Turn with me, if you will, to
Matthew 24. Matthew chapter 24. Let's read verses 36 through 51 together. But of that day and hour knoweth
no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were,
so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the
days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered
into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them
all away. So shall also the coming of the
Son of Man be. Then shall two be in the field. The one shall be taken and the
other left. Two women shall be grinding at
the mill. The one shall be taken and the
other left. Watch, therefore, For you know
not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if
the good man of the house had known in what hour, in what watch
the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have
suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready, for
in such an hour as you think not. Now underscore that. in such an hour as you think
not, the Son of Man cometh, who then is a faithful and wise servant,
whom his Lord hath made ruler over his house, his household,
to give them meat in deuces. Blessed is that servant, whom
his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so do it. Verily I say unto
you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But, and
if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth
his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and
to eat and drink with the drunken, the Lord of that evil 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 the title of my message this evening is, Are
You Ready? Our Lord Jesus admonishes us
to make certain that we are prepared for his coming. Notice again
verse 44. Therefore be ye also ready. For in such an hour as you think
not, the Son of Man cometh. Now he's addressing himself to
men and women just like you and me. He's talking to his disciples. People who profess faith in his
name. And he says be ready always at
all times. Be certain that you're ready,
that you're prepared. Because the Lord is coming at
a time when you think not. At a time when you least expect
him. I know that many suggest that
this is talking about the unbelievers. But our Lord addresses the unbelievers
in the very last verse, verse 50 rather, and says that 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. So he's warning us who are believers,
as well as those who are unbelievers, to make certain that we are prepared
to meet God right now. Because the Lord Jesus is coming
at such an hour as you think not, and at such a time as the
unbeliever is altogether unaware of. Now there's no question,
our text is talking specifically about our Lord's glorious second
advent when Christ is coming again with ten thousands of his
saints. But it would be a grave mistake
to limit the message of this passage of scripture just to
those who are living at the time that Christ comes again. Our
Lord's coming is spoken of in the scriptures in many, many
ways. Understand, he literally is coming
again. That same Jesus who went up into
heaven is coming again in his glorious body to rule and reign
forever, to judge the world, to establish his kingdom, and
to establish righteousness in the earth. But our Lord Jesus
comes in many, many ways as well. He is described as one who comes
when he comes providentially against the wicked in judgment.
For example, It was the Lord God who came upon Sodom and Gomorrah
and visited them in judgment with fire and brimstone. It was
the Lord God who came upon Babylon and destroyed the tower of Babel
and scattered the people with many languages and many tongues
in his judgment upon the peoples of the earth. A few years ago,
We read, woke up one morning to read in our morning papers
of a tidal wave sweeping across Bangladesh, just swept, plumb
across the island, and swept off thousands into eternity. God came in judgment. And in
every visitation of Providence, wherein God demonstrates his
judgment against individuals, families, and nations, let us
understand God has come. God has visited us. and has visited
us to warn us of judgment to come. Our Lord Jesus comes to
His elect in grace when it comes to convert them by the power
of His Spirit. He comes to His people both to the righteous
and to the wicked, both to His people and to those who are not
His people in death. When He comes to call men and
women to meet Him at the judgment bar, He calls men and women into
eternity, and at such time He comes after them. But certainly,
as I said before, our text is clearly talking about our Lord's
glorious second advent. Let me ask you, if the Lord Jesus
should come for you now, right now, should He come in death
or should He come in judgment? Are you ready? Are you ready? That's the urgent message of
this passage. Be ye therefore ready. For you know not when the Lord
shall come. No man knows when death will
come. And no man knows when Christ
will come. At such an hour as you don't
even imagine, the Son of Man is going to call you. At such
an hour as you don't even imagine. So don't postpone this business.
