In the sermon titled 'Diligence in Watchfulness,' Scott Brown emphasizes the importance of being vigilant and prepared for the coming of the Son of Man. Drawing from Matthew 24, he compares the days of Noah to the unexpected arrival of Jesus, urging Christians to maintain a state of readiness. Brown highlights the dichotomy between the faithful and wise servants, who are rewarded for their diligence, and the unfaithful ones, who face severe judgment. He stresses that true happiness and fulfillment come from being a watchful servant, engaged in daily life with an awareness of God's presence. The sermon also explores the connection between watchfulness, love, and holiness, encouraging believers to grow in grace and maintain a heart focused on Christ. Brown warns against the distractions of life that can lead to spiritual complacency and advocates for a life centered on the anticipation of Christ's return.

Matthew 24, beginning in verse 36, through the end of the chapter. Jesus is still speaking to the disciples in the Mount of Olives. But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food and due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you, that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let us pray. Father God, you have appointed a time for us to be called. Lord, I pray that you would instill in us watchfulness and readiness. Lord, I pray that as Scott has prepared to bring your word and to preach it that you would prepare our hearts, Lord, to hear it and that you would be glorified in Jesus name.

I marvel at the kindness of God, his wisdom, to our congregation as we've walked through passages of Scripture and here what we have found ourselves in the midst of is that every single sermon that will be preached on Sunday morning in this church in the whole month of January will be on the subject of watchfulness. And it's so appropriate, really, at the beginning of the year, this is a time where everybody is trying to get recalibrated. I read the other day that all the gymnasiums are completely jam-packed. Right now, in the month of January, they're full. And then about 5% of those people are still there in February.

But you know people are getting ready they want to get their bodies all shaped up and their hearts and their minds and their lives you know properly pointed and organized and it's it's right to do that but here here in this church it really is a blessing What God has got us in the midst of here are multiple illustrations of what it means, what it looks like to be ready, to have a vigilant, aware spirit before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it is such a blessing that God has done that for us. So week after week, we're going to be challenged to be ready. Maybe by February, we'll be more ready than we ever were before. And we won't be like those workout centers who have no one in them.

We will be powered up and ready to rumble. So all of this here in this passage, all of these illustrations that the Lord Jesus Christ gives really bring us to two things. They bring us to the happiness of the servants who have their eyes lifted up to heaven, and the anguish and the terrible torments, the devastations, the weeping, the gnashing of teeth of the anguished servants of the devil. And the difference is watchfulness. That's the difference.

The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is that the Christian has a heart's desire to watch. And so I just want to dedicate this sermon to happy and watchful servants, because that is really the subject here. If you look at verse 46, You'll see what the heart and legacy and life of a watchful servant is like. It's happy. So blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.

Watchful servants are happy servants. I pray that as we go through this, God will just continue to bring us to a place of greater and greater happiness. The Lord Jesus uses the word macchariah, hap-py, which is the word that we encountered in Matthew chapter five. Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It's a deep, settled sense of well-being.

Every category of well-being is rolled up into this word. And it includes the smile on your face, to the deep sense of satisfaction, to the sober readiness, to every possible thing that rolls up into this term, makarios. And what we find here in this passage is this happy watchfulness is practiced in the workplace, because the workplace is pictured here. These three parables that we're handling today have to do with the workplace and watchfulness there in that place of work. Happy watchfulness is practiced in the midst of the daily, you know, regime of food preparation as two women are grinding.

And are they watchful or are they not watchful? Where are their minds while they are grinding? It's a woman working in her daily life. You know, as she gets up in the morning and begins to prepare for her family, and even grinding, and all of her preparations. She's watchful in the midst of all that.

There's nothing more wonderful than to see a happy wife, watchful in the midst of her work, singing through the day, giving thanks for every single movement of her hand and everything that's going on, even the disciplines that she has to bring to her children. But she's watchful, she's thinking of heaven, and her heart is full of the happiness of the kingdom of heaven. Blessed, happy is that servant, whom his master, when he comes, will find in so doing. Notice also here that the characters are slaves. They're servants.

And the key to watchfulness is to recognize who you are in the world. We often are so disappointed in life because we think we're kings and not servants. But we're servants. And we have a place in the world to serve our king. There's no happier place in the world, there's no happier person in the world than the person who desires to serve.

There's no unhappier person than the frustrated person who wants to be the king. And God is king. He orders the world, and He makes every person a servant, even to the very weather that He delivers everywhere in the world. And so these characters are slaves. So what you see is that this watchfulness has to do with daily activities, with eating and drinking and marrying and getting and marrying and being given in marriage.

And it has to do with going to work out in the field or whatever your work might be. It has to do with serving your family as a wife. It has to do with owning a house and what you do in the preparations of owning your house. It has to do with everything. And so watchfulness is the subject here.

And it's diligence in watchfulness that is the theme. We also recognize too that watchfulness has to do with our senses, our very senses. That's what you see in this section of scripture. I went and looked at some synonyms for watchfulness. Here are a few of them.

