The Model Life: Alertness, Part 5

Over the many years that I had the opportunity to go to the land of Israel, there were certain journeys that we would take when we went. One of the journeys we went on was called the journeys of Jesus. It was designed specifically to go only to the places where Jesus himself would have been.

And so during those trips, we would get up early the day after we arrived and we would make our way to a place called the Tell of Megiddo. Now a tell is a city built upon a city built upon a city built upon a city. And so there are 25 different cities that have been built on the Tell of Megiddo over all the years.

So it has risen very, very high. And so we take them to the Tell of Megiddo and we make our way up the Tell to the place where they were able to overlook the Valley of Esdraelon or the Jezreel Valley or better known as the Valley of Megiddo. And there I would sit everybody on rocks because there are no benches up there.

There are no chairs up there. There's just a lot of rocks. And so we sit everybody down on the rocks and they are able to overlook this vast valley of Megiddo, the Jezreel Valley.

And as they sit there, I take them with their Bibles to the book of Revelation. And I tell them, "This is what the Bible says in Revelation 16, verse number 13: 'And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the war of the great day of God the Almighty.'"

Verse 16: "'And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Megiddon or Armageddon.'"

And I take them there first because I take them to the end, not the beginning. When we take the journeys of Jesus, we don't go to Bethlehem first. We go to the end first.

And you know why? Because the end of a matter is better than its beginning, right? Ecclesiastes 7, verse number 8. If you've been with us on Wednesday nights, you understand that. So we take them all the way to the end. And as we're preaching on how it is that God is going to gather the armies of the East together in this vast valley, I have them overlook the valley to the other side.

Because on the other side of the valley is a little town that you know well called Nazareth. That's the hometown of Jesus. And I ask them this question: "I wonder what it would be like to be raised in Nazareth knowing that you are Jesus and you get up every morning and you're able to climb the cliffs around Nazareth and overlook the valley and know that one day you, as the king of all kings, are going to gather together the nations of the world to fight against you."

I wonder how many times our Lord did that. We have no record of anything that he did except when he was 12 years of age, outside of his birth and his dedication in the temple. But outside of that, we don't know anything about his early childhood except when he was 12.

And when he was 12 and he went to the Passover and was there and with his family, and of course they somehow left him behind. And when they came back to find him, he was in the temple conversing with the leaders of Israel. And of course Mary his mother said, "Where have you been? Don't you know we've been looking for you?" And Jesus said those famous words: "Don't you know that I have to be about my father's affairs? I have to be about my father's business." Christ was on a mission.

He was on a unique and special mission. And he knew all about his father's will. He came to do the father's will.

And so the affairs, the mission that Christ was on was one where he would reveal his deity. That's in John 1 and John 14, the Gospel of John. And not only did he come to reveal his deity, he came to ravage the enemy.

The prophecy of Genesis 3, verse number 15, was fulfilled on Calvary. And so First John 3 tells us that when Jesus came, he came for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil. So he says to his mother, "I had to be about my father's business."

"I have to reveal my deity. I have to ravage the enemy. I have to remove iniquity."

That's found in First John 3, verse number 5, where it tells us that the Son of Man appeared for this purpose, that he might take away our sins. So he knew at a very early age that this was his mission: to reveal the fact that he was God in the flesh, to reveal his deity, to ravage the enemy, to remove iniquity. He was on a mission.

He was on his father's mission. He came because his mission was to restore our dignity. That which had been lost in the fall in Genesis chapter 1—created in the image of God—had to be restored.

And sure enough, First John 3, verse 1, says that we are the children of the living God. He restored our dignity. On top of that, he had to recover our destiny.

In John 14 he says, "Because I live, you live. I am the resurrection and the life. If you believe that, you'll never die."

He's going to recover our destiny because that is our Lord. "I have to be about my father's business. I have to ratify my authority."

In Matthew 28 it says, "All authority has been given unto me both in heaven and on earth." In John 5 he talks about his authority to raise the dead. So he tells his mother, "I'm about my father's business."

