I invite you to turn with me to the Gospel Mark chapter 13, Mark
13, and please place your finger there.
Verse 33 if you want a little insight of what a preacher has
to go through every week. Yes, he has to prepare and
ensure that the text that he is dealing with is faithfully
interpreted and faithfully and faithfully applied.
But more than that, that same preacher has to seek God for
power, see God for power from on high, to help communicate that
truth, for it to be transformed from a lesson to a heavenly
empowered exhortation. And so if you've ever shared
something, perhaps you felt that dependency on God, the need for
Him to come through, for you to disappear, and for those that
you stand before to see Christ alone.
And I ask you to join with me to seek God for that help from the
Holy Spirit. Can we do that?
Lord? We do ask for real power that
You would subdue any distraction, any walls that have
been built that would resist the truth capturing our hearts
completely. Lord, we know that no matter
what man does in his strength, it will be to no avail unless
the Holy Spirit blesses it. So we do ask for the Holy
Spirit's help. And we do ask, oh Lord, that
joy, encouragement, conviction, whatever is needed in every
heart here, You know the hearts of all men would be delivered
faithfully and powerfully. And so even at this time, may we
hear you and You alone, and may our hearts see you and You
alone. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. Mark 13 and let's begin actually
in verse 32, but our main focus will be verse 33 to verse 37.
But now 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. After explaining the rising
calamities and devastations and deceptions and persecutions and
tribulations that will pave the way for the coming of the King,
and after depicting the exact moment of the return of Christ,
the Lord Jesus concludes his thoughts, this discourse with a
strong and urgent appeal. We look here at verse 37 and
realize that what he says to these disciples, he's intending
to say to all to all people of all time who take heed to his
word. You see here Christ teaching
about the last days is not meant to simply clarify any
misunderstandings or to sharpen your conception of the
culminating events of human history.
Obviously, what Christ is intending to do with this
teaching is to sober us and strengthen us spiritually.
And that is why in a in a, in a brief segment of verses Christ
and rapid fire succession here is wrapping up everything with
the repeated command to stay awake, stay awake, keep awake,
stay awake, stay awake. And that's how the ESV renders
it. But in other translations it
would be the repeated word watch or keep on alert.
This is what he wants us to do. This is the main application of
the past few weeks. What you're supposed to take
away from this, practically, is this very statement.
Stay awake. But before we delve into these
verses, it's important to clarify what the Lord means by
that statement. Obviously, Christ is not
contending for physical consciousness uninterrupted.
What He is demanding, though, is our maintenance of a vigorous
and vigilant spiritual life. The opposite of being
spiritually awake is what? Being spiritually asleep, right?
And that condition, being asleep, is something that the
New Testament frequently warns about more than one place.
You see it sprinkled throughout the epistles.
And at this point you might be wondering, well then what's the
difference? How do I know if I am
spiritually awake versus being spiritually asleep?
You might be wondering, what does that look like?
You might be wondering what are the practical evidences of it,
and we're going to get the clarification throughout this
message. But if I can offer a basic
understanding of it, to be spiritually asleep is synonymous
with being spiritually inactive or unresponsive.
We all know what physical sleep does.
Somebody who is in slumber isn't participating in anything.
Somebody who's asleep isn't aware of their environment, and
so it is with the one who is spiritually asleep.
They're dormant. There's no activity, there's no
pulse, there's no engagement. And so it is one who is
sluggish, one who is unconcerned about matters that they are
called to attend to. And if that's the case, for
someone who's spiritually asleep, then to be spiritually
awake, to stay awake, is the positive opposite, that you are
active, that you are engaged, that you are in touch, that you
are aware and the very things that God has called you to.
Now, if you're like me, then you would do this.
I'm sure that if you know that there is an important
appointment that you have to meet the next day, then you
might ask a family member to ensure that you wake up by a
certain time. You don't even want to trust
your alarm clock. And though being awakened from
that sleep may not be the most pleasant experience, you
appreciate the one who was faithful enough to shake you out
of your slumber. So today, I want you to view me
in that matter. I want you to see me as somebody
who loves you and is willing to disturb you for no other reason
other than to ensure that if you have come to this place, or if
you have been spiritually asleep, that you won't sleepwalk
out of the same room. And this message in particular,
I'm going to be assigned the role of an alarm clock.