Alert. All ears. Attentive. Careful. Cautious.

Circumspec. Glued. Guarded. Heedful. Hooked.

Keen. Not missing a trick. Observant. On guard, on one's toes, on the ball, on the job, on the watch, open-eyed, prepared, ready, unsleeping, vigilant, wakeful, wary, wide awake, with eyes peeled. So this is sort of the idea of watchfulness that we have here.

And watchfulness for what? It's watchfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, readiness for Him, awareness of what he's doing and where he's taking the world. And you're part in it as well. You know, watchfulness is something that we all demonstrate, all of us. We're demonstrating it right now.

I don't know what you're thinking about right now. Maybe you're thinking about that house you wanna buy. Or maybe you're watchful about something else. You know, the nasty thing that your husband slash wife might have said to you you know on the way to your wife you're watchful about something and we're we're all watchful all the time about something The family was over at our house this week and the children were having lunch around our table and even before the lunch was finished one of the little daughters asked mommy what's for dinner and then she said mommy when you were a little girl did you ask your mommy what was for dinner? I mean, this little girl, she just could not wait to have dinner.

She wasn't even finished with lunch. But she was watchful. She was thinking about that other time. And this is all about anticipation. The anticipations of the heart.

What is on your heart? What is burning in your soul? What's captivating your mind? You know, it was really interesting. We were singing a song this morning and my mind went to some other thing, you know, way far away, completely disconnected, really, from the glory of God and all that kind of stuff.

I lost my watchfulness there for a moment. I recognized, let's get back, you know, so I got back to the song. And we struggle with watchfulness. We go in and out. That's what happens with me in my day.

I pray in my days that God would give me uninterrupted watchfulness, that with every conversation, with every thought, every click of the keyboard, that somehow I would be watchful. But I struggle and I go in and out. But God has desired that we would progressively move toward ever increasing watchfulness in all of our lives. That's what I want. I can't think of anything more blessed, anything more happy fine, anything more nourishing, anything that would make me the man that I really want to be anything that would make me more loving anything that would make me more helpful to my brethren that is the thing that we really need so here we are right at the beginning of January and the Lord Jesus Christ is talking to us about that kind of watchfulness.

He is such a good shepherd. You know, if you've ever been on a road trip, you know, and your children are in the back and they say, Daddy, are we there yet? When are we going to get there? Are we there yet? When are we going to get there?

Are we there yet? When are we going to get there? Well, that's watchfulness. That's youthful watchfulness. And it happens in every single family.

Everybody's watchful about something. I think that's the truth. This is about a heart and a mind ready for Christ, mindful of Him, anticipating Him, thinking of heavenly things. What the apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesian church, that they would be filled up with the knowledge of His will, That they would be filled with the Spirit. That's what this is.

So this is all about watchfulness. And so the big question that I think we should all ask is, what's my temperature on watchfulness? And how can I raise my temperature? Have you ever considered what the term hypervigilance might mean for you? Hypervigilance?

Or what about the term hypovigilance? You know what hypovigilance is? Well, hypervigilance is a great measure of vigilance. And hypo-vigilance is a small measure of vigilance. But the consequences of this are enormous.

In Luke chapter 12 verse 35, those who are not vigilant, the Lord Jesus says that God will assign a place with the unbelievers. So this matter of vigilance tells something about us that we really ought to consider as to where our hearts is. And where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Where your treasure is, there will be your watchfulness. And so this whole matter begins with take heed, meaning to be on your toes and to stay awake.

And he ends the text with watch, which means, you know, do not sleep. And all of this happens in the natural pleasures of life, in the eating and the drinking and the marrying and giving and marriage, the driving to work, the going to the coffee shop, the sitting in your house, you know, the getting up in the morning, the going to bed at night. It speaks of the rhythms of men working and women working in the home, of home making, the protective functions of life, with a homeowner preparing for the watching thief. And it has to do with how we lead those whom God has given us, whether we are faithful and wise servants, whom our Master makes ruler over his household. But the most important character in this story, though he is speaking to his disciples, the most important character in this story is in verse 50, the master of that servant.

The master of that servant. Because the Lord Jesus here is urging His disciples to keep their eyes on their master. That's the issue. And everything that's said really drives down to this issue of the master who watches and the master who will either bring the life of blessedness, happiness, or the one who would throw into anguish and weeping and gnashing of teeth. So I pray that God gives us great progress in this whole thing.

And that God would make us somehow happy and watchful servants, because watchful servants are happy servants. Okay, the text, verse 36. These are the conditions surrounding that final hour of which the Lord Jesus is urging his disciples to pay attention to. Verse 36, about of that day, an hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, but my father only. So there's a lot to dissect here.

He says that no one knows. Now in Mark chapter 13, the phrase, nor the son, but only the father. For even the Son of God does not know that day of that hour. The word but now it indicates a change of subject. Perede is the Greek term there and it's a formula for a new beginning.

If you look at this term in passages of scripture you'll see that it indicates a shift in subject. And then it's about that day. This also indicates the shift. That day, Up to now, Jesus has been talking about those days. Now He's talking about that day.

