Matthew 24:44
Be Ready (Albert Martin)
In this sermon, Pastor Albert Martin expounds Matthew 24:44, urging listeners to 'Be Ready' for the certain, yet unknown, return of the Son of Man. He outlines the certainty of Christ's second coming, its purpose to gather the elect and judge the world, and the unknowable timing of this event. Martin then applies this truth to believers, calling them to perpetual readiness through faithfulness in present duty, pursuit of holiness, and abiding in Christ. For unbelievers, he issues a stark warning to repent and believe the Gospel as the only righteous escape from coming judgment.
Primary Texts
Topics
Outline 9 sections · 62 min
- The Centrality of Jesus and His Four Most Significant Events 0:04
- The Certainty of Christ's Second Coming Affirmed 9:28
- The Purpose of Christ's Second Coming 18:46
- The Unknowable Time of Christ's Second Coming 26:41
- Preparation for Christ's Second Coming Enjoined (for Believers) 34:58
- The Consequences of Unpreparedness (for Unbelievers) 46:35
- The Only Way to Be Ready: Repent and Believe 54:14
- Final Exhortation and Question 56:18
- Prayer for Readiness and Conversion 58:30
Key Quotes
“So likewise, if we take away the fact of his glorious coming in power and in glory at the end of the age, whatever else we have we do not have biblical Christianity.”
“And hear the one who is truth incarnate who had said as recorded in verse 35 heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away. He now affirms the absolute certainty of His second coming.”
“No, the real concern for us should not be trying to fix the time, but as we see in the third place, having considered the certainty of His coming affirmed, the time of His coming suggested to us, now preparation or readiness for His second coming enjoined or commanded.”
“Perpetual readiness is the only course of wisdom and of safety in the light of the certain coming of the Lord Jesus and the fact that we do not know the day nor the hour of His coming.”
“seeing these things are thus all to be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy living and godliness”
“He's going to dismember him if you've got a Jesus who talks about being dismembered that's the words of the son of god who beckons little children to come and sit on his knee he talks about people being dismembered cut him asunder and appoint his portion with the hypocrites there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth”
“My friend, the only way you righteously escape the righteous judgment of God is to get into Christ.”
“But God has designed a salvation that when it is appropriated, all who receive it will be saved. And that's the reason why the Gospel is a stumbling block to the proud heart.”
Applications
All listeners
- Bend your energies into perpetual readiness for Christ's coming.
- Be faithful in present duty, engaging wisely and faithfully in the will of God.
- Don't sit around pining for the good old day, but out of love to Christ, press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of us.
- Actively and relentlessly pursue a life of holiness and godliness, dealing with sin at its deepest level.
- Abide in Christ, drawing strength from Him to be what He calls you to be, overcoming sin, societal pressure, and the devil.
- Bend your shoulder to present duty in your home, with your spouse, work associates, and neighbors.
- Righteously avoid the judgment that will otherwise fall upon you when Christ comes.
- Get into Christ as the only refuge for a righteous escape from the righteous judgment of God.
- Leave your sins, pride, and self-sufficiency, and throw yourself upon the cross, upon the Savior.
- Get ready immediately now, by repenting and believing the Gospel.
- Give yourself in loving devotion to the One who died for sinners, and in His strength, bend your shoulder to His task, seek to become like Him, and abide in Him.
- Ask yourself: Should He come tonight, would He find you in readiness?
A full transcript is available on the tab. 130 paragraphs, roughly 62 minutes.
The Centrality of Jesus and His Four Most Significant Events
Delivered on Sunday evening, September 28, 1997, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now I want you to imagine with me that together we have tried to seek out a man somewhere in this general area, possibly in his late twenties or early thirties, but a very unique man from our particular area in that he must not only be reasonably intelligent and somewhat of a disciplined and thoughtful reader,
but he must be someone totally ignorant of the contents of the Bible, at least the contents of the New Testament. Late twenties, early thirties, reasonably intelligent, a disciplined, thoughtful, perceptive reader, but totally ignorant. And after we find our man who fits that description, we place a New Testament in his hands in one of the modern versions that is a valid translation of the Scriptures, not a paraphrase, but one that seeks to accurately reflect the very words that God has given by inspiration.
And we say to this man who's totally ignorant, now this is the first time he's had any exposure, to the New Testament. And we say we want you to read through the New Testament, not quite speed reading, but neither do we want you to go through with the ponderous step of an elephant, but we want you to move through at a reasonable speed, looking for the answer to two very simple questions. Read through from Matthew 1-1 to the last verse of Revelation 22, as we did in our public reading of the New Testament this morning. Not the whole New Testament, but we read the last chapter of Revelation.
