Christ told His disciples to "watch" as preparation for the second coming. What does this mean?
Transcript
[Darris McNeely] On our last BT Daily, we were talking about Ezekiel chapter 33 and the role of the watchman in - among the prophets - to watch. A key role of anyone who speaks for God, stands as a servant or as a prophet, is that of being a watchman. Ezekiel was told to be a watchman for Israel. Jesus Christ Himself picked up this theme in Mark chapter 13 beginning in verse 32 when He was talking about His second coming and the signs regarding that second coming and the appearance of the Son of Man this whole chapter. And it comes down toward the end and He says, "Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is" (Mark13:32-37). Of course, the instruction is that no one knows the time or the hour - of course, everybody just stumbles all over that one and tries to predict when Christ returns, but they fail to really understand some of the really involved nuances of this particular section and watching and praying is a vital part of that.
[Steve Myers] It is amazing that Christ makes that analogy between that physical watchman back in the Old Testament, watch over the herds, watch over the cities, protect the people, protect the flocks, that there is a sense of spiritual watching that's much more important for all of us today, that we have to be watching spiritually and of course praying is the beginning of that. We've got to start with a relationship with God.
[Darris McNeely] He goes on here in verse 34, He says, "It is like a man going to a far country who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to each his work and commanded the doorkeeper to watch." So He also says that each has a work. So you look at prayer and you look at work and you also understand that this is involved with the overall instruction to watch and you see that it really does get quite involved and quite important. Again in verse 35 He picks up and He says, "Watch therefore, you do not know when the master of the house is coming - in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster or in the morning, lest suddenly coming, he find you sleeping." You don't want to be found sleeping.
[Steve Myers] No, you can't be spiritually asleep. I'm reminded of what it says over in 1 Thessalonians 5, it says right there that, in verse 6 it says, "Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober" (1 Thessalonians 5:6). So there's this concept of being spiritually ready. We've got to be spiritually ready. Our spiritual life has to be in order or we'll be asleep. And so Christ was saying be ready. Be ready for His return. Have a right relationship with Him so you will be then watching.
[Darris McNeely] Watching involves understanding really not only your own spiritual condition, to be praying, to be working, and to be awake, but also it certainly involves understanding the time of your world events that are taking place and watching it. Earlier in this chapter He talked about the parable of the fig tree and to watch when it would begin to unfold and blossom, as again understanding trends and understand what is taking place in the world as one goes along and to understand the signs that He also talked about regarding His second coming. But overall, watching is quite all encompassing and a very important part of not only a servant of God, but also one charged with the responsibility of giving a message.
[Steve Myers] So let's watch and be ready. That's BT Daily.
