Keeping Watch

 
Matthew 24:36-51
 

Are you keeping watch for the end of the age? What does this even mean? As John pointed out last Sunday, the disciples were wondering this, as they asked Jesus in verse 2 of Matthew 24, “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” They knew that Jesus would be bringing in his kingdom in a more complete way. They suspected that the world as they knew it would change dramatically. Would that happen now or at some point in the future? How would they know what to expect? Jesus had just given them the shocking news that their beloved and honored temple would be destroyed; maybe he would explain the complete picture of what was to happen.
 
Jesus does give them a vivid warning that it will be a tough time, but that he will return to “gather his elect.” All the peoples of the earth would “see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” When the temple was completely destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. no doubt many Christians wondered if Jesus would return right then. This surely was one of the signs of his coming, the “abomination that causes desolation” prophesied by Daniel more than 600 years earlier.
 
But John also pointed out in his message last week that Biblical prophecy is usually fulfilled in multiple ways, in the near term and also in the end times. We have to be very careful with definitive interpretations that associate prophetic elements with current events, in an attempt to predict the end of the world. But people have been trying to do this ever since Jesus returned to heaven. Many times entire communities have stopped their normal activities and just waited, convinced that Jesus was about to return at any moment. Is that what it means to “keep watch”? We will see from today’s passage that the answer is no. We pick up Jesus’ discourse again in the middle of Matthew 24:

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 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; 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. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. – Matthew 24:36-42
 
We see right off here how presumptuous it is to try to predict when Jesus will return. It will be an unmistakable event, but it will happen suddenly. Jesus himself could not tell the disciples when it would be. Within the limitations of his human body and mind at that point he did not know – only his Father did. It will happen in the midst of ordinary life, and most people will not be expecting it. This is the point of the reference to Noah and the flood. Noah and his family knew what God intended to do, but most people had no clue what was happening until the flood waters took them away and they died. They were engrossed in the ordinary things of life, even getting married in anticipation of fulfilling their dreams. The flood interrupted normal life, as will Christ’s second coming. This is the point of the images of the men in the field and the women grinding, though some focus on these as a description of the rapture. Christ’s return will be the climax of history, but it will not come as the end of some predictable sequence of cataclysmic events. It will happen when people do not expect it.
 
Therefore, keep watch – not to try to figure out if Jesus will return today, but to live as if he could. The emphasis in this passage is to reject the notion that today doesn’t matter, that there will always be tomorrow to do what need to. If Jesus returned today, would he find us ready? Keeping watch means being prepared.
 
I have friends working in sensitive, unstable situations around the world who are required to keep a “go bag,” a set of essential items that they could grab immediately if they had to leave the country at short notice. They have to keep it updated and live in that expectation of having to leave suddenly at any time. This does not prevent them from fully engaging in life and the people that they are with, but it is always in the back of their minds: if I had to leave today, what would I do, what would I take with me? They are keeping watch; they are prepared. Jesus expects us to live in that same state of alertness and awareness with regard to his return.
 
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. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. – Matthew 24:43-44
 
Christ’s return is not predictable. He could come like a thief in the night, when everyone is asleep. But we have to sleep sometime don’t we? In the next chapter, in the Parable of the Ten Virgins, the bridegroom comes at midnight, after everyone has fallen asleep. However, some of the virgins are ready with oil in their lamps and some are not. The point is to be prepared. Regardless of what hour Jesus returns, it will be night somewhere on the earth. Some people will definitely be asleep. And yet every eye will see him, in some miraculous way, as it says in Revelation 1. Now for the rest of our passage in Matthew 24:
 
“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? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 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. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 24:45-51
 
In this parable, Jesus returns to the familiar theme of the master entrusting something to servants, in this case the care of other servants. This could be a lesson for church leaders, but actually most adults are entrusted with the care of someone else to some extent. And even kids need to learn to be faithful with the responsibilities that they have been given. For example, a pet needs to be fed at the proper time. The faithful and wise servant takes his responsibility seriously and fulfills it consistently. It doesn’t matter when the master returns. He will find the servant doing the right thing. Faithfulness is rewarded – with additional responsibility. On the other hand, the servant who takes advantage of the master’s absence to do as he pleases is described as wicked. He abuses the people he is supposed to be taking care of and is undisciplined in taking care of himself, abusing his own body with food and drink. He will be caught when the master returns unexpectedly and sent to hell, described again here as the place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” He is a hypocrite in committing to serve the master but then serving himself instead – and he meets the fate of all unrepentant hypocrites.
 
