because while we were there I was asked to be on Calvary Chapel Radio this Friday at 6pm… for their Biblical Insights program where people call in live with questions.

I’ve always kind of dreaded being part of a program like this, but I accepted and here we go… so seriously… pray for me.

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Please turn in your Bibles to Mark 13. Mark 13:32-37.

Over the past 6 weeks… we have been looking at the Olivet Discourse… which is Jesus’ great teaching on End Times.

Which was brought about when four of Jesus’ disciples, asked Him a question privately from the Mount of Olives…

They asked, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Jesus answered their question, and then taught the appropriate action steps or applications in light of the knowledge He passed on.

We will conclude this teaching today… and next week get back to the narrative of Jesus’ final week prior to the cross.

If you’re just joining us today… the Olivet Discourse is a teaching recorded in Mark 13, Luke 21, but most extensively in Matthew chapters 24-25…

Which is NOT surprising because Matthew wrote to the Jews… and the Olivet Discourse is a teaching reflecting the Tribulation… which is God’s final time of dealing with Israel to fulfill Daniel’s 70th week.

If you’re not familiar with Prophecy and teachings on End Times… I encourage you to soak as much as you can in today…

Understanding teachings on End Times is a long learning process…

And, it’s an important study because about a third of the Bible is prophetic…

And, prophecy is the foretelling of future events before they actually happen.

And, prophecy is one of the key proofs that we can trust our Bibles… because about 50% of the prophecies told in Scripture have literally been fulfilled…

And, it’s trustworthy… God’s word is more sure then the chair you sit in… then the build surrounding us… and even the world we stand on… or the stars we see in the sky…

In Jesus’ own words, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

God’s word is more certain then heaven and earth… which will eventually perish by fire according to 2 Pet 3… but, His word will remain.

We live in a time waiting in anticipation of the other 50% of prophecies to be fulfilled.

We have the privilege of looking back to all that prophecies already fulfilled… which gives us confidence in God’s future plan.

And, God is so kind to us… because in His word… He tell us how things were at the beginning… and He tells us how things will be at the end.

And, good news… I read the book… and it ends well… with Jesus and His saints in victory entering into eternity.

The current age of darkness WILL NOT prevail… the gates of Hell will not prevail… and God has given us prophecy so we are comforted (according to 1 Thes 4 & 5) AND, blessed (according to Rev 1).

So, let’s conclude the Olivet Discourse now… the title of our message today is “Watch and Pray!”

… which reflects Jesus’ final exhortation in Mark…

Let’s Pray!

In reverence for God’s word, please stand as I read our passage.

Mark 13:32-37 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. 34 It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. 35 Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—36 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

Our author Mark concludes the Olivet Discourse focusing on the Son who left, and is coming back…

In the interim… He entrusted work to His servants… who… depending upon their faithfulness will be exposed… good or bad… upon His return.

The Parable of the Talents for Israel during the Tribulation (Matt 25:14-30)… and the Parable of the Minas for believers of the Church Age prior to the Tribulation (Luke 19:11-27)… both illustrate rewards for those who were faithful.

And, I hope some of you took the time this past week to listen to J.B. Hixson’s Olivet Discourse teaching part 8… where he contrasted these two parables.

That was your extra credit assignment… did anyone earn a gold star?

You can find that teaching on the YouTube channel for Not By Works Ministries. Check it out.

I found it to be profound.

Also, several of Jesus’ statements in our teaching today are also profound. Take V32 for example…

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Two observations about this verse…

First, we’ve talk several times over the past few weeks about how that future day of Jesus’ return is unknowable…

And, this idea of “that day or hour” is probably best to be thought of as referencing “the day of the Lord”…

Which is also referred to in several passages as a time no one knows… it comes as a thief in the night… (1 Pet 3:10, 1 Thes 5:2, Rev 3:3, Rev 16:15)

And, I mentioned last week that “the day of the Lord” is not a specific day… but references that future time… which includes the Tribulation, the Second Coming, and the Millennium.

