May it please God to bless us
together this morning as we turn to his word. Let us turn to the
Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24, and we'll read verse 44. The
Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24, and reading verse 44. Therefore,
be also ready For in such an hour as ye think
not, the Son of Man cometh. There are many occasions in the
Word of God when we are directed to the need to be found ready
and ready indeed when the hour comes that the Son of Man shall
return to this earth. None of us know of course when
that will be. We're told it's only the Father who knows that
date. But we are encouraged to be found
ready. And so the word here is therefore. And whenever we read a word of
therefore, it obviously refers to that which has gone before.
And there's a very simple statement prior to this in the 43rd verse,
which gives us a picture of a man with a house. And if he'd been
told when the thief would come, would he not be watching? Well,
we know of course with our own houses, wherever we are, I'm
sure if we were told there's a thief going to come tonight,
we'd be very careful, wouldn't we? And we'd be watching to see
if he did come, and if he came, we'd be ready to resist him. Well, that's the very, very simple
picture that we have here in this previous verse. And prior
to that, the Lord Jesus had been speaking at some length about
those things which would come, and how the end of the world
will occur, and how we are told to watch. Therefore, for ye know
not what hour your Lord doth come. Now, not only are we to
be found watching, watching as if we might be burglars might
come but more importantly that we are to watch and we are to
be concerned that should the hour come when you and I are
upon this earth that we are ready for such an occasion. We would be ready wouldn't we
if we were told that a burglar was going to come to our house.
We will be watching, and no doubt we will be ready for such an
event. Well, it's no less a situation
with regards to the time when the Son of Man comes. But it
is really very much more important. It is far, far more important,
isn't it? If we think of it in the terms
of reality, because it has reference to our eternal souls. A burglar may come, he may rob
us of certain things in our possession, but they're all passing things
anyway. They're all fading. We may be
sorry, we may be sad, but eventually it won't have any relevance to
our eternal state, wouldn't it? But burglary came and robbed
us of perhaps our greatest treasures. On this earth, well, it wouldn't
really matter, would it? We would be sad and upset, but
it wouldn't really matter. If we hadn't been ready, if we
hadn't been watching, well, it wouldn't really have mattered.
But that isn't true. with regard to the time when
the Son of Man returns. It is very true and very important
to be watching for that occasion and to be ready. Now, how are
we to be ready? How to be ready? Well, we haven't got any strength
ourselves. We can't rely on our own ability. We can't rely on what we could
do, but we do need to come and to pray to God that he might
make us ready. And God does hear such prayer. He does make us ready. And that preparation is to show
to ourselves our state by nature and whether we are. ready or
whether we are not. And of course we are born in
this world in not a ready condition. And we move on in our life and
often not in a ready condition. And we spend most of our life
probably in not a ready condition. But here we have this statement
spoken by the Lord himself, Therefore be also ready." It's not something
that you and I can forget about and cast aside and think, well,
I think I'll just wait a little bit. I don't think it's too relevant
yet. In any case, I'm quite young
and in any event, there's no sign really of the world ending. And therefore I can just carry
on as I am. Well, that's a very dangerous attitude. Because we
know not. And as we read here, if this
good man had known when his house was to be burgled, he would have
taken care, he would have watched out, and suffered his house would
not be broken up. Well we have this sanitary, this
important warning to us today, therefore be also ready. And that means, that we are ready
in a spiritual sense. It means that our soul is right
with God. Whether we are ready to leave
this earth, whether we are ready to go and to be with Christ,
which is far better, whether we are ready if that day should
come in our life when we should be caught up together in the
clouds, and that shall we be forever with the Lord." Well,
I suppose the question is if that occasion was to occur today,
and we have every indication that the time will come and the
sun will be shining, the sun will have risen, and men and
women, boys and girls will have been going about their business,
there'll be those who are being married, Those who are feasting,
those who are going on holiday, those who are going to school,
those who are leaving school, those who are perhaps going to
bed, those who are perhaps getting up in the morning, those who
are sleeping. Whatever condition there will
be, there will be that great time when that trumpet shall
sound. And my friends, everyone will
hear that trumpet. Everyone. None will be able to
sleep through it. None will be able to ignore it.
And the great blessing will be if you and I are ready when that
day shall come. And to be ready, we need to be
spiritually right with our God. We need to be prepared. We need
God to prepare us for that. So that when that comes, we're
not looking around for our religion. We're not, as it were, looking
around for our certificate. You may remember in the Pilgrim's
Progress, there was ignorance, who came up to the gates of heaven,
and he was asked for his certificate, and he couldn't find it. He thought
he was alright, He thought he was okay, but he was ignorant
of the truth of God. He was ignorant of his soul's
need. And at that great time, when
it was so necessary to have a certified document that he was to be admitted
to glory, he hadn't got that certificate. My friends, you
and I need that certificate. And we need it to be signed.