Webster’s first definition of hypocrite is “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion.” The wicked servant probably behaved himself as long as the master was around, pretending to honor him. His real attitude is revealed when he thinks the master will never find out. But everything is revealed at the end. As Jesus warns his disciples in Luke 12,
 
“Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. – Luke 12:1-3
 
This hypocrisy is the false appearance of virtue, acting holy on the outside, when our hearts are actually rebelling against what God wants. God is not deceived. Someday, everything concealed will be made known. God will reveal every selfish, wicked thought that we have. That’s why we need to be under his grace, trusting in Jesus to forgive us. No one is perfect on the inside, no matter how wonderful we might appear on the outside. The second coming of Jesus will happen in such a way as to reveal what people are really like.
 
Last Sunday, John read a couple of verses from 1 Thessalonians 4. I would like to read the whole section, which crosses into chapter 5 as well, as another description of what it will be like when Jesus returns:
 
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
 
There are certainly some parallels between this passage and Matthew 24. Some people point out the differences to make a case for a pre-trib rapture. I’m not going to get into all of that here. It is a controversy that perpetuates division between believers. What does Thessalonians teach us? God’s people who are alive will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The dead in Christ will rise, which means that their bodies will come to life again, as the Lord’s did, even those who have been burned up or exploded into shreds. Their spirits have been with him already, for it says “that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” We will be with the Lord forever.

The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, when people least expect it. I have not felt labor pains, but I know they can start suddenly, at inconvenient times. Pregnancy can seem interminable, but everyone knows it will end someday. That baby may be late, but it will be born sometime. There a certainty with childbirth at applies to the Lord’s return too. Matthew talks about people eating and drinking before the flood sweeps them away. Thessalonians says people will be feeling peaceful and safe before they are suddenly destroyed. Matthew speaks of the wicked servant getting drunk and neglecting his duty. Thessalonians counsels us to be awake and sober, clad in the armor of God, ready to receive his salvation. Whether we are awake or asleep when he returns we will go to live with him forever.
 
So what does it mean to keep watch? We have seen that it does not mean to stop what we are doing and just wait. Nor does it mean to try to predict a date in the future and live as we like before then. But it does mean to go about our daily lives with an expectation of Jesus’ return. Do you believe that you are living in the last days? Perhaps something like the pandemic has made it easier to sense that might be true. Or the current disruption in governments all around the world. Or the intensified persecution of Christians. But there have been pandemics and revolutions and persecution of God’s people throughout history. The last days actually began when Jesus ascended to heaven, saying that he would return someday. He promised to send the Holy Spirit to empower his people, and Peter in Acts 2 said that the prophecy in Joel was being fulfilled: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” The early church recognized that they were living in the last days, and God’s people have been watching the signs of the times ever since, looking for how Biblical prophecies are being fulfilled.
 
