Download Urgency of the Hour Session 1: Watch and Pray I. Exploring Jesus

Urgency of the Hour
Session 1: Watch and Pray
I.
Exploring Jesus’ Neglected Advice:
We are so accustomed to thinking about understanding the end times as an
optional thing. In this series my hope is that we are able to see that not only
is that false, it is quite dangerous to go on not understanding the Biblical
storyline of how this age will transition. Jesus didn’t just tell us that we could
know it, but He said that we must perceive that we are living in the final
generation and then respond in some very specific ways.
A. Living in the End:
This series will help confirm to us that we are in fact living in the decades
that precede His return and give us some insight into what the Bible says
that we are to be doing in order make ready for the victory and violence
that the final generation will walk through.
B. Living Aware:
The primary point of this series is that we must become aware of the hour
that we are living in and then we must watch and pray as a our life’s
response to the revelation that we are living in the final generation. This
was a point that Jesus was quite passionate about and that the then the
apostles took, further developed, and ingrained this mandate into the
New Testament Church.
C. Living in Urgency:
The signs of the times surround us, it is becoming more and more
apparent that we are living in the last generation, the generation that will
face the greatest trials that the world has ever known. If it is the case that
we are now in the beginning of the end then it is time for the Church to
rise up with urgency and live focused lives to make ready for the trials
that await us.
II.
Jesus Said to Watch and Pray:
Jesus told us to “watch and pray” as the means to endure and even overcome
in the last days. This is a significant principle that the Church really needs to
understand and embrace as Jesus repeated gave this same instruction about
how to face what is coming. This isn’t currently a popular way to live but it is
the only way that the Church will survive what is coming.
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness
and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For
it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on
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the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen,
and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man (Lk. 21:34-36).”
A. Jesus Repeatedly Emphasized this Point:
This wasn’t a one time thing that Jesus said; He shouted it. This was a
repeated theme in the gospels where Jesus spoke about the concept of
“watch and pray” over and over again (Mt. 6:9-10, 24:15-20, 24:42-44,
25:1-13; Mk. 13:5, 9, 32-37, 14:37-38; Lk. 18:1-8, 21:8, 36). In His
discourse on the signs of the times in Matthew chapter 24 He told His
disciples that they were to pay attention to a number of things and that
when they saw those things they were to pray specific things; things that
we would only know to pray if we were paying attention to the things He
told us to watch for.
“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes
desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader
understand…How dreadful it will be in those days…Pray that your flight will
not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great
distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never
to be equaled again (Mt. 24:15-20).”
B. The Old Testament Prophets Laid Out This Principle:
This wasn’t a new idea; while Jesus may have coined the phrase “watch
and pray” the prophets had certainly conveyed the idea on many
occasions and in many ways.
“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to
see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on
tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an
appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it
linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay (Hb. 2:1-3).”
“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my
God will hear me (Mi. 7:7).”
C. The Apostles Reiterated it Again and Again:
After Jesus’ ministry the apostles continued to say the same thing
recognizing the importance of the Church being in the right position to
receive and respond (Eph. 6:12-18; 1Th. 5:1; 1Pe. 1:13, 4:7). A classic
example of this can be found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where he
tells them that they are in a real war but that they have to be discerning
and perceptive in order to fight according to God’s purposes. Then he
tells them that to be ready for the end time battle (the day of evil) they
will have to be a people who pray and keep praying and who operate in
prayer according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against…the powers of
this dark world…Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the
day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have
done everything, to stand. Stand firm then…And pray in the Spirit on all
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occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people (Eph. 6:12-18).”
III.
Called to Watch the Signs:
If our attention is perked, the first question we should be asking is just what
are we to be watching for? If we are supposed to be investing energy in
watching and we are to be focused on paying close attention to something;
what is that something and how do we know what to look for? The passages
where Jesus announces this “watch and pray” concept are in the context of
Him announcing the signs of the times; that is the discernable trends and
events that would mark the generation that He would return to. These “signs
of the times” were proclaimed by Jesus so that we could identity them and so
perceive the hour that we are living in. They are the central, though not the
only, thing that we are to be watching for.
A. Intention of this Series:
This series is actually not a study on the signs of the times; we certainly
have those but that’s not what we are doing at this time. Our purpose is
to draw attention to the fact that there are discernable signs and then
alert us to respond accordingly. We will look at some of the signs a little
bit in the next session but mostly we want to just become aware of the
fact that they are there and that we need to be paying attention.
B. You Can’t See What Your Not Looking For:
If we are going to be able to discern the signs of the times when they
come we have to be familiar enough with them to know what we are
looking for. Each of us has a responsibility to know the signs of the times
that Jesus told us would come on the planet in the generation before His
appearing; He told us to be watching for them.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord
will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at
what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and
would not have let his house be broken into (Mt. 24:42-43).”
