Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Matthew chapter 24, and reading
for our text, verse 44. Verse 44. Therefore
be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the
Son of Man cometh. Matthew 24 verse 44. All that is spoken by our Lord
in this chapter really arises from two things. The first was when the disciples
showed our Lord and Saviour the buildings of the temple They
drew our Lord's attention to them. And of course, their attention
had been drawn to them as well. Those things that we view and
see round about us, they occasion questions, they occasion things
that we bring before the Lord and show before the Lord. And yet, our Lord then took that
observation, took what they had seen and they had brought before
Him, and He tells them something about those things that they
are looking at, something that was not evident, that couldn't
be seen by them at that time, and no doubt seemed a very impossible
thing, or something that would not happen. And Jesus said to
them, that those things that they were looking at, that they
would all be cast down. Not one stone left upon another
that shall not be thrown down. So the Lord takes this what they
have seen and then he tells them what shall happen to those things
that they have seen. That's the first thing. Then
the second thing is in verse 3. And that is where the disciples
come to the Lord privately. And they want Him to enlarge
on what He has said to them before. They follow it up. Very often
this was the case with the parables. Our Lord told parables and many
just heard the Natural story. They didn't look for any further
teaching, further instruction. But many times we find the disciples,
when they're alone, they come to the Lord and say, declare
unto us the parable of... And they want to know more. And it's a good lesson for us
to go back to the Lord. The disciples might have thought,
well, that's the end of the matter. The Lord has said what shall
happen here, one stone not cast upon another, but those things
he hadn't told them. And the Lord doesn't tell us
everything that will happen. But here they came and they inquired
and they asked him this question, tell us when shall these things
be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end
of the world?" And all that follows in this chapter is really answering
this question. They had asked specifically what
was the sign of His coming and of the end of the world. They
joined those two things together. They're not questioning that
there shall be an end of the world or that the Lord would
come. They're joining those things
together. He is there with them now. And
yet, really, in other things that happened, without this time,
restore the kingdom unto Israel, they had very mixed feelings,
very mixed understanding of what was actually happening. But here,
they seemed to know very clearly that the Lord would come again,
and that would signify the end of the world as it is now. But
in the things that the Lord tells, there is intermingled the prophecy
of the destruction of Jerusalem, 70 AD, when it shall be surrounded
by armies, when the sign of the abomination is spoken of in Daniel,
which is really the Roman armies, around that the city then should
be destroyed. But it's not put in a definite,
this is the part that belongs to that, another part belongs
to the end of the world. is almost intermingled through
the two, you'd understand those two things. They hadn't asked
about that, they hadn't implied on that, but when they saw those
things coming to pass, when they saw those Roman armies, of no
doubt they thought of the things that the Lord had told them He
had spoken of. So this is what gives the rise
to this chapter And we think of similar chapters like John
chapter 6, when the day before they'd had the miracle of the
loaves and the fishes. And then they'd followed the
Lord over the lake. He'd walked on the water with
his disciples. They pursued after him. And he
said to those that followed, you seek me not because you saw
the miracles. but because ye ate of the loaves
and were filled. Labour not for the bread that
perisheth, but for that which endureth to eternal life." And
then all that followed is the discourse on that bread from
heaven, the manna from heaven. It follows the day after that
miracle. There are many teachings in the
Word that follow an event that actually had happened. And we
know that all things work together for good, to them that love God,
to them that are the called according to his purpose. And it is a working
together of providence with grace, things in our lives with the
word of God. You take the woman on the well
of Samaria, and she could say, well, it happened not just something
that happened yesterday, but the five husbands that I had,
and the one that I didn't have, now are all brought together,
known by the Lord, told me, and this is used in the Lord's discourse,
and come see a man that told me all things that ever I did
is not this the Christ. The Lord doesn't waste providences. He doesn't waste time and things
that happen in our lives. He uses them for good. He causes
us like the Disciples here to notice and to ask. We have in
Psalm 107, who so is wise and will observe these things, even
they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. We go through this world, but
as we go through it, there are those things that for the Lord's
people will make to work for good, they'll draw them to the
Lord, in prayer, in asking like this. And then there are those
things, those same things, that if not sanctified, so burden
us, so trouble us, that it turns away from the Lord. And instead
of asking Him, we get embroiled in the things of this world. And so the Lord gives, then,
five warnings, five warnings in this passage concerning this
what the Lord is saying of the sign of his coming, the end of
the world. The first warnings that he gives
is to take heed that no man deceive you And this he repeats again
and again. In verse 4, Jesus answered and
said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. Many shall
come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and deceive many. All the time it is this antichrist,
one that shall lead away from the true Christ. One that shall
bring a false gospel or lead away from the truth. And then
we have it in verse 11. Many false prophets shall arise
and shall deceive many. Then we have it in verse 24 as
well. For there shall arise false Christs
and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders
insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before."