"I have a mission. It's right on course and I'm gonna reveal my deity. I'm gonna ravage the enemy."

"I'm gonna remove iniquity. I'm gonna restore man's dignity. I'm gonna recover man's destiny."

"I'm the one who's gonna ratify my authority. But he came so that he could return in glory and reign in majesty." So when we go on our journeys of Jesus, we take them to Mount Megiddo to tell them that he came to return in glory.

That he might reign in majesty. He would come to reveal himself as the Lord of the universe. But he came to die.

Rise again so he could return in glory and majesty. It's important to know that because I've told you before, and you'll remember this—hopefully you'll remember this—that the first prophecy in the Bible from man to man about God is not the prophecy of his first coming. It's the prophecy of his second coming. That's how important it is to know about the return of the King.

It's recorded in Jude. Jude 14: "Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied saying, 'Behold the Lord came'—not 'the Lord is coming,' but 'the Lord came'—'with many thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.'"

Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, would be the one who would prophesy about not his first coming but his second coming. And I've already told you that every time the first coming is mentioned, the second coming is mentioned eight different times. And one out of every 25 verses in the New Testament is about the second coming of the Messiah.

And outside the doctrine of faith, the doctrine of the second coming is the most prominent doctrine in the New Testament. It's imperative that you understand this. So Jesus, having grown up in Nazareth, would overlook the Jezreel Valley every morning, every afternoon, every evening.

You can't miss it. It's humongous. And he would rise from his bed and he would overlook the valley.

And I'm sure that there must have been so many things going through his mind knowing that he came, that he was going to die and rise again. But one day he would gather all the nations of the world against him in that valley for the great war of God. I wonder how many times or if any time he ever thought about that opportunity.

And so the very first time that Jesus mentions his coming again is in Luke chapter 9. If you've got your Bible, you might want to turn there with me if you would. Luke chapter 9. And this is how he says it. Luke chapter 9, verse number 26: "For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."

This is the first time that Jesus mentions his return. That he's going to return in glory. Thus he will reign in majesty.

Remember he refers to himself as the Son of Man. He refers to himself as the Son of Man over 80 times in the Gospels. He does that because he wants to take everybody back to the book of Daniel the seventh chapter when Daniel has his vision of one like the Son of Man coming in great clouds of glory.

And Jesus, when he calls himself the Son of Man, is taking everybody back to Daniel chapter 7. And now for the very first time in his earthly ministry, he's going to refer to his return in glory. And then he says these words: "But I say to you truthfully that there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."

Well, what does that mean? That means some of you standing right here, some of you 12 standing right here, are not going to die until you see the kingdom of God. You go to the next chapter, it says, "Some eight days after these sayings, he took along Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray." Matthew's account says, "Six days later."

Luke says, "Some eight days later." Why is there a discrepancy? There isn't a discrepancy. Matthew and Mark record the six specific days in between day one, which he made the announcement, and day eight, in which the event actually occurred.

So Luke will say, "Some eight days," Matthew and Mark say, "Six days." So there's no discrepancy. It's very easily understood when you understand the timetable of our Lord. And so it says, "Took Peter, James, and John and went up on a mountain and while he was praying, and the appearance of his face became different and his clothing became white and gleaming."

In fact, if you read Matthew's account, his face would shine like the morning sun. "And behold, two men were talking with him, and there were Moses and Elijah who, appearing in glory, were speaking of his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem." In other words, they're speaking to the Lord about his death, his departure.

That which was going to happen in Jerusalem—he was going to be crucified. So Moses and Elijah are conversing with the Son of Man about his impending death. Verse 32: "Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep. When they were fully awake, they saw his glory." Matthew says that he was transfigured.

He was metamorphosized. In other words, he unzipped his flesh and the glory of the Lord would shine forth. "They saw his glory and they saw the two men standing with him."

"And as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, 'Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles. One for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah'—not realizing what he was saying."