So it's different. He's speaking of a different time. This is the watershed mark in the passage of Scripture. Everything else before this refers to the fall of Jerusalem. That you will know that day when you see the armies of Rome at the gates of the city outside Jerusalem.

You will know that day. But now there's a day that you won't know." That's what he's saying. This is a completely different kind of day. You will know the other day because you will see these things. Now you won't know this final day.

It's a different kind of day. And he says, quote, no one knows, quote, not even the angels, quote, my father only. So those who are waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ need to recognize something very critical. And that is, when you focus on when Christ will come, you're going in the wrong direction. You're being diverted from the main point.

If you're focused on when, but when you focus on how, you'll be ready, then you're tracking. You're tracking with Jesus here. But recognize He's saying No one knows that day. Forget about the day itself. Focus on your preparation for the day, for it will come at a time when you do not know.

Now, that day is a technical term. It means the Day of the Lord. It's the Day of Judgment. That day, if you look in the Old Testament prophets, you'll recognize that day is a technical term for the Day of the Lord, for the final judgment. And so, in that day, no one knows.

It will be as I believe Al Burke reminded us in our Tuesday Bible study. It's like the speed of the destruction of Pompeii or Hiroshima or the suddenness of the tsunami that we just saw. It just will happen so quickly. You cannot plan for it. It is just going to happen.

And this just brings us to the whole matter of setting dates. I know that men have gained popularity by trying to set dates. And whenever someone tries to set a date, you just need to write them off immediately, because they really have completely missed this whole thing. Back when I was a young man, a young Christian, Hal Lindsey was saying that 1988 was the day, because the budding in Matthew 24 was the establishment of the nation of Israel. And one generation, 40 years later, is 1988.

And he was capital W-R-O-N-G. He tried to establish a date when the Lord Jesus said no one knows that day or hour. Edgar Wisnett, a NASA engineer, you know, wrote the book, 88 Reasons Why Christ is Coming in 1988. And then he, you know, after that didn't happen, he discovered an error in the Gregorian calendar. So he made it in 1989 and then he discovered something else.

It was 1993 and then 1994 and then 1997 and then he just gave up the ghost. So he was trying to do something, but Jesus said it was impossible, and he wasted his life on this matter. And the Christians who read his book wasted their time on trying to dissect it. Don't spend a second trying to find that day. Someone writes a book or says that they have it, you just need to turn and run the other direction because the Lord Jesus has spoken about this.

In Acts chapter 1 verse 7, the Lord Jesus said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority. He was responding to the question, Lord, when will that time be? Are you bringing the kingdom now? And he says, it's not for you to know. But you shall, but here's what I do want you to know in verse 8, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to all the end of the earth." So it's not for you to know the times and seasons, but it is for you to know how you ought to be operating in every time and every season.

But what's interesting here is that you find that even the Son of God doesn't know. How does that work? How is he omniscient and omnipotent? How is he the Son of God who says all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth? How can he not know?

And, you know, there are various theories, you know, about this. Was the Lord Jesus Christ ignorant? One of the theories that satisfies this is what is called the kenosis theory, that he laid his deity aside. Kenosis means to empty. This is the wrong view.

Jesus Christ did not empty himself of his divine nature. This is taken from Philippians chapter 2 verse 5, those who appeal to the kenosis theory, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in an appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. You know, this whole, this theory just states that he gave up, he gave up some of his deity. And it's sort of consistent with that Christmas song, which I think doesn't quite get it. Mild he lays his glory by.

What part of his glory did he really lay by? And, but Philippians 2 says he didn't empty himself of deity, but he took on the form of a bond servant. The issue is being a bond servant. The issue is being obedient, you know, not divesting himself of his divine nature. There's also the sin nature theory that he, you know, he assumed to fall in nature.

But that's not true. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, he who knew no sin became sin for us. Yes, he is a high priest that can sympathize with our weaknesses, but not as one who sinned. He did not ever sin. And the correct doctrine is that the two natures, the divine and the human nature, existed at the same time.

And it's called the hypostatic union. It contends that Jesus is fully God and fully man. And this is extolled all over scripture. His knowledge of all things is communicated in scripture. In Matthew chapter 12, 25, the Lord Jesus knew their thoughts.

You know, he's making preparations for the Passover. He says, when you go into a city, there's a man. Here, go, you know, he's carrying a jar of water. Go find him. You know, when Jesus is arrested in John 18, 4, Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, went forward and said to them, whom are you seeking?

But you have also that, you know, the Lord Jesus as a boy, he increased in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. We know in Hebrews chapter 5 verse 8 that though he was the Son, he learned obedience by things which he suffered. Having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. So, how do you put all this together? Well, again, you know, God is so magnificent that the human mind has difficulty grasping Him.

That's really the fundamental problem. We don't understand enough to understand this completely. But I'll give you some explanations here. I'll give you sort of four things to consider of why Jesus does not know the day and the hour. First of all, it's a divine mystery.

