Matthew 24:29-41 (#88.2024.03.03)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:02

Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet. Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there'll be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode.

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:49

I don't know if you remember growing up, but certainly when you went on vacation with your kids, you barely pulled out of the driveway, and the first thing they said is, are we there yet? There is this sense that we always wanna know where are we and how close are we to our destination. And I think that was, what's the, what's the app to get a car now? Uber? So if yeah. Yes. Yeah. I think they were brilliant in that because as you're waiting at the airport, waiting for your car, what you wanna know is where are they? Like, where are they and how long will it be? And that's the question for the disciples as they asked Jesus, what will be the sign? How long? Right? What what's gonna happen in the future? And if it were me, I'd tell them just hang on. I'm in charge. I'm sovereign over it, and I'd answer it quickly and say move on. Just be ready.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:43

But the lord Jesus answers it long with multiple parables and multiple pictures, which tends to remind me, I'd get to the bottom line and just say move on, which tells me again something I always think there's something in what the Lord says. There's something in what in how he says it, and there's something in what he doesn't say at times. Right? The the the mere fact that things are missing from it. So the fact that he gives us multiple pictures would suggest what? It's important. That it is important and would likely that you will pass over it and you shouldn't. That you should look at this and you should look at this and you should look at this and you should look at it again. Because otherwise, he wouldn't continue to give us differing parables. So we're going to look at it again because if you were here last week when moving over it, Beth said, well, that that's a rosy section, you know, if you think about it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:41

And it's not. The abomination of desolation. Right? And the end times are not a rosy picture. And we tend to wanna be in a place, right, the church of the rosy picture, which is where we are these days. Right? To give to to minimize the call of the gospel to people, it means little to take god who is awesome and unknowable in some sense and make him noble to take that which is glorious and make it pedestrian in order for, I don't know, to understand it, to make it easier to understand, right, and to to remind people, right, that that god is not fully knowable. God is god, and there is no other. He reminds us. And he is beyond our comprehension, and so we come to grips with that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:33

But we live in an age where church, right, the gathering of people, even the preaching of the word is mostly about people. It's mostly about us and and less about who god is, about his awesomeness, about his unknowableness, about his his holiness, and the fact that he is incomprehensible. He is, unshakable and immovable and unchangeable over time. And so we wanna continue to focus on him and who he is. Right? And as at times, be startled by what he says because he's not always preaching the gospel of rosy news. Right? He's preaching the good news. He's preaching the gospel of truth. And he said, these things I told you before they come to pass, that when they come to pass, you may not be surprised.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:28

You are, you are fully aware and you are prepared. So we're gonna go through Matthew today, 24 verses, 32 through 41. So let's read that together. If you would stand with me out of reference for God and his word. Because the context here is the end will come. He says, for the end will come. So let's read now. Learn the parable from the fig tree.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:56

When its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So you too, when you see all these things, recognize that he is near right at the door. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the son, but the father alone. For the coming of the son of man will be just like the days of Noah. Whereas in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying, giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. So will the coming of the son of man be.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:55

Then there will be 2 men in the field. 1 will be taken, and 1 will be left. 2 women will be grinding at the mill, 1 will be taken, and 1 will be left. Therefore, be on the alert. You do not know which day your lord is coming. But he assured this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason, you also must be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will. The word of the lord.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:36

Thanks be to god. So he reminds us, and then the end will come. This is about the end, The end. And he says, learn from the parable. Learn from the parable. We live in an age where people have stopped learning and stopped thinking. But he says learn from the parable, which means stop, take a breath, think. Because he said, when you see when you see these things so there will be visible signs.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:17

People will be able to recognize when the time came. He said there'll be wars. There'll be famines, there'll be rumors of wars, there'll be earthquakes, then the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, signs in the heavens, and then he is near. He is near. And so he says, you will have visible signs that the end of times are coming. And he says, this generation will not pass away. This generation will not pass away. How many get confused by that? Wonder what does that mean? Well, they passed away, and these things didn't come.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:03

So then you say, what does that mean, this generation? So as with all things, Jesus has interwoven his answer about then the people of the time, about now, those who would read it in the later days and about the end of days, at the actual end of times. And he doesn't say, this is for then. This is for later. This is for the end of later. Right? He just has interwoven those. So it can it it it brings a lot of confusion to it. And so we like clarity. Exactly.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:42