And these are the two questions, sir, that we want you to continually keep before your mind as you read through the New Testament. Question number one. Who is, without doubt, the central personage in the pages of the New Testament? Is it Peter? Is it Paul? Is it someone else?
Who is the central personage on the pages of the New Testament? And then secondly, we say to this man, we want you to read through the New Testament and seek to discover the four most significant events in the recorded history of that central personage. So two things. You're reading through.
You don't care if you can't remember a lot of things, but you must seek to discover the central personage and the four most significant events in the recorded history of that person. Now, what do you think the answer of this man would be if he were reading thoughtfully, carefully, and were in any way accurately perceiving the contents of the New Testament? Well, I hope you would agree with me that with regard to the first question, there would be no debate. He would come back and say there's absolutely no question the central person on the pages of the New Testament is Jesus of Nazareth.
He is called throughout the pages of that book the Son of God. He is called the Son of Man. He is recognized as the Messiah. He is called the Lord.
He is often called the Lord Jesus Christ. But on every page from the opening words of Matthew's Gospel to the end of the book of the Revelation, he is indeed the central personage. Take him out and what's left makes no sense. It has no cohesion.
It has no organizing principle. He is the key to the entire contents of the New Testament. But then when we ask him what are the four most significant events with respect to this central personage, if he were reading thoughtfully, carefully, accurately, what do you think his answer would be? Well, I hope you think the answer would be, number one, the first and most foundational central event would be his coming into the world by way of a virgin conception.
This man would have discovered that in Matthew chapter 1 and again in Luke chapters 1 and 2, God has given the record of the virgin conception of this central personage. He does not appear upon the stage of human history as the rest of us appeared, born of the ordinary union of a man and a woman. But he is the one who appears by way of this utterly unique virgin conception. And according to the opening chapter of John's Gospel, he had eternal, divine existence from all eternity.
He would have read the words of John. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that has been made.
And he would have read in verse 14, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He would have discovered that the first and most significant event in the recorded history of this central personage was his virgin conception. And then, no doubt, he would have discovered that though there is a plethora in the biblical record concerning his miracles, his mighty works, his soul-gripping teaching that caused the common people to hear him gladly, that it was not until the closing days he would have found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John the last week great details,
opened up and spread before us. For the second great significant event in his life was his death upon a Roman cross. And then he would also have discovered, were he reading carefully and perceptively and accurately, that the third most significant event was his glorious resurrection from the dead on the third day. All four Gospel records record it.
And again and again throughout the rest of the New Testament, in the preaching of the apostles, in the teaching of the epistles, the assumption and the assertion and affirmation again and again is that he is alive. He has been raised from the dead and has ascended to the right hand of his Father. But now what about the fourth most significant event in the life of this central personage? Well, if we were talking of the recorded history that has already unfolded, we might have to stop with those three.
But if we think of the history not only as recorded, but as prophesied, a thoughtful reader would have to say there is a fourth event in conjunction with this central personage that is foundational to all that the Scripture tells us about him. And that fourth event would be the coming again of this central personage in power and in great glory at the end of the age. One has estimated that one out of twenty verses in the New Testament sets before us either
some affirmation of the second coming of Christ, some explanation of the facts or the significance or the implications of that coming. And as surely as we have known no biblical Christianity if we take away its central personage, as surely as we have known no biblical Christianity if we take away this unique divine human person who came into the human scene by way of a virgin's womb, if we take away his death upon the cross as a substitute for sinners,
of death in which he endured the wrath of God, take that away and we have no biblical Christianity. Take away the fact of his resurrection and his ascension to the right hand of the Father and we have no biblical Christianity. So likewise, if we take away the fact of his glorious coming in power and in glory at the end of the age, whatever else we have we do not have biblical Christianity. we do not have biblical Christianity.
The Certainty of Christ's Second Coming Affirmed
And because the truth of the second coming of our Lord Jesus is so central and foundational to the Christian faith it is good for us from time to time to focus our attention upon that blessed, that glorious and in many ways that sobering event yet to be unfolded in the personal history of our Lord Jesus but again and again affirmed as that which shall indeed come to pass. And so to focus our minds upon that glorious reality I would ask you to turn with me to Matthew's Gospel chapter 24,
the 24th chapter of Matthew and our attention will be focused upon verse 44 in this chapter in which the Lord Jesus is answering the question of the disciples concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and of the coming of the Lord Jesus and the end of the age. Our Lord speaking of those two events in which there are many parallels, echoes from one to the other, speaking of His coming in power and great glory, our Lord says in Matthew 24 and verse 44, Therefore be ye also ready,
for in an hour that you think not the Son of Man is coming. Now as we look at our text tonight I want you to notice with me first of all the certainty of His second coming affirmed. The certainty of His second coming affirmed. Therefore be ready for in an hour that you think not the Son of Man cometh.