We need it to be signed by the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And my friends, it'll be signed
not with ink, it'll be signed with blood. Signed that He has
indeed died to atone for our sins. And we have therefore that
evidence that we have a right to enter into glory, not because
of what we've done, but because of what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done. Well, this morning, if the Lord
was to return today, do we possess that certificate? Do we possess
the evidence that Christ has died to atone for our sins? Do we possess the blessed truth
of God in our heart? Now, that's really what it means
to be ready. And the solemn statement is that
we don't know when that will happen and we should not postpone
such considerations. We should not think, well, I
don't think it's going to occur yet. Remember, it comes in such a
time that we think not. For in such an hour as you think
not, the devil will always try and persuade us, it's not going
to occur yet. No, you've got plenty of time,
don't worry, enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. What dangerous
ground that is. How foolish we are if we listen
to the words of Satan and we continue in such a condition. How ignorant we are of the truth
of God's word and really how exceedingly solemn it is because
you and I here today Every one of us will never have an excuse. We are without excuse. We can
never say, well, of course, I never read the Bible. Well, of course,
I never heard the Gospel preached. Well, of course, I never realised
how important these things were. It may be that, but my friends,
you'll be without excuse. When we stand before that judgment
seat, there will be no excuse. We'll have to hang our heads
before a holy and a just God and realize that that time came
and we were not ready. We were not ready. And so this morning, may we not
thank God that we have such a word like this, to give us encouragement,
to earnestly seek that we may have the evidence that we are
born again in the Spirit of God and that we are ready. And so
here are these simple words, therefore be also ready, for
in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh. The Lord Jesus spoke in the Gospel
of Luke, which is recorded for our encouragement. The Lord speaks
and says, but rather seek ye the Kingdom of God and all these
things shall be added unto you. And he's referring to those situations
which surround us, And he says, and seek not ye what ye shall
eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind
for all these things do the nations of the world seek after. And
your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. And how
true it is that we spend much of our time seeking for those
things, seeking for worldly things. I know we have to live in the
world, and we have to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow.
And that's the Word of God. But here we have this statement
that God knows that we have need of all these things. Now it's
right to be thankful for when they're provided, but the relevant
statement is, but rather seek ye the Kingdom of God and all
these things shall be added unto you. Well, no doubt we seek day
by day the Lord to provide for us in our natural natural way
of food and clothes and houses and cars and all that kind of
thing. And they're all relevant, of
course, to our current needs. But our current need, our great
current need, is really to be found like this. Rather, says
the Lord, seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall
be added unto you. And he goes on to explain it
a bit further. We should be very thankful that
we have the Bible to explain to us in detail the relevance
of these things and how we should react and how we should act.
He says, Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms. Provide yourselves bags which
wax not old, A treasure in the heavens that faileth not, Where
no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth, For where your
treasure is, there with your light your heart be also." Let's
remember, such a statement is very true. You see, it's a testament,
isn't it, of our real desires. And it speaks here of the heart.
The heart, not the mind, it's the heart, which is the relevant
situation. For where your treasure is there
will your heart be also. You see, if your treasure is
just on this earth, all you'll be thinking about is the things
of time. You'll be thinking about your
bank balance. You'll be thinking about your next job. You'll be
thinking about your pocket money. You'll be thinking about all
those things and how much you can save up, and what you can
spend it on. That'll be just for the things
of this time. And yet here, the Word of God
tells us, for where your treasure is. And if you're only seeking
about the things of this world, it's very sad. Because you'll
have to leave everything. on this earth. You have to leave
everything. We had a man come to the market
stall yesterday morning. We had a long talk with him.
And we said to him, you know, one thing is certain. And he said, what's that? And
I said, the day of your death. He said, that's true. He said,
you know, we didn't bring anything when we were born, did we? and
we shan't be able to take anything out." Now he wasn't a believer
at all, but he very quickly saw the argument and the sense of
it. Well my friends, may we also see the relevance of it, because
one thing is certain, we must all die, and all our little treasures,
all the things that we've counted dear, we may have saved up for,
we may be very pleased with, We don't have to leave them all.
And that's why we have this great statement, for where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. And so God looks into our
heart this morning, doesn't he? And we need to answer before
our God as to where our heart really is. And it would be a
great blessing if we can search deeply and find there, within
our heart, there's that desire after spiritual blessings. And
those spiritual blessings are summed up in this, to know my
Jesus crucified by far excels all things besides. Well, what do you think of a
statement like that? Well, it's true. Now, the Lord goes on. And in
verse 35 of this twelfth chapter, he tells us this. Let your loins
be girded about, and your lights burning. Now, loins girded about,
you might wonder, you young people, what that means. Well, of course,
men in those days, they didn't wear trousers, they wore dresses,
really, or we might call it tunics. Generally speaking, they were
a little bit shorter than a woman's. Anyway, they were quite lengthy.