So people have explained it 1 of 3 ways. 1 of 3 ways. It he could have been speaking to the believers. Right? The disciples, right, he was speaking to right then. Those in those times. A bit of a challenge because all those things haven't occurred. So some would say, we're speaking to the disciples about what would happen in AD 70 when the temple was torn down. The problem is there wasn't the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, the end of times.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:12

He could have been speaking about the generation as in the Jewish generation. Right? The god's promise to the people of Jews would not would not pass away, will not pass away, that that the Jewish race will remain until the end of time. That by its nature is amazing. Do you think about how many races have come and gone in history that the Jewish race is still around. So it could have been speaking about the race itself, Jewish race. Everybody get what that means? That the the race, that generation. And the third just would be the idea of believers, spiritual Israel. Right? Those those who are true believers would not pass away until all these.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:00

In other words, there will always be the remnant of God's people till the end of time, till he comes again. The race within the race, if you will. Right? True Israel. Was was scripture say not all Israel is Israel. Right? Those who are through heirs of the promise to Abraham. We are Gentiles by birth, but we are, our heirs to the promise by rebirth. Right? So we are heirs to the promise. We are sons of God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:33

So what does it mean? Well, I think the answer is yes. There was there was there was that generate there were you know, they really were speaking to that generation. It was partially fulfilled in that generation. He's speaking about the Jewish race itself, and he's speaking about true believers in all times. This generation will not pass away. And I hold to the fact that god will have his people in all times, at all times, until the end of times. That makes sense? He will always have his people in all times, at all times, and at the end of times, there will always be the elect in the midst of it. Even in the midst of the great tribulation, people will come to Christ in that time and will not be wasted.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:24

In fact, he says, those days will be so horrid. Right? All would be dead if he did not cut them short for the sake of the elect. Those who would come to a knowledge of him. So he's reminding us this generation will not pass away. It's a promise from the eternal one. And but he says heaven and earth will pass away. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words, right, my words will not. My words will not pass away.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:56

So it's a reminder, heaven and earth are the creation that those that that which is created will not pass away. Why is that?

Speaker B [: 00:12:09

What did you just say?

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:10

What did you say? You said

Speaker B [: 00:12:11

it will not pass. Creation will pass away.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:13

The creation will pass away. Yes. That's exactly what I meant to say. So you have a spouse who corrects who corrects what you're saying. Holy Spirit, help her. Thank you. Yes. The creation will pass away, but the created one will not.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:30

Right? The one who creates. Did I say that right? Let's start again. Okay. His words will not pass away. Heaven in the earth will pass away, but his words will not pass away. So the creation indeed will pass away, but the eternal creator will not. The eternal creator will not. Holy smokes.

Speaker B [: 00:13:00

Now I'm questioning whether I corrected you correctly. You did. You did. You gotcha. Okay. Good. Thanks.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:05

So Christ will not pass away. His word will not pass away. The father will not pass away, and his plans will not pass away. Right? He nullifies the council of the nations. He frustrates the plans of the people. The council of the Lord stands forever. The plans of his heart from generation to generation. So let's read this.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:32

He says, your words, your years are throughout all generations. Of all, you found the mirror, and the heavens are the work of your hands. Even they will perish, but you endure. And all of them will wear out like a garment. Like clothing, you will change them, and they will be changed. But you are the same and your years will not come to an end. What a great reminder. So you look around.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:00

He says, you look around, you're gonna see the signs of the end of times, and we live by what we see, don't we? But what we see, smell, touch, and now we live in the age of modernity where it's all about, if I can't touch it, I don't believe it. So he sees into the future that people are gonna be about what they can see. We're gonna be fundamentally about what we can see. So he's saying what you can see will pass away. Keep in mind, it will pass away, and it will appear to pass away and it will pass away, but I will not. And he reminds him neither will my words that you've been born again or born again by what? Not that which is perishable but imperishable. That is through the living and enduring word of God. His word will not pass.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:50

All flesh is like grass. All flesh is like grass and its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers. That'd be you and me. We wither, don't we? The grass withers. The flower falls off. And as you get older, many things fall off. Right? More and more things fall off.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:14

It's frustrating. Right? As you're as you're watching your grass wither and the flower fall off. No matter how hard you dry, it withers and falls off. Right? But he says, the word of the lord endures forever. Well, I love this in Isaiah. He says, thus says the Lord, Yahweh, the king of Israel, and his redeemer is the lord of hosts. The lord of the armies of heaven, if you think about that. The captain of the host.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:44

What's he say? I am the first and I am the last, and there is no god besides me. And then he asked, who's like me? And he doesn't ask in general. He's asking you, so for you, who is like me? To whom then will you liken me? In other words, who's your god? Who is your god and what is he like? Let him proclaim it. So he says, whoever you trust in, let him declare about proclaim and declare it. Proclaim and declare what? Let him recount to me in order from the time that I established the ancient ancient nation and let them declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are gonna take place. So he says, whoever you trust in, ask them to recount history and to prophecy about what's to come. No. So then he says, do not tremble and do not be afraid.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:45

Why? Because I've long since told you what was gonna happen and it's happened. And I'm telling you what's gonna happen and it will happen. Right? Who does that? Long since announced it to you and declared it, and you are my witnesses. Is there any god beside me, or is there any other rock? He says, I don't know of any. How about you? Right? How about you? Who's your rock? Who's the one that has proclaimed what was gonna happen from the beginning until now and what's gonna happen in the future. And, of course, with that statement, not only have I proclaimed it, I have declared it, and I will bring it to pass for sure. Who is there? And in the midst of that, what's the deal? He says, do not tremble and do not be afraid. So what are you afraid of today? What's your biggest fear? What's your biggest concern? What are you trembling about? Well, you look around.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:52

The world seems like a place to tremble about, doesn't it? The world itself, our nation, what's going on around here seems to be fearful. So Lord says, so who is your rock? While this stuff shakes, who is your rock? The said, I'm gonna continue to shake it. I'm gonna shake it as its foundation, and one day, I'm gonna shake the whole dang thing. In fact, he's gonna pass away. So as I shake it, in order to show the world that I am he. Right? What are you afraid of? What are you trembling about? What's your biggest fear today? And like I always say, I have a bag of fears if you don't have enough fears. Well, I

Speaker B [: 00:18:39

was gonna say maybe the better question is what am I not fearful about? Because I could say everything.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:46

Everything. Right? Everything. Lot more and more to be fearful about it, isn't there?

Speaker B [: 00:18:50

Is there something I'm not afraid of?

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:51

Right. And then therefore, what are we hoping for? Oh, we hope that all of a sudden leaders will get righteous and just. That ain't happening. What are we what are we hoping for? That's see, that's what he's saying to us. What as you look forward, what is your hope? Well, the election. Well, this is gonna happen. Well, the media's gonna turn around. Well right? The the the nation will find its soul again, all of those things.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:21

What he's saying, what are you hoping for? Where is your rock? Where is your rock? So he says, I'm the one. Right? I'm the one who knows the things that are coming in the events that are going to take place because I have sovereignly declared it, and therefore, I will bring it to pass. So he says all the time when you say so, when are we there yet? He says of that day, guess what? No one knows. Not the son, but the father alone. But the father alone. Which is interesting in our day, there seems to be, a real focus on Jesus, which is not a bad thing. But remember, Jesus said, when you pray, don't pray to me, pray to the father. Pray to the father.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:20

Blessed be the god and father of our lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I don't come for my own glory. I don't come for my own will. I come for the fathers. Don't get stuck in the sun. He always leads you to the father. Right? This is about the father, and he says the son, despite who he is, doesn't know, which doesn't totally make sense, does it? They're an eternal unity in in in oneness, but it is about the father. So he wants us to know that he is coming back, not when.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:00

He wants us to know that he's coming back Okay. Which is a good reminder. So if Christ doesn't know when, why are you trying to know when? A lot of people were proclaiming, he's gonna come back here. He's gonna come back here. We're at the end of the days. Who knows? The gospel hasn't been preached to all the nations, which he says is part of what will happen as well. He wants us to know that he's coming back. What did they call that when you did, Cheryl? What were you telling me in perspectives?

Speaker B [: 00:21:36

What? Verse 24, The

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:38

great 14th. Rather than great commission?

Speaker B [: 00:21:40

The great completion.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:42

The great completion. Right? That the great completion is the gospel to all the nations. Gospel to all the nations. He said that that the gospel will be preached to all the nations. Well, what's the problem? He says that the days will be normal, will seemingly be normal so that life seems to go on and on and on. Doesn't it? Life seems to go on and on, which begs the question now. Yeah. But is he really coming again? And it says in second Peter, he's not slack.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:18

He's not slack when it comes to the promise, but he's patient, not wishing that any should perish. He's patient one day, 1000 years, a 1000 years, one day. But he says, when he comes, one will be taken. Both men and women alike. 1 will be taken, 1 will be left. What does that mean? Does that mean 50% believers, 50% not? I don't know. I don't think it's it's percentages as much as one will They'll be in the field doing the same stuff. 1 will be taken away, 1 will be left.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:00

So he says in Thessalonians, what's that look like? The lord himself will descend from heaven with a a shout. Well, what will that sound like? Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. There'll be a trumpet and a shout. 1 will be taken, 1 will be left. What is that? Sure. Looks like what we would call the rapture. Right? When the believers at the time, are we going to be raptured in our age? I don't know. I don't know.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:35

When will that be? Same question. Don't know. Don't know. Just know that he'll descend from heaven, and he will call his people together into the air. So what do we do with all that? What do we do with all that? You flip over. He says, be prepared. Be prepared, I believe, for the long haul. Be prepared for the long haul.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:07

Well, dang. So we say that question. So what would you do if Jesus is coming back tomorrow? That's not very fair. I wouldn't mow the grass. I wouldn't you know what I mean? I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't pay my bills. I you know what I mean? What's what would you do if he's coming back on Friday? Well, I just let everything go, of course. But you can't live like that, can you? Right? That's not what he's saying because you wouldn't do anything. Right? He he's saying live for the long haul, for the long run.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:35

This is a marathon race. It's a marathon race. 1 of our top clients is a, an Ironman Ironman. And he's done it 4 times. And then the Ironman, you swim to, I think, 2 and a half miles, then you get off and you ride a bike, a ton of miles, a 120 some, I think. Then you get off and you run a marathon. And you do this all together on purpose. Nobody's face.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:06

I did. Why? And, like, why would you do that? Right? So I asked Barry about that. I mean, how do you do that? And they and, his partner, they tried a mini one, and he said, you know, he said, I almost drowned in the water, and then I you know, the other guy, you know, hurt his leg and, you know, it's it it it really is a a long haul. And I talked to him about there's a difference between, sprinting and the long haul. Long haul is really about understanding, right, that I have to manage everything over that time. I have to manage my energy. I have to it's a it's a matter of physical as well as mental preparation because he said sometimes this is the hardest part. Right? The mental is the hardest part.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:53

When you wanna quit, when you wanna give up. He said, sometimes you're just thinking one step. That's all I can do, one step. Sometimes you're thinking, I just wanna get down there right around the corner. Sometimes you're you're energized and you're thinking, I'm catching that guy. So there's you know, you go through these kind of phases. You notice in life? So he's saying, but but we're in it for the long haul. The race is the long race for endurance.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:19

So if we're gonna do this, the prayer that I pray for folks is that you would be fit. He says, fill him with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, right, that you would that you would walk in a manner worthy of Lord, to know the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work, strengthen with all power. Strengthen with all power. Where does that power come from? Right? Strengthen with all power according to his his glorious might. How powerful is God's might? It's pretty powerful. Beyond comprehension. Right? We need we need to be strengthened with power. What power? His glorious might.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:11

Right? The hand of the lord. So that we would attain to all steadfastness. The word is endurance and patience. Steadfastness and patience. Joyously giving thanks to the father from whom we've received an inheritance in his son. We have been rescued, and there's an inheritance in the future. So we need to be strengthened with his power. Lord, empower me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:39

Strengthen me. Strengthen me. Strengthen with his power. Good prayer to pray. Colossians 11112. Strengthen with all power. Many says, lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author, the perfecter of faith.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:11

So if you're running the race for the long term, you don't carry extra weight. Right? You also don't carry loose clothing or the loose clothing would be caught in the spokes of the bike or it get caught when you're running. Right? That's the picture. Right? That sin becomes an entanglement. Right? It's extra weight. It's an entanglement that gets in in the way. And the picture is, Barry told me, it's not just that, like, equipping yourself for each part of the race. He kept a food diary.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:41

If I eat a certain way, I get energy. If I eat if I don't do this, I get sick. If I write so it's really just understanding, which boggles my mind. But Jonathan Edwards used to do the same thing. Jonathan Edwards would keep a food diary because he would study long. So he would say, if I eat this, I have extra energy. If I didn't, I don't. Right? He would he would track that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:09

Seems a little anal to me, but that's okay. It was the just us. It would it worked for him. It's a seriousness about the race. Right? That we're in the race for the long term. If you push hard, you can burn out early. Right? If you don't have enough energy, you don't have enough resources to the end. So that picture is we're in we're in this for endurance.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:31

We're in this for the long haul. Lay aside. And so it's clear for each of us, we have sin or sins. Right? The the idea is sins, not just sin, but what are the ones that entangle you? We all have our our our weakness, our proclivity to certain sins knowing. They're the ones that get in the way. They tangle us up. You You don't have to write them down, but just they're come they should come to mind. Lord, what are those? These are the ones that I tend to be, easily attracted to or entangled by.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:08

So, Lord, what are those? Help me to lay them aside. It's interesting because he says the the days when he comes again will be like the days of Noah. They'll be like the days of Noah when they're doing regular stuff. They're eating. They're drinking. They're marrying. Regular stuff. Fishing.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:28

Regular stuff. And it says that Noah endured. 2nd Peter says that God did not spare the ancient world, but he preserved Noah. He called Noah, a preacher of righteousness. Well, when we think preacher, we think full time. Right? Well, he was a preacher of righteousness, but he wasn't a preacher in the sense that we would say. He wasn't a full time preacher. He wasn't ministry wasn't his full time vocation.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:02

It's a great reminder that as Christians, we're we're all creatures of righteousness. Not there's no full time, part time. We just are. And how did he preach? It says, by faith, Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen. Isn't that interesting? So it hadn't rained on the earth. So he said it's gonna parkle. And so Noah would say, what like, what does that mean? Well, it's gonna Fargo. Right? Oh, on the whole earth.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:41

Well, he had no idea what rain meant. Like, what was that concept? He was talking to him about things not yet seen. And in reverence, he prepared an ark for the salvation of his household by which he condemned the world. So in reverence and fear, lower the words fear, he feared God, and he built an ark, which is supposedly the exact dimensions that the navy and British, all used to build a ship. Right? So the dimensions were perfect for that which would build. And so they somebody built an ark. Has somebody seen, gone, and seen the actual arc that was built? It's in Tennessee or somewhere. I can't remember.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:32

But it's just stunning, they tell me. It just it's by the creation museum. It's just stunning. Think that that was built by hand, right, by hand. Noah endured, and he was fearing God, and he preached with a hammer. He preached for the hammer. Preached with a hammer. Preached with this ship, but he preached for the hammer by building building this.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:06

And he endured don't know exactly, but if you look at the chronological times, it's somewhere between 75 but up to a 100 years. 100 years. I think, well, lord, I've been enduring for a long time. Not a 100 years versus time went on. Right? And you think about that, he couldn't build it alone, which means he had he had, exchange his resources for, you know, wood and materials. He probably, you know, hired people to come and help. You know, of course, all the time, what are you doing this for? What are you what are you doing this for? Why are you doing this? Well, God's gonna come and judge the earth. Oh, yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:57

He's gonna bring farckel. Really? What is that? Right? It's never farcled before. It's not going to now. Right? So he briefed with a hammer and his life. A hammer in his life, which means he could have been doing a lot of things other than preparing an ark during that time. He lived for what god had called him to do. And so I asked how prepared are you for the long haul? How prepared are you? Seems to me that is about our priorities. Do we have long term priorities? Right? Are we managing for the long term? How about your money? How prepared is your money for the long haul? For the things that God is calling you to do.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:48

How about your time to be daily? How am I investing my time and more importantly, my energy? I'll prepare our youth for the long haul. Physical, spiritual, mental. How prepared am I for physical? How prepared am I mentally? How prepared am I, right, Spiritually, mentally, physically. When people listen to the hammer of your life, what would they hear? Well, that all I could hear was the hammer of your life. What would they hear? What what am what am I pounding away at, if you will? All they could hear was the hammer of your life. So a lot of people didn't get to hear in it a lot, but they heard the hammer of his life. Right? You could they hear what message, right, is the hammer of my life sounding out, if you will. And so think about what Noah's neighbors and friends and local community would have said about him after a month, after 6 months, after a year, after 5 years, 10 years, 25 years, 50 years, 75 years.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:12

Oh, they said stupid old man. Stupid old man. What a what a waste of his life. Stupid old man. And I I helped you, and I brought wood, and I did that. The thing about all the people who have helped with the ark, but didn't hear. Probably kept telling him stupid old man. What are you doing? Right? You're you're must be insane to do this for a 100 years.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:43

You must be crazy. And then one day, thunder, lightning, and farkel. And you wonder if it were me, I would've said, I told you so. Right? You're gonna just say, I told you so. Put that on Facebook. Right? But but report that on CNN. Right? Hopefully, he didn't. Hopefully, he brought out, lord, help them.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:17

Lord, forgive them for they know not what they're doing. So he says, be prepared for the long haul. That's hard, isn't it? It is hard. It is hard. Yet, he says, be watchful and ready every day. What? So what do you want me to do? We well, what do you want me to do? Wait a minute. Be prepared for the long haul, but be watchful and ready that you could come every day. Okay, Lord.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:45

This is confusing. It's both. Isn't it interesting? Both. Therefore, he says, be on the alert. Watchful. Watchful. In Acts, he said, they're staring. Jesus goes up in the sky.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:01

They're staring at this guy. He says, what are you doing? What are you doing? I watch. He's gonna come back. He's coming back in the same way he went watchful. So but think about that. Be on the alert. Be on the alert. Be watchful.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:18

Be vigilant. He says, we eagerly wait for a savior. He's our savior. The Lord Jesus Christ, the savior who will transform he says, the body of this humble state into conformity with the body of his glory. What's that a reminder? The outside is fading away. The inner is gonna be renewed. Right? The the no doubt that that lifting, the the boards and pounding the hammer were different. Noah was 600 years old when it came.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:53

600 years old. Lord, I know what I feel today. I can't imagine. I started that project at 500 years old. Right? But so as the miles grow on your journey, don't you think it's harder to get out of bed sometimes? It's harder to recover. My back was screaming this morning. You know? I'm thinking yesterday, oh my gosh. You wake up, you know, and you're aching.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:15

You know? So as as the years go on, the outer is fading away, but it reminds us, we wait for a savior. What's he gonna do? He's gonna transform the body of this homo state into conformity with the body of his glory. We're gonna meet him. He's going to transform us, and we will be eternally in fellowship with him. And whatever we get on the other side, it's not gonna fade away. The inheritance is sure. So he says the day is coming. The day is coming when I will come again.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:53

But he also reminds us, of course, your day is coming. Your day is coming. There's the day, there's your day, and there's today. Right? So he says your day is coming. So teach us to number our days. The Bible says that your days are ordained when as yet there were none. Right? No matter, we can work on the quality of our days. We can't work on the quantity of our days.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:23

We don't know how many you get. He does. You don't know. He says, teach us to number our days that we may present to thee a heart of wisdom. And he reminds us, therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise making the most of your time. It literally means buying back your time, Investing your time. Because the days are evil. Investing your time, which would generally mean to me, don't waste it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:00

Invest it. Don't waste it. We don't manage time. We invest it. That's all we do. We get it. We invest it. He's saying redeem it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:08

Buy it back in the sense of invested in what matters. That does that mean we shouldn't have times of of renewing ourself? No. There should be renewing times. He just reminds us, don't live to to renew. Right? Don't live, right, to to play. Because in our world, right, when you get get a certain time in your life, they say live to play. That's what we do. Live to play.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:33

But he's saying don't do that. Right? You know, you renew, that's fine, but don't live to play. Does that make sense? So he said, therefore, be careful making the most. Redeem your time. Your day is coming. The day is coming, and your day is coming. Therefore, be on the alert. He says we are to be watchful.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:58

Right? And we are so all to be ready. What are we ready for? The thief. He says, if he knew if he knew if you look at our scripture, he said if he knew, right, if he knew that that the time the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. So we're watchful and on the alert. So the scripture reminds us to be a silver spirit. Right? Be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. He's a thief.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:42

The thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Kill, steal, and destroy. That's his intent. He's a thief. And he uses schemes, stratagems, wiles. Right? So I remind myself that he does that. He uses the deception, primary primary weapon, deception. He's a liar, and he's been a liar from the beginning.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:23

He uses deception. He also uses accusation. He's the accuser of the brethren. I may have heard his accusations. Yeah. How many times do you think he accused Noah over a 100 years? Not only did he, right, did he did he stir the people up to accuse, but probably directly in all sorts of ways. Right? Who are you? This is stupid. Who are you believing? He's got you on this farce.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:56

Is he really real? Come on. It's not gonna farcle. Right? Deception, accusation. And 3rd, he uses temptation. Bart says Satan advances covertly covertly. Approaches in darkness, employs cunning rather than power, seeks rather to delude and betray than to vanquish by mere force. So he uses stratagems, a military term for deception. Right? He deceives you, and he accuses you, and he tempts you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:44:34

These are his stratagems. We put on the full armor so you'll be able to stand firm against the wiles, the schemes, the stratagems of the demon itself, the devil. So he's a be on the alert. The thief is about. The good news is he prowls about go up there like a roaring lion. What does that mean? That doesn't mean he speaks like everybody does today where the word like is a verb and an adverb and everything else. Okay. No.

Scott Keffer [: 00:45:11

He literally means he probs about in this in the image of pretending to be a roaring lion. And I remind myself, there is one lion, Hasland in the lion, which in the wardrobe, but he is the great lion. Right? He is the lion of the tribe, Judah. And he is not like a roaring lion. He is the roaring lion. So he reminds us that he prowls about in the image of pretending to be a roaring lion, but we are protected by the lion, the tribe of Judah, who is a roaring lion. So he says, be watchful and be ready for the day. So what helps you to be watchful and ready daily? What helps you? We said, live for the long run, but we watchful on a daily basis.

Scott Keffer [: 00:46:11

What works? What helps? Or being the word, for sure, is word. Prayer. Prayer. Prayer, for sure. Prayer. And these, of course, these are daily alerts. You think about this. What keeps us alerted and watchful daily? Well

Speaker B [: 00:46:38

Serving.

Scott Keffer [: 00:46:39

Serving. Being about what he's called you to do. Right? Serving. So this would be your calling. Right? Council of others? The council of others. Babs, So this is the daily. These are the daily reminders. What's that?

Speaker B [: 00:47:13

Crazy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:47:13

Yeah. Praising him. Gratitude. Think think about it. I mean, the the thought to the Lord was, you know, I'm in I'm I'm in this with the long ball with you with the understanding that you could come today. That's the answer. Right? I'm in this for the long haul, with the understanding you could come today. Right? So keep me keep me enduring and keep me watchful at the same time.

Scott Keffer [: 00:47:47

So I kinda, you know, focused here and focused there. It's kinda both. Right? Looking down and looking up. Right? And this is you know, if you think about the hammer is the work that he's called us to do. It's a great reminder. If we're about the work he's called us to do, we don't always preach with our words. We preach with our life. We preach with the hammer of our life.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:10

Let it echo out that we are about the one who's coming again. Right? The one who's come the one who's coming again. So he said, be prepared for the long haul, but be watchful and ready every day. So application from today. He says learn from the parable of the fig tree. Learn from the parable of the tree fig tree and the man who let the feet into his house. So it's an application what you learned. That's good.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:42

It goes back to, as you said, that gratitude just for reminding ourself. And the resources are his gift from from him. He's given us the gift for the the for the race he's called you to, which this goes back to the plot. You know, everybody's race is different. The dwell in the land, cultivate faithfulness. He's giving you the resources for the plot, some a lot more, some a lot less, but he's giving you the very resources. Right? If he's blessed with more, that's because he has more for you to be doing. It's about the plot he's giving you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:49:15

Right? It's about hammering hammering. Right? For Noah's building the ark. What are we building? We're building up one another. But, specifically, where is your piece in in the overall arc that he's building and the call that he's making to the world. Right? Says that he convicted the world by making his arc. Hopefully, our life is an encouragement to some and a conviction to others. May the movable, unshakable, and unchangeable god, may he bless you. May he keep you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:49:47

May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he lift up his countenance and grant you his shalom deep in your soul. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and each day as you wait and endure to the end. Amen. Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance and confidence in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the bible and his son, Jesus Christ. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and may the Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life.

Scott Keffer [: 00:50:31

Until next time, may god bless you and keep you.