So the first warning that really is repeated again and again is
these false prophets, false teachers, that which will lead aside to
not Christ, but someone else, and to hearken to what they have
to say. Well, with the Gospel day, the
day in which we are in. It is, as the Lord said, heaven
and earth shall pass away, my word shall not pass away. It
is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christ of the scriptures, the
God of the Bible, that is set before us, that we are not to
turn away from him, test all things according to the word
of God. And then we shall know the true
Christ, the true shepherd, The true Redeemer, the true Saviour,
is set forth in the Scriptures of truth. In Deuteronomy, the
children of Israel were told and warned that if there came
a prophet that had the tendency to lead away from the Lord, even
if they were to do miracles that came to pass and said things
that came to pass, do not follow them. Because, and the Lord says,
the reason why he sends them is to see whether they will believe
his word, follow his word, or follow these false prophets.
And we have the same that is repeated here by our Lord in
the New Testament as really at her test. On one hand, you might
have those even doing miracles and wonderful signs. On the other
hand, you have the word of God, the true and the living God.
And which one will we go after? Which one will we hearken to? But that is the first warning. And the second is that we be
not troubled. Verse six, you shall hear of
wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled,
for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. How many things have been in
our day, the earthquakes, Turkey and Syria, the war in Ukraine,
many things, many unrests, many things that are happening, many
surmisings of what may come upon the Earth. Generations before
us saw the First and Second World Wars, the Falkland War in our
day, and those things that trouble the Earth and various parts of
the Earth. And yet we are warned here that
we are not to be troubled, as if the Lord is not in control,
as if man was in control, as if things were happening and
the Lord couldn't stop it, or the Lord had no ability to protect
his people and to help his children. It is a natural thing. For us,
when troubles, when wars, when conflicts, when things arise,
we do get troubled. But really the message is here
for the people of God, and it is easy to say it when we're
not in it. We can point others to it, we
can say about the theory of it, that God is in control, but then
we come into something in our own lives. And in that very thing,
that's the trial. That's the real test. And that's where we may reel
to and fro and really, in all practicality, because of the
troubles of our minds, it's as if God wasn't in control. We
need to be reminded of that again and blessed with that again.
And the comfort of knowing that is a great comfort. It's a wonderful
blessing to feel that. So that's the second thing. The third is regarding iniquity
that shall abound, and because of that, the love of many shall
wax cold. We live in a world where sin
is all the way around us. And though perhaps in former
generations it was kept under wraps, not paraded in open view,
Yet now with the media or with the electronic things that we've
got, it can be so readily accessed and we hear about things that
are happening all around the world. Iniquity and sin, that
which our old nature loves, that which attracts us, because that
abounds, the love of many, and it implies this. This is the
love of God's people. Those who had left their first
love, the first love was Christ, and they left Him. The children
of Israel were warned when they went into the Promised Land that
if the Lord blessed them, when He did bless them, He was to
bless them, that they wouldn't then take all those blessings,
all the ease, all of their homes, their vineyards, and everything
that they had, and forget the Lord their God. the prosperity
being a snare to them, but here it's spoken of iniquities and
sins. God's people that have a wicked,
sinful heart, the same as all, and they're just surrounded with
all of the things that their heart loves. Some things we might
say that has no attraction for me, I recoil against it, but
the devil knows how to lay his baits. And a fisherman, he knows
that if he's fishing for a particular type of fish, if he puts in one
bait, they'll never go for it. They don't want that. They're
not interested in it. So he puts on a bait that they
will like. And then he gets the fish that
he's after. And Satan, he suitably lays his
baits. He knows what is attractive to
you and I. And what is attractive to you
may not be attractive to me. And the other way around. But