This is one of the secret things that belong to the Lord that's spoken of in Deuteronomy, that you have these two natures united into one person. Here's Charles Spurgeon on this. Infinite yet an infant, eternal and yet born of a woman, almighty yet nursing at a woman's breast, supporting a universe and yet needing to be carried in a mother's arms, heir of all things and yet the carpenter's despised son. Here's Augustine, man's maker was made man, that the bread might be hungry, that the fountain might thirst, that the light would sleep, the way be tired from the journey, the strength may be made weak, that life might die." So it's a divine mystery. I think that's the first thing that we should recognize.

The doctrine of the Trinity is a divine and deep mystery. Secondly, consider it's also a fulfillment of prophecy. Who else is called the son of the Son of Man in the scriptures? Or who speaks of the Son of Man? And who is called the Son of Man?

Ezekiel. He is a type of Christ. And what we, which by the way, come tonight to SLBC and you'll get a picture of the book of Ezekiel. You'll get this explained in a, and I think a form that will help you understand it that can't be understood in such a short point that I'm making here, but his tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth until God spoke through him. He's a type of Christ.

He only spoke his father's words. He only did what his father wanted him to do. And so the properties of each exist in the Son of God, but there's this limitation that is placed on the Son of God by His Father. And then thirdly, consider Christ's submission to His Father. It's a matter of submission and obedience.

Christ came to play a role and in John 14 28 the Lord Jesus says, you have heard me say to you I am going away and coming back to you. If you loved me you would rejoice because I said I am going to my father to the father for my Father is greater than I. So it's a matter of divine role and submission of the Son. In John 5, 19, in 21 and 22 we see it. In Matthew chapter 11, verse 27, all things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one whom the Son wills to reveal him." Here's this interplay of the Father and the Son, the limitations and the submission of the Father to the Son.

The Lord Jesus says, I only say what I hear my Father saying. I only do what I see my Father doing. This is the intentional limitation of the Son to be an obedient Son to his father. He's not laying his divine nature by. In his divine nature, he is submissive to his father at the same time.

And it's a miracle. In Matthew chapter 20, he said to them, You will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those to whom it is prepared by my Father." So there's this relationship of submission and obedience that exists in the Father and the Son. And it exists there for many reasons. One reason is to show fathers and sons how they ought to operate in submission and love. And so it's a matter of Christ's submission to his Father.

It's also a matter of God hiding his glory. In Isaiah 45, 15, Isaiah says, truly you are God who hide yourself. God often hides himself and things that he's going to do. This is part of his nature. Remember when God was going to destroy Sodom And the Lord says, shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

Because God could hide it from him. God often hides things from you. He doesn't show you everything that's coming. He hides himself and he hides what he's going to do so that he would glorify himself. And somehow in his hiding this one thing from his son, he glorifies himself.

While all authority has been given to him, there's a restraint. Even though he and his father are one, there is a restraint. The great confessions of faith, by the way, speak to this. Go look at the Baptist Confession, the Westminster Confession. They speak of the Trinity and the interplay of the Father and the Son and how divine foreknowledge can work in the midst of the limitation that the Son of God adopted when He became His Son.

Why did He not tell the angels? Why did He not tell His Son? Because God withholds. He's going to exalt his son. And he withholds knowledge.

In the same way with the believer, he will exalt you in the proper time. But in the meantime, he will hide things from you to keep you watching, to keep your heart toward Him, to keep you vigilant, to keep your eyes lifted toward heaven, to be filled up with the knowledge of His will, even though you don't know the end of it. Why? The Lord Jesus Christ here is just, He's defining what a true servant of His is. A happy and a watchful servant.

Blessed is that servant whom His Master, when He comes, will find Him so doing. Watchful servants are happy servants. And then he says it's as in the days of Noah. So first he says, no one knows the days, the day or the hour, but it's as the days, as it was in the days of Noah. In verse 37.

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah ended the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will the coming of the Son of man be." Here people are preoccupied with life. They love life. They're all engaged in the marrying and the giving and marriage.

Have you ever noticed the wedding industry as it exists today? It's absolutely gigantic. It's a billion dollar industry because people are so excited about marrying and giving and marriage. It's so wonderful. It's a good thing to get married.

But these are people that's all they care about. It's all they care about is eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage. It's the only thing on their mind. And maybe you're a single person today and that's the only thing on your mind. I hope this is a rebuke from the Lord saying, no, there's far greater things for you to consider.

It's a good thing to be married. It's a good thing to consider to be married. But is that all you're thinking about? Is all you're thinking about this great food, this well-balanced diet of whatever that will completely fix all of your problems of your life? All you care about is just your eating and drinking and what it will somehow do to you, but you've neglected your soul.

Life is so wonderful. There's so many wonderful things to experience and do and taste and places to go, remarkable places all over the world and things to see and hear. But what was happening in the days of Noah, they were just preoccupied with life, but they didn't eat the bread of life. They loved the things they saw in the light, but they did not love the light of the world. They loved going in and out of all the doors, the wondrous doors in this world and the things you can do, But they never loved the everlasting doors.