The Son of Man is coming. And hear the one who is truth incarnate who had said as recorded in verse 35 heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away. He now affirms the absolute certainty of His second coming. In simple, straightforward, unambiguous language He says the Son of Man is coming.
Now in affirming the certainty of His second coming Jesus refers to Himself with His own favorite title of self-designation. Now the reasons He does this may not all be clear but that He does it is abundantly clear in the Scriptures. While our Lord allowed Himself to be called Lord and God remember John 20, 28 Thomas cries out my Lord and my God. Jesus does not say now Thomas you've gotten a little bit enthusiastic those titles I'm flattered but really you have put me in a posture by your words that doesn't belong to me
by right. No, Jesus says blessed are you Thomas that having seen you have believed what is embodied in that confession. Blessed are those who not having seen believe and will likewise confess that reality. He does not have any reservation to receive the titles Lord and God.
He allowed Himself to be called Messiah and Son of God. Matthew 16, 16 Who do men say that I am? They say this who do you say that I am? Thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God.
Jesus responds by saying blessed are you Simon son of Jonah flesh and blood has not revealed this to you this is reality I am Messiah I am Son of God and in giving me those names and titles you're not giving me something that doesn't belong to me. You are confessing what accords with reality. So while He allowed Himself to be called Lord and God allowed Himself to be designated Messiah and Son of God. His favorite title by which He named Himself was Son of Man.
The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. They shall deliver up the Son of Man. Again and again He refers to Himself more frequently by this title than any of the other names and titles which are rightly His. It was a title of rich significance.
It was a title whose roots were embedded back in Daniel the seventh chapter and I want to just briefly direct your attention to that passage Daniel 7 and verse 13. I saw in the night visions and behold there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a Son of Man and He came even to the ancient of days and they brought Him near before Him and there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away
and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Here is a title Son of Man that points forward to Messiah who shall be given dominion glory a kingdom who shall have all nations serving Him. And it was this title that pointed to this divine human personage who would be given all the prerogatives and rights and authority of Messiah. It was the use of this very title with respect to Himself that from the human standpoint sealed our Lord's execution.
Turn over to Matthew chapter 26 and verse 63. But Jesus held His peace and the high priest said unto Him I adjure you by the living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ the Son of God. Are you the Messiah the Son of God? Now notice Jesus' response.
Jesus said unto Him You have said Yes, I am those very things Messiah Son of God nevertheless I say unto you henceforth you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. A direct reference to Daniel 7 13 and 14. And what's the response of the high priest? Then the high priest rent his garments saying He spoke in blasphemy.
What further need have we of witnesses? Behold now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think? They answered and said He is worthy of death.
You see our Lord was not using this title without understanding its full significance. It was a title that pointed to this divine human personage who was God's appointed Messiah. And here in our text where the certainty of His second coming is affirmed by the Lord Jesus Himself. He affirms it by saying the Son of Man is coming.
That is my second coming will be another dimension of my messianic function and rule. I will come in the dignity and power of my messianic authority. I have been given by the Father dominion and power and authority and at my second coming I will come not in weakness not in humiliation. I will not come in such a way that the world will know nothing of my intrusion into its history as it did at my first coming.
But it will be a coming in power a coming in glory a coming to exercise dominion and authority. It is the Son of Man who is to come a second time. The very one who lived who loved who labored who preached who prayed who healed who would soon suffer and die the shameful death of the cross and be raised from the dead on the third day according to His own prophetic utterance He says this Son of Man is coming. And the central purpose of this second coming is clear from the context of Matthew 24 which is the chapter
The Purpose of Christ's Second Coming
and the subsequent chapters chapter 25 or chapter and also from the parallel passage in scripture. And if we had to reduce all that Christ will accomplish in His second coming into its most simple common denominators what would they be? Well according to our passage He is coming first to gather His own to Himself. Look at verses 30 and 31 of this same chapter.
