Mark 13:33-37 - Homiletics

"Watch!"

There can be no doubt as to the impression made by these and similar instructions and admonitions, uttered by the Lord Jesus towards the close of his ministry. It was understood by all his disciples that the Master, in leaving the world, retained his hold upon the world's heart and conscience. It was currently believed in the early Church, as it has been believed ever since by all Christians, that the Lord will come again, and will take account of his servants, and especially will inquire into the way in which they have acted as his representatives and ministers among men. Hence the stress which has always been laid upon the duty to watch. The apostles not only obeyed, they repeated the commandment of their Lord. Peter admonished his readers. "Be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer;" John said , "Blessed is he that watcheth;" and Paul exhorted thus, "Watch ye, stand fast in your faith, be strong!" The very names which the early Christians gave to themselves and their children may be taken as an indication of the prevailing tone of feeling. Gregory among the Greeks, and Vigilantius among the Latins, both signify simply "The Watcher."

I. WATCH ! FOR THIS IS THE CHARGE OF CHRIST IN THE PAST .

1 . We are to consider from whom this charge proceeds. It is the word of the All-wise, and of One of unique authority. Coming from Christ, this is not counsel, it is command. The general has the right to station a guard, a sentry, and to expect vigilance and fidelity.

2 . The occasion of the charge gives it a peculiar power and sacredness. It was when the Lord Jesus was leaving his house—to use the figurative language of the text—to sojourn in another country. "While I was with them," were his words in prayer, "I kept them in Thy Name .. Now come I to Thee." How can we do otherwise than attach an especial force of obligation to what our Master said when he was about to leave this world, for the salvation of whose inhabitants he had lived, and was about to die?

3 . Look into the charge itself. He gives to each one his work. All his people are his servants; all have a task to accomplish, a service to render, an office to fill. And every one has his own work, for which he is individually qualified, and which is committed to him and to no other. It is a practical, an elevating view of the Christian life, this which is here unfolded to us. All whom Jesus saves and redeems, he commissions and consecrates. And so long as we live here we have a trust to fulfill, a work to do. He invests each one with authority. There must be in every community a source of power, a ruling mind; the father in a family, the magistrate or the king in a state. In the Church of the Lord Jesus, he himself is the Head, the Lawgiver, the Fountain of honor, the Judge. Yet he gives authority; not making an order of men lords over his heritage, but authorizing every servant to fulfill his own special duties. The bishop rules, the teacher teaches, the evangelist preaches the gospel, nay, every member of every congregation fulfils his duties, at the bidding and by the authority of the Lord. This conviction should give dignity and devotedness to our daily toil. We are where the Lord has placed us; we are doing what he commands. And he requires each one to watch. Working and watching go together; for Christians are like the Jews in the time of Nehemiah, who built the walls of Jerusalem, whilst they were armed and on their guard against the foe. Our Master has left us in the midst of dangers, not to depress our courage, but to quicken our vigilance. This duty devolves especially upon the porter, the janitor. The house contains precious treasures, and it must not be allowed to every stranger to enter, lest the Master's property should be stolen, and the careless keepers dispossessed, and the house occupied by foes. All must watch, that at the Lord's return it may appear that his charge has been kept, and his possessions have been faithfully guarded.

II. WATCH ! FOR THERE IS A PROSPECT OF CHRIST 'S REVELATION IN THE FUTURE . Whilst we look back to the Lord's departure, and his solemn injunctions and his sacred trust, we look forward to his return, according to his promise.

1 . This is an assured fact. Our Lord's second coming has been declared by him under many figures, each having its own shade of spiritual meaning and practical profit. He is a Householder, who will come to take account of his servants; a Proprietor, who will come to learn how his agents have traded and what they have gained; a King, who will come to make inquiry into the conduct of his citizens and great officers of state; a Judge, who will come to summon the people before his tribunal.

2 . At the same time, the period of the Lord's return is hidden from us, and we are informed that to the unprepared it will be sudden and unexpected. Men have been presumptuous enough to foretell, with foolish confidence, what neither the angels nor the very Son of God would communicate. And again and again, in the course of history, there have been out-breaks of millennial fanaticism. But it is easy to see why the close of the should be reserved as a secret in the Father's mind. Had the Church been told that the advent was near, Christians would have been unfitted for the sober discharge of the duties of life; had the Church been assured that it was remote, such an assurance would have prompted sloth and negligence.

3 . Yet we may all live under a sense of the nearness of the Lord's return. The personal interest to us of that return lies in the glory of Christ's kingdom, and in the acknowledgment of our own faithfulness. This life we know is short, and the day of our account is not far off. And Christ would have us live as though he had but gone from us for a season, and were about again to come to us.

"And well I know

That unto him who works, and feels he works,

This same grand year is ever at the doors."

III. WATCH ! FOR THIS IS THE PLAIN DUTY OF THE PRESENT . We have spoken of the past and of the future; of the charge given by our Lord whilst yet on earth, and of the prospect of our Lord's return from heaven. But both these aspects of our religion bear upon the life and duty of to-day.

"Trust no future, howe'er pleasant;

Let the dead past bury its dead:

Think, act, in the living present—

Heart within, and God o'erhead!"

1. Work ! "Whatsoever thy band findeth to do, do it with thy might." Now, whilst strength of body and mind are continued, labor for the Lord who lived and died for you. Now, whilst you have control of your property, rise it as stewards for God. Now, whilst you have influence over your domestic and social circle, use that influence for Christ. Ministers of the gospel, parents and teachers of youth, officers of congregations, followers of Jesus in every, position of life,—be it yours to work for the Lord you love and honor! To-day is yours; to-morrow may be too late.

2 . Pray This you will do, if you realize your dependence for spiritual impulse and power upon the great Source of spiritual grace and blessing. So far from there being any sistency between work and prayer, the two blend in perfect harmony. Prayer without work is mockery, and work without prayer is mechanical and powerless.

3 . Watch! That is, keep guard over yourself and your trust; cherish an attitude of expectation and a feeling of responsibility. Oh for grace to live "as ever in the great Taskmaster's eye"! "Ye know not when the time is." Watch! "lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping!"

"Watch, for the night is long;

Watch, for the foe is strong;

Watch, for the treasure's dear;

Watch, for the Lord is near!"

"Happy is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing!"