The door of the sheepfold. Jesus said, I am the door. I'm the bread of life. I'm the light of the world. It's just caring so much about life and light and doors and earthly bread, but not really having a consciousness of the everlasting light and life and bread and doors.

It was just an indifferent life, a whole society. This is a picture of a whole society, just completely indifferent. Not even watchful at all in their conversations, in their working, in the midst of their marrying, in their giving in marriage. Maybe you're a parent, you're all caught up in giving your children in marriage. We should think about that.

You really should. I'm an advocate of thinking about that and preparing your children for marriage. Is that all you're thinking about? Is it just about marriage? Or is there something greater here?

Is the Kingdom of Heaven at hand? Be watchful. You know, be like that little girl who's at lunch and says, What are we having for dinner? Are we there yet, Daddy? To think about that all the time.

To be so watchful in the midst of all of our doings. I pray that 2013 is such a bumper year of spiritual fruit. It won't be if all we care about is just building our lives. We should build our lives in the midst of it, though. In the midst of all the eating and drinking and marrying and giving and marriage, are you conscious of it?

This was described here in the days of Noah. It's a bunch of meaningless eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage. It's just empty. It doesn't have the happiness of the kingdom of heaven. It's let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.

It's just occupied with the incessant improvements in life, incessant concerns of life, the incessant shopping of life, but yet in the midst of it, just thinking about shopping and marrying. Instead of, in the midst of the shopping and the marrying, considering Christ at every moment. This is my prayer. I believe this is why this is before us today. A lot of you made some big plans for the year.

I've made a bunch of plans for the year. Well, Who will be the one I will be aware of in the midst of all those plans? That is absolutely the most important question. All for happy, watchful servants. Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find him so doing.

Watchful servants are happy servants. Now let me give you a little bit more depth on the days of Noah. If you go to, I'm going to give you five texts that just give you a snapshot. You won't be able to study these in depth, but at least you'll see the general character of the days of Noah, so you can see what they were really like. Genesis 6, 5.

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that the intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth and he was grieved in his heart. It was a time of the intents of the heart, the inclinations of the soul were toward things that were evil. And they were grieving the Holy Spirit, And God was grieved as a result. So it was a day of evil.

The second cross-reference, the second text explaining the times of Noah is in 2 Peter chapter 2. And this explains the purpose of the days of Noah. Because the days of Noah have a purpose in your life today. And he did not spare the ancient world that saved Noah, one of the eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly. So these, the flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah were given as an example, an example to the ungodly, an example to anyone who would just throw off the law and the word and the goodness and the mercy and the salvation of God, to warn them how devastating it is to throw that off.

He gives this warning. He also gives a preacher of righteousness, an example of a man who stood up in his time. Only eight were saved. There were probably several billion people in the world at this time. If you look at the way that multiplication happens among humankind, there were a lot of people on the earth.

Don't picture just a few little cities during the flood. It wasn't like that. Eight people were saved. The ungodly were wiped out. And it's a type of final judgment.

What God has done in His Word is He has given us many types of judgment that tell us of the truth of the final judgment. Because people don't believe in the final judgment. So he brings judgment along the way to help them to believe. And that's what the judgment in the garden was. As Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden, it was a picture of divine judgment.

And then it escalated into the days of Noah. And then it escalated to just the scorched earth of Sodom and Gomorrah. And then in 722 when Sennacherib came, there was another reminder of God's judgment against idolatry. And then in 586 BC, another judgment at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, judging idolatry again, judging false worship, judging walking in the way of the Gentiles. And how devastating it is to learn the way of the Gentiles.

And then in 70 AD, God sends a Roman Titus to destroy. But there's another judgment that's greater than all of them, and that's going to happen at this time at the end of the age. And from the Garden to Noah to Sodom to 722 to 586 to 70 AD, there's a final judgment. And God is warning, He is warning the world that he does keep his promises And he brings little judgments to To turn you back. He also does that in your life.

He also judges you and brings calamity in your life to make you recognize there is a greater judgment coming. Some of you are under judgment right now. Please recognize what's happening to you. God is wanting to turn your gaze toward heaven. He's wanting you to be watchful.

He's looking for a servant who's macarious, who's happy, who's happily waiting and sees everything through that lens. Third, the third cross-reference, Luke 21, gives more detail. Luke 21 actually has enormous detail on this matter of judgment. But take heed to yourselves, verse 34, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, number one, drunkenness, number two, number three, the cares of this life. Those are the three things.

Just, you know, carousing, just, you know, doing whatever you want to do. Drunkenness, just, you know, using other outside influences to make you happy, and then the cares of this life, just being mindlessly involved in life without recognizing who is the author of life. He says, and the day will come upon you unexpectedly, for it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the earth. Watch therefore, this is the solution, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. But in verse 39 it says they did not know until the flood came and took them all away.

So also will be the coming of the Son of Man be. This means that they just did not comprehend it. In the fourth cross-reference is Hebrews chapter 11 verse 7. By faith Noah being warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." And this has to do with what saved Noah. It was his heart moved with godly fear.

