"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 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. 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.
"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? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my honor and great privilege to have you here with us today. We are especially grateful for those of you who have been sharing the ministry website, and social media platforms with all of your family and friends. Your faithfulness and commitment to share God's Word with others continues to bring about tremendous results. People all around the world are responding to God's Word, with more and more coming to Christ. This is so amazing!
Therefore, we ask you to pray that God will continue to give those of who teach the Word of God the courage and boldness to speak the truth in ministry, as we continue increasing face of adversity in the coming days! It's becoming increasingly difficult in the world in which we live to speak truth to a culture that's literally offended by everything, especially biblical truth. Pastors are afraid of speaking the truth in God's Word. Jesus said that the world would get worse, and it has, in fact,
it's worse today than it probably has ever been, at least in my lifetime. While I hate to burst the proverbial balloon of the optimists who believes that things will get better and better, Scripture is clear, they will continue to get worse and worse! Divisions in the church has become non-negotiable, relationships are become irreconcilable, there is likely not one person here today that does not know anyone who is divorced. Dissension between nations has become inevitable, the numbers of the homeless and poor are exploding by the thousands every day. And the media can't seem to get their facts straight, reporting deceptive half-truths and biased innuendo. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, fires are increasing. I cannot point to anything in this world where things are actually getting better. While I believe in prayer, some things are not open to prayer, God's will and plan are among them. The world is going exactly as God's Word says it would, all under His control. Until ultimately, God will step and take action.
Let us pray,
Heavenly Father,
Father,
thank You for Your Word. Words we can see and hear. Lord, we pray that You would take away the blindness of lost, even those in our own families, those trapped in false religion, those who believe but have never made a commitment to Christ, so that they might be gloriously rescued from sin and darkness, so they would not face the horror of the coming judgement. In Jesus' name we ask and pray that You would grant to them repentance and faith. All for Your glory and for Christ's sake
Amen
Today's Message: Ready or Not, Here I Come!
There are a tremendous number of books that have been written and are still being written about the last days. Even in today’s increasingly biblically illiterate world, I dare to say some are less incorrect in discerning the time of Jesus return. There's no doubt, people are curious about what's going on with the world. We would do well to pay close attention to God's Word, the source of Truth. Jesus clearly asserts, that no one will be able calculate the timing of His second coming right.
I've frequently been asked, "What were things like in the days of Noah." Well, we certainly know from the Bible that the people were extremely wicked. Sexual perversion was rampant. Violence was everywhere. We are certainly living in a godless age today, many compare what we see today with the days of Noah. When has there been a time in which people did not eat and drink? When has there ever been a time without sexual perversion? And marrying and giving in marriage? When has there not been global plagues, and destructive storms and earthquakes?
While I cannot be dogmatic about whether this will be the last generation before Christ returns, I do know we're closer than we've ever been. I do is when the time came in the days of Noah, it was sudden and offered no time for repentance. Therefore, I believe, it is far more important to be ready and alert at all times, then to worry about when it will happen. So let's curb our speculation about when and be about the Father’s business of proclaiming the gospel to all men, in all nations.
As we return to our study of the book of Matthew, we have now come to the end of chapter 24. However, this sermon from our Lord Jesus Christ on His second Coming, continues through to chapter 25.
Open your Bibles to the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 24:42-51. I invite you to follow along with me as I read these ten verses to you. Let's open our hearts and our minds to see what the Spirit of God has to say us today.
Matthew 24:42-51.
"Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord
is coming. 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. 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.
"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? Blessed is
that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to
you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that
evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’
and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards;
the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him
and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and
assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Let's look at verse 42, "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming."
The word alert is the Greek verb "grēgoreúō," is a present imperative, meaning to continually be alert.In other words, it’s a constant cry for every generation to stay wake and to be continually alert. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is either going to be a time of glory for those of us who know Christ or a time of judgment and eternal damnation for those who do not know Christ. We are living in the church age, which abruptly comes to an end with the Rapture. Once the church is removed, the Holy Spirit, Who has been restraining evil, lets loose on that restraint. Followed by the rise of Antichrist. Immediately after the Tribulation, there is the signs that the Son of Man is coming, when the powers of heaven are shaken, the heavenly bodies fall from the sky, and everything goes black. That will be the beginning of the end of man's time. It will happen in an instant, an hour which no man knows, so He says, "Therefore be on the alert."
In verse 43, He says "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."
If you knew ahead of time a thief is coming to your house to steal everything, you’d do something about it, right? Since you don’t know the day or the hour when the Lord’s coming is going to appear, you better be ready, as Jesus commanded us. The Lord’s coming is often compared to a thief, not that He's a thief, it's only analogy, just that He will come suddenly and unexpectedly, in a moment when no one is aware. It’s going to happen. Tragically, there are going to be many people that are not going to be ready when it happens, unless they’ve prepared their hearts before hand. Ready or not, He's coming folks, that you do know. You better be ready, it will happen when you least expect it. Over and over Scripture warns, "Behold, I come quickly; behold, I come quickly." The point He wants to make is, we need to be ready at all times. It’s one thing to be alert, it's quite another thing to be ready, only a fool isn’t going to be ready!