Matthew 24 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Here one of the major purposes of His coming is clearly delineated. He shall come with power and great glory and in the exercise
of that power and in the midst of that glory He shall gather to Himself His elect from the four corners of the earth. The apostolic commentary and expansion of this is found in Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 14 to 16. The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God the sound of a trumpet that instrument by which God would gather His ancient people at their stated convocations. There would be a blowing of the shofar the ram's horn would blow and the tribes
would gather at the coming of the Son of Man. God's trumpet will blow not to gather ancient Israel to Sinai or to a feast in Jerusalem but to be gathered unto the Lord Jesus Himself the Son of God Son of Man shall descend from heaven with the voice of the archangel with the trump of God the dead in Christ shall be raised first then we who are alive the coming of the Lord shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The certainty of His second coming affirmed by the Lord Jesus has as its fundamental purpose to gather His own to Himself and secondly He is coming to judge He is coming to judge the world and to usher in the eternal state. Chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew carries on this theme of His second coming in the parable of the virgins in the parable of the entrustment of talents to different ones with a day of reckoning against the horizon verse 31 of Matthew 25 but when the Son of Man
shall come in His glory the same coming affirmed in Matthew 24 verse 44 and all the angels with Him then at that time subsequent to His coming in power and glory He shall sit upon the throne of His glory and before Him shall be gathered all the nations and He shall separate them one from another from the goats verse 34 then shall the king say to them on the right hand come you blessed of My Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world verse 41 then shall He say to them on the left hand depart from Me you cursed into the eternal fire He gathers all He separates all He speaks to those on the left saying depart and what happens at His word verse 46 and these shall go away into eternal punishment and the righteous into eternal life the Son of Man is coming He is coming and according to His own word what is He going to do at His coming when He comes as Son of Man in the full unveiling
of His glory and power in the climactic expression of messianic authority He is coming to gather the fruits of His messianic grace He is to gather His elect the reward of His sufferings those promised to Him when the Father says to the Son ask of Me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for your possession at His coming and the reward of His sufferings He is coming to gather His own to Himself but He is coming also to judge the world and to usher in the eternal state and if you have to reduce everything
the Bible teaches about the coming of Christ those are the two irreducible fundamental common denominators of Holy Scripture yes in conjunction with these two things He is going to place His own redeemed in a redeemed earth there will be a new heavens and a new earth perfectly suited to His gathered redeemed ones there are many other things that He will do but I want you to grasp the heart and the very essence of this great reality when He says the Son of Man is coming He is affirming that He is coming to gather His own
self He is coming to judge the world and to usher in the eternal state now this event is sure to come as His first coming has already been woven into the fabric of human history as surely as the history of mankind began on the sixth day of creation when God created Adam and Eve and man on that sixth day of creation it will as surely end on the day of the coming of the Son of Man human history has its beginning by the
sovereign intrusion of God who said let us make man and He made them male and female created He them so when the appointed hour comes and the Son of Man is born and the human history is done and eternity is ushered in in all of its unspeakable glory for the redeemed in all of its unspeakable terror for the damned but now note with me from our text in the second place having noted the certainty of His second coming affirmed we have
The Unknowable Time of Christ's Second Coming
in our text secondly the time of His second coming indicated now someone says oh you mean pastor you found a verse or you found a combination of verses that you are going to be able to fit together in such a way to tell us the year the day the hour the time of His coming no not at all I point you to the words of Jesus who said in an hour that you think nothing but the Son of Man is coming the Lord has already said in verse 42 watch therefore for you know
not on what day your Lord comes day and hour are not to be understood in a technical way and leaving room saying with certain popular radio teachers but we can know the year and we might know the month and the place of you don't know the time of His coming you don't know the precise time when He will come that's why the thief motif is introduced in verse 43 but know this if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming he would have watched and not suffered his house
to be broken through therefore be ready for in an hour the thief motif is picked up in first Thessalonians five verses two and three as Paul writes to the Thessalonian believers and what he is saying to them you will not be caught unprepared at the suddenness of the Lord's return you will live in preparedness and therefore the day will not overtake you as a thief though its coming is uncertain and its time is unknown or is uncertain as to its precise time Peter emphasizes the same thing in second Peter three ten and again in revelation sixteen and verse fifteen and then note
verse thirty six but of that day an hour knoweth no one not even the angels of heaven neither the Son but the Father also two things we need to grasp from that statement there will be no clearly identifiable and dramatic signs indicating that his coming is upon us in verses thirty seven to forty two our Lord says as were the days of Noah so shall be the coming of the Son of Man as in those days that were before the flood eating drinking
marrying giving in marriage knew not until the flood came why there was no clearly identifiable and dramatic sign that a flood was coming all the people had was the word of God mediated through this man Noah who was called a preacher of righteousness there were no rumblings in the heavens that would alarm the people and awaken them and say hey maybe there is some substance to what this old Christ is talking about maybe he is not just a nutty old guy pounding together with his pegs this large ark there was nothing they could go on in the ordinary innocent affairs
of life and this is what is highlighted not their lawlessness not their violence highlighted in Genesis chapter 6 and other patterns of their sinfulness underscored in second Peter and in the book of Jude but he says as the days of Noah so shall the coming of the Son of Man be what was characteristic of those days they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage because there were no clearly identifiable and dramatic signs that the flood was coming so shall the coming of the Son of Man be in such an hour as you think not the time
of his coming indicated is it is a time that is uncertain from the human perspective it is a time that is not marked by clearly identifiable and dramatic signs indicating that the coming is upon us and that the coming of the bridegroom is coming and the circumstances prior to the coming of the bridegroom are such that they all sleep some of them went to sleep in preparation for his coming when the cry went out behold the bridegroom is coming they had oil along with their lamps they were in preparedness but they weren't prepared because they had some secret intimation
of the precise and immediate signs and they were not He says when you hear of wars and rumors of war don't be troubled these are but the beginning of sorrows these will mark the various epochs of human history right up until the consummation the second thing we learn from this passage is the one sure sign that his coming is upon us would to God that that truth would grip us. Look at verse 30 and 31. Then shall appear the sign
of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. What is the sign of the Son of Man in heaven? Well, if you read the parallel passages, such as Mark 13, 25, and the parallel passage in Luke, the sign is the coming of the Son of Man himself. In those passages we read, and when you see the Son of Man coming, what is the appearance of the sign of the Son of Man?
It is the Son of Man, the sign of his appearing. It's the appearing of the Son of Man. That's why John can say, In the book of the Revelation, behold, he comes, and every eye shall see him, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn for him. Oh, that we lay to heart the words of the Lord Jesus. Therefore,
be ye also ready for an hour that you think not. The time of his coming is set before us in terms of its uncertainty. It is unknowable. The Son of God in self-imposed humiliation in the days of his flesh was content that his Father did not reveal to his human understanding the time of his own coming. He was
content to give all of this teaching about his coming and not pry into matters that were none of his business according to the will of his Father. Go thou and do likewise. Who, beyond the Son of Man, is he? He is the Son of Man. He is the Son of Man. He is the Son of Man. He is the Son of
God. Jesus said it thus here in Jeremiah 5. It is self-imposing for worldly all invited to the Absalomites of the world so much that they are inclined to bow down to the mantener of the angels andösm activities and Jesus had a right to have access to the councils of his Father. I'm not embarrassed by these words. It opens up mysteries I cannot
explain, but my Savior was unembarassed to leave it in the record. Angels do not know. Even the Son of Man in the days of his humiliation does not know the time of his coming. But this The Son of Man is coming.
Preparation for Christ's Second Coming Enjoined (for Believers)
Yes, I know we would like to pry into the secret counsels of God, but I say if the Father did not reveal the time to His sinless Son, who are we to pry where He was content to rest, leaving the times and seasons in His Father's hands? No, the real concern for us should not be trying to fix the time, but as we see in the third place, having considered the certainty of His coming affirmed, the time of His coming suggested to us, now preparation or readiness for His second coming enjoined or commanded.
Preparation for His second coming commanded or enjoined. Look at the language. Therefore, be ye also ready by the use of a command in the present tense, as Jesus is saying, the great concern in the light of the certainty of My second coming is not to occupy yourself with trying to use the Bible like a jigsaw to figure out days and years and times and seasons, but rather bend your energies into perpetual readiness. Be ye continually and perpetually ready for, in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man is coming.
Perpetual. Perpetual readiness is the only course of wisdom and of safety in the light of the certain coming of the Lord Jesus and the fact that we do not know the day nor the hour of His coming. And it is this emphasis on readiness that pervades all of our Lord's teaching and all of the teaching of the New Testament writers whenever they touch on the doctrine of the second coming. They are never concerned to scratch our speculative itches, but rather to enjoin upon us the practical implications of this glorious truth.
Right up in verse 42 of this chapter, Jesus said, Watch therefore, for you know not on what day your Lord is coming. And with reference to that which prefigures the circumstances of His second coming, those events in the destruction of Jerusalem, the Lord again gave constant, perpetual warnings of a practical nature. Take heed that no one lead you astray. Remember that you must persevere to the end in the hope of ultimate salvation.
These are the great emphases of Scripture, and it's the emphasis of our text. Be in perpetual readiness, for that alone is the course of wisdom and of safety. Now, what does readiness involve? Let me try to answer that in two categories.
First of all, what does it involve for the child of God? What is readiness for the certain coming of the Lord Jesus in a time reference that is hidden from us? What is readiness? Well, if you look down at the next verse, we have one strand of the biblical answer.
Who then is the faithful? Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his Lord has set over his household to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he comes shall find so doing. Blessed is that servant whom when his Lord comes he finds him so doing.