Just before I started going to college in East Texas, Keith Green moved his Last Days Ministries to Lindale, just a few miles down the road from where I would be. My mom would actually stay there when she came for my graduation. Keith was a Christian musician and evangelist and –  even though he shunned the term –  a prophet, calling sinners to repent, both outside and inside the church. “The world is sleeping in the dark/That the church just can't fight/'Cause it's asleep in the light/How can you be so dead/When you've been so well fed?/Jesus rose from the grave/And you, ya can't even get out of bed.” He wrote those challenging words in 1978, with an urgent sense of the world going to hell and the church not doing nearly enough to stop that. Some people thought he was too provocative, too judgmental. But he hated hypocrisy and wanted to confront it head on. One of his quotes that I read recently was, “Christians don’t like to talk about hypocrisy any more than turkeys like to talk about Thanksgiving.” He was very conscious of his own sin and need for grace, too. On that same 1978 album, No Compromise, he had another song calling out to God for mercy for himself: “After all/I've only grieved your spirit/And then I don't know why you stay with me/But every time I fall, your love comes through/And I don't want to fall away from you.” It was an acknowledgment of his own weakness and fallibility.
 
In 1982, just a few months before he died at age 28, Keith added these words to a song that his wife was writing: “When I stand in Glory/I will see His face/And there I'll serve my King forever/In that Holy Place.” Did he realize that these were his own “last days”? On July 28, 1982, shortly before the start of my junior year in college, Keith and two of his young children were killed in a plane crash not far from their home. I can remember being stunned at his death, really in the prime of his ministry. He was not only a remarkable musical talent, but he seemed to have a special passion and anointing of the Holy Spirit to communicate the gospel to young people. I remember some of my friends questioning if Satan had managed to “take him out.” I wondered if God had called him home to protect him from something worse happening to him. We don’t usually get answers to those kinds of “why” questions. What I did notice, however, was how the ministry declined after his death. It kept going for a while, but then the property in Texas was sold, Keith’s wife remarried and divorced, and now Last Day Ministries only exists as a website archive, mostly. But almost 40 years after Keith’s death we are still living in the last days, and others have taken up the torch from Keith Green to continue in new ways to exhort the church and call people to faith in Jesus, in expectation of his return.
 
Keith Green would probably not have chosen to leave his young family, but he was ready to meet his Lord Jesus. He was conscious of living in the last days and that motivated him to make the most of the time he had to reach out to a lost world and a lethargic church. And he wanted to continue to grow in love and intimacy with Jesus, so he would not fall away from him – as he wrote in that song that I quoted.
 
That last thought leads me to circle back (to use a currently fashionable term) to a passage that we came across earlier in Matthew 24:
 
Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. – Matthew 24:9-13
 
This is a rather scary passage, isn’t it? Jesus was talking to his disciples, and it stands as a warning to his followers to the present day. The end times are marked by persecution and martyrdom, Christians being hated by the world. Some people do fall away under pressure and betray other believers to the authorities. I have heard some sad stories of this happening in totalitarian countries even today. False prophets are evident in all contexts, of course – people who take liberties with scripture to suit their own fancies. Many people will be deceived by them, it says. Getting drawn into sin will harden people’s hearts, and their love for God will grow cold. Notice that it says that the love of most will grow cold. Jesus spoke of the narrow way that leads to life and the broad way that leads to destruction. What does it take to survive spiritually? Standing firm to the end, it says. This reminds me of a verse from Revelation 13: “This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.” If the one who stands firm to the end is saved, it implies that the one who does not stand firm is not saved. Fortunately it does not depend on our own willpower for us to stand firm. We are completely dependent on the grace of God in this regard. I am reminded of a song that I heard for the first time just recently, called “He Will Hold Me Fast,” one of those older hymns that has been recycled for modern audiences. Holding something fast means holding it securely. I’ll quote just the first verse of the song; you can find it on YouTube if you would like to listen to the whole thing.
 
When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast;
When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast.
I could never keep my hold through life's fearful path;
For my love is often cold; He must hold me fast.
 
No matter what you are facing right now, Jesus will hold you in his loving arms. I know this COVID time has been a great trial for many people. The past year has shaken the faith of many people. What can we depend on? What are we really trusting in? This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.
 
Let’s review: keeping watch – what does it mean?

•     Be prepared to meet Jesus at any time and exhort others to do the same
•     Live daily life with an expectancy that Jesus could return and prioritize accordingly
•     Persevere through trials and failures, trusting in the grace of God and standing firm to the end