The Model Life: Alertness, Part 8

Maranatha Well, that's not bad Not bad That word is found in what verse of the Bible? Anybody know? Alright That's what I'm here to tell you. 1 Corinthians 16, verse number 22 Maranatha But the phrase before it is so crucial that sometimes we forget Our Lord come is what Maranatha means But right before that Paul says, if anyone does not love the Lord let him be accursed And then he says Maranatha Why? Because those who love the Lord want to see the Lord Those who don't love the Lord don't care to see the Lord Those who love the Lord can't wait to be in His presence

Those who love the Lord can't wait to enter into glory Those who love the Lord cannot wait for Him to return That's why Paul says we love His appearing. 2 Timothy 4, 8 There's a longing, there's a loving, there's a looking, there's a living all about the appearing of Jesus Christ, our great God and Savior That's what marks the believer He is committed, deeply committed to the arrival of the Messiah

You know when we have been to Israel over the years when we come to the city of Jerusalem we wake up the next morning having arrived in the late afternoon and we take them first of all to the Mount of Olives And as we drive up the Mount of Olives and we begin to see the sun rising up over the mountain in the east and begins to shine down on the old city of Jerusalem, we take everybody and we sit them on the Mount of Olives And they have this view of the old city They have this view of the Dome of the Rock that glistens under the sun that shines down upon it

And all of Mount Moriah is under the beauty of the sunshine And you're able to see the old city You're able to see the hill of Aphel the hill that ascends up from the city of David as you look down upon the city of David So you can see the city of David You take the hill of Aphel and ascend up until Mount Moriah You see the Dome of the Rock You can see Golgotha off in the distance as you sit on the Mount of Olives And then as you look down the Mount, you look down to a valley And that valley is called the Valley of Jehoshaphat or the Valley of Decision or the Kidron Valley

It's a very important valley in prophecy It was a very important valley during the time of Christ It truly is the Valley of Decision It's all about how Christ will one day decide the destiny of every man and woman For those who decided not to follow the Christ, Christ will decide to curse them Those who decide to follow the Lord, they will be the ones who will enter into His glorious kingdom But when you sit the people down on the Mount of Olives, you begin to open the Bible and you can begin to point to all these different places that are real places They're not traditional They're literal

And you can show it to them Help them understand it But you sit them down to tell them about the return of the King That the King is coming again And as they're sitting there and they have their notebooks because we give them these notebooks with all of the sermon outlines in them There's probably 45 or 50 different sermon outlines in there that we go over at each and every spot where we have them understand what is actually happening here so that they understand it You tell them about the return of the King And you tell them this You tell them this is a sure event It's going to happen

The veracity of God is at stake He said in Revelation chapter 22 three times behold I am coming quickly The last promise He gives is a promise of His return We know that there's a fixed time in which the Lord will arrive And we tell them and read to them Zechariah chapter 14 verse number 4 In that day, in that day His feet, the Messiah's feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which is in front of Jerusalem on the east and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley

And we tell them look you're sitting in a place that's one day going to be split in half And there's going to be this very large valley because the Messiah will one day stand on this mount You are sitting where the Messiah will one day stand This is a sure event It's going to take place How do we know that? Well if there were 330 prophecies that specifically are designed to speak about the arrival and the Messiah and there are only 109 of them fulfilled in His first coming, that means there are 224 yet to be fulfilled in His second coming

And get this if all 109 were fulfilled literally not figuratively, that means the other 224 will also be fulfilled literally, not figuratively, not symbolically, not allegorically, not some kind of spiritual experience in your heart It's going to happen exactly as Jesus said Why would He give you all these prophecies and say well these are literal but these well they're not going to be literal No they're all literal They're all going to happen exactly as He said This is a sure event But notice this, not only is it a sure event, it is a sovereign event It is a sovereign event

In other words, Zechariah chapter 14 the Bible tells us these words Zechariah chapter 14 verse number 9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth in that day The Lord will be the only one and His name the only one In other words this is a sovereign event It's a fixed time in which the sovereign God of the universe knows exactly when it's going to happen but on top of that it's all about the rule of the king

