In light of recent world events, I have felt the need for us to hear from Matthew 24 this morning…to HEED the warnings in the Scripture that tell of Christ’s return…
We have always believed that Jesus is coming back…
BUT NOW, as we see things escalate in the Middle East (Israel attacks! Lebanon, Iraq, Iran…then you have Korea)…and then we have the continual oddities with the weather (earthquakes, tornadoes and tsunamis)…for me, my eyes are turning upward for the SOON & CERTAIN return of Jesus Christ!
I am reminded of the words from Luke, as he recorded the words of Jesus when He spoke of the Second Coming…Luke 21:28, “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near!”
Church…we are in this time that we should be LOOKING UP and getting ready to go!
Because OUR REDEMPTION IS DRAWING NEARER day-by-day!!!!
And, I see it like this…
Jesus is saying…
“READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!”
TEXT: Matthew 24:36-25:13 & II Timothy3:1-5
Matthew 24:36-44, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. [37] For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. [38] For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, [39] and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. [40] Then there shall be two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. [41] Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. [42] Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. [43] But be sure of 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. [44] For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
PRAYER…
INTRODUCTION:
If we could be imaginative a bit…Jesus may be saying to us…
READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!
You’ll remember that great childhood game…
Everyone would run and hide in their best-found spot to keep from being seen…
The person that was “IT” could be heard counting to 20…
Then, he would shout…”Ready or not, here I come!” Then, he would make the mad dash to find hidden ones to win the game!
Well…somewhere in Heaven there is a count-down that only God the Father knows…
And, a trumpet is about to sound…sending Jesus here to call His chosen ones away…
Listen to how this is described to us by Paul, the apostle, in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [52] in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed!”
And the statement remains…”READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!”
In keeping with my premise this morning…let me ask you a question…
ARE YOU READY FOR THE SOON & CERTAIN RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST?
Now…when playing Hide-and-go-Seek…
-There is nothing worse that can happen to you than not even finding a hiding place when the count-down is complete and “IT” begins to go on his search…
-Likewise Church, there is nothing worse than for one soul to be found UNPREPARED for the return of Jesus Christ either…
-Especially if they are associated with the Body of Christ, and own a Bible…
Ask yourself…”Are you ready for Christ’s return today???”
ILLUSTRATION:
One of the most memorable events that had taken America by surprise was the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941…
-Unprepared may be an overstatement…but we certainly were not on-guard…
-President Roosevelt had previously sent the fleet there to serve as a deterrent to Japanese attacks…
-But, that was unsuccessful…
-We were hit just minutes before 8 AM, and within a short time, 5 of 8 ships were sunk or sinking…with the rest were damaged
*Tragedy came to us because there was a lack of preparation…
Something of more modern-time that we will never forget, are the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001…
-We knew from previous attacks, and information given, that we certainly have enemies who wanted to expedite our demise…
-19 men hi-jacked 4 planes to use as their tools for destruction…
-But, all-in-all, we were unprepared, and these strategic attacks caught us by surprise and gave us a great tragedy that will never leave our minds and hearts…
*Once again, tragedy came to us because there was a lack of preparation…
What about us???
READY OR NOT, HERE I COME is not just a cute title / and saying…
But it will be reality when Jesus comes back for His Church without spot or wrinkle!
Unlike the game, hide-and-go-seek, our goal is TO BE FOUND!
To have our names found in the Lamb’s Book of Life!
Because ONLY those who are in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be found in that part…Revelation 21:27 tells us that.
-And, we are able to do that ONLY by receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior!
-As Jesus said in John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.’”
Are you ready for His return?
Have you received Jesus as Lord and Savior?
He is coming back! It is SOON & CERTAIN!
With that in mind, listen to Jesus’ own words: Matthew 24:44, “For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
ILLUSTRATION:
You know…it is so ironic how much we prepare for everything else in life except our soul’s destination.
If we travel somewhere for vacation…we prepare by making reservations at hotels, travel, and even restaurants…
Some plan for retirement…we save money in a 401K, or a savings of some kind to prepared for the “Golden Years”…
Others prepare for their own funerals…buying grave plots, head stones, and even paying for all the arrangements before their even being close to death…
We prepare for almost everything in life…
But, what about our soul’s destination in eternity, are you prepared?
It is amazing…
If we could go back in time, and were aware of what was going to take place on certain days…I know that we would do something differently to be prepared for these attacks I have mentioned…
But, and even more powerful event is about to happen [THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST]…and we tend to ignore this truth…if by nothing else but by our actions…
-We are quick to believe so many other things; but yet, we find it hard to believe Jesus’ own words about His coming again…yet it will happen!
ILLUSTRATION:
For instance…
If you tell a man that there are 300 billion stars in the universe, he’ll believe you. But if you tell him a bench has just been painted, he has to touch it to be sure.
Let me tell you…Jesus IS coming quickly…do you believe it???!!!
TRANSITIONAL SENTECE:
Church, the Bible teaches us that we MUST be ready for eternity…and Jesus’ return…
But, we will never know when it will call us forth…either by death or by Jesus’ return…but, either way we MUST BE READY before that moment.
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I want to talk to you about the WAITING…the WEDDING…and the WORKING in regard to the Second Coming of Christ!
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POINT ONE: WAITING
We have a need to be prepared while we wait…and have a…
Readiness - Matthew 24:36-44
As we come onto the scene of Matthew 24, the disciples had asked Jesus a two-fold question about His coming again in Matthew 24:3, it tells us that, “And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’’
-Of course Jesus responded to them in this passage, but not in the way that they necessarily wanted…they wanted a TIME…
-You see, instead, Jesus changed their focus from the idea of “WHEN” to the importance of simply being “READY”!
You see…Jesus refuses to tell them WHEN…
WHY?
Because there was an issue of greater importance…their PREPAREDNESS / or READINESS before it actually happens…
-And that is still a concern for us today too…to be READY!
Jesus did say that He WOULD return one day…
Yet even today, many people either don’t believe this or haven’t even heard about it!
-But, Jesus clearly tells His disciples that READINESS is an important issue!
-It is important because it will happen with NO warning, (only signs of the time) and there will be NO time to prepare for it when it happens…
-There are ONLY “SIGNS” that will come before to serve as markers!
In fact…Jesus gives us as much as 24 different signs of His return…
But generally, we hear Jesus speaking of about in the following verses…
#1 - There will be many coming in His name to deceive many…
#2 - We will hear of wars, and rumors of war…
#3 - There will be many natural disasters like earthquakes, and famines…
#4 - Further, there will be the persecution of the saints…
#5 - An increase in sin in our world…
#6 - And, the Gospel will be preached in all the world!
Let me ask you…
Do you see any of these things taking place today?
Do we see all of them happening simultaneously?
CHURCH…Christ is coming soon!!!
You see…Jesus talks about “2 men in the fields…one taken, and the other left… 2 women will be grinding grain…one will be taken, and the other left.”
And, Jesus’ point is simple here…
HE IS COMING again!!!
AND
ONLY those who are properly prepared / READY with be taken…
ALL OTHERS who are unprepared will be left behind!
ILLUSTRATION:
This is the point that we learn from the Parable of the 10 Virgins, a lesson that Jesus steps right into in Matthew 25…
-We know the story…five kept watch and trimmed their lamps, and were prepared for the Groom’s coming…
-And, five were not…and they were left out…
*Each had to prepared themselves…
*And, each that were ready were taken…the others were not…
*It’s a clear picture!
Now, I think that we would all agree…it would certainly be a tragic thing, that with so many signs before us (which Jesus spoke of) would be ignored, and thus we fail to READY our souls for the coming of the Lord!
-We ignore it at our own peril!
-It has been tragic in the past when people ignored obvious signs of something coming… (there are obvious signs now…)
-And, it would be tragic now for the Coming of Christ!
ILLUSTRATION:
The May 1984 National Geographic showed, through color photos and drawings, the swift and terrible destruction that wiped out the Roman Cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in A.D. 79.
The explosion of Mount Vesuvius was so sudden, the residents were killed while in their normal routines of life: men and women were at the market, the rich in their luxurious baths, slaves at toil. They died amid volcanic ash and superheated gasses. Even family pets suffered the same quick and final fate. It takes little imagination to picture the panic of that terrible day. The saddest part is that these people did not have to die.
Scientists confirm what ancient Roman writers record--weeks of rumblings and shakings preceded the actual explosion. Even an ominous plume of smoke was clearly visible from the mountain days before the eruption. If only they had been able to read and respond to Vesuvius’s warning!
Listen Church…there are similar "rumblings" in our world: warfare all over, and a possibility of WWIII, earthquakes & tsunamis, the nuclear threats from Korea and Iran, economic woes and fuel prices, as well as, the breakdown of the family and moral standards.
While not exactly new, but yet some of them are, these things do point to a coming day of Judgment as described by Jesus in Matthew 24.
-The point is that people need not be caught unprepared.
-God warns and provides an escape to those who will heed the rumblings.
-SO BE READY!!!
*So many of the signs of the last days have been fulfilled, Jesus is coming again!
*Will you ignore these signs?
Jesus’ words to His disciples back then, serve as such a great warning to us this morning, and always, ”For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
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That’s why we must be READY…because Jesus IS coming back!
But now, listen to this…
Revelation - II Timothy 3:1-5
2 Timothy 3:1-5, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. [2] For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, [4] treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; [5] holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these.”
Though Jesus did not tell His disciples SPECIFIC signs to tell us when Jesus would come again; He did give us clues about the last days…
-As this passage ensures, there will be "terrible times in the last days." (even as I have already listed)
*In fact, the list of characteristics of the last days (from II Tim.) could well be a modern appraisal of the days we are living in!
-PLUS! The Bible had also predicted that the last days would include Israel being raised back up as a nation…something that happened in 1948.
-The Bible also talked about major climatic weather changes, more violent earthquakes around the world, and "wars and rumors of wars." (Matthew 24:6-8)
*Expand on the weather changes…
However, I want to point out that Jesus did say we would have a sense of the time being soon…though we wouldn’t know the day, nor the hour.
This is where we run into a Parable Jesus shares…
-Matthew 24:32-33, “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; [33] even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.
-We must not ignore the revelation of Christ…the signs are there, and they continue to sound…
-THUS…the question still must be asked to test out hearts…”Are you ready for His coming?”
ILLUSTRATION:
The Winter 1991 issue of the University of Pacific Review offers a chilling description of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster: There were two electrical engineers in the control room that night, and the best thing that could be said for what they were doing is they were "playing around" with the machine. They were performing what the Soviets later described as an unauthorized experiment. They were trying to see how long a turbine would "free wheel" when they took the power off it. Now, taking the power off that kind of a nuclear reactor is a difficult, dangerous thing to do, because these reactors are very unstable in their lower ranges. In order to get the reactor down to that kind of power, where they could perform the test they were interested in performing, they had to override manually six separate computer-driven alarm systems. One by one the computers would come up and say, "Stop! Dangerous! Go no further!" And one by one, rather than shutting off the experiment, they shut off the alarms and kept going. You know the results: nuclear fallout that was recorded all around the world, from the largest industrial accident ever to occur in the world.
The instructions and warnings in Scripture are just as clear. We ignore them at our own peril, and tragically, at the peril of innocent others.
Isn’t it true that over-and-over again in Matthew 24 Jesus says, "Watch," "Be ready," "Watch out," etc.
Church…friends…”Will you ignore a Bible that has never been wrong in a single prophecy yet?”
I know that we are WAITING, (we must be READY & heed the REVELATION) but that does not mean that He isn’t coming still…
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Let’s ready together…Matthew 24:45-47, “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? [46] Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. [47] Truly I say to you, that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
Now…as we WAIT for Christ’s return, we should bunker-down…we have to WORK…or OCCUPY! (as Jesus used that terminology in Luke 19, and the Parable of the 10 Minas)
So, get…
POINT TWO: WORKING
This demands for us to be…
Responsible - Matthew 24:45-47
So, what are we to do while we wait for Jesus to come back? OCCUPY!
-We are to continue working, doing good, preaching the truth, calling people to find Christ … to prepare for the day when Christ does come!
-It is not a time to relax or ignore the needs of sinful man…it’s just the opposite!
And, Jesus likens the waiting time to a faithful servant waiting for the return of his master…
It is not a time to just get drunk and goof-off; because, for that servant, will NOT experience a happy return by his master!
-Instead, it is a time to keep a clear focus on our priorities!
-We are to consider each day as though it could be our last on earth!
ILLUSTRATION:
To start a discussion on core values, a youth pastor asked the teenagers: “What would you do if your doctor told you that you had only 24 hours to live?” The teens mentioned being with friends and family, and the discussion seemed headed in the right direction. But it came undone when one teen said, “I’d get a second opinion.”
Church, do we take our daily life as seriously as we would if we knew Christ was coming this week?
Listen, knowing Jesus is coming soon makes us MORE responsible, not less.