C. The Signs Tell Us that it’s Time:
Jesus spoke about these signs coming in a specific season, referring to
them as the beginning of birth pains. As time rolls on and things in the
world intensify it takes less and less convincing to prove that we are
living in the last generation. For those that need it however there is
certainly no lack of Bible prophecy unfolding around us that confirms that
this is the case.
“Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name,
claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars
and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must
happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in
various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains (Mt. 24:4-8).”
D. Pay Attention When They Begin:
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Jesus told us that when the signs of the times begin to take place that we
can be certain that He is coming soon. Notice, it’s not after all the signs
are fully developed, or after they are completed, it’s when they start. The
beginning of the birth pains is a sign that the Church is to be paying close
attention now and readying for His coming.
“When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near (Lk. 21:28).”
IV.
Called to be People of Prayer:
Jesus said watch and pray; the signs of the times are the things that we are to
be watching out for but then comes the prayer component. After we see the
signs then we are to be rallying together to pray as our corporate response to
what is happening and what is called for.
A. Jesus’ Warning About Not Being Prayerful at the End:
Jesus gave multiple warnings about those who weren’t found praying
when He comes. Since we don’t know the exact timing of His coming the
mandate is clear, live a life of prayer at all times so that no matter when
He comes we are ready and that we will be able to stand in the evil day.
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should
always pray and not give up...And will not God bring about justice for his
chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them
off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when
the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth (Lk. 18:1-8)?”
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing,
drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you
suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the
whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to
escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before
the Son of Man (Lk. 21:34-36).”
“Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For
then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world
until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut
short, no one would survive (Mt. 24:20-22)”
B. Defining What Jesus Meant by Pray:
Jesus wasn’t talking to individuals about an individual prayer response,
He was calling His end time Church into the place of prayer as the ones
who hold the keys to the Kingdom. He was calling for a corporate
response not merely an individual’s cry. This is the consistent testimony
of the New Testament related to the end times; that there must be a
corporate and unified prayer response in order to overcome what is
coming.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they
ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or
three gather in my name, there am I with them (Mt. 18:19-20).”
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“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say,
“Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come…If anyone adds…And if anyone
takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that
person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described
in this scroll. He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon
(Re. 22:17-20).”
C. God’s Expression of the End Time Church:
It’s not enough that we would come together a pray from time to time;
Jesus quoted the Prophet Isaiah and proclaimed that this 500 year old
prophecy was yet future in it’s fulfillment; that it would apply to the
Church in the future. He said that the house of God would become the
house of prayer; that is that it would primarily identified by prayer, it is
the activity that would define it; prayer would become the predominant
expression of the Church.
“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’
but you are making it ‘a den of robbers (Mt. 21:13).’”
D. God’s Intention for the Church to Pray Until He Comes:
Not just that prayer would be the expression of the Church for a season
but that it this shift in the expression of Christianity would be a
permanent one and would continue until He returns. The Lord spoke
through Isaiah that He would be posting intercessors who would cry out
to God day and night until Jerusalem became the praise of the whole
planet – a reality that will manifest once Jesus is on Earth ruling in
Jerusalem and not before. In essence God was saying the Church; those
who call on the Lord, will shift and become a night and day prayer
furnace that will cry out to God in devotion and intercession until Jesus
comes back.
“I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent
day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him
no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth
(Is. 62:6-7).”
V.
Called to Know the Generation:
We need to feel the gravity of what is happening around us right now and of
the response that is demanded of us as those alive on the Earth during this
time where Bible prophecy is being fulfilled around us. Jesus actually
commanded that the people living in the generation of His return would
know that His return was near. He demanded that when all the sign events
that He listed off began to occur the Church in that hour must be paying
attention and respond.
“When you see all these things, know that it is near--at the doors!
Assuredly…this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take
place (Mt. 24:33-34)”
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A. How to Define a Generation:
How long is a biblical generation? In scripture there are many
descriptions of how long a generation is; ranging anywhere in between
40 to 100 years (Ge. 15:13-16; Nu. 32:11-13; Ps. 90:10; Mt. 1:17; Ac. 7:6).
1. 40 years:
The Lord told Moses that He was going to judge the nation that He
brought out of Egypt. He said He would wait until the entire
generation died off in the dessert before bringing them into the
promised land; this took 40 years (Nu. 32:11-13).
2. 100 years:
Moses spoke of Israel’s captivity in Egypt as lasting 400 years,
referencing it as 4 generations (Ge. 15:13), thus a generation could be
as long as 100 years.
