If you'll be finding in your Bibles Luke chapter 21, I'll give you a moment to find that. Luke chapter 21. You may be aware that we started last week, and Lord willing, we'll finish this week a two-part sermon on this whole section of verses five through 38. We dealt with verses one through 24, especially last week, so let me read for us verse 25 to the end, but we'll make reference to those earlier verses in the midst of the sermon as well. Why don't we stand as God's word is read? So Luke chapter 21, starting in verse 25. Would you hear God's word for you this morning? And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves. People fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken and they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near. And he told them a parable. Look at the fig tree and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap, for it will come upon all who dwell in the face of the whole earth. 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. And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet, and early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him. This is God's word for us this morning. You may be seated, and if you'll keep that section of Luke open in front of you as we dive in, As we said last week, this passage affords us many questions. There are certain passages of Scripture that as you study them, they generate maybe more questions than answers, at least initially, and yet it's the glory of man to seek out these things. And so, I hope you'll join with me once again as we dive into this wonderful text of Scripture, ask some good questions. If you remember last week, I gave the analogy of kids left home alone, they're old enough to be left alone safely. Their parents go on a trip, they don't know exactly when they'll return, and they leave them a list of things to do, and even some fun ideas of what to do. And we talked about the idea of what it means for those kids to be waiting for the parents to come, to not wait till the last minute, to fulfill their duties. Well, today, I want you to think of the child who loves his parents. the same scenario, and as she's going about her day, certainly checking things off the list, certainly taking care of what the parents want her to take care of, but every time she passes the window, she stops, and she sort of goes up to the couch, which is right in front of the window, and looks eagerly out the window. Are they back? Oh, I hear a car. Oh, that's just the neighbor. and then goes about her day, and then the next time she passes the window, the same thing happens. Her heart sort of flutters, thinking, maybe they're home. I want them to be home. We're gonna talk about many things today, but Christian, you are called to this kind of eager longing and expectation for your Savior to return. Jesus will speak today of many things, some of them complicated, some of them puzzling, but he will speak with utter clarity to his disciples and therefore to you when he says, stay awake, be ready, ready to endure, ready to suffer, ready to bear witness. He says, straighten up, stand up, lift your head because your redemption is drawing near. So whatever view we take on some of the things that we'll look at in Luke 21, that's where the plane needs to land. It is in your head turning upward to the hills from whence your help comes, longing for your Savior and God to come and return. With that in mind, that's the goal. So if you leave today thinking more of Jesus and longing for him more, then amen. With that goal in mind, let's dive into and sort of pick up where we left off as we study this text. You'll see there's four points in the sermon outline, if that's helpful to you. We started last week on number one, understand the last days. And let me just review very quickly for you what we covered last week. We covered that Jesus here is in what's been called the Olivet Discourse because of its location. Remember, this is Holy Week. This is leading up to the week where he dies on the cross and rises again. Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 all record this same teaching of Jesus with different nuances and focuses. Remember that Jesus' disciples ask a question that prompts this. They're in the temple, they see how amazing it is, you know, Herod's temple that he had been working on, and they make note of it, and Jesus says, there's gonna come a day where not a stone is left of this temple, it's gonna be destroyed. The disciples are puzzled and they say in verse seven, chapter 21, verse seven, teacher, when will these things be and what will be the sign when they're about to take place? And so we looked last week that it seems that at least at first, Jesus is focusing on answering that question. When is this temple gonna be destroyed? And we look historically and we see the fulfillment of Jesus' words in 70 AD. when Titus, who was the son of the emperor, came in 70 A.D. and fulfilled, I mean, Jesus says in verse 20, but when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. And we saw, you know, Josephus, this Jewish historian, and many other eyewitnesses bear witness to just the horrific siege of Jerusalem. Even those who didn't believe in Christ, you know, saw this as a judgment from God upon Jerusalem. And they were right. Jesus says in verse 22, these are days of vengeance. And in verse 23, these are days of wrath. Come upon Jerusalem, for she has rejected me. And so the application for Jesus here first was, when you see this happening, get out of Jerusalem. So there's part of this text that you can't apply to your life. You're not in Jerusalem. But for them, they were hearing Jesus, look, when there's an army, get out. And Christians did, they left. and that was part of the gospel going to the nations. But there's a part that applies to them, and applies to the rebellious Jews of their day, and it applies to you, and it's to repent before the greater day of judgment. That as horrific as 70 AD was, It's like a fire drill compared to the judgment to come. And so friend, like I said last week, Jesus truly is the Messiah that he claimed to be. His name means savior because he came to save his people. Even to save some of those Jews who at this stage are rejecting him. Remember in the book of Acts, they're cut to the heart. They admit, we've killed the author of life, what do we do? Is this the end of the story for us? Can you think of a worse sin? To sort of smile upon the death of Jesus Christ the Messiah. They admit to it. And the apostles say, no, it's not the end of the story. Repent, turn around, change your mind, believe, put your faith in this Jesus, and you will have life. And friend, that's the call for you this morning. And I pray that you would take that call, or that you have taken that call, because the rest of this scripture is encouragement for God's people, as perplexing as some of it is. And I want it to be encouraging to you, and not a fearful thing. If this is your savior, then this is an encouraging text. So with all of that in mind, let's keep moving through this text. Remember we said last week that legitimate Christians who love their Bibles, who study their Bibles diligently, disagree some how to take this whole passage. Some see verses, you know, really the whole thing, verses 5 through 38. Some would say it refers only to 70 AD, as we've been talking about. All of it only relates to 70 AD. It does get people ready for the second coming, but the facts are there. Some say this whole passage only refers to the second coming of Christ that we're all waiting for, and many take a different view that parts of this passage can be understood as relating to that horrific siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and parts of it could be taken to be understood as the second coming of Christ. Most land in that third camp, and yet might not agree on this verse or that verse or when Jesus says this or when he says that. And so if you're willing, would you come along with me as we sort of move verse by verse and stop every once in a while and ask the question, what's Jesus talking about here? Is he talking about the fall of Jerusalem? Is he talking about the second coming? What's happening here? As we do that, I want you to think of a backpack. When we approach any passage that's difficult to understand, and certainly when we think of end times views, Christians often disagree on some of these matters. All of us, whether we like it or not, have a backpack that we bring to any text of scripture. That backpack is not empty. We like to think that, you know, we're special and I just come to my Bible and I have an empty backpack and I just open it up and say, pour it in, Lord. And that's our heart. I mean, we want to just hear from God's Word, but He's made us as people who learn and read and grow. We have preconceived notions coming into any passage of scripture, and not all of that is bad. Actually, I want you to have things in your backpack. When you come to a verse of scripture, I want you to be coming to this verse of scripture knowing that Jesus is fully God and fully man. I want you to come here knowing the gospel. There's fundamental biblical truth that's in the backpack that you're bringing to this text, and you should do that. But other stuff sneaks in, of course. You know, like when your kids sort of put some of their toys in your backpack and you find them, or worse, snacks or something. Things sneak in over time, and we should come to any passage of scripture with the zipper open. Not wide open, but open enough to say, how did that get in there? And remove it, and okay, I need to put this new thing in that I've just never thought of this. Jesus is speaking here, and I wanna learn. And so your end times views, you're bringing with you whether you like it or not. You might have, you're influenced by the church you grew up in and what they taught. Or if you didn't grow up in church and haven't been taught these things, you're influenced by your heroes of the faith and their end times views. You're influenced by bad teaching you've received and maybe even your reaction to it, right? You swing all the way the other way. And so maybe you come to this text, you know, in your mind when you think of end times, you think a lot about Israel. You think a lot about movements on a timeline. You think a lot about that fig tree analogy, and we gotta read the signs and know when it's coming. Or maybe that's not you, maybe for you it's a simple timeline, and that's what you're bringing to the text. You're just waiting for the second coming, and you almost don't wanna think about anything else. Or maybe you're longing for, and you think you have scriptural warrant for a glorious reign, on earth before Christ comes, when even Christian culture will flourish, and when the gospel will go to the nations in a powerful way. Just know that you're bringing some of these to the text, and I would encourage you to just leave the zipper open. See if Christ might teach you something today. I know I was sharpened in my own understanding studying this passage. So let's dig in to our passage. as we ask, what is Jesus talking about? 