Blessed is the servant who is wisely and faithfully giving himself to his Father, present duty in the will of God. That's readiness for the Lord's return. Readiness for the Lord's return is not sitting off in isolation and experiencing tremendous enlargement of mind and soul in mystic flights of communion with God, detached from the real world of struggle with sin and desire to serve and self-denial and all that is involved in living out the
Christian life. Readiness for His coming is being faithful in present duty. Our Lord goes on in the next chapter, beginning in verse 14 through verse 30, and speaks of the distribution of talents. And in the distribution of those talents, after a while, the Master comes back and writes, And He reckons with His servants, and He wants to know that they have taken what has been given to them, called in our text, talents, whether that is gifts and abilities and time and opportunity. This much is clear. He is going to reward those who are faithfully engaged
in the work assigned to them, consistent with their opportunities and their gifts. So when the Lord Jesus says, Be ye also ready, you know what that says to you and to me? In the the light of what we considered this morning, it means we don't sit around pining for the good old day. But out of love to Christ and in the strength of the Spirit of Christ, we bend our neck and our shoulder to the yoke of Christ and we press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of us. So that when He comes, we can present our calloused
hands and our calloused shoulders, and if necessary, our furrowed brows and our worn out energies and say, Lord Jesus, in Your service, I've gained the callouses and gained the wrinkles and gained the weariness. And He will say, well done, thou good and thou faithful servant. Rediness involves being faithful in present duty. Readiness involves pursuing a God that is God's yeah.
Redness involves being faithful in present duty. Redness involves pursuing a God that's growing conformity to christ in the path of universal holiness and here i borrow a text from second peter in which peter is speaking of the same event the one glorious second coming of our lord jesus in power and glory verse 10 the day of the lord will come as a thief in the which the heaven shall pass away with a great noise and the element shall be dissolved with fervent heat and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up seeing these things are thus all to be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy living and godliness
looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of god all biblically framed yearning for the coming of christ will be attended with this pursuit of all holy living and godliness be ready what is readiness faithful in present duty readiness actively relentlessly pursuing a life of holiness and godliness readiness involves
abiding in christ first john 2 and verse 28 my little children abide in him that if he shall be manifested we may have a life of holiness and godliness and godliness and godliness and godliness and on the good things that are happening here in the work and service of the church we will be Kamala deceased and humble when grace is given to the many uraa hijoes he is not ashamed but carrying it is such a pure heart we have boldness and not the ashamed before him that is coming and here we in court although the rich teaching from John 15 abide in him it farces back to the analogy of the branch of the vine and how the vine is the source in life of all fruit for this city is borne by the branches and without the life and the energy of the vine of the French can do nothing but itself but whole fruitfulness but without the life or even the enerdgy of the vine of the Independence is造iered by and without the life and the energy of the vine the branch can do nothing of itself but about itself is that themarket gate advantagea do nothing of itself, but abiding in the vine.
It bears fruit, more fruit, much fruit. Be ready. What is readiness? Readiness in its most simple expression is faithfulness in present duty, the pursuit of holiness and godliness.
Readiness is constant abiding in Jesus Christ, drawing from Him strength to be what He calls us to be, against the tide of the prevailing mentality and influence of a wicked society, against the pressure of our own remaining sin, against the subtleties of the devil, who as a roaring lion goes about seeking whom he may devour, abiding in Him who overtame, that in union with Him we too might overcome. For this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is He that overcomes? But He that believes.
That Jesus is the Christ, child of God. This is what God calls us to. Are you disappointed? Haven't you given anything profound?
I haven't set before you anything that you can say, oh, that's way out there beyond me and above me. I'd have to go to the academy for 17 years before I could understand it. No, my friend. Be ready.
Be ready. Be ready. How? Bend your shoulder to present duty.
That's readiness. Be the faithful. Be the servant whom, when the Lord comes, He finds you engaged in the sphere in which He's put you. Not hopping out from present duty because you long for a larger sphere of influence.
Because you long to do something more significant. As God said to Moses, what is that in your hand? He says, a stick. He says, throw it down.
What's that in your hand? It's that sphere of influence in the home. That sphere of influence with your wife, with your work associates, with your neighbors. Bend your shoulder to present duty.
That's preparedness for His coming. Pursue with renewed relentlessness a life of universal holiness. A life of godliness. Dealing with sin at its deepest level.
Waging an intense and relentless warfare against all that would keep you from being more like Jesus Christ. Readiness involves abiding in Him. Drawing strength. Strength from Him.
Seeking in all things that Christ will be more and more formed in you. That's readiness. Now, granted, it may involve many more things. But surely those three aspects form the heart of what it means to comply with the injunction of our Lord.
Be continually ready. For in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man comes. And when He comes, would you not have Him find you? Would you not have Him find you?
Your shoulder bent to the task He has laid upon you! And your hands to the plow that He has set before you? Isn't that what you want to do? Is meet your returning Lord!
Engage in that to which He called you?