here is then the warning of our Lord. Iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. The warning to us is be aware
of that and watch that our love to the Lord, we have a love to
the Lord that it does not wax cold. And if we do not love the
Lord, may he work that in us and cause us to believe and cause
us to love the Lord. Then we have, fourthly, in verse
42, the warning to watch. Watch therefore for ye know not
what hour your Lord doth come. And I believe that watching is
comparing what is happening in the world with the Word of God. But it's especially watching,
watching our spirit, watching our interest in Christ, our faith. Put in another word in the letters
of the Revelation, see that no man take thy crown. When we think of those false
Christs and false witnesses that are coming, there's especially
watching against those that will attack our faith and our interest
in Christ. Greatest comfort we can have
is to know that we are the Lords. He is our God, is well with us
while life endure and well when called to die. And that is, you
know, if we had many possessions and we had those that were really,
really precious ones, they'd be the ones that we'd watch and
we'd guard, mostly. You know, if there came things
against us, then those would be the things that we go to protect
first. And our soul should be that which
we watch mostly against. We do not fall into error or
led astray with the error of the wicked. Then the fifth warning
is that of our text. In verse 44, therefore be also
ready A warning to be ready, for in such an hour as ye think
not, the Son of Man cometh. Five warnings. How many warnings
there are in the scriptures of truth. Well, I want to just look
at two points. Firstly, the illustration that
is used of the suddenness of the end. There's four of these
that are used in the context here. And then secondly, the
exhortation to be ready. Therefore be ye also ready, for
in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. Illustrations
are very effective ways of setting forth truth and highlighting
what shall happen. And the Lord here speaks of those
illustrations in verse 29. We have the illustration, or
really a setting forth of what shall happen. But we can picture
what it would be, or at least in a little way, how terrifying
it would be. The sun should be darkened. The moon shall not give her light. The stars shall fall from heaven. The powers of heaven shall be
shaken. And these things are spoken of,
that which is happening so suddenly, right at the end, then shall
appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. It's actually
being destroyed, being taken down. You picture, perhaps someone
that was in a, sometimes you see a multi-story building that
is being destructed or brought down and demolitioned. There's no one in there. But
they carefully lay all their charges and everything looks
all right. The building is just standing
there. And then they press the plunger And suddenly there's
a shaking of the whole building, and the whole building just crumbles
to the ground. And you say there's no warning
of it. Well, there was, because you
heard the noise, you heard the shaking. If you were on that
building, you'd have the shaking, you'd hear the noise. But it
happened so quickly and so close before, when it was destroyed,
that it would be a warning, but not a warning. That is, the pictures
are here like if one is in the top of a house, no time to go
down to the bottom. If one is in the field, no time
to come in and out of the field. It shall happen so quickly. And what is set before us here
is that illustration of the end and what shall happen, but the
suddenness of it in the very heavens that we know. And I know why experiencing the
earth tremors in Melbourne, Australia and also especially in New Zealand
when the tremor was strong enough to just shake the drawers out
of the bedside cabinets and you can endure a lot of turbulence
in an aircraft thrown about, I have been many times, but not
as terrifying is when you feel the solid ground under you move,
and you see a building that has been solid for years sway, and
you feel it sway, it has to be experienced to actually realize,
when you think of those, the things that are solid, and we're
used to, we see the sun, the moon, the stars, we see the things
that are there, always been there, to see them start to be shaken,
to move, Well, it says here, the men's hearts shall fail them
for fear. Then we have the illustration
of the fig tree in verse 32. Now learn the parable of the
fig tree. When its branches yet tender
and put it forth leaves, you know the summer is nigh. Of course,
we see it in springtime here where everything is breaking
out and coming out. into Bhart. And we know that
when that happens, well, the springtime actually is there.