of preparing to meet God. Don't postpone this business
of being ready to meet God face to face. Soon we must meet the
Lord God in judgment. When we do, He will judge us
upon the grounds of absolute righteousness. And whatever state
you are in then, whatever state I am in then, that state we will
be in forever. Whatever our condition is then,
that will be our condition forever. If we are righteous, if we are
saved, if we are robed in Christ's righteousness and washed in his
blood, if we are holy, we shall be righteous, saved, washed,
robed, and holy forever. But when we are called to meet
him, if we're lost, unrighteous, naked, in our own sin, guilty
before God, we shall be lost. naked in our own sin, guilty
before God, and banished from Him forever. I want you to see
this in the Scriptures. Hold your hands here and turn
to Revelation chapter 21. Let's start at chapter 20. Revelation
20. Verse 11. I saw a great white throne and
Him that sat on it. From whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away. And there was found no place
for them. No place to hide. No place to
flee. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God. Everybody. Everybody. The bums
on the street and kings who sat on their thrones. Everybody.
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books
were opened. And another book was opened,
which is the book of life. and the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books according to their
works. Now frequently people Read this
passage and say, there you see, God's going to judge us according
to our works. Mark it down, God's going to
judge us according to our works. And He's going to give us exactly
what we deserve. Not according to what we have
personally done, if we're His. Oh no. But according to the works
imputed to us, whose works are found written in the books of
God by Jesus Christ. So that if we are God's elect,
if we have been saved by God's grace, robed in Christ's righteousness,
washed in His blood, that in that day the Lord God will look
upon the record that He Himself maintains and say, you deserve
eternal glory according to your works. Because what Christ did
by best is He did for you. And His works are your works
as fully as your sin became His sin. But if you're outside Christ,
God's going to give you exactly what you deserve, according to
your works, written under your name, which you have done. He'll
judge everybody in exact justice and equity. Look again in Revelation
21, verse 27. There shall be no rise in every
Indian. No lies enter into heaven, everlasting
glory and eternal life. Anything that defileth, neither
whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life. Look in chapter 22,
verse 11. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still, no changes in eternity. He that is filthy, let him be
filthy still. He that is righteous, let him
be righteous still. He that is holy, let him be holy
still. Are you ready? Ready to meet
God? That's the subject this evening.
These closing verses of Matthew 24 record the words of the Son
of God in which He urges us to make certain that we are indeed
ready to meet him. Now I want to show you five things
clearly taught in these verses of scripture. First, look at
verse 36. Matthew 24 and verse 36. Of that day and hour knoweth
no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Now, I want you to understand
this lesson clearly. I keep emphasizing it because
it needs to be emphasized. No one knows when Christ will
come again. Nobody. Nobody. There has hardly
been a year. This is really astounding to
me. But I was reading it again today. There has hardly been
a year since our Lord's death that someone has not predicted
the time of His coming. I mean, it's hardly been a year.
It began in the earliest days of the apostolic age. So that
Paul had to write to the Thessalonians and say, don't let anybody deceive
you as though the day of the Lord's already come. Don't let
anybody deceive you as though I had said the Lord's already
come again. There were those already in Paul's
day who had set the time and said, this is the time of the
Lord's coming. And they have continued with us until this
day. So that to this day, men and
women alike arise who pervert the teachings of scripture and
say this is when Christ is coming. Now our Lord tells us plainly
that no one knows that day or that hour. Let's look one more
time in Acts chapter 1. Acts the first chapter, verse
6. Listen to what he says. When they therefore were come
together, they asked him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time
Restore again the kingdom to Israel. In verse 7, our Savior
says, It is not for you to know. It is not for you to know. I
don't care how much you study. I don't care how much you have
learned. I don't care how much you've
experienced. I don't care what visions you have. I don't care
how smart you are. It is not for you to know. The
times and the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power,
that's not for you to know. Back here in Matthew 24 again.
Now, usually these imaginary prophets rest this 36th verse
of Scripture from its obvious meaning. When you read verse
36, where our Lord says that day and hour knoweth no man,
what do you presume? You read the Scripture and you
say, well, nobody knows when the Lord's coming. Is that what you
presume? But these imaginary prophets read that verse of Scripture
and say, now see, He said the day and hour. Now we don't pretend
to know the day and hour, but it didn't say you can't know
the year, the month, or even the week. And so we'll limit
ourselves to the year, the month, and the week, but they predict
these things and they always prove themselves very shortly
to have been in error. They take their schemes, and
their mathematical equations, and their days, and their calendars,
and the various feasts of the Old Testament and the times,
and say, now we've worked this thing out, and this is the way
it's very, very likely to be. Most of the time they don't say
for sure, but this is the way it's very, very likely to be.