That's very important because Peter, James, and John recognized Moses and Elijah. How did they do that? Was Moses carrying tablets of the commandments? Was Elijah on a chariot filled with fire? Did he have a big E on his chest? How did they know this was Moses and Elijah? This goes to tell you that when you get to heaven, you'll recognize everybody that's there. That's just a good thing.

You always say, "Where's the Apostle Paul?" You'll know where he is. Although when you get to heaven, that won't be your first look up. It'll probably be me, your pastor.

No, that's not true. It'll be the Lord Jesus. You'll be consumed with him.

But interesting that they were able to recognize Moses and Elijah. And so why does Peter say, "Let's build three tabernacles here"? Why? We told you last week, Zechariah 14, that in the kingdom of God they will celebrate the feast of tabernacles. So Peter, knowing the Old Testament like he did, would say, "Well, let's build three tabernacles right here. One for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah."

And he would also know Malachi 3 and Malachi 4 that before the coming kingdom of God and the day of the Lord, one like Elijah would come. So he knows that.

That's why he's saying, "Let's build three tabernacles." Quite a scene. "While he was saying this, the cloud formed and began to overshadow them and they were afraid as they entered the cloud."

"Then a voice came out of the cloud saying, 'This is my son, my chosen one, listen to him.' And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone." Now notice this. It says, "And they kept silent and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen."

How could you not do that? How could you not say anything? When we know from Matthew's account that Jesus told them, "Don't say anything." And the voice had come from heaven, which is the Lord God his Father who said, "This is my beloved son, listen to him."

So whatever he tells you, listen to him. And Jesus then says, "Don't tell anybody what you just saw." Why? Why? Why not tell anybody? Well, there could be several reasons.

One, because if Rome found out about it, they would think that this one Jesus would be deciding to have some kind of insurrection to set up his kingdom. Or the Jews would incite him to be their leader, and they already wanted to be their leader because he fed the 5,000 earlier. They wanted to be the leader, so this would always increase that all the more.

That could possibly be. But I think there's something much more important than that. And that is, in order for the Son of Man to be glorified, he had to die and rise again.

That has to happen. He has to—after revealing his deity—he must ravage the enemy. That's a prophecy of Genesis 3:15.

It must happen. He must remove iniquity, but he can't do that unless he dies on Calvary's cross. All that must happen first.

He must restore man's dignity. He must recover man's destiny so that he will one day return in glory. But the order is very important.

So he tells them, "Don't say anything," and they didn't. Until Peter spoke about it in Second Peter 1:16-19. And John spoke about it in John chapter 1: "We beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

Same would be true of James. They would speak about it after his death, burial, and resurrection.

Because they wanted everybody to know that he's going to return in glory, in reign, in majesty. The King is coming again. So important to understand this.

So important to realize that Jesus is going to come again. We are right in the midst of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians. This is our ninth week in chapter 4, verse number 13, through chapter 5, verse number 11.

And we won't finish this week. And we might not even finish next week. But that's okay.

Because you see, you must understand how important this is for your life. It's all about living, as we have seen in First Thessalonians 4:13-18, about anticipation. About expectation.

That's the model life. Living in anticipation of the day of Christ. And then living with alertness.

That's chapter 5, verses 1-11, for the day of the Lord. The day of Christ centers around the rapture of the church. And the day of the Lord centers around the retribution and the revelation of God at the end.

And therefore it's important to understand all that's happening. And while we can't give you all the details, we have on our website a series called "The Return of the King." If you want to know a step-by-step process through the coming of the King, when he comes for his own, and to the very end, the eternal state, that series would be one for you to listen to as you go back and forth to work, or back and forth to school, wherever you go.

Because it goes into great detail about why Jesus must come again. And why the church won't go through the tribulation. And how do you know that? And what is it about the rise of the Antichrist? And how does that happen? And what about Israel? And what about the future? And it just goes into great detail from the beginning to the end to show you how the end is all about the King, his glory, his majesty, his coming again.

It is my heart's passion for people to understand the coming of Jesus. It motivates everything in life like nothing else does. And so I want to talk to you about the coming of Jesus.