And certainly the summer is only just around the corner. And it's
that sign that is immediately before. Then we have the sign
of Noah. Again, it's very, very sudden
in verse 37. As the days of Noah were, so
shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Days before the
flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
until the day that Noah entered into the ark. They knew not until
the flood came, so quickly, so immediately, so little warning
at all. And then we have the immediate
context of our text, with the thief. But know this, that if the good
man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come,
he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to
be broken up. Again, it's a picture, an illustration
of watching and of that which is sudden and that which is unexpected,
that which happens quickly. And the Lord uses many other
such illustrations throughout the Word of God. Well then we
have the exhortation to be ready. We've had many funerals recently,
many exhortations like that, certainly on Friday. The open
graves, and that we be ready. We get hardened, we see and take
part perhaps in many, many funerals. But how often is it laid to a
heart that one day we shall also die. It shall be our mortal remains
are laid in the grave. Then we think of what we've had
happen today, being warned over the last couple of weeks that
at three o'clock there was going to be a warning. The government
would test out an emergency warning. It would come on our phones,
especially those who've had services in the afternoon to make sure
that your phones were off. Or, as in my case, streaming
a phone with Mrs Field using my own phone, I managed to turn
off those alerts. But I had a tablet there that
we weren't using that I'd turned off or just switched off And
afterwards, Mrs. Friel said, oh, they're split
up. And it had a sign on there and everything. Thankfully, it
didn't make a noise. But it actually woke the thing
up and came up on it. But we were told what day. We
were told what hour. We were told what to do. We were
told what to expect. Everything was there. And we
did prepare, especially if we thought it was going to interrupt
a service or interrupt what we were doing. We did take steps
forward. Many other nations have had means
of forewarning in that way. In Hawaii in 2019, they tripped
the alarm by mistake, said that there was an incoming missile
from China, and everyone thought that the end was coming, and
their lives were ending in great confusion, and they had to calm
everyone down, false alarm. But how would it be with us if
it wasn't a false alarm? If it was real? If we were really
suddenly called to meet our Maker? Here we're told the Lord says
we will not know the day nor the hour. And yet in what's happened
today we were told. And what a reminder it is to
really think on these things. Because one day we shall, I was
with brethren recently and they were speaking of their call by
grace and of the blessings they'd had in their lives. And one of
them spoke of an accident he had on one of the motorways.
And the trailer that they were carrying, a jackknife, went right
across the motorway. He was a passenger. And he said,
I really felt I was going to be called to meet my maker. He
said, we were going for motorway speeds. And it went straight
across the motorway in the face of all the other traffic. It
seemed as if the Lord took the control of that vehicle and brought
it to the side in peace. And yet, he says, at that time
when that happened, He said, I felt that my end was coming. And we can have these things
happen so suddenly. And so many on our roads, their
lives have been taken in that way. So the exhortation of our
text, therefore be ye also ready. For in such an hour as ye think
not, the Son of Man cometh. So the question is, what is it
to be ready? How could we be ready if we're
told we do not know the time or the day? How can we be ready? What is it to be ready? Well, the first thing is that
we be born again of the Spirit, that we do have the new birth.
You must be born again. Or as the Lord said to Martha,
there's one thing that is needful. There's no substitute whatsoever
for that new birth, a new life, to be truly converted, to be
truly saved. Everything else that distracts
from that, that takes away from that, that substitutes that,
is a cheat and a deceiver from that which is absolutely vital
for us. The Lord Jesus Christ is exalted
to give repentance and remission of sins unto Israel. And may
it be the Lord does pass by and bid live and give eternal life
and we be persuaded of the need of that life. Though he may be
like Ruth, though I be not like one of thine handmaidens, Though
it may be that we feel to be so unlike the people of God. May be we feel, well I don't
feel that concern, I don't feel that need. And have to bring
that before the Lord and lay that before the Lord. But may it be that we bring it
to Him and beg Him for that life. The only way of salvation is
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And the devil will
much deceive and try and trip us up with so many things, as
long as we don't hearken to that, as long as we never take on board
that warning, as long as we never are troubled with it, it never
features in our prayers, it never makes us truly to be earnest,
and He'll give us other things too. You say, well, you take
the truths of God, you say it's only for the elect, and you're
not one of the elect. Or there's nothing you can do,
you just sit in your seat in chapel, and you just wait until
that blessing comes, and in that way He lulls the sleep. and really
makes the warnings, the Word of God, of none effect. And yet
the Word, through the preaching, the foolishness of preaching,
is how God saves, is how His sheep first hear the Word, is
how they first are blessed and awakened and are given life. It is through that Word. may
we be held to ask the Lord that he grant it to us. And those