And in just a few days, they're proven wrong. Our Lord says of
that day and that hour, that is of the time of my coming,
No man knows it, and it's best for you not to know it. It's
best for you not to know it. There may be many reasons why
it's best, but one great reason is just this. If we knew for
certain the Lord's coming on a certain day, We would cease
from our earthly responsibilities, and we would cease from our day-by-day
functioning in life, and wait in anticipation for His coming.
We'd start reading the Bible more, probably read the Bible
all day long, listen to tapes, and spend our time in Bible study,
neglecting education, neglecting feeding our families, neglecting
our responsibilities as citizens in this world, it's best for
you not to know it. And our Lord's not going to let
you know it. In fact, He says, even the angels of heaven don't
know that day. Even the angels of heaven don't
know that hour. Now if that's the case, Mr. Spurgeon says, we may not therefore
be troubled by utter prophecies of harebrained fanatics, even
if they claim to interpret scripture, for what the angels do not know
has not been revealed to them. If the angels don't know it,
That fellow down the road who said he knows when Christ is
coming, he doesn't know it either. And he's only fooling himself
and fooling you if you fall for his delusions. Even Christ in
his human nature voluntarily limited his own capacity to know
the time of his second advent. He said so in Mark 13. Now surely
we ought to be content not to know what our Lord has chosen
not to know. That make good sense, Rex? If
He chose Himself as a man not to know the day and hour of His
coming, you and I would be content not to know it. It's obviously
best that humanity not be informed concerning this. Knowing that,
let us be ready for Him always. Knowing that no man knows the
day, the hour, the month, the year, the week, no man knows
when Christ is coming again, let us always be ready for His
coming. Secondly, Look at verses 37,
38, and 39. When the Lord Jesus does come
again, the world will be in exactly the same condition it's in right
now. Now when you read verses 37,
38, and 39, how many times have you heard fellas in church buildings
on radio or television just sweating up a storm and shouting and hollering
the same thing you see? In the days of Noah, folks were
eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage. I reckon
so. I reckon so. We wouldn't be here
if they weren't. He's not talking about some kind
of a terrible, terrible thing that's going on. Our Lord is
simply telling us that in the days of Noah, men and women were
exactly as they are today, and exactly as they shall be tomorrow.
The eating and the drinking is not necessary to be understood
as an evil thing. You're going to have to eat and
drink and you're going to die. The marrying and giving in marriage
is not talking about folks getting married and getting divorced,
that's not it at all. It's talking about folks marrying and giving
themselves to one another in marriage, and if you didn't do
that, we wouldn't have any children, we wouldn't be around, or the
next generation wouldn't be around. So it's not necessarily something
evil at all. But our Lord is telling us plainly
that in the last day, the world will be in exactly the same state
and condition as it is now, As it was when he spoke these words,
as it was before Noah entered into the ark. But what's the
significance of that? He's telling us that the world
will not be converted. The world will not certainly
become converted to Christ before he comes. The world will not
become more and more righteous. The world will not become more
and more godly. The world will not become more
and more spiritual. But things will go on just exactly
as they have always been. Now this is what he's telling
us. When the Lord Jesus comes again, as they were in the days
of Noah, the world will be absorbed, just totally absorbed in worldly
sensual pursuits. eating and drinking, marrying
and getting a marriage. Just absorb in those things.
Now understand, that which is perfectly lawful and normal in
normal circumstances becomes a positive evil and a slag in
your soul when it keeps you from speaking, knowing, trusting,
and serving the Son of God. Did you get that? That which
in normal circumstances is perfectly legitimate, lawful, and normal. When it is used in teaching from
seeking, knowing, and serving the Son of God, it becomes a
snare to your soul and a positive evil. Turn back to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. These folks that
our Lord's describing in Noah's day, they were doing the same
thing Noah was doing, only that's all they were doing. They were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Noah
was eating and drinking. He had married and had given
himself in marriage. But Noah did not let himself
become absorbed with worldly sensual carnal pursuits. Rather,
Noah used those worldly things, those carnal things, those sensual
things in the knowledge and service of Christ. Look at Matthew 13
verse 22. He that received the word among
thorns is he that heareth the word and the care of this world. The care of this world. What
care? The care of making a living.