And I'm not going to finish it today, it's obvious. But at least I can begin it for you today. And let you know that his coming is a sure event.

You can bank on it. We know that from what Zechariah tells us. Zechariah chapter 14, verse number 1. Now you think about that and think about what the Jewish people know.

Think about the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And the people sang his praises. They would quote the Old Testament about Psalm 40 and Psalm 110 about the coming one, or Psalm 118, the one who was about to come, the title for the Messiah.

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." And remember they took off their garments and they took palm branches and they began to wave them back and forth in honor. They would take their clothes off and garments so that the king, when he rode over them, it would show their total submission to the king's authority.

And the Bible tells us in Luke 19 that they praised him, not for his message, but for his miracles. But remember they were thinking of Zechariah 14. He's coming down the Mount of Olives.

They're on the Mount of Olives. And they're thinking that Zechariah 14 says he's going to stand on the Mount of Olives. He's going to split the Mount of Olives.

This is the king. And they know Zechariah 9, verse number 9, that's a prophecy that was fulfilled on that day. Zechariah 9:9 says, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Jerusalem! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!" That's exactly what they did.

They were shouting in joy. "Behold, your king is coming to you. The coming one is arriving."

"He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey." So they know this. These are Jewish people.

They're well-versed in the Old Testament. Here is the king coming on a donkey. Zechariah prophesied that.

He also prophesied he'll stand on the Mount of Olives. He'll split the Mount of Olives. They didn't see any gap between his first coming and his second coming.

They didn't see that. They didn't understand that. They saw it all as one arrival, one advent.

But there are two advents. There are two comings. And so they would praise him.

But he didn't split the Mount of Olives. No, he went to the city, looked around, and left. Came back the next day and cleansed the temple, cursed the fig tree.

Came back the next day and preached all day. They're like, "Where's the splitting of the mountain? Where are the rivers that will flow? Where's the king?" And by Friday they'll crucify him. He didn't meet their expectations yet.

Because he will. Because he's coming again. That's why in Luke 9, when Christ referenced everything about his coming in glory in the kingdom of God, his men would understand that there's going to be another arrival, another coming.

He would know that as he was raised in Nazareth. Get up and overlook the city, overlook the Jezreel Valley. In fact, if you recall even in Luke's gospel in the fourth chapter, when he was going to read in the synagogue, it says in verse number 16: "And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath."

That's what Jesus did. Every Sabbath he was in the synagogue.

Every self-respecting Jew would be in the synagogue on the Sabbath. That's what they did. "They stood up to read."

What was he reading? "And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him." Why? Because there's a very systematic reading of the Old Testament in the synagogue. And it just so happened that in the providence of God, he was asked to read on this day, because he would read from Isaiah 61.

That was the reading for the day. So the providence of God. "He opened the book and found the place where it was written: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives. The recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.'"

And he closed the book. Isaiah 61, verse number 1. He stops right there. Why? Because this was the day where he would reveal his deity. This was the day he came to ravage the enemy.

This is the day he came to remove iniquity. This was the day he came to recover man's destiny. This was the day where he came to restore man's dignity.

The favorable year of our Lord. The year of redemption. For the very next phrase in Isaiah 61 says, "And the day of vengeance."

But this wasn't the day of vengeance. Not yet. It was coming, but it wasn't the day.

There would come a day of vengeance, but on this day in Nazareth, it was not the day. And you know the story. They marvel at what he said.

"Is this not Joseph's son?" And then they became so angry at what he would say to them later on in that conversation that they would take him to this brow of a cliff to throw him off so as to kill him, because they were so angry with him. Wow. But he escaped by divine providence.

He escaped through the crowd. We go to this place in Nazareth. This cliff, not necessarily the literal place, but it is a traditional place.

It's a high cliff that overlooks the Jezreel Valley, but they could not kill him. Why? It wasn't his time to die. And he wasn't going to die that way anyway.