Verse 44, "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."
Jesus couldn't be any clearer, but even though He warns us to be ready, for the unredeemed, it will be business as usual on the day of His return, just like in the days of Noah. It’s the same lesson, stay alert and be ready. No one knows when it's going to happen. I believe we need to set aside the unnecessary divisions in the church and instead be busy at what God has commanded us to do, to be faithful in proclaim the Truth. Faithful, that is the third point.
Verse 45, "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?"
In this section, Jesus presents a pretty straightforward parable with servants and a master, it's not difficult to understand what Jesus is trying to teach us. This come immediately after giving us the signs of His coming. I believe this is a very powerful illustration to convey the importance of being ready. The master represents God. The servants represent followers of God, with the faithful servants representing genuine followers of God, the wicked servant represents those who follow God in name only, who disobey His commands. Every person in the world has been given a stewardship by God, an ability, with that comes responsibility and the opportunity to serve God, for which we will all be held accountable. By the way, this does not refer just to Christians. Hell is going to be filled with those refused to serve God in the way that He commands.
Verse 46, "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes."
When his master returns and finds servants doing what He wanted them to do, he will be blessed because of his faithfulness, indicating they are faithful, obedient Christians. Obedience to God's will is always the mark of true salvation. Blessed is he who does the will of the Father. Conversely, there is punishment for those have chosen to do his own thing, who are unprepared for the master’s return, living in disobedience, having wasted his opportunity for stewardship. Notice, both groups of people, acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Master and King. Jesus has said, "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." Readiness does not consist of whether you are associated with church, whether you intellectually know Jesus is Lord, or even whether you profess Him as King and Master of your life. Readiness is far more than that, it means to serve our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully and to allocate the resources God has given him, properly providing for his fellow servants today, and every day, until He returns. That,is the definition of someone who is truly ready.
Verse 47, "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions."
What you do in this life, will impact whether you will rule in eternity, or whether you will be dominated in hell by the demons. The faithful servant is rewarded, what is the characteristic of this wicked servant? Instead of responsibly serving and providing for the fellow servants, he abuses them.
Verses 48-50, "But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time. and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know."
The wicked servant didn’t consider that he needed to be faithful to the master all of the time, he is unfaithful to his Master, living an extravagant, self-indulgent life. When the Lord comes, at an day and time no one knows, He will check the stewardship of each and every person. The lesson here, is that we must be found as faithful followers of Jesus all of the time because He can return at any time. Many people interpret this to mean the wicked servant is only referring to people outside church, however, it also refers to someone who is sitting in church, possibly even today. I believe this should cause those of us who are in church, to examine ourselves, and not to take all these teachings for granted.
2 Corinthians 13:5, "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?"
1 John 2:15-17 says, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." We can't afford to become distracted, we must keep our eyes on the prize to which we have been called, glorifying God and exalting Christ in all things. If we are faithful, there is a reward beyond our greatest imagination. If not, there is judgement reserved for us.
Let me be clear, you cannot fake your way into the kingdom of God. There is a heavy burden on my heart, for all the people who think they're ready for Jesus' return, who do not actually belong to Jesus. Who because they acknowledge Jesus, they said the prayer, they faithfully attend church, they are saved but do not obey the will of God. According to Jesus, saving is not seen in mere acknowledgment, but also in your action, those who do the will of the Father Who is in heaven. I'm not talking about sinless perfection, obeying God's will perfectly, because not one of us are perfect, every one of us continues to struggle with the flesh. But it's not the habitual pattern of our lives.
That brings us to verse 51, where Jesus says in harsh language, that He will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
In other words, you go ahead and have your fun, keep living a worldly, unrestrained lifestyle, you religious hypocrites and unbelievers, who think that you've got plenty of time. I warned you I was coming when you least expected it, but rather than to heed My warning, you decided to party it up, eating and drinking, gratifying your lustful desires until you think it’s about to happen and then you'll make everything right! It's going to be a terrible thing when I show up, unannounced. You will pay a very severe price.
In Closing..
I cannot emphasize this strongly enough, we are closer today than we've ever been and there'll be many people who are self-deceived, who demonstrate no evidence true salvation.Tragically, they will find out they're not right with God, because of their wicked, ungodly, disobedient lifestyle, they shall not escape the coming judgement, but will face the wrath and fury of a Holy and Righteous God!
I know that it's not what you want to hear but it's what you need to hear; if you do not see any noticeable changes in your life since you came to know Christ, continuing to live as you did before, I'm talking about inward changes, demonstrating being faithful with your resources, being obedient to God's will as revealed by His Word, if you're still holding on to old grudges, toward someone who did you wrong or hurt you, and you've allowed yourself become angry, bitter and unforgiving. If you've become consumed with the material things that God has blessed you with, you've got to deal with the sin in your life while you still can. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. In other words, you cannot serve Christ and live an ungodly lifestyle at the same time. You have to make a choice.
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ today, you're not prepared, I beg with you to confess your sin, repent and cry to God for mercy, ask Him to save your soul. It is so important to make things right and know for certain that Jesus Christ is your Savior, by living a life consistent with God's Word.
I pray that you will.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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