And it's up to you if you hit the snooze button, it's up to
you. If you want to ignore my
efforts, that's OK, because I want to be at rest knowing that
I did my part by God's grace and power to help open some eyes and
for others to help them stay awake and to avoid drifting into
a place where they don't want to be.
And I'm going to attempt to do that this afternoon that we are
breaking bread to give you at least two reasons why being
spiritually awake and staying awake is not optional.
It's absolutely crucial. So if you can remember these two
points, you'll be OK. The first reason why staying
awake spiritually is important is because you and I are prone
to drift into spiritual sleep. Come back with me here and look
at verse 33. Jesus says be on guard, keep
awake for you do not know when the time will come.
Notice that he begins his verse with be on guard and he connects
that discipline to being awake. Now the question is be on guard
for what exactly? If you're telling me to to
occupy a post and to look out for something or to be vigilant
about something, what am I looking for?
What am I to monitor? What am I to supervise?
And it's not until you go to Luke's account of the very same
teaching where you get the insight.
So look at Luke 21, the very same account, though with
different insight and details that help make this more
complete. Luke 21 in your Bibles in verse
34. Here's the parallel teaching
from Luke's vantage point. Luke 2134 reads But watch who?
What? But watch yourselves, but watch
yourselves, lest your heart be weighed down with dissipation
and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that they come
upon you suddenly like a trap, for it will come upon all who
dwell on the face of the whole earth.
So when Mark says be on guard, Luke completes it by saying what
you're watching for is yourself, which means that the greatest
threat to your spiritual health is you.
There are other threats, but the most prominent one is yourself.
So there must be an effort because according to Jesus, our
disposition is not to be careful about our inner man, but to be
careless. So then there's a call for you
and I to again watch and be consistently aware of what are,
what are the interactivities going on here in my bosom, in my
mind? What's my spiritual diet like?
What kind of environments do I place myself in?
What kind of things are influencing me for the better or
for the worse? Jesus says be on guard, don't be
mindless, don't be careless. And notice that the Lord
highlights some examples of what someone who fails to be on guard
to stay awake will eventually be overtaken by.
He names three things according to Luke's version.
The first thing is dissipation, right?
Be on guard, watch yourselves. Let's your hearts be weighed
down with dissipation #2 drunkenness #3 the cares of this
life. He's talking to Christians, He's
talking to believers. Yes, he's talking to all people,
but including his disciples. And so you can pair the first
two things together, dissipation and drunkenness.
What's the dissipation? It's when you get a headache,
when you get dizzy because of intoxicated intoxication.
You could say it's a hangover. And here's the main point.
Jesus is saying if you're not on guard, if you're not going to
watch yourself, your heart can be weighed down by dissipation
and drunkenness. Meaning you know you are
spiritually asleep when you pursue illegitimate pleasures
like substances that impair your judgment, substances that make
you lose control when you chase a high that is not permitted by
God. And you know you are not awake
when you crave and begin to indulge in activities that not
only harm your body but end up harming your testimony.
I'll never forget the time I preached at a conference many
years ago and a young man came up to me and he came to me
sheepishly and he heard a strong message that night and he
confessed that he was struggling to come back to the Lord.
He knew the Lord all his life, but he was in the the worst
place. He admitted.
And I said, what's the main thing?
What's holding you back from walking with the Lord
wholeheartedly again? And he said, I'm bound by weed,
man. I, I can't, I can't live without
a high. I can't function without it.
It's such a part of my life. And when I began to probe and
asked more, I says, well, where did this begin for you?
How did this door even open up for you?
And he told me this. He says, well, it was when I
began to hang out with some of the members of my church,
specifically people on the worship team, because they used
to get drunk and high all the time.
And that's where it started for me.
So don't think what Jesus is speaking about here concerning
dissipation and drunkenness is irrelevant to the church.
It is very relevant to Christendom.
And so there's that guy that I explained to you who's bound in
shackles. I don't know if he ever even got
free. But let's not limit this to
drunkenness either, because Christ is obviously giving us
one example. But it's speaking about sin
altogether because like many truths in the Gospels, you find
in the epistles, but expanded. And so you're there in Luke 21.
Place your hand there. But go to Romans chapter 13 and
look at verse 11 and you're going to see the same theme
about sleep and how that's synonymous with spiritual
lethargy. And not just spiritual lethargy,
but sinfulness. Romans 13 verse 11 Paul writes
besides this, you know the time that the hour has come for you
to wake from sleep. He's echoing Jesus, the hour has
come for you to wake from sleep for salvation is near to us now
than when we first believed. Now keep that in mind.
He's he's still speaking about being asleep and awakening from
sleep. And in verse 12, the night is
far gone. The day is at hand.
So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the
armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the
daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual
immorality and sensuality, not in quarrelling and jealousy.
So again, we're we're still bound to that same theme.
Wake up from sleep and Paul describes what it looks like
when you are spiritually asleep. He brings up orgies and
drunkenness, sexual morality and sensuality.
Here's what shocks me. He connects these things that
are blatant and obvious and offensive with not quarreling,
check this out. And jealousy.
So what's the larger picture here?
For the church? It's this.
If I find myself no longer concerned about personal
holiness. If I find myself in a place
continually seeking, not seeking, God to purify my heart
and my motives. If.
If I'm no longer mindful about my attitude towards believers
and even unbelievers, I'm asleep.
I'm asleep, I'm just drifting with the wind.
If I'm just going wherever the day takes me and I'm not
missional anymore and I'm not examining anymore.
And of course, we're not speaking about intense
introspection where you torture yourself, but your desires, your
longings, your sense of sanctification.
When you're asleep, you put your sanctification on the shelf.
And that's not the only thing that Jesus tells us can lull,
lull us into a comatose state. Go back to Luke 21.
What did he say? Yeah, he mentioned dissipation
and drunkenness. This is where it might hit home.
Remember, on the alarm clock, don't hit snooze.
Don't hit snooze on me, please. He highlights the cares of this
life. You, some of you might never sip
any alcohol, but you might be drunk with the anxieties of this
life. He certainly, by mentioning the
cares of this life, is not denoting anything inherently
sinful. He underscores things that the
average person worries about. Money, clothes, food.
Where am I going to go to school?
How am I going to finish this schooling?
Activities for the children, jobs, the economy, investments,
safety, extracurricular activities, travels.
It's not that the Lord denounces us for being engaged or even
strategic about these things, but he warns that if you don't
want yourself, if you're not on guard, these cares can choke
you. And what they do is they
suffocate you to the degree that you have nothing left, no
energy, no resources, nor time for any matter concerning the
Kingdom of God. Because you see, the tricky part
about these concerns is that we look around us and we see
everybody else involved with them and caught up in them.
And we learned that they are unavoidable realities to our
day-to-day life, and we end our end up underestimating how
dangerous it is to get caught up in them.
So here's what you have to remember as you plow through
your life, as you plan your life, as you desire to enjoy
life. You're a Christian, you're a
follower of Jesus Christ. Your marching orders come from
heaven. You live with eternity and view,
and if you don't watch that, if you don't keep that in the
forefront of your mind, very quickly you can make even such
commands as this suggestive and optional, not central and
primary. So if you find yourself pulling
away from the church, distancing yourself from the Word of God,
no no longer visiting the presence of the Lord in the
place of prayer, you may call it busyness, but you are falling
asleep at the wheel and not even realizing it.
And that's the main part of this message really, is that it
doesn't take much for us to come to this point.
It doesn't take an ungodly adulterous relationship.
It doesn't really even take a major promotion.
It doesn't require a past addiction to resurface.
The cares of this life can do the job.
I remember meeting somebody. I forgot when, but I'll never
forget the conversation. And this came to mind when I was
studying this past. He worked, he did his
day-to-day, 9:00 to 5:00. But man, this guy tried to find
a way to stay connected to Lord and he found one way.
He kept his Bible in his car and he put it in a passenger seat.
Whenever he hit a red light, he opened his Bible and read it,
and then he waited till the next light and it came to a red light
again. He would hope I would read where
he first left off. Now there are things called
audiobooks, so you don't need to do that and I'm not suggesting
that, but just to give you a little idea of someone who
understands that yes, there are things that I have to do in
life, but I can do them with Christ.
I must do them with Christ. I can never afford to stop
walking with Him. I can never allow the things in
this life to take me away from Him.
So Jesus tells us that it's very possible to be overtaken by even
the cares of this life and to fall asleep because of it.
How do I know if I'm spiritually awake?
Then? How do I know with all the
things that I am called to do and all the responsibilities and
all the How do I know if I'm in the right place?
While the Lord gives us answers at least two major ways, and one
is found here in the very same passage in Luke, Look at Luke
21, verse 36. But stay awake at all times,
praying that you may have strength to escape all these
things that are going to take place and to stand before the
Son of Man. What does Christ expect of us if
we are people who are awake? You're praying, you're praying,
You're praying because you have this awesome revelation that you
need His strength, that you depend on Him.
And so you seek Him continually. You draw from His power, you
inquire of Him, you include Him. So notice that Christ is
attaching staying awake with praying.
So how do I know if I'm spiritually awake?
I don't know if I'm staying awake to the degree that you are
praying. If you are weakening in prayer,
you are falling asleep. If you have ceased to pray
completely, you are sound asleep.
Yes, you're busy. Yes, you're physically awake.
Yes, you have all these things to accomplish, but spiritually
speaking, you're sleeping. That's not the only thing that
Christ highlights concerning what it means to be spiritually.
We have to go back to our main text on Mark 13, Mark 13, verse
33 and 34. Again, when there is no more
personal communion with the Lord.
I'm not where I'm supposed to be, but it's something else that
we have to also be mindful of. He says 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. So Mark merges staying awake
with praying, or Luke rather. And Mark now links working with
staying awake. Working what?
The work of the ministry and notice how specific the Lord is,
he says each with his work, his work.
And so it's not an exclusive type of service that the Lord
has in mind here. No, rather one that the Lord has
individually commissioned each of us too.
And so if I'm awake to some degree, I'm serving, I'm working
for the Kingdom, I'm doing something, I'm involved, I'm
contributing, I'm active. And I know some might be
wondering, how do I know what work I'm called to?
I'm glad you're asking that question and there are different
ways of answering. But I encourage you in the
meantime, though, you're on this quest to discover your ultimate
call, your ultimate mission. Can I suggest something, find a
need and fulfill it because serving God will help you stay
awake and to find a need and to occupy it is the best thing that
you can do for yourself and for others.
You know, I was thinking when I, when I came to this point last
night, I was thinking about all these different examples, men
and women of God who served God. And one of my favorite examples
is the man David, the man after God's own heart.
When you read about David in, in first Samuel 16, he was under
the age of 20 for sure, because he was not at war with the
Philistines. And he was chosen by God to be
the next king, the succeeding ruler of the nation of Israel.
Samuel the prophet approaches him and anoints him in the
presence of his father, Jesse, and his siblings.
And we're told here at the end of First Samuel 16 that the
Spirit of God rushed upon David. And so that was a powerful
moment. Imagine as a teenager being
given a sure word that you will occupy the throne of Israel one
day. And that's how First Samuel 16
ends. And then you come to chapter 17
and you think, OK, here it comes.
David is summoned to the palace. Because at the same time, when
the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David, the Spirit of the
Lord removed himself from Saul, and a tormenting spirit came
instead. And so he needed therapy.
So news went around that there is this musician from Bethlehem,
and he was able to play in such a manner that it soothed you and
it healed you. And so they brought David into
the courts of the king, and he played music.
And you're thinking to yourself, OK, I see what God is doing
here. The Lord is leading him to the
palace. Next thing you know, he's going
to get promoted to be a soldier maybe, and then he's going to
get it to the throne. You can see the trajectory.
And then all of a sudden you realize that David goes from a
full time musician, full time therapist to part time.
That kind of happens when you serve the Lord.
You think you're going somewhere and then there's a set back.
And so now he's part time and he's called from time to time.
So he's back at his father's fields and this man who's been
anointed to be the king of Israel, we're told, was asked to
do the following. You don't have to turn there.
Just listen to this. And First Samuel 1717 And Jesse
said to David, his son, take for your brothers and EFA of this
parched grain and these 10 loaves and carry them quickly to
the camp to your brothers. Also take these 10 cheeses to
the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well
and bring some token from them. What's David called to do?
Deliver cheese sandwiches, Resources for his brothers.
You know what's interesting? You read.
You read of the several brothers who are called the World War.
But it's not all his brothers. And he had many other brothers.
Why didn't Jesse as the other brothers?
I think it had something to do with David's work ethic.
Jesse knew that he could trust David.
That's not the main point. You would think that after you
were anointed in the presence of your father and your brothers
that you're going to get some kind of good treatment.
You would expect it, right? You would expect them to say,
OK, you're the next king. So we're going to pamper you and
we're going to lavish you and we're going to prepare you,
serve you. I love Jesse.
He's like, come here, boy, I need you to deliver some stuff
to your dad, to your brothers, and tell him that dad loves them
and check up on them. You would think that David would
protest. You would think that with his
special calling in mind that he would resist.
You would think that this man who's been destined for great
things, for God, would reserve himself for only great things.
But instead he gives himself to small things, menial things.
And what I see here is an example among many of the
attitude that is necessary to see any advancement in God's
assignments for us. You know what, if you think
about it even further, if David had rejected this, if he had
resisted, he would have missed out on Goliath because it would
be this humble obedience, this willingness to apply himself to
where there is a need that would lead him to meeting Goliath.
Providence and Providence doesn't work with passivity.
Providence works with faithful activity.
And so if you're in a place wondering, well, I know the
Lord's asked me to stay awake and if that means to pray and
remain in communion with them, OK.
But if he's commanded each with his own work, a spiritually
awake person will say, I want to work for him.
I talked with a handful of brothers who are visiting us
this weekend. And one of the gentlemen who
moved to another state told me that he plugged himself into a
church. And he said that he's serving
there and he's ready to become a member.
And I so appreciated his approach in the season of his
life. He said, I walked into the
church and he said, what's the need here?
And without hesitation, I know how the pastors feel.
They said, sound, the sound board.
We need somebody on the sound board.
No experience with the sound yet he learned.
I don't know much about the brother, but according to Jesus
words, I think he's awake. I think he's awake.
We must be conscience, we must be vigilant.
We must be aware that our default is to drift.
Our default is to fall asleep. Our default is to allow things
to weigh us down, to strip things away from what matters
most, not to negate these other things.
But in your heart, have a heartbeat that says, I want to
stay connected to my Lord and I want to serve him in whatever
capacity he has called me to, whatever capacity has been made
available to me. But there's a second reason why
we must stay awake, and it is this.
We must stay awake because Christ's return is unexpected.
That's Mark 13.
We read it in verse 34 already, but he emphasized on again in
verse 35. 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 suddenly come and find you asleep.
And when I say to you, I say to all stay awake.
So notice here now Jesus is highlighting different time
stamps of the day, different watches of the day, and he
essentially covers the entirety of it.
So since you don't know when he's going to come, it can be in
the evening, it can be in the midnight, it can be in the
morning. What's he trying to convey here?
That when we are called to stay awake, we're called to stay
awake at all times, at all times.
Can't afford to fall asleep at any time.
And I'm sure you've seen it. I've seen it too many times that
there's so many who are, who are awake at one time, but because
of a phase in life or a milestone in life, they, they
slowly fall asleep. They were once excited, they
were once focused, they were once energetic, they were once
sacrificial. And then they distance
themselves and they get quiet and then virtually shut down.
So the Lord here is being even specifically saying, look, I'm
telling you at all times in all seasons, make sure that you stay
awake because you don't know when I'm coming and when I come,
I have a desire. Yes, Jesus has desires and his
desire is that he would find you and I awake.
He would find us abiding in Him. He would find us serving Him.
And what's shocking to me is that sometimes you even talk to
individuals and yes, I understand that they're good
hearted and they're even humble and admitting it.
But you inquire, how's your walk with the Lord?
And they know that they're not where they're supposed to be.
They even look down there embarrassed to look you in the
eyes and say, I, I, I'm weak, man.
I'm weak. I'm, I'm distracted.
I'm caught up in this and that. And that's fine.
You need to be able to at least admit it.
But with so many of those same people, they admit it, but they
don't change anything about it. As though confession in itself
is what's needed and required alone.
No, you, you realize it then you say, OK, now what needs to
change? And let me give you one of the
most motivating verses of my own life that have helped me stay
awake all these years. First John, turn your Bibles
there in chapter 2, verse 28. First John 2/28.
Remember, John is speaking to Christians in this verse and he
says the following. And now little children abide in
him so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not
shrink from Him in shame that is coming.
There's so many things to say from this verse, but one thing
that I personally took from it is that a true spiritual leader
will care and will call for his people, the people that God's
entrusted to him, to remain in fellowship with Christ.
Look at this term of endearment, little children.
There's sensitivity that there's love there.
There's relational language there by saying, listen, I'm
asking you to abide in Him. I'm calling you to stay daily in
touch with Him because I want you on that final day when He
does come for you to have confidence and look at this and
not shrink from shame. Why would a Christian shrink
from shame the coming of the Savior?
Perhaps one reason is because in that one moment they would be
overwhelmed by the thought that they've wasted perhaps many of
those years that they were asleep, that they have not been
in commune with the Lord, that they have not been working the
work that He's called them to. You know, when you think about
sleeping characters in the Bible, you might come to some
interesting conclusions. I think of Jonah.
Jonah was asleep on the ship. He was running away from God's
call for him, and he was heading in the opposite direction.
And as he was making way to Tarshish, he was asleep.
And what happened? God orchestrated a storm, but it
wasn't just a storm for him. Primarily, yes, for him.
But there was other people who were suffering in that storm.
You had pagans, yet idol worshippers who were on that
boat, and they were being impacted in part because the man
of God was not where he was supposed to be.
He was asleep. Can I tell you something?
When you and I as Christians are sleepy, it impacts the world
negatively. The world that needs a church
that is vigorous and active and fruitful.
When we fall asleep like Jonah, we do a disservice to the people
who don't believe around us. Not just Jonah, I think of
Samson. Samson was asleep at a critical
point in his life, not on a boat.
His head was laying on the lap of a vicious woman, Delilah.
And while he was asleep, she was playing with his hair, ready to
cut it off. And that was what was needed for
him to remain in the power that God had called him to.
And so as a sleeping St. What was the risk for him
forfeiting the call of God for his life?
So sleepy Christians not only do a disservice to the world,
sleepy Christians also risk cancelling God's awesome plan
for their lives. Stay sleepy long enough and you
can miss out. That's what Samson represents.
What about uticus? He's not as well known.
Acts chapter 20. Paul is preaching, and he
preaches much longer than I preach, by the way.
And Uticus, a young man in the service, is sitting at the
window, and what happens? He falls asleep.
People fall asleep in church. You know, and I take comfort to
know that people fell asleep when Paul preached.
He falls out of the window, he dies.
What happens? The meeting ends.
Paul stops preaching, and we're told there that the church was
alarmed. Sleepy Christians.
They make a negative impact on the world.
They do disservice. They put themselves at risk like
Samson, but they also harmed the church.
They don't help the church, they don't participate, they don't
build. And I love what Paul does with
the authority of an apostle. He raises him from the dead and
he goes back to the sermon. It's my kind of guy.
But as much as it is a horrible thing to think that me remaining
asleep is a disservice of the world, it puts my call at great
risk of being forfeited. It doesn't help the body
believers I'm connected to. 1st John 228 always strikes my heart
the most to disappoint my master when he comes.
And so I want you to understand that it doesn't have to be that
way for you because the Bible also describes another
possibility for when the Lord arrives suddenly, and it's in
our final text before we break bread, it's in second Peter,
chapter one. And look at verse 10.
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your
calling and election. For if you practice these
qualities, you will never fall. Peter, are you suggesting
consistency in the Christian walk?
Are you actually displaying a hopeful truth that I can live my
Christian walk free from scandal, fruitlessness?
Yeah, he says if you practice certain qualities, you will
never fall. But notice verse 11.
For in this way there will be richly provided for you an
entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. What a difference from John's
words. So abide in him so that you can
have confidence and not shrink from shame.
And here's Peter, and he says, listen, if you practice certain
qualities, if you through your life not win your election, not
win your salvation, but confirm it, what does he say?
In this way? There will be richly provided
for you an entrance. You know, Paul speaks about
barely being saved, that all your work's burned to ash, but
you escape the fire. That's not that's not what Peter
is trying to describe. He's talking about those gates
swinging wide open. And it being a celebratory,
exciting encounter with Christ, no awkward conversation needs to
happen, just straight to embrace and rejoicing and reward for
who? For those who are awake.
And if you want an idea of again, what it looks like to be
awake, Peter describes it in great part.
And so look there. Let's look at the verses before
this. I wasn't planning to, but it's
worth it since we're there. Look at verse five of the same
text. For this very reason.
Make look at this language. Please look at this language for
this very reason. Make every effort to supplement
your faith. Does that sound like a sleepy
Christian? No, only somebody who's awake
can make every effort to supplement.