of us that haven't, that he would use that means of grace to keep
alive our souls. Now we have that those that are
saved, that they are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation. So faith cometh by hearing and
through the word, by hearing by the word of God. If you and
I are kept, That is also through the Word, and through the preaching,
and through hearing, through faith in what we hear. The Word
preached did not profit them, nor be mixed in faith in them
that heard it. And so how vital it is that we
are mindful of what it is to be ready, and that must come
first. It must be the most important
thing. a new birth and to be maintained
in life. And so the second thing is to
watch that which is set before us in verse 42. In Luke chapter 21 we read, In
your patience possess ye your souls. And again it is the emphasis
is not just watching the things that are happening round about
us, but watching as to our souls. When our hearts are led astray,
when they leave Christ, when instead of softened we're hardened,
when instead of feeding upon His Word we're feeding upon something
else, when instead of walking in love and in the Spirit we're
walking after the flesh and in the hardness of our hearts. There are many things, many ways
you could interpret this word watch, but I believe anything
that comes short of actually watching over our soul will come
short of what actually is set before us, especially the Lord's
warning of those anti-Christ, those that shall lead astray
from Christ, the living way. That is what we are to guard
and watch more than anything. Now those of us in the ministry,
we're meeting again with brethren recently, considering the first
commandment. Thou shalt have no other gods
beside me. And it was pointed out many people,
they make a god of their work and all that they do and all
their employments and they live for that. And I said, well, what
about us in the ministry? Can we make a God of our preaching
and of our sermons and of our engagements? Yes, we can. Those external things. We can be like Martha with the
Lord in the house. And yet we're so busy, we're
not sitting at his feet, hearing his word. We're not feeding upon
it ourself at all. It's such a narrow way. But that
close fellowship, communion with the Lord, that is what is so
vital, that the Lord knows us and we know him, and we have
those sweet times together. What would someone say if you
said, well, I have a very good friend, perhaps a young man,
a young woman, dating together, but they never had time together,
they never had time with a spoke one to another, they never shared
things, they didn't even appear to want to get together. You'd
question that, whether there was a real connection, real love
there. But when there's that real wanting
to be together, to go to the closet, to go to prayer, to have
communion, have fellowship with the Lord and with his people,
then there's life there. We know that we pass from death
unto life because we love the brethren and with the Lord Jesus
Christ who is our best friend to have that time with him. Come
ye apart and rest a while. They went and they told Jesus. So the second thing then to be
ready is to be watching. The third thing is to be occupying
or as a faithful servant. We have in the verse that follows,
verse 45, who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord
hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season. Blessed is that servant whom
his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. And this ties
in with those scriptures. Occupy till I come, or redeeming
the time because the days are evil. Walking in wisdom with
those that are without. The Lord has given us our secular
employment. He's given us those things that
we do in our lives. And we're to do those things.
All is working as to the Lord and not unto men. We're to be
faithful in all that we do, and it is in that way that we are
to be found walking. Not idle, not doing what the
Lord would not have us to do, but walking where we are to be,
even though that may be a trying path, a path of tribulation,
a path of difficulty, a path that we might not even understand.
and yet to be found in that way. I've often said I'd rather be
in a place where I knew the Lord had placed me, and that it was
a difficult place, than in a place that was very easy and very pleasant,
and yet be uncertain whether really the Lord had placed me
there, or whether it was right to be there or not. That's very
hard to walk out sometimes. But it is a blessed thing if
we are found, when we are found ready and waiting, that we are
actually in the place where the Lord would have us to be. Therefore
be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son
of Man cometh. You might have many thoughts
of what is necessary to be ready But when we confine them to those
three, the new birth, watching in prayer and watching over the
life of our soul and our communion and fellowship with the Lord,
and in faithfully doing that which the Lord has appointed
us to do in this life, laying all before the Lord, then I believe
we will be ready those that, waiting for the Lord to come,
the Thessalonians, when they were called, when they were blessed
with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, when they joined themselves
to the disciples, the last thing was said, and to wait for His
Son from heaven. The Apostle Paul, he longed to
be with Christ, which was far better, to want to be with the
Lord. And that is a sweet token that
we have that good hope beyond the grave, the hope that fadeth
not away, the hope that death itself would only be as a chariot,
as a portal to bring us into that promised rest and home. The Lord said, fear not them
that kill the body and after that there is nothing more they
can do but to fear the Lord that hath power to cast both bodies
and soul into hell. The Lord grant us that fear. Grant us to be ready. By the Lord at his blessing.
Amen.