Now I have told you that when you train your children, when you teach your children when you invest in your children, the very first thing you do is invest in terms of what it means to be saved They need to understand salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone But the very next thing you teach them about after salvation is about the second coming of the Messiah You need to tell them that the Messiah is coming again Once you're born again you need to know He's going to arrive again to take you home to be with Him This is so important

Why? Because in the process of training your children you want to teach them how to pray So if you want to teach your children how to pray you've got to teach them what the Lord taught His disciples on how to pray That makes sense right? Why would I teach my children how to pray my way when I could teach my children how to pray God's way? I mean what's more important my way or God's way? And the disciples came to Jesus and said Lord John's disciples have taught them or asked Him to teach them to pray and John's disciples John the Baptist taught him how to pray Lord teach us how to pray

Now isn't it interesting that's the only thing the disciples ever asked Jesus to teach them They never said Lord teach us how to preach You think they would ask that? They didn't ask that Lord teach us how to do the miracle thing That's pretty cool Teach us how to do miracles Nope Never asked that either But they did ask the Lord to teach them how to pray Why is that? Because that's all He ever did was pray He'd get up early in the morning and they'd wake up and say where's Jesus? Praying again Let's go find Him In the middle of the night He'd go away Where's Jesus? Praying

He was always praying And so because He was always communing with His Father in Heaven they want to know how to do that Well what do your children ask you to teach them? Ever asked that question? Your kids might teach you can you teach me how to play ball? Can you teach me how to wrestle? Can you teach me how to do this or do that? Do they ever ask you teach me how to pray? Teach me about the Word of God Because you see your children will ask you to teach them what they see you doing the most Your children will ask you to teach them what is important to you because you're always doing it

So they're going to want to know what does that mean? So the disciples said Lord teach us how to pray And so the Lord gave them what is commonly called the disciples prayer It's not the Lord's prayer It's the disciples prayer The Lord's prayer is John 17 The disciples prayer is Matthew chapter 6 Because He teaches His disciples on how to pray And you know it very well He says when you pray, pray this way Okay so that gives us an instruction that when we pray here is a pattern by which we are to follow And you will note that the pattern is very important

It's God and His glory way before it's man and his needs It's our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven It's all about God's glory But when we pray what do we pray for? Man's needs That's the first thing out of our mouth Our needs Our wants But according to the disciples prayer that's not how it works It's God and His glory Because if you're not consumed with God's glory then how can you ever know how to pray for your needs? And then it goes into the give us and forgive us and deliver us aspect of man's needs

But it always begins with God's glory And so the Lord taught His disciples how to pray When you pray I want you to be consumed with my purity Hallowed be Thy name Lord I want Your name hallowed in my life Lord I want Your name holy in my life Lord I want Your name reflected in and through my life Hallowed be Thy name Be consumed with my preeminence And then He says when you pray pray this way Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name Thy kingdom come That means you're praying for the return of the King You're praying for His kingdom, His rule to come to earth

The word for kingdom is basileia which means to rule So you're praying Lord Your rule come Your rule come Lord we know that You are a universal King We know that You're King of kings and Lord of lords So we know that You are the King of all the universe And we know that Lord because we have received You into our hearts we now understand that You are our King You rule in our lives And because You rule in our lives You're our King So we know that You are a universal King We know that You are a spiritual King But Lord we want You to be a literal King

We want You to be the King on the earth as Zechariah 14 verse number 9 In that day He shall be King in all the earth That's a sovereign event where the King himself rules in the land of Israel And our prayer life is to be consumed with that So we are consumed with His purity and His preeminence but we are concerned with His program where He is the ruler of the world and He comes to this earth and He rules over this earth He sits on the throne of David He rules in the city of Jerusalem, Mount Zion and the King is enthroned on high See the coming of Christ is a sovereign event