OK, I'm saved. Praise God, you're saved.
What do I do now? You make every effort to
supplement that faith that saved you, to add to it, to grow in
it, to strengthen in it. Make every not some effort.
This is the reason why you live now to supplement your faith.
Now what do I supplement it with?
With virtue. And virtue with knowledge.
Knowledge is important. Come to Bible study.
You'll get more knowledge and knowledge with self-control, and
self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with
godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and
brotherly affection with love. Now look at this in verse eight.
First, these qualities are yours and are increasing.
They keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what it looks like when you and I are awake.
We supplement and we increase. Here's what it looks like when
you're asleep, verse 9. For whoever lacks these
qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten
that he was cleansed from his former sins.
So you and I have a have a chance today to recalibrate and
to refocus and to tell the Lord, Lord, I want to be awake no
matter what season of life I'm in.
And Lord, if it means to be prayerful and means to be
working, then give me the grace to do it.
And today, if you are asleep, Christ is willing to help you
wake up. If you know yourself, if you
know that you have been weighed down by sin or even by the
anxieties of this life to the point that it has completely
crippled you, Christ is here to help you.
He's going to help you. And he can even give you the
wisdom he can give you the he can, he will be able to shine
light upon how you, yes, busy dad, yes, you mom, husband,
wife, student, businessman, He's ready to help you because every
command he gives, he gives the grace to fulfill it every in any
command. And so I invite you today to
respond to this truth and to say, Lord, please help me wake
up. And Lord, not just to wake up,
but to stay awake. He's able to do that.
Oh, I wish I can say more, but we have to break bread together.
But at this time, I want to invite you to respond to that
very same truth. I'm, I'm asking you if you're in
a place where you need to humbly confess to the Lord.
Lord, I know that if you were to find me where I am today, that
I'm more likely to shrink from shame instead of know that
there's going to be a richly provided entrance.
Place me where you need to place me, Lord.
Save me from these things. Oh God.
That is what we ask from you, Lord.
We ask that as your people, Maranatha Bible Church, would be
vibrant, would be alive, would be fragrant with the fruits of
the Spirit. And we ask, Lord, that you would
protect us from anything that would cause us to doze off, to
slip into sleep, and to stay there.
And Lord, as we even prepare not to partake of this bread in this
cup, we ask that the revelation of our forgiveness, salvation
freely given, would stir us to worship you, to love you, and to
serve you. Again, we ask these things in
Jesus name, Amen. Amen.
The praise team is going to come up at this time.
We're going to sing and then we're going to partake together.
I want to let you know today that as we're about to break
bread, if you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, this is
reserved for Christians. And so we humbly ask that you
reserve yourself from participating, but you're free
to obviously stay and remain in the service.
I just want to exhort you and and challenge you that you can
participate in this wonderful feast upon one premise, and
that's you acknowledging your need for a Savior, and that
Savior is Jesus Christ. If you have never at any point
repented of your sins and believed on him to be your
salvation, I want to use this opportunity to give you a chance
to do that, to realize that you have no hope of eternal life, no
hope of attaining salvation apart from what he's done for
you. That's what these Christians are
ready to do. As a church, we're going to
gather, and essentially why we're here is to celebrate the
fact that we have been redeemed graciously.
We have been forgiven by him, not by our own merit, not by our
own efforts, what he has done alone.
And so at this time, I, I, I call you to examine your own
heart and to ask yourself if you truly know him.
And if you don't, you can, you can speak to him and you can
give him your sins. You can give him your
allegiance. And you can leave here a changed
man. You can leave here a changed
woman believer. As we sing these songs, you're
reflecting upon what he has done for you.
You're rejoicing the fact that it's his performance that has
sealed your redemption, not your own.
But at the same time, you're also confessing here that you're
1 body with the church and that you are walking in the calling
of the gospel. And if you find yourself in a
place where you're saying, I know that I'm walking in
conscious, unrepentant sin, repent of it.
Turn from it. Give it up.
If you know that you ever reconciled with a brother or
sister, Christ would be more pleased with you to reconcile
than to partake, to make that emergency protocol.
And so this is a time for all of us to pause, to remember, to
rejoice if needed, to repent so that we can eat this in a way
that would be worthy unto Him. Can we stand and sing and
rejoice in the Lord?