3. 70 years:
In Matthew’s genealogical record he showed that there were 14
generations from Abraham to David (Mt. 1:17); this would average
out about 70 years marking a generation.
B. Rebuked for Not Discerning the Generation:
Jesus spoke sternly to those in His day that they had not being able to
read the signs of His first coming and discern their generation. The
leaders of the day asked Him for a sign, which was a legitimate request
because Joel prophesied that the Messiah would give signs from Heaven
(Jo. 2:30), but they had completely missed all the signs that He had
already been doing which the scripture said would be signs of the
Messiah.
“The Pharisees…came testing Him asked that He would show them a sign
from heaven…Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but
you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous
generation seeks after a sign (Mt. 16:1-4)”
C. Knowing the Time of Our Visitation:
Israel’s unresponsiveness to God was partly related to them not knowing
the time of their visitation. There is a relationship between the measure
to which people are informed of coming prophetic events and the
measure in which they respond to God in context to those events. The
next Day of Visitation will dwarf the previous in every way.
“If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that
make for your peace… For days will come upon you when your enemies will
build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every
side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground…because
you did not know the time of your visitation (Lk. 19:42-44).”
D. The Command to Know the Season:
Paul actually taught that the Church should know the times and seasons
related to the Lord’s coming; this is even more narrow than knowing the
generation. The below exhortation was written to a church that Paul had
birthed but was only able to spend 3 weeks at. During the first 3 weeks of
these new believers Christian lives and teaching Paul taught them in
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depth on several aspects of the last days. Look how confidently he
references their understanding of these matters.
“Concerning the times and the 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 (the unprepared suffer unnecessary
loss)…But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should
overtake you as a thief...Therefore…let us watch and be sober (1Th. 5:1-6).”
VI.
Called to be Ready His Coming:
Jesus stressed not only the points that He wanted us, watching, praying, and
knowing but all of that was supposed to produce what He called “ready for
His coming.” This is the whole point of His previous admonishments As we
can now see the end time scriptures are filled with advice and commands
about what we are supposed to do and know. The final command that we
will look at in this session is Jesus’ command that we would ready for Him
when He comes.
A. Not Taking Our Cue From Previous Generations:
Previous generations got by without watching, no enemy came, it wasn’t
time so their lack of watching and praying seemed to have worked. This
teaches us a very wrong lesson because when it is time, if we’re not found
watching then the enemy forces will absolutely come in and destroy the
city.
B. The Command to be Ready:
As plainly as it could be Jesus told us that we are to be ready for His
coming. Now that we have spent a whole session looking at what else
Jesus had to say about this subject we now have a far better picture of
what He was talking about when He said that we need to be ready. That
readiness is related to all the conversation we just had about watching
and praying.
“So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour
when you do not expect him (Mt. 24:44).”
“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning (Lk. 12:35)”
C. The Blessing of Being Prepared:
Jesus speaks to the whole Church and He tells us that we must be ready
for His coming, hard at work in the forerunner ministry at the end of the
age preparing the way for His coming. He says that we are to be like
those who are waiting in eager expectation, awaiting the glorious reunion
with their long in coming master. This is to be the active posture of the
entire Church across the Earth. To those found watching and waiting
Jesus promises great reward, this goes for the entire Body of Christ
though it may be doubly applied to those in leadership positions.
“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants
waiting for their master to return…It will be good for those servants whose
master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or
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toward daybreak.”…Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or
to everyone?” The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise
manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their
food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom
the master finds doing so when he returns (Lk. 12:35-43).”
D. The Warning for Those Who are Unprepared:
In this same message Jesus gave a stern warning to two groups of
believers; the first group is made up of those who have heard about the
Master’s return and who were instructed about what was called for as a
response but who simply ignored the instruction. The second group He
warns is the massive portion of the Body of Christ who does not
understand the hour that they are living in and therefore does nothing to
prepare for His coming. Both groups are unprepared at the time of His
coming and He promises to beat both groups, the ignorant will be
punished less severely but they will still be punished for their lack of
preparation. Both groups suffer because they were preoccupied with
their own lives and so they were not about their master’s business in the
most important hour of human history. Both groups had been entrusted
with much as members of God’s household in the final generation; the
generation that was most warned to self identify and prepare.
“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready…will be
beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things
deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who
has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has
been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Lk. 12:47-48).”
E. Conclusion:
The Bible actually gives us clear warnings about what will happen to us if
we aren’t watching, if we aren’t praying and it we aren’t ready for what is
coming. There is too much Bible to ignore on these points, it is therefore
essential that the Church as a whole and us as individuals shift our focus
off of ourselves and onto the agenda that God has for our generation; to
make ready for His coming.
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