(Evangelism Seminar)
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Because if we are not RESPONSIBLE…we will find…
Rejection! - Matthew 24:48-51
Jesus warns all those who will ignore this truth that they WILL BE caught unprepared/NOT READY…and lost for eternity!
-Jesus clearly says there are two realities for eternity: HEAVEN & HELL
-As real as Heaven is, so is Hell.
It will be tragic indeed for so many who have heard the gospel of Christ, and then to be found as one who rejected it when THAT day comes.
(This is what II Peter 2 talks about when a person who was once in Christ, and then get entangled in this world again…they are worse off than before!)
-To be unprepared will mean eternal loss…
-There is no possibility of getting into Heaven AFTER death if you ignored Christ’s offer of salvation in this life.
-The Bible clearly teaches this: Hebrews 9:27, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment…”
Listen to me friends…there is no purgatory…no way to be prayed out of Hell after death…your decision is based on being prepared BEFORE either death or Christ’s second coming.
You have to make a deliberate decision to live for Christ…to know Him!
-So many now have the opportunity, but may squander it…they will do it later, but there isn’t always a guarantee that there is a later opportunity!
-James tells us that life is a vapor…
ILLUSTRATION:
Do any of you remember the loss of the vessel called the "Central America"? She was in a bad state, had sprung a leak, and was going down. She therefore hoisted a signal of distress. A ship came close to her, and its captain asked, through the trumpet, "What is wrong?" "We are in bad repair and are going down. Wait till morning," was the answer. But the captain on board the rescue ship said, "Let me take your passengers on board now." "Wait until morning," was the message that came back. Once again the captain cried, "You had better let me take your passengers on board now." "Wait until morning," was the reply that sounded through the trumpet. About an hour and a half later, the lights were gone, and though no sound was heard, she and all on board had gone down to the fathomless abyss.
Unconverted friends (back-sliders), for God’s sake, do not say, "Wait until morning." Today, hear God’s voice. There is NO guarantee of time…
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Yes…we are WAITING for His return…
While we do…there is WORK that we have to do to occupy…
POINT THREE: WEDDING
Again…we have to be READY…PREPARED for the Wedding…
But, there are certain…
Requirements - Matthew 25:1-12
Jesus explains the element of readiness as being a “MUST”!
-He uses the wedding practices of Jewish culture in His day to explain the critical need of being repared.
-Once the groom came for his bride, which was a time that even his bride didn’t know, the ceremony would happen and the doors would be locked.
-Then…only those who came in at the moment of his coming were allowed in, no one who came late was allowed entrance!
(Boy…that may make church attendance a little different)
And…this is what was so tragic about the 5 foolish virgins…because they were unprepared…and thus, they were locked out!
What it boils down to is that BEING READY starts NOW…not when Jesus comes!
How different things can be when we are prepared for them.
-As I mentioned in the beginning with Sept. 11 and Pearl Harbor…things would have been different if we were prepared…
-And, how true this is spiritually also…
*We need to be prepared for the coming of the Lord, He is coming again!
*That is a REQUIREMENT!
*How? Accept, and live for, Christ!
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Because, here is the…
Reality! - Matthew 25:13
Jesus’ call here: Matthew 25:13, “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”
-His use of the term "watch" here does not mean "keep looking," it is more he term of a military officer who has been given a "watch"…meaning that he has to stay constantly alert and vigilant.
Now…I want you to know that this is not some religious-fanatic scare-tactic, because IT IS going to be a real event, and very soon!
Listen, what kind of people would we be if we knew something important was coming and we didn’t warn people about it, so they can be prepared?
-If we had known about the attacks coming on September 11 or Pearl Harbor things could have turned out differently…
-Why? Because being prepared can make a huge difference!
READY OR NOT! Jesus IS coming back!
And listen…it is not enough to be a good person.
You have to have Christ IN you in order to be prepared for Christ’s coming…
You cannot just know about Him, you must KNOW Him!
So, let me ask you…”Are you prepared? He is coming again!”
Ready or Not!
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IN CONCLUSION:
Jesus’ words are clear, Matthew 24:44, “For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
Both the prophets, and Jesus, said the last days will be difficult…
But when we see these things taking place, we should look up…because our redemption is coming!
Are you ready for Christ’s coming?
Many will NOT be, and it will be a horrible thing…
So, what if Christ comes today? Are you READY?
READY OR NOT, HERE HE COMES!