He was watching. He was aware. He was preaching. He loved righteousness. He hated lawlessness like the Son of God.

He watched. He was vigilant. His heart was moved by godly fear. The fifth cross-reference is 1 Peter 4.20. It speaks of those days of disobedience when divine long-suffering waited in the days of Noah.

This was about long-suffering. God delays His judgment. He gives small judgments in order to call people to escape the final, great day of judgment. He's delaying His judgment. So only caring for the functions of this life, only caring for marrying and eating and drinking and giving and marriage, just a life obsessed with all these things, but no care for God.

That was the days of Noah. And there's this abrupt end to normal life. You see how normal life is in the days of Noah? It's just normal. Eating, drinking, marrying, it's just like normal life.

And then there are more illustrations. You see this third illustration, like men working in the field in verse 40, then there will be in the field, then two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left. So the word then, then indicates the same general time frame in verse 40. It's most likely a father and a son working together and one is taken and the other is left.

Now, you have to read this in context with the days of Noah, where the ones who are taken away are the ones who are in judgment. People use this as a verse to prove the rapture. I don't believe this is the rapture at all, it's final judgment. The ones who are taken away are taken to judgment. That's the context that's here.

They're not being raptured. They're being taken away to judgment. Most of this father and son are in normal life of working together. They're out in the field, and one is taken away to eternal damnation and the other one is left. One was watchful, the other was not.

And then it's like women grinding at the mill. Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken, and the other left. And there you have this picture of food production, being at a grinding wheel. And there are two that operated grinding wheels, one on one end and one on the other, and they would turn it 180 degrees and continue the process of making food, preparing food.

It's a picture of what you do every day. You women, you're preparing food for your families. It's just normal life. For the men, just normal working. You know, are you singing in the presence of God in your work?

Are you singing before God, waiting expectantly, feeding upon Him, waiting, being watchful, being diligent before Him in the midst of your daily work, because it will happen at a time when you do not know. The main point is that the normal rhythms of life are just continuing, And families don't know the time of their taking. There's a picture of work life, it's a picture of family life. And, You know, there are these two groups. You know, there are two people in the field.

There are two people, you know, making the food. Verse 39, I do believe, helps us understand this. Those who are taken away are the wicked." Verse 39, And they did not know until the flood came and took them away. So also will the coming of the Son of Man be. The sequence of Matthew Chapter 13 follows the same sequence.

It indicates that those who are taken away are taken away to judgment. If you go back to those parables in Matthew chapter 13, particularly the parable of the tares and also in the parable of the dragnet, it's that same thing. The fish are thrown away. They're taken away and they're thrown away. Perhaps that is the pattern of Scripture, that the wicked are taken first in sequence.

And so, that's why he says, watch therefore, for you do not know what hour the Lord is coming. Why? Why? So that you would become more watchful, happy, watchful servants. And then there's, the next parable is just one sentence.

It's a one sentence parable. It's the shortest parable in the Bible, I think. Verse 43, But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Now, isn't this an amazing thing? I mean, The whole issue here is that the thief doesn't announce his coming.

And it just reminds you of a totally absurd situation. Modern day thieves. Wouldn't it be nice if you had modern day thieves like this? They would call you up and tell you when they're coming, I'm going to be here at 2 o'clock in the morning. I'm going to take everything that's of value out of your house.

Be ready. I'm coming. 2.30, January 15th. I'm coming to your house. Well, thieves don't do that, right?

It's the most absurd, ridiculous thing you can imagine. And he says it won't be like that absurd, ridiculous situation. They will come. And he speaks of these watches that take place. If you live in a country where corruption has increased, you have watchmen, watchmen over the houses.

There are many countries in the world where people actually have to hire watchmen to watch their houses at night. Malawi is one such country. So we get lawlessness has increased. Love has grown cold. And people steal from one another.

And so the Romans divided the night into four watches of the night, you know, from 6 p.m. To 6 a.m. The Jews had three watches of the night. But it pictures watches of the night. It pictures someone watching and waiting for the possibility of someone to break in and steal because there's a thief.

Watching here means anticipating the dangers in making plans. The unwatchful just is not making plans, doesn't care, is not trying to keep out the thief. Doesn't anticipate the thief, doesn't anticipate what destruction might come upon them. House just wide open. House wide open to whatever might come.

You know houses like this. They don't care what kind of internet feeds come in or what kind of stuff they... They just bring everything into the house. The thieves, They just don't guard their houses from anything. Here, it's about guarding from an actual thief who's going to come in and steal.

And the inactivity of unbelief, The lack of watchfulness that characterizes unbelief. Now, you know, Jesus likens himself to a thief. Now, you know, the interpretation isn't that, you know, Jesus is coming in to steal. That's not what Jesus is saying. He's saying His coming will be like a thief.

In 1 Thessalonians 5, we get this language. But concerning the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night." So he says that to the Thessalonians church, And then he tells them how they overcome this. He says, but you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. So if you are in darkness, it will overtake you as a thief.