He was going to die on Calvary's cross. It was all predestined, all predetermined. And so through a miracle, he escaped the crowd.

They did not kill him on that day. Why? Because there would be a day he would die on Calvary's cross. He would rise again.

And what? He would say in Acts chapter 1, or the angels—or the two men in white apparel would say—"Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? Do you not know that the same Jesus will return in the same way in which he left?"

It is a sure event. It's ironclad. He's coming again.

We gather together to celebrate the Lord's table because we proclaim his death until he comes. That's why on the transfiguration, Christ said to his men, "Don't say anything." Why? Because you need to proclaim my death until I come again.

They need to know that I came to die. I came to remove their iniquity. I came to ravage the enemy.

I came to do all this. I came for this purpose. I have a mission.

I must be about my father's business. I'm going to one day return in glory, but not yet. But I am coming again.

It is a sure event. A sure event. And in Revelation chapter 22, last chapter, book of the Bible, three times—verse number 7, verse number 12, verse number 20—Jesus says, "Behold, I'm coming quickly."

The last promise of the Bible is, "I'm coming." I love that. "I'm coming."

You better be ready. "I'm coming." That's why the model life is built around anticipation and alertness.

You live in anticipation of his arrival and you're alert because no one knows the day nor the hour. But let me close with this. It's not where I planned on closing, but I'll close here.

In Luke's gospel, the 17th chapter, this event we'll talk about next week, it's not just a sure event. It is a surprising event. It is a sudden event.

It is a supernatural event. It is a slaughtering event. It is a sovereign event.

It is a satisfying event. I'll cover all these with you next week. But it is a sobering event.

A very sobering event. Listen to what Jesus says in Luke 17. He says in verse 24: "Just like the lightning when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in his day."

"But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating, they were drinking, and they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all."

"It was the same as happened in the days of Lot. They were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building. But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all."

"It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, the one who was on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out. And likewise, the one who was in the field must not turn back."

And he says these words: "Remember Lot's wife." Why did he put that there? Because she, like so many, desired the world.

She could not divorce herself from the world. She loved Sodom. She desired the things of the world.

And because she desired the world, she would defy the Word of God. Those who desire the world will always defy the Word of the living God. The angel said, "Do not look back."

"There's nothing there for you. Everything before you is what you need to be looking toward, not behind you." Jesus said, "No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God."

There's nothing back there for you. Your past life has nothing for you. But she desired the world so much that she would defy the Word of the living God.

Why would she do that? Because in her heart she disbelieved the warning from God. She didn't think anything would happen. She thought that God was a God of love, God of grace, compassion, mercy.

And he is. But when he gives a warning and says, "Don't do this," he means exactly what he says, "Don't do this." And so in her desire for the world, and in her disobedience to the Word of God, she disbelieved the warning from God.

And thus, she died on the way from Sodom. She was turned into a pillar of salt. How tragic.

You see, the coming of Christ is a very sobering event. Many people will die. Many loved ones will be left.

And therefore we must understand the imperative to preach the gospel. That's why we celebrate the Lord's table. As a reminder, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim my reason for coming until I come again.

You proclaim my death, the way to life, until I come again. It is a sure event. I wonder if you are ready for the return of the King, his coming again.

You can be like those in Second Peter 3 who mock the coming of Jesus. "Where is the promise of his coming? It has been 2,000 years. Everything goes as it has always gone before."

"Nothing is going to change," but it escapes your notice that one day our Lord warned about a coming flood and it happened and destroyed the world. And one day he is coming again, but he won't destroy the world with water. He'll destroy it with fire.

But he is coming because he promised, and our God is the God of truth. He never lies. He's coming again.

My prayer is that you be ready for his return. Let's pray. "Father, we thank you for today."

"So much to say, so very little time to say it. Yet we trust that the things that were preached today would be what you wanted us to hear. And as we partake of the Lord's table, may we be ever mindful that you are certainly coming again."

"Your death was not the end. It was the beginning of the end. It was everything."

"And we celebrate that because you are the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen."