Mark 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Our secular world prides itself in assuming they are in control and given enough time, they can fix our problems. The current Canadian government has increased the mess this country is in, more than any other government in the past. Yet they claim to know how to fix the problems our country is facing.
In Mark 13, God directed the writer to record important prophetic truths. The focus of these prophetic truths is to the nation of Israel. God made Israel the central nation of the world in the time of Abram/Abraham. Israel was to be the vehicle through which God would reveal Himself to man. He provided the protection and the wisdom for that nation to become the strongest and wealthiest nation in the world. The sad reality is that Israel squandered the blessings of the Lord and thus He delivered them into exile for a number of years.
Jesus pointed out that there is more trouble ahead for Israel. He also pointed out that there is great blessing ahead for Israel, when she finally repents and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the concerns the disciples expressed was in relation to when these things would be. Jesus pointed out to them and to us that there is only One Who knows the exact timing of these events. That One is God the Father.
We have noted in the past that the Godhead is made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Bible declares these three are one. Yet in our text, Jesus clearly stated that He, as the Son did not know the day nor the hour of the fulfilment of the events He spoke of. You will notice that Jesus simply referred to Himself here as “the Son”. Jesus Christ is both the Son of God and the Son of Man. John 1:3 states:
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Jesus Christ is one with His Father. However, as the Son, He set aside His glory to become a man. He limited Himself in order to become a man. He is still the second person of the Godhead.
Rather than dwell on the timing, Jesus challenged the disciples and us to take heed to the present time. If we are doing what we need to be doing right now, we do not need to concern ourselves with the minute details of the future.
I have heard adults say they do not want to have children because they are concerned about the world they would be bringing their children into. Prior to the fall of man, God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply. After the fall of man, God repeated that command to man. If we as people would concern ourselves with knowing the true God and living for Him, the rest would be taken care of. It is true that times are much different today than they were when I was a young person. However, God is still in charge and He still wants all people to know Him. When we know Him, we will know His peace as well.
Jesus pointed out that the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey. While the master is away, the servants need to function as though the master is right there with them. That should be the case in a household. The children should behave themselves in the same manner whether the father and mother are home or not. In the work place, the employees should work just as hard if the boss is there or if he is gone out for a while.
In the spiritual realm, those who are saved should be walking in obedience to God’s Word, regardless of whether we are about to die today or if we have a number of years left to live. The decline in holiness among professing Christians is indicative of the imaginary idea that the Word of God is not that important.
Jesus warned of the danger of being asleep rather than being awake. Every generation is challenged with the need to know the true God and follow Him faithfully. Church History shows us there have been times of greater darkness and times of greater light. Those times are determined by us as people. God is the same, yesterday, today and for ever. God does not change. The danger is when His children grow cold to the truth.
The church in Corinth was a carnal church for a time. They had a negative impact on their society for a time. The church in Philippi grew to be a strong church that was a help to others. The difference was in the attitude of those who were saved.
God cannot bless carnality. He addresses it and works to purge His children of carnality. Jesus warned the disciples of the danger of being caught off guard, not by man, but by God. Death comes suddenly. At death there is no going back and fixing anything. Eternity is a long time. There are rewards for faithfulness for the true child of God. There are also loss of rewards for the saved who are careless with the truth.
Faithfulness after salvation should be of great concern to each born again Christian. The first priority is for personal holiness. Christians do not wait for others to do right before they do right. God works in the heart of every true child of God. It is important to submit to His will personally. It is important to be in a church that encourages faithfulness to the Lord. It is important to be a pure light for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bartel