If you're walking in the light, it will not take you over as a thief. He says, therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Verse 6. For those who sleep, sleep at night. And those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

But let us, who are of the day, be sober. That's one quality of watchfulness. Here's another quality of watchfulness. Putting on the breastplate of faith. Here's another quality of watchfulness.

Putting on the breastplate of love. And here's another one. Putting on the helmet as a helmet the hope of salvation. So the watchful are asleep. I mean, Those who are vulnerable are asleep, but the watchful are sober, they're full of faith, they're full of love, and they hope for their salvation.

You know, this has to do with diligence and watchfulness. The whole matter here is diligence and watchfulness. How do you grow diligence and watchfulness? That's the question for us. How are we going to grow our diligence for watchfulness?

Here he tells us, by the way, scripture tells us many ways to do that. Even in these parables there are all these examples that show us. Here's another place in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 10 where the Lord is likened as a thief, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with great noise." Now, recognize this. The dispensationalists say, the thief in the night comes for the rapture, right? No.

It comes when the heavens and earth will pass away. There's one resurrection and one judgment. They're not two. There's one resurrection at the end of the age. And here Peter says, that day will be like a thief, which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with firm and heat.

Both the earth and the works that are in it are burned up. Therefore, therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Holy conduct and godliness matters. Look for a new heavens and a new earth, he says. Verse 15, consider that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation.

And then verse 17 in that same chapter, you therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked, but grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory, both now and forever. Amen." So the whole matter of the thief just calls us to be ready to grow in grace, to do everything that you can to grow in grace. If you want to be ready, do everything you can to grow in grace. That's how you make yourself ready. You can also look in Revelation chapter 3, verse 2, for the Lord Jesus as the thief or Revelation 16 verse 15.

But the point is that it's a surprise, like a thief. And so there's this command to be ready in verse 44, therefore you also be ready for the Son of man is coming in an hour that you do not expect." And then the sixth illustration here is like the faithful and the wise and the evil faithful servants in verses 45 through 51. And what kind of person is this? This is a leader. This is somebody who's been given authority to take care of other people.

That's what this is. It pictures the master of a house. It's like a father. It's like a father who has authority in his house to provide, To provide meat for his household. That's the illustration.

Watching means leading. Watching means giving food in your household and treating them well, instead of beating them. You know, the watchful are good to those that are in their house. They feed them. They don't beat them.

That doesn't mean that you don't spank your children. That's not what the issue is. This is an evil disposition toward those in his house. Anger, wrath in a home. I mean, the question is, how's it going?

Children, are you angry and wrathful toward your brothers and sisters, husbands, wives? Put aside wrath, anger, clamor. Recognize how devastating that is. Recognize how unwatchful that makes you. Recognize how unhappy that makes you, because happy servants are watchful servants.

They are makarios, they are blessed. And here's this picture of tension in this home. They're just totally distracted with selfishness. The master of the house is at least. He's been made a ruler and he abuses his rulership by not being watchful.

And there are the faithful and the unfaithful that are there, the wise and the unwise. And the wise give meat in due season. The unwise are not watchful for their household at all. And then he says, blessed is that servant. Blessed is that servant.

You just might ask yourself, you know, you have been appointed to play a role as a leader. Everyone is given some kind of leadership in this world, every single person. And what are you doing with that role? In the midst of your leading, are you watchful? Are you aware of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Are you singing to Him through the watches of the night, when the morning dawns as the day goes on, you know, feeding upon Him, loving Him, being filled up with the knowledge of His will, being like Samuel, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening, being like David who said, Oh, how I love your courts better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. How lovely are your dwelling places, oh Lord. That's the heart of a faithful servant. His eyes are lifted up onto the hills from where His help comes. His face is beholding the face of Jesus Christ.

He's ready. He is so ready. And whether He's walking down the street and his eyes are lifted up to heaven, he's ready. Lord, take me." If he's on his deathbed and his body is racked with pain, he's ready in peace. Either way.

No matter What he's doing, when he's doing his favorite thing in the world, as hard as lifted up toward Christ, when he's with his friend, he's thinking of Christ and his love. When he's with his daughter, he's thinking of Christ's mercy and goodness, and he's speaking to her with tender words that reflect that his face is beholding the face of Jesus Christ, and he's being transformed from glory to glory, because his whole life is caught up in one thing, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's what he cares about the most. It's what he desires the most. And as a result, he relates with his boss, with his wife, with her husband, with every person, as if the Lord were going to come back in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, like a thief in the night.

What's the reward of this? Verse 47. But I say to you that he will make him ruler over all of his goods. But then there are the meditations of the foolish. Verse 48.

But if That evil servant says, my master is delaying his coming. My master is delaying. I don't see it. He's not here yet. Life is going on.

Let's just keep marrying and giving in marriage and eating and drinking and fixing up our houses and getting everything ready without any thought. Everything ready? Without any thought. And then the kind of judgment is identified. The judgment is severe.

By the way, this is the first of four judgments in a row that are given in this section. Verse 51, And will cut him in two, And appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." So what was really going on in this man's life is he was a hypocrite. He was two-faced. He was one person on the outside and another person on the inside.