The Consequences of Unpreparedness (for Unbelievers)
With a heart that yearns to be more like Him. And then, in an instant of time, you'll be perfectly like Him. And with a heart that, abiding in Him by faith, will then know the fullness of drawing life from Him in the face-to-face communion. union that will be ours that is coming but what about for you who are not in christ you be ready for in such an hour as you think not the son of man comes and in the teaching of our lord he was not indifferent nor unaware that there would be some who heard him who were not prepared that's
why he goes on in this very passage in matthew chapter 24 to speak of one who was obviously not prepared verse 47 i'm sorry verse 48 but if that evil servant shall say in his heart my lord is tarrying and shall begin to beat his fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunken the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expects not and in an hour when he does not know and shall cut him asunder what brutal language he's going to dismember him if you've got a jesus who talks about being dismembered that's the words of the son of
god who beckons little children to come and sit on his knee he talks about people being dismembered cut him asunder and appoint his portion with the hypocrites there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth i can't say the words to convey the horror of them and the words are but a faint picture of the reality some will not be prepared some will not be prepared and our lord gives a graphic description of what will happen to them and what will happen to them and what will happen one who was not prepared. And he focuses on the mentality that says, oh, my Lord delays
his coming. I've heard this stuff before. Preachers trying to scare me into becoming a Christian. I've heard this stuff before. Peter speaks of that. Mockers come saying,
ha, where's the promise of his coming? Since the fathers fell asleep, everything continues in an unbroken line of uniformity from the beginning of creation. We've heard this stuff before. Decades have rolled into centuries and centuries into millenniums, and he has not come. Where is the promise of his coming? Yes, mockers then, mockers now. But my prayer
is that God in mercy will reach out, and by the Spirit of God so convince some of you that this is not preachers' talk to try to have success in their endeavors. But these are the words of truth incarnate who said, be ye all. Be ye all so ready for in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man comes. And my unconverted friend, readiness for you means you've got to do something to righteously avoid the judgment that will otherwise fall upon you when he comes. For remember, we saw
under our first heading that when the Son of Man comes, it is to gather his elect. It is to judge the world and usher in the eternal state. And that's why he goes on in Matthew 25 and speaks of the Son of Man coming in his glory and gathering all the nations before him, separating sheep from goats. Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1 says the Son of God shall come in flaming fire with his holy angels to take vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.
And he comes to be admired in all those that believe in him. Revelation 6.15 and following one of the many pictures of the same event gives this graphic description of the great and the small, the kings and the slaves, trying to find some nook and cranny and rocks and mountains, crying out, hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. Be ready, my unconverted friend, and readiness for you means you've got to do something to righteously avoid the judgment that will come upon you when he comes to be admired in all those that believe in him.
We've got to find some righteous way to get out from under the righteous judgment that will surely break upon you that is coming. And there is only one refuge for a righteous escape from the righteous judgment of God, and that's to be found in Christ. Romans 8 and verse 1 says there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. It is in union with God.
union with Christ, so united to Him by faith, that His perfect righteousness becomes yours. That what He did in His perfect life, what He did in His substitutionary death, God can credit to you, not because it's some kind of artificial juggling of the books of heaven, but because you are really in Christ, in Him, by living faith, so united to Him that God sees you in the Beloved and says, no condemnation in my Son. I vented my righteous wrath upon my Son.
He so fully obeyed my law, satisfied all the demands of my broken law, that I'm pleased with Him, and anyone found in Him has all of the pleasure of my heart. My friend, the only way you righteously escape the righteous judgment of God is to get into Christ. And you're either in Him or out of Him, and there's no halfway house. Oh, you may not be out in the world, wholly abandoned to the passions and appetites of your flesh.
You may not be wholly enmeshed in all of the tentacles with which the devil binds those who serve him. But my friend, being a little bit preserved from the optimum expressions of your sinfulness and abandonment to the devil and to the world is not being in Christ. You're as unsafe as the most wretched devil's servant who is out this night cursing the name of his God. In utter defiance of all that is decent and upright.
If you're not in Christ, you'll be gathered and placed on the left hand with the goats. There are no half-breeds in the day of judgment. Sheep on the right, sheep on the left. Sheep on the right, goats on the left.
And some half-breed go-sheep in the middle. No go-sheeps. And the only way to be truly ready is to have a righteous way to escape the righteous judgment of God. And that's only to be found when you're hid in the righteous Savior.
The Only Way to Be Ready: Repent and Believe
You say, how do I get in Him? You leave your sins. You leave your pride. You leave your self-sufficiency.
And you throw yourself upon the cross. You leave your pride. You leave your self-sufficiency. You leave your self-sufficiency.
