Journey Through Matthew: Keeping Watch!

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

This morning if you will, start turning in your Bibles to .

We are going to be picking up where we left off last week in our Journey Through Matthew, this week looking at the subject of “Keeping Watch.”

In just a moment I will be reading from verses 36-41, but we are going to be finishing out that chapter this morning.

And in this second part of chapter 24, Jesus is hammering home the point to the disciples that they must always be ready, which is a theme that he began to focus on in the beginning of the chapter, which we looked at last week.

And if you will recall, everything we talked about last week was centered around Jesus’ point to the disciples that they had to develop endurance and resolve.

He told them that only those who stood firm to the end would be saved.

Meaning that they had to constantly be aware of their soul’s condition and how they were living their lives.

Jesus knew of the impending persecution that they would soon face and he know that strength and resolve were the only way they were going to make it .

And Jesus also knows the struggles that every person goes through in life, whether persecuted or not, and he knows this also takes perseverance, endurance, and resolve.

Because of the effects of sin, the increase of wickedness, the love of many growing cold, just living a normal life has become increasingly and increasingly difficult.

And Jesus knows this and is trying to prepare his disciples for this; and by extension, prepare us for this as well.

But one lesson that we didn’t get to last week was how do we develop this resolve, this endurance, this perseverance?

Jesus says to stand firm, but how?

How do we do that?

The answer is....we cannot.

In ourselves we cannot accomplish this.

However, this is where the Holy Spirit comes in.

The Spirit who gives us the power and strength to endure.

But to receive this power, we must receive the Spirit.

And to receive the Spirit, we must be willing.

We must humble ourselves before God.

We must admit to God and to ourselves that we cannot do this on our own.

That we do not have the power.

And we must release ourselves to God.

Give control of our lives over to God.

And allow God to lead.

That is the only way we are going to be able to endure until the end.

And this morning Jesus is going to build on that concept because he knows how we have a tendency to grow complacent.

To stop watching and waiting and just go about our normal routine.

And when we do that the enemy can sneak in the back door.

Or we could loose sight of the end goal.

So we must be reminded to Keep Watching.

So, if you have found in your Bibles I’d invite you to stand with me as we read, starting in verse 36....

Scripture Focus

Matthew 24:36–41 NIV - Anglicised

36 “No-one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

Matthew 24:36-

The Days of Noah (vs 36-41)

So, right off the bat here, Jesus begins comparing the “end times,” the time of his return with another time in history.

And this time is the days of Noah.

And if you remember what the days of Noah were like, they were not the greatest of times.

In fact when you start looking at the life of Noah in 6 you will find that . . .

Genesis 6:5–8 NIV - Anglicised

5 The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.

Genesis 6:

And the key here is that humanity had become so wicked and evil that God had no other choice but to wipe them out and start over.

All of them except Noah.

And because of Noah’s righteousness, God also found favor on Noah’s wife and children.

And for 100 years Noah built the Ark, gathered the animals, and preached to the people about the impending judgement coming.

But, the people didn’t pay any attention to Noah.

They probably thought he was some kind of nut, probably even made fun of him a little bit.

But mainly they went about their own business.

Day after day, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.

All up until the day Noah entered the ark.

They never listened to what Noah was trying to tell them and warn them about and knew nothing about wha would happen until the flood came and took them all away.

In effect, wiped them out.

And they were clueless, not because no one ever told them but because they refused to listen and believe what they were being told.

And Jesus is saying it is the same way in the end times.

He tells them that it is exactly how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man!

He tells them that . . .

Matthew 24:40–41 NIV - Anglicised

40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

Matthew 24:

And Jesus is trying to get them to understand and see both the urgency and suddenness of the situation.

Because in Jesus’ day and throughout history we have had a lot of people thinking that they can predict when He is going to return.

Thinking that they will recognize his coming and be able to make decisions at the last second.

Jesus says not so. It is going to be quickly and suddenly.

So suddenly that people will be working side by side and when they look up one of them will be gone.

And this notion that people can predict it.

Hogwash!

Jesus says that . . .