He did say words of praise toward God, but they were not in his heart. He was not watchful from the heart. Now, the place of judgment is identified. It is the place with the hypocrites. He pretended to be a slave, but he was not a slave.

He was not working for his master. He was just working. He was working for himself. And he loved the marrying and giving in marriage. He loved the eating and the drinking.

He loved his house. He loved his authority. That God had given him in a different place of authority, but his eyes were not lifted up toward heaven, feeding upon Christ, calling out to Christ, loving Christ. His place is with the hypocrites. Okay, let me give you some applications.

So, here's sort of the harsh reality of this passage. If your happiness is not in His kingdom, then you you really do belong to the devil's kingdom. And turn to Christ. Your only hope in this life is to lift up your eyes to heaven and say, Lord, be merciful to me a sinner. Save me.

Cleanse me. Make me your daughter. Make me your son. The Lord Jesus Christ has never met too great a sinner. No one has ever sinned beyond the resources of his mercy.

No one ever did. And people say, well, you know, I'm not good enough. You know, I have, I need to get this together. I need to, I need to change this and then I'll come to Christ. That is such a lie.

You will never be good enough. Never. It can't happen. So don't wait, don't wait. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

Yes, yes, you've been a rebellious sinner. But don't forget this, that he who knew no sin became sin for us. One of the things that characterized the church in Thessalonica in the days of the Apostle Paul is that it was a church that sounded out the Word of God. The Apostle Paul says of them, He says that, you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us from wrath to come. He's talking about a people who all their lives they were waiting on their idols, waiting on them, serving them, caressing them, feeding them, getting them bigger.

They spent their whole lives just making idols, making bigger idols, consuming more of their lives. That's what they did. But then they turned to God from idols. And instead of waiting on their idols, they waited for the Son of God to come. They waited for Him.

They waited on Him. That's the difference. The person who is waiting on and waiting for the Son of God. So if your happiness is not in the Kingdom of Heaven, then you belong to the Devil's Kingdom, and the Lord Jesus Christ is calling with such, with the Happy Kingdom. Happy are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Here's another application.

I want us to recognize that watchfulness and love are connected in the Bible. Watchfulness and love are connected. They're not just intellectual categories. They have to do with how you are with people in the world. In 1 Thessalonians 3, 11 we read, Now may our God and Father Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all just as we do to you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father when at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and all His saints.

Here, love and the coming of Jesus Christ are connected. Victory in that day is connected with love of the brethren. That's why John said, he who says he loves God and hates his brother, he's a liar. Because love and watchfulness are connected. So you have to ask yourself, is there hatred in my heart that needs to be repented of and abandoned?

And I start covering over sins, and I have mercy. I have mercy. Also, watchfulness and holiness are connected. I just said watchfulness and love are connected. Watchfulness and holiness are also connected.

Revelation chapter 3, the letter to the church in Sardis. Remember therefore how you received and heard, hold fast and repent. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come to you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments. And they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy." This has to do with holiness.

Watchfulness and holiness are related. The most watchful will turn to holy things. That's the idea. If unholiness is in your life, then pray that God would give you a spirit of watchfulness. Also, the reward of loving His appearing and watchfulness are connected.

The reward and watchfulness are connected. In 2 Timothy 4a, finally there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge will give to me on that day, and not only to me, but also those who have loved his appearing." This is a longing desire for the presence of Jesus Christ, the presence of Jesus Christ this morning, this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow, and then at His appearing. Loving His appearing. So 2013, the entire month of January, the Lord Jesus Christ brought to a congregation one text after another to urge them to lift their faces up to Jesus Christ, to love His appearing, to meditate on Him day and night, to be like Samuel who said, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening, to be like Isaiah who said, Here am I, send me, to be like David who said, how lovely are your dwelling places, so that the Lord Jesus Christ would have a people in the world whose eyes are lifted up to heaven, whose faces are beholding the face of Jesus Christ, to be transformed from glory to glory. And why, why?

To rescue, to rescue people off of this earth from the terrible wrath, the judgment of God, where they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth, to rescue the weeping and gnashing of the judgment that's to come, and, and, to create happy and watchful servants because blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find him so doing. Because watchful servants are happy servants. Watchful servants are holy servants. Watchful servants are loving servants. And this is the kind of people God desires to make out of this church in 2013.

Would you pray with me? Oh Lord, that you would make us so watchful. We see the weakness of our flesh. We see our minds going back and forth in and out of watchfulness. But oh, Lord, that you would give us such a gift in it as we proceed in this year, beginning today, beginning right now, that you would make us so watchful in our time of fellowship, that you would make us so watchful in our time of fellowship, that you would make us so watchful back in our homes, and then tonight as we gather again, and then as we go into bed tonight, that our hearts would be lifted up to you, we would sing to you in the shadow of your wings through the watches of the night.

And then wake us up in the morning, O Lord, with our faces lifted up to heaven. Such happy, watchful service. Amen.