If you grabbed one of Biblical Timelines of End Time Events by Charlie Campbell at our info table…

Which I’ve found very helpful over the years…

Perhaps you noticed that the Day of Lord was indicated encompassing that whole future time from the Rapture to the Great White Throne Judgment…

I highlighted “The Day of the Lord” in blue at the top of the slide.

And, this is an important point because if we don’t think of “that day or hour” as the broader idea of the “day of the Lord”…

… then we start looking at V32 as speaking about Jesus’ Second Coming… which I find a bit confusing, because that day is predictable…

Once Anti-Christ is revealed… we are told, Jesus Second Coming is 7 years later… twice 1260 days… twice 42 months… twice time, times, and half a time… at the end of the Tribulation…

But, the beginning of the Day of the Lord is unpredictable… it starts right after the Lord comes in the clouds… for His saints… an event we call the Rapture of the Church…

1 Thes 4:17 declares, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up [Gk harpazo, Latin rapio, English rapture] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

… which is an unpredictable time… in the same context 1 Thes 5:2 declares that familiar phrase “… the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.”

If you’re asleep at night… especially if you lived in the days prior to alarm systems… and video cameras that only require batteries and WiFi…

If a thief came in the night as you slept… you would be surprised…

Unless you’re me with 4 German Shepherds… 3 trained in protection… if the thief comes to my house… they’re the one who will be surprised.

I’m not worried about the thief in the night… I’m more worried about how much I pay for dog food!

But this idea of Jesus coming in a way that is surprising… unexpected… even catastrophic… like how a thief comes…

Is best placed when the “day of the Lord” begins… right after the rapture… which is unexpected…

Which kicks off the tribulation… which is catastrophic…

Now, the second thing I find profound about this verse is who Jesus lists as knowing and not knowing the time…

Both angels and the Son… Jesus… will NOT know…

Only the Father WILL know…

Notice, Jesus doesn’t even bother mentioning mankind here… like it’s not worth the breath to even say that…

Of course mankind doesn’t know… so when someone starts to set dates… a big red flag should go up in your mind…

How can that be? If angels and Jesus don’t know the date… then how on earth would some man or woman know?

They don’t… just move along.

But, how fascinating is it… that angels… who have had certain eternal privileges that we long for… DON’T have this privilege of the knowledge of when Jesus will come again…

And, even more fascinating… the Son… Jesus Himself does not know the day or hour when He will return for His bride…

And, be careful with V32… many errors of interpretation and application have come about because of V32…

Specifically with what people think about Jesus not knowing the day or hour…

This verse has been used, in error, by atheists, cultists, muslims… and so-called Christians alike as a proof-text that Jesus was just a man, and not God.

But, there are many verses that display Jesus’ divine attributes… like His omniscience knowing the thoughts and intents of those around Him.

Or OT prophecies fulfilled through His birth, ministry, life and death…

And namely… the Resurrection… which Jesus likened to the sign of Jonah… “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”… which vindicated His divine claims…

You don’t claim you will die and rise again… and then actually do it… unless you are God.

This verse has also been used in error by Christians who believe when Jesus became a man… He emptied Himself completely of His divine attributes.

Jesus was fully man… but He was also fully God…

Phil 2:6-7 states this of Jesus, “... who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”

In His incarnation, Jesus came as man, but His form was still of God… not merely resembling God… but His very nature… His inner essence… was divine.

Col 2:9 states “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily...”

There are so many verses to back that Jesus was fully God and fully man… so when we read in Mark that Jesus did not know the day and hour… don’t take it to mean His divinity was put aside.

To understand this verse… and other verses that describe Jesus’ humanity… He increased in knowledge, He hungered, got tired, slept…

All human traits… not divine traits…

God doesn’t need to eat or increase in wisdom, but Jesus did…

And, this is the key to unlocking the mystery of this verse…

In Jesus’ incarnation… the word who was in the beginning with God, and was God… and became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:1, & 14)…

When divine God came in the form of a man…

He also voluntarily accepted human limitations…

He accepted that He would not be omnipresent… all places at all times…

I think this is one of the reasons Jesus said in John 16:7-8… of the Holy Spirit, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment...”