And therefore, if someone's going to have to run, it's not very
easy to run in a long dress, is it? I've never done it myself,
but I'm sure it's not very easy. And therefore, what they had
to do, they had to take the hem of their dress, or their tunic,
and tuck it into their belts, so that they were able then to
run freely. And the statement here is, let
your loins be girded. So they were ready, ready to
run, ready to run this race. And not to be hemmed in or stopped. It's to let your loins be girded
about and your lights burning. The light, you know what a light
is, don't we? It gives from a candle. Well,
God gives his people a spiritual light. And it's as though they
shine. They shine forth. And it's not
their light. It's God's light. And it's the
Gospel within them which shines forth. It's not something which
is hid up. It's something which is evident.
The people of God, they should shine forth. There should be
the evidence that they are different. That they are a separate people.
They are a saved people. They are a people for whom Christ
died. The price has been paid for their
salvation. What a blessing it is then to
be found like this. And so we have this picture,
your loins be girded about and your lights burning. You may
just remember another illustration in the same theme. When Israel
were to come out of Egypt, on that great night. What a night
it was. What a deliverance it was. Deliverance
from that time of bondage. In one sense it's similar to
the people of God. It's a wonderful deliverance
when they leave this world. But you know what they were told
to do? They were told to have their
loins girded. They were told to have their
shoes on their feet. They were told to have their staff in their
hand. What's that picture? What does
it show us? It shows us they were ready for
the journey, doesn't it? They were ready for the journey.
They were ready to leave Egypt. Ready for it. So when they had partaken of
that slain roast lamb, the blood had been shed. The safety had
been procured. Then there was that deliverance. They went forth on their journey. Well, what a blessing. We can
look at it, can't we, in two ways really. When we first begin
the heavenly journey, when it all brings us to that time when
we see ourselves as lost and ruined sinners. and our hearts
are directed to the merits of the Saviour and what He's done. To commence on that spiritual
journey, that journey of life. And then of course there's that
time when we leave this earth and we take that journey to glory. And so therefore we have these
words, therefore be you also ready For in such an hour as
this, an hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh." It's
important to notice here that it's such an hour as we think
not. No doubt we're thinking today,
but it won't occur today. That means we're thinking not,
we think it won't come. Well, we must be warned. A time
will come when we think not. And we read together in this
chapter, didn't we, of the significance of the days in which we live
and what will occur. And then shall appear the sign
of the Son of Man in heaven. And then should all the tribes
of the earth mourn. And they shall see the Son of
Man coming in the clouds of heaven. with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels
with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the
other." Well, it's very clear, isn't it? That it won't be everybody
that will be gathered. There will be very many who won't
be gathered. Well my friends, will you and
I be amongst those who will be gathered, now we should only
be gathered if we are amongst those who are found looking for
that glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Because then you see, we shall
be ready when that day will come The Lord does come in all His
glory, and sometimes perhaps when we hear thunder, and sometimes
thunder can be exceedingly loud, well does it give us some indication
of the power of God. And I think the Lord will come
in such a time with lightning and thunder and great power and
every eye shall see him. And when that occurs, there will
be no time for repentance. There will be no time for turning
to God, because that edict will have gone forth. Time shall be
no more. The end of time will have come.
Eternity is ushered in. that eternal state for those
who are gathered to go into the marriage supper of the Lamb,
and to those who are also found wanting and shall perish in their
sins and spend eternity in hell with all that is the devilish
angels, the devil himself. My friends, what a tragic scene,
what a terrible scene. What an awful scene to ponder. And yet, we have the blessed
Word of God speaking to our hearts today in these very simple, but
very straightforward words. Therefore, we have the picture. We have the truth of God's Word.
It's not the Word of man. It's the Word of God. And it
is true. And so we should be thankful.