And so if you're going to teach your children how to pray they need to know that when you pray you pray Thy kingdom come So He says look when you pray, pray this way Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven And that phrase on earth as it is in heaven refers to all three petitions Lord may Your name be hallowed in my life on earth as it is already in heaven May Your kingdom come to earth May Your rule come to earth as Your rule is already exemplified in heaven

May Your will be done on earth as Your will is always done in heaven And the will there is the will of desire, Thelema May Your desire be done on earth just like Your desire is always done in heaven That is what our prayer life is to be like What's your prayer life like? That's how you pray This is God's way on how to pray Be consumed with His purity Be concerned with His program Be committed to His plan And then you're ready to pray, Father give us this day our daily bread Forgive us our trespasses as we trespass against others And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever Amen The coming of the King is a sovereign event It is a sure event The coming of the King is a surprising event Tells us in Revelation 16, 15 Tells us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse number 2 Tells us in Matthew chapter 24 and 2 Peter 3 verse number 10 He's going to come like a thief in the night That's a surprise Thieves don't announce when they're coming They don't send you a postcard, send you a text, give you an email, let you know in advance that they're coming No, it's all a surprise

He comes like a thief in the night No one is going to expect it when He arrives And not only is His coming a surprising event, it is a sudden event Sudden event The Bible tells us that the sky will be dark and the stars will fall from the heavens It'll be pitch black And out of the east comes the glory of the Lord In a very sudden manner Listen, when we talk about the return of the King, please understand, we're talking about the whole gamut of His return The day of Christ, the day of the Lord, and the day of God Don't separate them until you are specifically talking about one aspect of them

But they all deal with the return of the King. I told you just last week, the day of Christ deals with what? The rapture of the church and the reward of the Christian The day of the Lord deals with the retribution of sinners and the redemption of Israel And the day of God deals with the fact that God's righteousness dwells forever and ever and ever It's called the day of eternity It's all about the coming of the King It encompasses all that It's an absolute surety It's going to happen It's a sure event It's a sovereign event It's going to be a surprising event

Even the rapture of the church is a surprise No one knows when the Lord's going to come and take His own to be with Him But He's going to do that It'll be a sudden event Boom! Just like that, the church will be translated into glory But so will the return of the King and His revelation at the end of the day of the Lord He will come very suddenly and unexpectedly But notice this, not only is it a sure event, not only is it a sovereign event, a surprising event, not only is it a sudden event, it is a slaughtering event. A slaughtering event

You say, that's kind of harsh, isn't it? Well, not if you read your Bible It's not harsh It's a slaughtering event Listen to what the Bible says in Zechariah chapter 14, verse number 12 Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet and their eyes will rot in their sockets and their tongue will rot in their mouth That is an absolute devastation It's all going to rot And all He does is speak a word He just speaks the word And it happens Listen to Zephaniah

Zephaniah chapter 1, verse number 17 That is an absolute slaughtering event Isaiah describes it this way Isaiah chapter 63, verse number 1 Isaiah chapter 63, verse number 1 Isaiah chapter 63, verse number 1 Do you want to know why there's blood all over the place? Do you want to know why my garments are stained? It's because I tread the winepress alone There's no one with me This is the great war against God. I'm destroying everybody that's against me That's why their blood is all over the place That's why the book of Revelation says that blood flows for 200 miles. 1600 stadii

Why? Up to the bridal's mouth Why? Because the Lord makes sure that this is an absolute slaughter when He arrives for all those who do not believe in Him Earlier, Isaiah would say this Isaiah chapter 13 He would say these words Wail, for the day of the Lord is near It will come as destruction from the Almighty Therefore, all hands will fall limp and every man's heart will melt They will be terrified Pains and anguish will take hold of them They will writhe like a woman in labor They will look on one another in astonishment, their faces aflame

Behold, the day of the Lord is coming cruel with fury and burning anger to make the land a desolation and He will exterminate its sinners from it That's an absolute destruction It is a slaughtering event That's why in Revelation 19 He calls the birds to come and eat the flesh of kings and commanders and every poor man and every rich man Why? Because you're going to need the birds to come and clean up all the carnage because it's all throughout the land of Israel It's a slaughtering event But it is a saving event It is a saving event