The Holy Spirit is Omnipresent… working with you and I and the whole world in various ways.

Jesus was limited to His physical frame.

And, He didn’t assert His divinity beyond that physical frame… He remained on the cross even to the point of death… when He could have just came down…

He accepted limits. For ex. “How high could Jesus jump?”

If He wanted to… He could jump to the moon, but in His humanity… He voluntarily accepted limits.

Besides Jesus’ limitation on Omnipresence… Jesus also came in the form of a servant… and while Jesus was omniscient… He voluntarily submitted to the Father’s will.

As Jesus said in John 4:34 “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

And Jesus acknowledged that a servant does not always know the will of the Master.

He said in John 15:15 “…a servant does not know what his master is doing...”

And, so while Jesus knew He would usher in the Day of the Lord… the specifics of when are held by the Father alone.

And, I love that Jesus demonstrates for us how to submit to the Father’s will…

Fully divine and yet He allowed knowledge of when He would start the next prophetic clock… to be restricted.

If you want to dive deeper into this topic… Pastor Mike Winger… on his Bible Thinker podcast spends over an hour on this topic.

This was in his Mark Series pt 56

In a message titled, “If Jesus Is God, Why Didn’t He Know Everything?”

Good message… straight out the gates he talks about how Muslims try to use this verse to stump Christians.

So, check it out… so you don’t get stumped.

As we just looked at how Jesus perfectly submitted to the will of the Father…

It got me thinking… how do we do with this?

How are we… in our lives with submitting to the Father’s will?

And, do we even know what His will is?

Pretty important questions for our Christian walk.

It’s not always easy… and especially difficult if we don’t have a pulse on what God’s will for us is.

But, fortunately you’re in a Bible Teaching church… so as we look at the word, we don’t have to wonder…

We can look to the word of God which shares many facets of God’s will for our lives.

The phrase “will of God” appears 23x in scripture… all in the New Testament…

So, an interesting rabbit trail to go down…

And, let me share that… as we are finishing up the Olivet Discourse… this little tangent I’m about to go on… this little audible called by the Holy Spirit as He impresses things on my heart… is NOT how I envisioned this sermon to go… SO someone here probably needs to hear what I’m about to say.

Here’s a few verses… not an exhaustive list… not the totality of God’s will, but a few verses that share clear and important guidance on God’s will for our lives…

And, I’ll warn you… this may be a bit challenging…

One of my favorite verses Rom 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

What is that perfect will of God?

Romans 12:1 tells us our total commitment to God is our reasonable service…

And here… not allowing the world ‘to squeeze you into it’s own mold’ as one Scholar paraphrased.

But, to think how God thinks… which is that transformation and renewing of our minds…

Rom 12:1-2… memorize those verses and live them out… they tell us God’s good and perfect will.

Another verse… 1 Thes 4:3-5 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God...”

Sanctification is God’s will for your life.

After you are saved by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, which is called “justification”…

God continues to save you through “sanctification”…

Our entire Christian lives… daily we are being sanctified… being made holy or purified…

We’re becoming less like who we used to be… and more like Jesus Christ.

And, the example in this verse is physical and mental purity from lust of the flesh…

“Passion of lust” in these verses stand contrary to ‘possessing one’s own vessel in sanctification and honor.’

It’s not God’s will for any of us to be ensnared in any kind of lust…

And, God is particularly sensitive to sexual immorality being that He gave us His Holy Spirit when we were saved… our now life belongs to Him… at least it should.

1 Cor 6:18-20 reads, “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

It’s pretty clear from that verse that our lives are blood bought… and sexual immorality is not the will of God.

It’s grievous to the Holy Spirit… and it’s destructive personally… to one’s family… to the broader community… and to the name of God.

Because when one falls in this manner, it becomes fuel on the fire for those who love to blaspheme the name of God.

And our town has in these last several years seen this sin all too often in public and even national media… even earlier this month a Business Owner, whom I was told is a Christian, was charged for sexual misconduct against an employee.

This past week, a Pastor who I just had lunch with 6 months ago… who planted a church in Fort Wayne… the same time we planted this church… he committed adultery… and he’s no longer on their website…

It’s heartbreaking… and we need to be vigilant against temptation…

Because it hurts us… and those around us…

It hurts our witness… and it grieves the Holy Spirit.

And, listen to me… if you’re here today and in the past you’ve committed some sexual sin against God… and you repented… there’s forgiveness…

We need only look at the life of David in his sin with Bathsheba to see a couple who made this mistake… and we know David repented…

We read David’s words in Ps 51 which is labeled, “A Psalm of David When Nathan the Prophet Went to Him, After He Had Gone in to Bathsheba.”

Ps 51:2-4 David confessed, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight...”

David was forgiven and remained a ‘man after God’s own heart.’

Sexual immorality is not the unpardonable sin… there is restoration.

But, if you’re here today and your playing with fire… looking at images on your phone… having poor boundaries with co-workers… flirting…

Being unwed and sleeping with your boyfriend or girlfriend… even if they are your fiance…

This is NOT God’s will for your life… and it’s destructive… to your relationships… especially to your relationship with God.

So, something to take a walk with this week… how are you doing in purity?

Two more quick verses on the will of God…

And if you forgot why we’re talking about the will of God for our lives…

Because that happens… the Pastor goes on a tangent… I mean… not me… but other Pastor’s go on a tangent because they have the mic…

And, the congregation's mind starts to wonder… thinking about lunch… or that house project… on knitting… whatever…

This happens to me in staff meetings for my bi-vocational job… someone is off on a tangent… and I try not to… but the mind goes where it wants.

And just then comes the dreaded question… “Marc, what do you think about that?”

“Oh yeah… I think that’s a great plan.”

Be glad you don’t get called on in church…

So, we’re looking at God’s will for our lives because… in V32… Jesus knew a day would come when He would usher in the Day of the Lord, but He did not know the day or the hours… and was well pleased to submit to the Father’s will.

Thus we should also follow God’s will for our lives.

Two more quick verses…

1 Pet 2:15 “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men...’

The context of this passage is submission to government… and then Peter talks about the will of God is for believers to do good to silence the ignorance of foolish men…

And often… those in high places are unbelieving and foolish in the sense of Ps 14 “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

In the first half of the Book of Acts… all too often we read about Peter on trial before governing bodies… and the same for Paul later…

And, through doing good… there was no ground to stand on for accusation…

In Acts 4 the Sanhedrin even marveled at how Peter and John, uneducated men, were so bold before them… and then realized they had been with Jesus…

And, seeing the lame man they healed in Jesus’ name… standing with them… they could say nothing against it.

And, this remains a facet of the will of God for our lives… doing good boldly in the name of Jesus… even if there is a cost of giving an account before civil governments…

A chapter later, Peter would write, 1 Pet 3:13-15 “And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear...”

Doing good is the will of God for your lives… even when you might have to answer for it.

And finally… in Paul’s final exhortations in 1 Thes 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

What a beautiful way to end a letter. I feel like I could camp out there all day.

The will of God is for us to rejoice, pray without ceasing and to be thankful in all things.

How are we doing with this?

It’s simple… but not always easy to follow the will of God for our lives… good thing we have a model in Jesus.

Well… back in Mark 13… V32… no one knows the day and hour… therefore… application…

What should the response of believers in any dispensation of time be?

For us as we wait to be caught up? Or, for tribulation saints as they await the Second Coming?

V33 exhorts, “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.”

Waiting on the Lord does not mean to sit on our hands… we should be active while we wait.

In V33… the exhortation is to be alert or awake… not slumbering…

Which today often takes the form in Christian complacency…

Some people fall in the error of thinking, “Since we don’t know when Jesus will return, it doesn’t matter.” And, they slumber… they don’t give any head space to the reality the He can truly return at anytime.

But, if you live with the attitude that Jesus can return at anytime… it helps guard your heart against complacency.

Instead… watchfulness and prayfulness become the heart posture. The right heart response is, “Since I don’t know when Jesus is coming… it’s my duty to be alert, eager, and ready for His coming.”

In Matthew’s gospel, he shared several parables about how the tribulation saints should conduct themselves while waiting…

In the Illustration of the Two Servants… the faithful and wise servant… was blessed for being found ruling the master’s household well… and being kind to his fellow servants…

In the Parable of the Ten Virgins… the wise virgins had oil in their lamps… they were prepared for their bridegrooms return…

And, in the Parable of the Talents… which is for Israel during the Tribulation…

When the Master went away to a far country, he entrusted his servants with various talents… and he expected them to steward them well.

For Christians during the church age, in Luke 19, we are given a similar parable… the Parable of the Ten Minas…

Where a nobleman went away into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.

Which exactly reflects the dispensation of time in which we live.

And, what does he say to his servants? What are his instructions?

The master in Luke 19:13 says, ‘Do business till I come.’

I love how the King James says, ‘Occupy till I come.’

This is for us… and this is for now…

We are certainly waiting on the Lord’s return, but waiting well means being about the Father’s business.

A concept Jesus understood… even at the age of 12… according to Luke 2:49.

In the Parable of the Minas, the good servant was a faithful steward of his Master’s resources.

And, so… “do business until Jesus comes...”

We have to be on guard against complacency due to any wrong motivation.

God expects us to put to work that which He has entrusted us with until He comes.

And, so whatever phase of life you’re in… God has placed you there for such a time as this…

To be His ambassador to those around you…

We occupy in our service to the Lord with the right heart posture that honors Him.

We share the gospel… pray for people… make disciples…

We shine our light before men… the testimony of our lives…

And, how we handle trials…

What we do… what we don’t do… or say…

How we handle our finances…

All of these things will come under review one day… maybe one day soon…

We stand before the Bema Seat of Christ…

Where 1 Cor 3:13-15 states… “each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

Salvation is NOT the issue at the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ… it’s the motives behind our works…

God says, “Do business till I come.”

Serve Him… joyfully, not grudgingly…

All of these parables that I just described in Matthew… which again… Matthew goes in much greater detail because he writes to the Jews and the Olivet Discourse is for Israel…

But all of the various parables laid out in detail in Matthew…

Our Gospel writer Mark… sums up in four verses…

Mark exhorts take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. V33… and then…

Mark 13:34-37 Mark writes, “It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. 35 Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—36 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

Again… the context is this is an exhortation for those awaiting Christ’s return during the Tribulation.

But, there are truths we can apply to our lives today… just as Jesus exhorted in V37 “… what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” … and the failure so often in Christian living… is that we’re not ready because we fail to watch.

We get busy about some other kind of business, but not the Lord’s business…

We don’t live with the idea that He can come immediately…

And as we take our eyes off Jesus… and off the will of God for our lives…

And put our eyes on the world… the lust of the flesh, and lust of the eyes, and the pride of life well up in our heart…

And, we are drawn away by our own desires and enticed… and when desire conceives… it gives birth to sin… which leads to death.

Because sin… unconfessed… and unrepentant… creates a rift in our relationship with God…

And as one scholar said, “To be out of fellowship with God is for a Christian a form of living death.”

Listen to me… we’re not gathering here every Sunday for entertainment… or a Ted Talk… I’m not here to motivate you…

We’re here… because in this book that we study called the Bible are the words of life…

And, I don’t want to see another brother… or another sister die… falling away from God…

Because they stopped watching the right things… and put their eyes on the wrong things.