Therefore be also ready, for in such an hour as you think
not, the Son of Man cometh." The Son of Man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, we're told, aren't we? We're told many times that He
will come, will return. We know that when He went up
into glory, when He ascended to His Father on that Mount of
Olivet, The angel said, this same Jesus will come again. He will come again. Now I believe
as the Lord comes and blesses us in our souls with nearness
to the Saviour, and we realise something of the glory of that
great sacrifice that was completed on Calvary so many years ago. And through that one sacrifice
for sin, his people have hope of eternal life. So if that is
so in our case, we have reason to hope and we have reason to
look forward to such a day with a gracious attraction and a gracious
blessing to think that when that day comes, it will be well with
my soul. And if that is so, we're able
to realise that we are amongst those who are ready for the Lord's
return. Well, all of us here this morning
hear such a question, hear such a statement, a fact, but are
you also ready? And if we're all asked the question
this morning, are we ready? Are you ready? Am I ready? The Lord should come in his glory,
to take his ransomed people home, shall I amongst them stand? Shall such a worthless wretch
as I, who sometimes am afraid to die, be found at God's right
hand? Well, it's a question, isn't
it? And it's a very important question. We're asked many questions,
aren't we? You're asked many questions at
school, many questions come into your life, but you know this
is a great question, is it not? The greatest question really,
as to whether we are ready for that hour when the Son of Man
comes, when he returns in all his glory. And so, are we amongst
those who have received? Faith to believe. Faith to believe. The devil always wants us to
put things off. He always wants us to consider
other things. He's a past master at bringing
other thoughts into our minds and making us put such great
truths into the back of our minds that we don't really think about
them as we should. We don't consider them as we
should. Well, let us not forget the truth
of these things. And as we read together this
statement, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall
not pass away. The word of God is an eternal
word. It will not pass away. And what
a blessing it is, as you and I may have read the Word of God
to realise how true it is. His words will not pass away.
His words are true. And those words which we have
here this morning therefore are true. They're God's words. They're not the words of a man. They're not words of a historian
that has just been thought up and put together. They are the
true words spoken by the Saviour himself when he was upon the
earth. therefore be also ready, ready
for in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh. And the Lord warns us further
in this chapter as we read on this morning, but and if that
evil servant shall say in his heart My Lord delayeth his coming. My Lord delayeth his coming.
How easily we say that, don't we? Well, the Lord delayeth his
coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat
and drink with the drunken. The Lord of that servant shall
come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that
he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint
him his portion with the hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth." Now it's a very solemn statement, isn't it? To be enumerated
a hypocrite. A hypocrite is one who pretends
to be what he's not. What he's not. And we live in
an age where there are many hypocrites. Many people who pretend to be
ready. In actual fact, there's no life
of God. They're not ready at all. Because
my friends, you and I can only be ready if our hope is resting
in, not what we have done, but in the death, resurrection and
ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do we believe on the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ? You know the Philippian jailer,
you may remember him. Yes, he'd been that one who'd
afflicted Paul and Silas with those stripes. And then there'd
been that earthquake. The prison doors had all opened
themselves and the chains had fallen off Paul and Silas. And
he was about to kill himself. because he thought the prisoners
had escaped. And Paul cried out and said, do thyself no harm,
we are all here present. What did he say then? What must
I do to be saved? Suddenly, he come face to face
with God. Face to face with his maker. What must he do to be saved?
The Apostle said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved. Now let's be quite clear. Here,
this man had suddenly realised his need. Suddenly realised he
needed to be saved. My friends, have we come that
way? Has the Spirit of God convinced us of our need to be saved? Have we cried out from our heart,
God be merciful, to me a sinner? Have we looked to the Lord for
salvation? Have we realised that in me that is in my flesh dwells
no good thing? I'm lost, I'm ruined, hell is
before me. What must I do to be saved? Well,
may we have been blessed with that grace to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and then to be led into all truth and to
realise what a great and glorious Saviour we have, to think the
only begotten Son of God, God Himself, condescending to come
into this world to save our souls, to die upon that cross. And what
a death it was. It was an agonising death. The cost of our salvation was
very, very high. It was very, very great. How
willing was Jesus to die that we, fellow sinners, might live. Oh my friends, the cost of our
salvation, never underestimated. And if the Spirit of God has
applied his word to our souls and given us a good hope in his
grace, through grace, that it is well with our souls, do we
not have great cause to praise and honour our kind and gracious
God, who has looked upon us in love and compassion and mercy,
And therefore as we hear this word this morning spoken to us,
therefore be you also ready. We know that the Lord has imputed
in our heart that desire to be found ready. We don't want to
cast it aside. We want to be amongst those who
are ready. Ready when the hour comes, when
the Son of Man cometh. My friends, none of us know when
it will be. But the words of the Saviour to us this morning
is, be ye also, it's you, it's me, it's personal, personal,
be ye also ready. Well, may we examine our hearts,
examine our souls, to be able to ascertain that yes, by the
grace of God, the Lord has blessed me, He has revealed himself unto
me, as he does not unto the world. I do have a hope in his finished
work. I do believe that his sacrifice
was that satisfaction to Almighty God for the atonement of my sin. My friends, let us only be satisfied
when the Lord speaks such words to our heart. and that we do
know that it is well with our soul. My friends, may we not
give God any peace. May we pray urgently to have
such truth made over to us, so that we are ready when that call
should come. Therefore, be you also ready,
for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man cometh. Amen.