70 AD, second coming, let's learn from him. First, we'll go back a bit, if you look at verse 10. Yeah, sorry, verse 10. Remember, they ask the question, and then Jesus starts to answer the question, when will these things take place? But notice the language he uses. Then he said to them, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and pestilences and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. If that's all you had to go on, maybe show of hands, are we talking about 70 AD? Are we talking about second coming? Man, I saw like two hands in that whole exercise. So you guys are just good, good. The backpack's open, good job. Interpreters differ here. The language can go either way, actually, which we'll see in a second. But it's interesting here that Jesus says in verse 12, but before all this, they will lay their hands on you. telling us that persecution would be something that they would experience in their own lifetime. He might be saying, you know, 70 AD is coming, that judgment, you will see it, but before that happens, you will experience persecution. Or if he's talking about the second coming, he's saying, yes, beyond your lifetime, there's a second coming, but in your life, you're gonna first experience this persecution. Either way, he describes the persecution and call for endurance that all Christians have as we live between the times of Christ's comings. But then we get to verse 20, as we said, seems to be the most obvious about 70 AD when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. And then that goes through verse four. And then we get right up to the text that we started reading this morning, verse 25. And it returns to the same kind of language. There will be signs in sun and moon and stars and on earth distress of nations and perplexity because of the roaring of the seas and waves. This sounds intense. This sounds cosmic, right? People fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Okay, anyone braver now? Okay, 70 AD, second coming, okay. At first blush, the word seemed to call to mind the end of time. Signs in the heavens, the sun, moon, stars being darkened. Signs in creation, the roaring of waves. To stress over all the nations, right? You'd say, well, he's not just talking about Jerusalem. And what is coming on the world? That's why many Christians, I'd say legitimately, take this section to refer not to 70 AD, but the second coming. And they furthermore point to Old Testament language that then gets picked up in the book of Revelation. Isaiah 13, 9 through 11, "'to make the land a desolation "'and to destroy its sinners from it. "'For the stars of the heavens "'and their constellations will not give their light. "'The sun will be dark at its rising "'and the moon will not shed its light. "'I will punish the world for its evil.'" Right, that's very similar to what we're hearing here. Or Ezekiel 32, seven through eight. "'When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens "'and make their stars dark. "'I will cover the sun with a cloud "'and the moon shall not give its light. "'All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, "'and put darkness on your land,' declares the Lord." And then Revelation in many places, but Revelation 8, 12 picks it up. "'The fourth angel blew his trumpet, "'and a third of the sun was struck, "'and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, "'so that a third of their light might be darkened.'" You can see the biblical evidence is very strong here, that Jesus is perhaps not referring to 70 AD, but the second coming, the end of all things. And so if by the end of the sermon, or whenever you study this, if you land in that camp, you're in good company, and you're on safe ground. And yet, this is not necessarily the only conclusion we could draw. You might be surprised that those two passages we read from the Old Testament, in Isaiah, he was actually speaking of the fall of Babylon, historically. This fall that would happen, that they would see the fall of Babylon. And then in the Ezekiel passage, it was actually about Egypt. And yet he was using this language of stars falling and the world being in judgment. In other words, the Old Testament prophets show that even this cosmic, star-falling, heaven-shaking language can apply to events within history. It's interesting, right? We have our backpacks, we keep them unzipped, we look at the rest of Scripture, but let's keep going. What about verse 27? Perhaps someone's skeptical of that. Okay, I get it, the Old Testament prophets might do that, but look at what Jesus says in verse 27. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Again, at first blush, this seems to be a visible coming of Christ, and with our backpacks full, we know that Christians are awaiting one great second coming of Christ, this visible coming of Christ, when no one will be able to deny it. That's part of why, even in Revelation, it speaks of false prophets, and saying, I am here, he's over there. Don't listen to any of that, because when he comes, it's gonna be obvious, even to his enemies. No, that's Christ, a coming on the clouds of heaven. And so, is that not what Jesus is speaking of here? And certainly, you would be in good company. And we talk about the plain reading of the text. When you come to a text of scripture, typically it's going to be you read it, you read it in its context, and you come to what we call the plain reading of the text. Consider Acts 1.11, Jesus has just ascended to the Father in a cloud in glory, and the angels say, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking in heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven, in cloud and glory. Or Revelation 1.7, behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so, amen. And then our parallel passage in Matthew 24 says this, then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. You know, for me, you'll see kind of where I plant my flag personally, but that Matthew 24 text, if someone's gonna take the view that this is, you know, we're talking about the second coming, I think that Matthew 24 text is one of the strongest. I think it's hard to get around that Matthew 24 text. It should give us pause. And yet, this might not be as conclusive as we think. Think of Jesus' words in Matthew 14. This is Holy Week, later in Holy Week. He's speaking to the high priest, and the high priest says, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed? What does Jesus say? He says, I am, and you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. He seems to be saying, high priest, you, high priest, you'll see me. You will see me coming in the clouds of heaven. Certainly he's not talking about the second coming, which didn't happen in the high priest's lifetime. Even the Old Testament prophets at times use this same language. Isaiah 19, 1, an oracle concerning Egypt, behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence. In other words, judgment in the Old Testament prophets, they could speak in very visible language that as if Babylon will see this visible manifestation, but the manifestation for them was the judgment that they were experiencing. And so for those taking, you could see then why Bible-loving Christians disagree on verse 26. Some see it as referring to the second coming. Others see it as still referring to that judgment coming upon Israel. For those taking that second view, that we're still talking about 70 A.D., that's what Jesus had in mind. They might put it this way, 70 A.D. was so monumental that it could be said that Christ came in judgment on the clouds, in no way detracting from his full and final coming that all Christians are waiting for. One commentator puts it this way, This act of judgment gave evidence that all power had indeed been given unto him. He did come in the clouds of heaven and rain destruction upon those who had rejected and crucified him. This caused indeed the tribes of the earth to mourn. The sign of the reigning Christ was seen in the destruction of Jerusalem, and the contemporary generation, they witnessed the fulfillment of all the things that Jesus prophesied. Okay, so we've muddied the waters at least. Clear as mud, right? We won't do hands, but just let me ask again. Are we talking about 70 AD? Are we talking about the second coming? Remember that we're gonna land the plane either way on He is coming. Amen, come Lord Jesus. And how do we live now? But keep that backpack open for just a moment. Whichever view you end up taking here, there are, quote, problem passages for you. And this shouldn't scare us as Christians, that as we read our Bibles, as we have our backpack open, as we're trying to put things together, God speaks clearly to us in Scripture. It doesn't mean that every passage is equally clear. and we shouldn't be afraid of that. There are certain things that we certainly should come to a view on and have conviction about, and yet we should come humbly. So you'll see that I do plant my flag at this stage more in the 70 AD camp, and yet I look at that Matthew 24 passage, and it's really hard for me not to read that and think of the second coming. I mean, look at the language there. It gives me pause, and that's a good thing. It keeps us humble. It keeps us coming back to the scriptures, sometimes puzzling over the scriptures. Again, I might, I plant my flag here after some good study, but I have no doubt that God might move the flag as I study scripture over the next few years. And unless you think that that's being very modern or post-modern, there are other things where the flag is planted and will never move. Ask me if I'll change my view in the next 10 years that Christ is fully God and fully man. Never. Ask me if I'll decide someday that Christ didn't really come in the world to save sinners, buy his blood and rise again. No, I'll die for that truth. But ask me in 10 years if Luke 21 relates to 70 AD to the second coming and which verses relate to which, I might change my view over the next 10 years. A Christian, there are hills to die on. such as Christ is King, the Holy Spirit is God, the resurrection of the dead, the life everlasting. There are other things that are important, biblical, worth seeking out, but they might lend themselves very much to good late night discussions over a fire, s'more in hand, debating one another, what about verse 26? Because at the end of the day, you put the fire out and you say, come Lord Jesus, come. And your life as a Christian is longing for his second coming. In the new heavens and the new earth, there will be many things that you are convicted of now that you will find out you were wrong about. And your brother or sister who walks up to you and they were right, you guys are gonna laugh about it. Because you're with your savior. And we all have our blind spots. So with that in mind, let's keep moving. Verse 28, he says, It's interesting, Christ indicates here that they will see some or all of what he's just described, depending on your view, and that this should lead them to encouragement, that redemption is near, that the kingdom is at hand. Verses 29 through 31, he tells them the parable of the fig tree. And in verse 30, he says, as soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Now, we don't have time to dig in here, but Jesus has been saying this over and over again. Even before these things that he's talking about, already the kingdom of God was at hand. It's at the very door. Jesus is knocking at the door. We are fundamentally in the same place as these apostles. They saw some things that Jesus prophesied that we didn't get to see in history. And yet like the apostles, we are between the times. Like the apostles, Christ is coming soon. He is at the very door. The imminence of his coming was true 2,000 years ago, and it's true now. Because as we'll see, we don't know the day or the hour. We are in the same place as them. And so can you begin to see how either view can lead to the same application? Imagine our kids that we left at home in our illustration. And they start arguing. And they start saying, no, no, no. We can know because mom and dad said that they're going to text us updates every hour. And they're going to let us know when they're on the plane and when they get off the plane and when they're almost home. And so we're going to know exactly when they come. And so we need to watch for those things. But the other kid says, no, no, no. They said we'll be home sometime between Sunday and Wednesday. Be ready. What's the proper application for either kid? It's to eagerly await their coming, to do what's on their list to do, to get to work. They might disagree. but they put their hand to the plow and they get to work. Every Christian prays, thy kingdom come. Every Christian prays, come Lord Jesus, come. And now we come to what has been called the most difficult verse to interpret in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Are you ready? Do you have some energy left? Verse 32. You'll see why, and maybe you noticed already. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Or Matthew puts it, truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Remember, we talked about the plain reading of the text, and that led us at first to have pause to say, well, it seems to be like he's talking about the second coming. Now we apply the same thing and he says, all these things will take place within this generation. Can you anticipate why that's a, quote, problem passage? We'll look at some views here. We're gonna look at the good, the bad, and the possible. First, the bad. First, the bad. Critics, non-Christians, or those who don't believe in God's word being true, they will point to this verse and say, ha, gotcha. Jesus here predicts his second coming within a generation. He didn't come. Therefore, either Jesus was mistaken, like he believed he'd come, but he didn't come, or he was lying. And the church had to sort of cover it up over time and add some things to say, well, you know, he really meant this. Can you feel the weight of that? That's a big thing that we need to be able to answer. Of course, we reject this view, even on the premise that Christ can't predict the future, or the premise that God's word isn't true, which they bring in their backpack to this verse, right? So that's the bad view. What about possible views? Some people go to the meaning of the word generation. And it's good, it's good to do word studies with caution. Always looking to the context and the rest of scripture. But some would say generation here can mean the Jewish people. The Jewish people will continue until all these things take place. Or it could mean an age, a longer period of time. So he has an indefinite period of time in view. Or it could mean humanity in general. Or it could mean a group with something in common. Like in Luke 16, 18, when he says, the sons of this world, or when Jesus talks about this generation seeking for a sign, it could be descriptive, saying, until the end of time, there's gonna be a group of people who reject me all the way up until the end. Within that, let's go to the good, and I'm showing my cards, obviously. My backpack is open before you. But, you know, no small theologian such as Sproul would take a view that actually differs from mine slightly. Sproul says this. But the point that Jesus is making is that every single promise that he has made will surely come to pass. I agree with that. The interpretation I favor, this is Sproul, is that by this generation, he means believers who form this new generation of hope that stretches from Christ's ascension to his return. This interim period of history will continue until the kingdom is consummated. Everything else may perish, but the word of Christ will remain intact. So again, if you land there, you're in great company. And yet, it's interesting, I do take this generation to mean, again, what seems to be the plain reading and the main meaning of that word. Even one commentator who takes kind of Sproul's view, he puts it this way, I'm quoting, even though every other reference to this generation in Luke can include Jesus' own generation, it's quite unlikely that here Jesus understood this generation in this manner. So it's kind of interesting. His backpack's open, right? He's wrestling with the text. It's good. But you can see why this verse causes so much difficulty. That's why we come with humility and a judgment of charity toward those with other views. But for sake of clarity, let me plant my flag in the sand that God can move whenever he chooses to. I believe this generation, in the plainest sense, as Jesus is saying, he's looking at them and saying, you, this generation, you will see these things take place. I believe that this, to paraphrase, I think Jesus is saying this, disciples, listen, you will see these things begin to take place. You will see Jerusalem fall. You will see me coming in judgment. But this is not the end. These are but birth pangs, pangs that will continue past your lifetime. Terrible as 70 AD is, it means hope for you, because it shows my words to be true. It reminds you that I am coming, I am at the very door, and so look to the hills. From whence your help comes, I am coming, surely. Pray for it, long for it, and live in the light with your eyes open. And again, as we seek to land the plane here, as promised, And we move to point two, three, and four, which very quickly are Jesus' point here, and in some ways, are the point any time we come to end times teaching in scripture, right? Some of it leads us to good campfire conversations, but at the end of the day, it's this, it's stay awake, be ready, don't be caught off guard, live as if he's coming, sit by the window in eager expectation. And so, point number two is this, prepare to endure. Prepare to endure, remember Jesus told them, before all of this you will face persecution, you're gonna be thrown in prison. John 15, 18, he reminds us, if the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. They will treat them and therefore we are treated as Christ was treated. The blood of the martyrs is indeed the seed of the church that was true in the first century. It's true now in places of the world where the church is thriving and growing and deepening its roots, even as the government tries to press down. Hear Jesus' words first, not sounding like encouragement, but ending with encouragement. He says in verse 16, you will be delivered up, even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. Some of you that were put to death. Jesus didn't sugarcoat things. But he says in verse 18, but not a hair of your head will perish. And verse 19, by your endurance you will gain your lives. What does he mean? You might even die, but not a hair of your head will perish. Jesus is saying they may harm you, they may even kill you, but they cannot touch you. Because Jesus says in John 10, 28, I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. Christian, whatever you face in this life, it might be persecution, it might even be death, they can't touch you. Number three, lift your eyes. Lift your eyes. Again, he says in verse 28, now when you see these things, straighten up, stand up, raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. And then in verse 31, see also when you see these things, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Remember Luke's teaching, the kingdom is at hand, the kingdom is at work, how much more so now that we pray your kingdom come, your will be done. There was a superhero comic written many years ago, and two heroes just getting started in their career wrestling with something. He says, how did we just go change into costume, and we flew out of the alleyway in broad daylight, and we weren't caught? What's up with that? And the other one says, people don't look up anymore. So we can do what we want. They don't look up anymore. Christians, we do look up. We look to the hills from whence our help comes, and we say Christ is coming. Our help comes from him and no other. And he's with us even now. We lift our heads, we straighten our backs, and we long for his coming. Number four, watch yourselves. Finally, Jesus admonishes them and us to stay awake, to keep our eyes open. He says, watch yourselves, lest your heart be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and the day come upon you suddenly like a trap, for it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. So even as we do look to the second coming, We don't know the day or the hour. It will come like a thief, and yet God's people are prepared. They are wide-eyed at the window, eyes open, sandals strapped, hand to the plow, not choked by the cares of this world, head up, longing for his coming. And so Christian, Jesus gives warning. Watch yourselves. Be aware that inertia takes over. Indwelling sin festers if left on its own. Desires run cold. And so look again to your Savior, stay vitally connected to him, abide with him and his people so that we can urge one another on to love and good deeds, even as we see the day approaching. Remember, this is the point of end times teaching, is to open our eyes. Jesus says, verse 36, 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. Christians, stay awake. Do not be lulled to complacency by the forces at work against you in this age. The devil himself, who wants nothing less than your indifference. It's been said that the opposite of love is indifference. Satan knows in some way, if you belong to Christ, he knows you're not just gonna go off the deep end and become a Satan worshiper. And so he wants your heart to be indifferent and cold. Don't allow it. Open your eyes. Or the world, who wants nothing less than your attention, your money, your time, your heart, apps and newsfeeds and corporations, voices that seek profit from your forfeited attention. Everywhere you go, open your eyes, look up. Or the flesh. which makes war within you, which wants what you no longer truly want, which behaves as if you're not a new creation, acts as if it's in charge when it's actually defeated and will one day be done away with for good? Are those who enter the new heavens and the new earth, are those taking it by storm, not those waiting by the sidelines? True life is lived awake, ready, joyful, sacrificial, You know, I was struck as I studied this, I did stumble upon an End Times teaching that was from a tradition that I wouldn't commend to you. The timeline, much more detailed. The focus, I think, off kilter. I don't think heretical, I think this was a Christian minister, but, you know, this was sermon seven out of like 20 on this sermon series called the End Times, right? And yet, at the end of his sermon, With tears in his eyes, he looks at his congregation and says, every Sunday I get up here and I tell you to be prepared. We are the final generation. And Jesus looks at his disciples and therefore with you with a shepherd's heart. He knew what was coming. He knew that it was gonna be hard. He knew that we would long for his coming and ask, why hasn't he come yet? And so he says to them, he says to you now, stay awake. I have that which is truly life. Look to me and nothing else. Keep your eyes open, keep your head up, keep your hands to the plow. Behold, I am coming very soon. And we say amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for that truth that we will plant our flag, that we will die on, that Christ is coming, and he's coming soon. I pray that your people, certainly here at Trinity, would be ready for his coming. I pray that as long as he tarries, which we know is grace as the gospel goes to the nations, that you would make us more and more faithful, more and more awake. Prepare our hearts now as we continue in worship, as we think of the Lord's table, as we think of meeting with our shepherd who is coming and yet he's with us now to the end of the age. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.