Matthew 24:36

Matthew 24:36 NIV - Anglicised

36 “No-one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Only God the Father knows.

And the reason that only God the Father knows is because God the Father is the only one that knows the exact moment when every person who will ever be saved has been saved.

It is something that can’t be predicted by the weather or “signs of the time.”

The signs of the time tell us we had better be watching because things are getting closer and closer.

But the exact time and day is an absolute unsolvable mystery.

And what people need to be doing instead of trying to out think God and interpret the times, is getting ready to meet the Lord.

Because I will tell you that we are all leaving here one way or the other.

And Jesus’ point here is not for them to obsess over the “End Times,” but rather for them to be ready for whatever comes their way.

Whatever they have to endure.

Whatever way they meet their end.

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The Thief in the Night (vs 42-44)

Which is exactly where he goes in this next section.

Continuing on, Jesus tells them . . .

Matthew 24:42–44 NIV - Anglicised

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

So again, the exact same warning. Keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come!

But honestly, do we believe that?

Do we live our lives in that mindset?

I really think that we do not.

We grow so used to the way things are and the way things have gone, day after day, month after month, year after year.

That we get lulled to sleep by just the normalcy of life.

Just like in the Days of Noah.

And a lot of it is because we do not know when the Lord is coming back.

We have those who obsess over trying to predict it, but many more just stop watching.

And Jesus compares this mentality with a thief.

And think about it, we all run the risk of getting broken into.

It’s just part of society.

But think about it in the way Jesus is trying to lay it out for them here.

If we knew that tonight at 11PM, somebody would be coming to break into our house and steal everything in it, what would we do?

Would we just say “oh well?”

No, we would prepare.

We would be ready for them to come.

We would be waiting on them.

However the reality is that we never know when somebody is going to show up creeping around looking for something to steal.

But I would bet all of us have taken some measures to prepare for a thief that may show up.

Some people have guard dogs.

Some people have security cameras.

Some people alarms.

And most, if not all people have locks on their doors and windows.

All in preparation for a thief coming to steal your stuff.

But I wonder though, how many of us have made the same preparations for the coming of the Lord?

How many of us have secured our Spiritual house?

Jesus says plainly here that we need to keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come and also, you must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

But, are we listening?

Are we really listening?

Are we watching?

Are we preparing?

They were not in Jesus’ day, and many are not today.

The Wicked Servant (vs 45-51)

And to drive the point home, Jesus offers them yet another scenario . . .

Matthew 24:45–51 NIV - Anglicised

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow-servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Now, the twist on this account is the behavior of the servant.

This servant is put in charge and he is charged with caring for the needs of the house and for the other servants.

But instead of doing what the Master told him to do, he goes the opposite way.

He figures that the master is going to be gone for a long time and will never know what is going on.

So he is going to live it up a bit.

Do what he wants to do.

Satisfy his fleshly desires a bit.

So, he sets out to beating the other servants, partying and getting drunk.

After all the Master is gone, he doesn’t know what’s going on.

And besides, there is plenty of time to get things cleaned up and back on track before he comes back.

Really?

Is there though?

Jesus again tells them . . .

Matthew 24:50–51 NIV - Anglicised

50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Altar Call

And the thing about this, is we have a lot, a lot of people who fall into this category.

They know all about God, all about salvation, all about the Christian life.

But yet they get in their mind that there is plenty of time to “get right with God.”

After all, nothing has happened yet.

But the thing about this is, just because it hasn’t yet, doesn’t mean it won’t.

And just like we have seen in all of the scenarios and particularly in the last one, the end will come quickly and suddenly.

There is no “getting right” at the last minute.

The master will come when we do not expect him.

And/or our end will come when we do not expect it.

And if we are found in a place where we are not right with God, then . . .

Matthew 24:51 NIV - Anglicised

51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Folks, this is serious business.

And instead of living like the people did in Noah’s day, we need to be preparing to meet God.

Because one day we will all stand before him.

Will we be ready?

Are we ready right now?

If not, the good news is, there is still time.

You can come today and be ready.

But will you?

There’s not really much left to be said, other than will you be obedient to the Lord today?