Yes, it's the retribution of God upon sinners, but it's also the redemption of God and His grace upon those who believe Israel will be saved Back to Zechariah chapter 12 It says this in verse number 10 And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication so they will look on Me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn

In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo Chapter 13 verse number 1 For the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity Verse number 9 As bad as the slaughter is so great is the salvation of sinners Israel will finally recognize their Messiah Israel will finally be saved Israel will have their King and Israel will see Him rule and reign just as He promised Malachi tells us it's when the Son of Righteousness rises with healing in His wings and they will skip around like calves because of the joy of the Lord

The King is coming It's a sure event It's a sovereign event It's a surprising event It's a sudden event It is a slaughtering event It is a saving event It is a sobering event Very sobering Over in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 Verse number 7 It says these words Sobering event Because God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked Even though millions will die He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked But He deals out retribution on those who do not know God and to those who refuse to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Man is totally responsible and totally culpable for his unbelief

And God says He will deal out retribution on those who will not give their life to Me It's a very sobering event So when you tell your children about the return of the King and you tell them, you know what, it's going to happen, it's sure It's ironclad Yeah, it's been 2,000 years, but we talked about that last week with Peter because God is patient, long-suffering Not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance So the patience of God is being put on display over and over and over again But it's going to happen

It's a sovereign event because He will be the ruler of the world It will be a surprising event because no one knows the day nor the hour It will be a sudden event because when they are saying peace and safety, 1 Thessalonians 5, 2, all of a sudden destruction will come It will be a slaughtering event because millions will be slaughtered, but it will be a saving event because Israel will be saved There will be Gentiles that are saved Some of them will be martyred during the tribulation, but God will save even Gentiles during the tribulation period But it is a sobering event

You teach your children, this is why we share the gospel Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men You see, the impetus for sharing the gospel, the impetus for praying, the impetus for going to church centers around what? The second coming of the Messiah Teach your children, Jesus is coming again Make that the focal point of your teaching Make that the focal point of all that you do Jesus is coming again Next, I'm not sure what number we're on It is a sanctifying event Maybe somebody can tell me what number that is

Does anybody know? Anybody counting? Anybody taking notes? Anybody care? 8, number 8 Thank you, Jeremy It's a sanctifying event He who has his hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure You want your kids to grow up pure and clean before the Lord Well, how do you help them do that? Help them understand the blessed hope Help them understand what Peter says over in 1 Peter chapter 1, where he says, Jesus Christ How many times have we said it? The clearer you see the future, the cleaner you stand in the present If your future is all muddy, your present will be muddied

If your future is clear on the return of the King, boy, you stand clean in the present That was from our study of the book of Daniel Remember that? The book of Daniel Man, what a man Seventy years he was in Babylon Seventy For seventy years he maintained a pure and clean life Seventy years No compromise There was no question about his integrity Every king that came saw him as a man of integrity And that's because he clearly saw the future He could cleanly stand in the present And he did That's why the coming of the King is a sanctifying event It's a separating event

It separates you apart from the world You don't want to be a part of the world Why? Because this is not your home You're just passing through You're going to glory So important Number nine Right, Jeremy? Okay It is a selective event. A selective event Listen to what the Bible says In the book of Matthew, twenty-fifth chapter, when the Lord said these words But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, they will sit on His glorious throne All the nations will be gathered together before Him He will separate them from one another

As a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left This is Matthew chapter twenty-five Now remember we told you that the longest answer that Jesus ever gave to any question asked of Him was Matthew twenty-four and twenty-five about His return That's how important it is And so now He's concluding everything with the sheep-goat judgment Listen to the book of Joel Joel Joel chapter three And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat We read this when we're with the people on the Mount of Olives And we have them look down into the valley

The valley of Jehoshaphat And we read from Joel chapter three This is Matthew twenty-five in the Old Testament Joel chapter three Put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe Come tread for the wine press is full The vats overflow for their wickedness is great Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision Remember the valley of Jehoshaphat is the kitchen valley It's the valley of decision It's the same valley, just three different names But it's called the valley of decision He says, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision

The sun, the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness And the Lord roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem And the heavens and the earth tremble But the Lord is a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel Then you will know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain So Jerusalem will be holy and strangers will pass through it no more And you help people see, look, in this valley that you are looking at is the valley of decision When our Lord splits the mountain, He will set Himself up as ruler and judge and king

In Matthew twenty-four, He will take the sheep He will put them on His right He will take the goats He will put them on His left He will say to the sheep, when I was hungry, you fed me When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink When I was in prison, you visited me When I was naked, you clothed me And the sheep will say, when did we see you hungry? When did we see you naked to clothe you? Pray tell, when did we ever see you in prison to visit you? And Jesus the judge responds, when you did it to the least of these My brethren, that's the Jewish people, you did it as unto Me

Enter into the joy of the Lord And then He looks to the goats and says, hey, not that you guys are the goats, but He looks to His left where the goats are He's put them on His left And He says, when I was hungry, you didn't feed me When I was thirsty, you gave me nothing to drink When I was in prison, you did not visit me And they say, but we never saw you in prison We never saw you hungry We never saw you thirsty And Jesus says, because you did not do it to the least of these My brethren, you did not do it unto Me You did not protect My people, My chosen ones

And you evidenced yourself as those who do not believe in Me as their King Therefore, enter into eternal damnation, the place prepared for the devil and his angels The coming of Christ is a selective event Not everybody goes to heaven Only those who know Christ as Lord and Savior And isn't it interesting that neither the sheep or the goats understood that what they did evidenced true salvation? But it did In the sheep's case, they did it just because it was in their DNA, their spiritual DNA, their spiritual nature to do it

But the goats, it wasn't in their spiritual DNA because they were not citizens of the kingdom Therefore, they had no desire to take care of God's people But those who love the Lord love His people Those who love the Lord will protect His own, protect His people, and care for them and love them and nurture them And that's what will happen during the tribulation There will be Gentiles who will take care of Jewish people They will gather them together and protect them from the evil one And the Lord will say, enter into the joy of the Lord Wow Can't wait to hear those words

Let me give you one more Because my time is gone. I'll take some more time And my hip feels great Hey, we'll be here all day It is a special event It's a special event And let me tell you why just real quick It's a special event because you'll enter into glory You'll enter into glory It's a special event because you escape the wrath of God That's pretty special You escape the wrath of God You enter into glory And then you know what? It's a special event because you enjoy the presence of the Lord forever You enjoy the presence of the Lord forever

And number four, you will engage in perfect worship You'll engage in perfect worship And next, you will encourage one another That's how Paul closed 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 18 He says, Chapter 5 verse number 11 This is your encouragement This is your motivation When the disciples were on the eve of the crucifixion and they were distraught over the fact that Jesus was going to die the next day, how did he encourage them? He told them about His return In my Father's house are many mansions If it were not so, I would have told you And I go and prepare a place for you

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am there you'll be also This is the encouragement This is the motivation How do you encourage the downcast? How do you encourage the disenfranchised? How do you encourage the disinterested? How do you encourage those who are just out on a limb? You talk to them about the return of the King The return of the King is everything Why? Here's the last point Because the end of a matter is better than its beginning That's why it's a special event The end of a matter is always better than its beginning

Solomon said it and Jesus exemplified it And the end of the matter is the return of the King May God give us the grace and the mercy to proclaim it loudly Let's pray together Father, we thank You for today Lord, You are a great God You've allowed us this time to be together, to look into Your Word very briefly, but to understand the joy of the King's return May we live in anticipation of Your coming again May we live alert to all the events surrounding Your arrival And may we be the kind of people, Lord, who encourage others through Your return, knowing that one day there will be no more pain

One day there will be no more tears One day there will be no more war One day when the King of kings rules, everything will be set in place We're longing for that, Lord Until You come again, may we be found faithful in our service of the King In Jesus' name, Amen.