And you throw yourself upon the Savior who said, come to me. Him that comes to me, I'll in no wise cast out. You say, that's so simple. Yes, it is.
That's one of the reasons why the Gospel is a stumbling block to the proud heart. You say, isn't there something more I must do? Yes, I know you'd like to do something more. And you could reach around and tap yourself on the shoulder, if not fully pat yourself on the back.
But God has designed a salvation that when it is appropriated, all who receive it will be saved. And that's the reason why the Gospel is a stumbling block to the proud heart. You say, isn't there something more I must do? Yes, I know you'd like to do something more.
And you could reach around and tap yourself on the shoulder, if not fully pat yourself on the back. But God has designed a salvation that when it is appropriated, all who receive it cry out to the depths of deep gratitude, and understanding that they don't deserve it. Not unto us. Not unto us.
But unto Your name. Give glory. We acknowledge that whatever we are, we are now. And get our own day.
Get out of our day. Erfahr from the Sermon on the Mount. Now by the grace of God and by the grace of God alone. If you're not in Christ, my friend, hear the gracious words of the Son of God.
He has not yet come. And He's still sending out through His Word the overtures of His mercy saying, Be ye ready, unconverted man, woman, boy or girl. Be ready, be ready, get ready immediately now here in this place tonight. How do you get ready?
You get into Christ. And how do you get into Christ? You repent and believe the Gospel.
Then you give yourself in loving devotion to the One who died for sinners. And in the strength and power that He Himself imparts, you then bend your shoulder to the task He gives you. You then seek by His grace to become like Him. And by His grace abide in Him and go on into a life of perfection.
And by His grace abide in Him and go on into a life of perfection. And by His grace abide in Him and go on into a life of perfection. And by His grace abide in Him and go on into a life of perfection. For the coming of the Son of Man.
Final Exhortation and Question
Therefore, be ye also ready. For in an hour that you think not, the Son of Man is coming. He is coming. He is coming.
Surely, as the ancient promise of Genesis 3.15 merged into centuries of waiting and waiting and waiting. But in the fullness. In the fullness of the times, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman.
The seed of the woman came to crush and bruise the head of the serpent. And just as surely, though decades, centuries, millennia may yet unfold, a moment of human history is coming when the Son of Man shall come. The Son of Man is coming. The time of His coming.
In such an hour as you think not. Preparation for His coming in joy. Therefore, be ye also ready. I leave you with one simple coming.
A simple question. Should He come tonight? Would He find you in readiness?
Simple question. Should He come tonight? Oh, but you say, He wouldn't come tonight? In such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man is coming.
Should He come tomorrow? Would He find you in readiness? Oh, He won't come. In such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man comes.
Should He come two days from now? Well, He won't come. In such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man is coming. Are you ready for His coming?
In Christ? And being in Christ? Bending your shoulder to the task He's put in your hands? Seeking to be like Him?
Abiding in Him? That's it. That's readiness. Are you ready?
Prayer for Readiness and Conversion
Jesus said, Be ye ready. For in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man is coming. Let us pray. Our Father, we are so thankful that we are not left at the mercy of our idle speculations as to where all human history is heading.
But we thank You, we have Your word, this sure word of prophecy which points us to the great reality that an hour, a day, a moment is coming in human history, when the heavens will part, when our ears shall hear the voice of the returning Son of God, the voice of the Archangel, the Trump, that You will sound. And oh, how we pray that You would cause this great truth to burn within our hearts, that we may live and labor and think and act in His name. And oh, how we pray that You would allow us to live and act and react in the light of that glorious day.
We beg You again for those who sit upon us ill-prepared, unprepared for that day. Oh, God, use the effort to reason with them, lovingly to entreat them. Use these things, we pray, to bring them to the place, even this night, where they get into Christ. Oh, that they may run to Him.
Abandoning all hope of trusting in themselves. All putting off of these issues. All procrastination. All equivocation.
Oh, God, bring them, we pray, to the place where they cry out with that blind beggar, Son of David, have mercy upon me. Oh, Lord, seal Your word, we pray, in making some prepared and ready. Who came to this night totally unprepared for the coming of the Son of Man. Thank You for Your presence with us.
Thank You for this day in Your courts. Thank You for Your people. Thank You for the preview of the great gathering, when all of the redeemed shall be gathered about their common Lord and Savior. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Hear our prayer, we please. For Your name's sake and for our good. Amen. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors. It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
This verse is the central command and theme, 'Therefore be ye also ready, for in an hour that you think not the Son of Man is coming.'
These verses describe the purpose of Christ's coming: to gather His elect.
These verses detail the judgment aspect of Christ's coming, separating the righteous from the wicked.
Texts Expounded
Also Referenced
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