And, while Mark concludes the Olivet discourse with an exhortation to watch … looking up…

Luke closes the Olivet Discourse with an exhortation to watch … looking in…

Which is exactly what we’ve been driving at today…

Here’s Luke's final exhortation in Luke 21:34-36 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Such a solid exhortation for believers of all ages…

What a powerful segment…

Again, don’t lose cite of the context… those who dwell on the face of the earth v35… is speaking about the tribulation…

If their lives are fully given over to the ways of the flesh… where one’s heart is weighed down or burdened with…

Carousing… meaning drunken nausea…

Drunkenness… self-explanatory…

And, ‘cares of this life’… in the Parable of the Soils, Jesus said, “… the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”

Those who are given over to the pursuit of the flesh… are unbelievers… and during the tribulation…

They will be so consumed with darkness… that when light enters the world again…

They will be taken by surprise…

V34 says, “that Day will come on you unexpectedly.”

The Day will come as a snare…

And, Jesus has been described as a snare… and a stumbling stone…

Isa 8:14 “He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

For those who believe in Jesus… He is a sanctuary… and for those who deny Him… He is a stone of stumbling… a trap… a snare…

And, this black or white thought process is the same in all ages…

In the tribulation… those who do not believe… as was said in Luke 21… will not be counted worthy to escape God’s judgment…

They will not stand before the Son of Man… this would be at the Sheep / Goat judgment…

They will hear the words of Matt 25:41 “‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels...”

Those who will be worthy to escape the tribulation and enter into the Millennial Kingdom… those who will stand before the Son of Man…

Will be those believers who are watching and praying always…

They are called the ‘righteous’ in Matt 25 at the Judgment of the Nations… … which is synonymous with the Sheep/Goat judgment.

They will hear the words of Matt 25:34 … ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’

I really wanted to cover the Sheep/Goat Judgment today…

It’s how Matt closes out the Olivet Discourse…

But, covering that today would really push us over on time…

The good news is I’ve already taught this message…

So, if you’re not familiar with this future judgment…

I encourage you to listen to my message on our app or website…

This was my 2021 message entitled… Matthew 25:31-46 “The Judgment of the Nations”…

And, I see V36 in Luke 21… being counted worthy to escape… and standing before the Son of Man…

… pointing to that judgment at the end of the tribulation leading into Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom Age…

So, the Olivet Discourse ends there… with repeated exhortations to watch and be ready… to look up… and look in…

Certainly a sound exhortation for that yet future time… the Tribulation…

And, certainly a challenge and an exhortation for us to examine our lives today.

Are we ready for His return?

I mean… I know we are, but do our lives reflect that we are ready?

Are we occupying until He comes?

Are we walking in the will of God for our lives?

I don’t want Jesus to return and for my life to be out of sync with His will…

Or, for me to be backslidden into some sin of the old man of the flesh…

I want to receive that white robe and the victor’s wreath… the stephanos crown of gold…

To be honored by our Lord at the Bema Seat for works worthy of our King…

And, then we’ll cast our crowns before the throne saying, “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power…”

You can read about that heavenly scene that occurs before the Tribulation… in Revelation 4… I’ll see you there…

We can admire one another’s crowns and white robes…

Gk. “Toga”… not really… but it kind of sounds that way…

Well wrapping up the Olivet Discourse… it’s been a good 6-week study… worship team you can come…

Luke alone closes out the Olivet Discourse taking us to the day after the Olivet Discourse… still in Jerusalem…

Luke 21:37-38 “And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. 38 Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.”

It would be beautiful if the story ended there, but then there would be no redemption… no salvation…

Praise God that He endured the cross for you and I.

Next week… we come back to the narrative of Jesus’ final Passover week…

Two days prior to the Passover… where the religious leader plot to kill Jesus… with Judas’ assistance…

And, we will look at that beautiful scene where Mary anoints Jesus’ feet…

Read ahead…

Let’s Pray!

Our elder’s and pray team are coming up to the front and sides if you need prayer for anything today…

Come pray as we sing this last song…

Start off this week ahead being bathed in prayer… there’s no better way to start the week.

Ps 67:1-2 reads, “God be merciful to us and bless us And cause His face to shine upon us. 2 That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.”

Go shine brightly in this week ahead… for His glory.