Title Stay awake (Mark 13:28-37)
1. Learn a lesson from the fig tree
① When its branches become tender and leaves sprout, you know that summer is near (28).
②In the same way, when you also see these things (a phenomenon of disaster) taking place, know that the Son of Man is at the door (30)
③ All these things will happen before this generation passes (30) ④ Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words will never pass away (31)
2. Only God knows the day and the hour (32)
① That day and that time
a. The angels in heaven do not know and I do not know (32)
b. Only the Father knows (32)
② Stay awake (33)
a. You never know when it will happen, so always be careful and stay awake (33)
B. The coming of the Son of Man can be compared to someone who has gone on a trip to another country (34)
ａ.He left his servants to do what each had to do during his journey,
ｂ. He ordered the gatekeeper to stay awake until he returned and left (34).
c. Therefore, stay awake (35).
ａ. It is because you do not know whether it will be evening, midnight, early morning, or dawn, when the owner of the house will return. (35)
ｂ. When he suddenly returns, do not see you sleeping (36).
③ Stay awake at all times. This is a word to you and a word to everyone (37)
Ⅱ.Research (Application to Life)
1. The focus of our attention is not on the times of the end, but on the things that are always awake ① The things about the times of the end are known only to God
A. It is not the realm of humans. Humans can only guess by delaying the time. As the crickets cry, you know that autumn is near.
B. The time of the end is known only to God. Therefore, humans must entrust our lives to God.
② Man's job is to be awake
A. There is no need and no need to try to know the time of the end that humans cannot know.
b. Especially since we humans cannot know the day and the hour at all, we must always be awake.
2. What does waking mean?
① To be faithful in the task entrusted to you (34)
a. When it says that the master has given the servant authority and entrusted each one with the work to be done, it means that the master trusts the servant.
b. In order not to disappoint the owner we trust and entrust with the work, we must do our best in the given task.
② Do not show sleeping (36)
a. By prioritizing human affairs over God's, there should be no cessation (sleeping) in faith.
B. Rather, we should choose to do God's work as our top priority in whatever we do.
3. Our view of life that needs to be corrected
① Why do people care about the meaningless end times?
A. This is because it focuses on quantity rather than quality of life. This is because they are not concerned with how much they are worth, but rather about how long they live.
B. No matter how hard a person tries, the length of life cannot be shortened or lengthened, and no matter how long one lives, there is no meaning in passing.
② God's time has nothing to do with the time period set by man.
A. In the world of invisible time, human beings mark the time of a certain moment as the beginning of the year, the beginning of the month, and the beginning of the day.
b. However, God is not subject to any restrictions on the calculation of time set by man. To God, a thousand years are like one day, and one day is just like a thousand years.
C. Therefore, you can call us at the age of 30, which is considered short, or over 100, when you feel long. However, to God, such a long or short period of time means nothing.
d. God's interest is not in how long you live, but in how valuable you are.
③ Therefore, we must change our notion of time.
A. There is no need to be interested in the number of years of life that we cannot do with our human abilities. There is no need to try to increase the number of years. However, it is necessary to strengthen the body in order to live a valuable life.
b. What we are really interested in is finding out “what has been given to me”, and “how can I do my best” to achieve it.
C. When that happens, a hundred years will not be as meaningless as a day, and a day will be worth a day as if it were a thousand years.
D. It is okay to live without joints in the jointed human conception of time, and it is okay to live jointly in the jointless God's conception of time. will be.