The care of feeding the family. The care of educating your sons
and daughters. The care of providing for your family in your old age.
The care of your job. The care of your daily business.
The care of this world. Don't you know man's got to do
those things? Yep. Yep. But you better not
let those things control you. Better not do it. I see Billy
sitting back there leaning forward. You got that farm to take care
of. Don't let that farm keep you from God. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't let that job
keep you from God. Don't let the pleasures of this
world or even the necessities of this world keep you from worshiping
God. Keep you from following Him.
Keep you from serving Him. the care of this world and the
deceitfulness of riches. No two things more likely to
destroy a man's soul by satanic influence than the care of this
world and the deceitfulness of riches. They gradually choke
out the word. Choke out the Word. Among those
who received the Word upon stony ground or as stone among thorns,
they had not truly been born of God, but the Word appears
to have had an effect. And then suddenly these things,
not suddenly, but gradually, they choke out the influence
of the Word. I become gravely concerned. Gravely
concerned. for the souls of many women to
whom I minister, here and around the world, who after a while,
the zeal, the delight, the sheer ecstasy of
grace, the sheer ecstasy of hearing the word of God, the wonder of
being allowed to worship God, somehow diminishes. And folks, start gradually, little
by little, to withdraw themselves from that which is most necessary
for their souls, I become gravely concerned. You say, don't you
understand? The problem, Lindsay, is I do understand.
I do understand. That's what makes me concerned. Our Lord says, as it was in the
days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of
the Son of Man. In verse 37, or verse 38 rather. For as in
the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered
into the ark. And they didn't know. Do you
see that? They knew not until the flood
came and took them all away. So shall also the coming of the
Son of Man be. These folks lived as being women
absorbed with worldly sensual pursuits. In oblivious, oblivious
state. In an oblivious state to eternal
spiritual things. Just, just oblivious. Totally
oblivious. The voice of God in their conscience
by nature had been so long silenced that their conscience is feared
and they're just oblivious to eternal spiritual things. live
as though this world was it, oblivious to eternity, guilty
of having despised the warnings of God's faithful servants and
the gospel of his free grace. For he tells us before, look
at verse 14, this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in
all the world for a witness unto all nations. Then shall the end
come. Noah preached righteousness to
his generation for 120 years. They heard it. He said, fellas,
this world's coming to an end. God's fixing to sweep it all
away. Judgment's coming. And you must get in the ark. And they heard the message. But
they went on eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
oblivious to eternity. Oblivious to God's salvation. and they despised the word of
God's servant, judgment came and swept them away. Woe unto those whose eating and
drinking do not include the bread of heaven and the water of life,
who marry and are given in marriage, but are not married to the heavenly
bridegroom. All right, thirdly, in that great day when Christ
comes again, there will be a great separation. Verse 40. Then shall two be in the field,
the one shall be taken, the other left. Two women shall be grinding
at the mill, the one shall be taken, the other left. The godly and the ungodly, the
righteous and the wicked, elect and reprobate, are mingled together
in this world. In the church, in the factory,
in the field, in the family, they're mingled together. The
children of God and the children of the devil live side by side.
But it shall not always be so. When Christ comes again, there
shall be a great separation made. in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump sound, these two groups shall be forever separated." Husbands and wives, forever separated. Mothers and children, forever
separated, banished from one another. Brothers and sisters,
forever parted. Pastors and those to whom they
have preached, forever separated. Friends and friends, forever
separated. Two, walking together down the
street, one taken, the other left. Two, living under the same
roof, sitting at the same table, eating breakfast together, one
taken, the other left. Two, sitting in the house of
God, one taken, the other left. Just like that. Just like that.
There'll be no time for repentance. No opportunities for grace. And
as you are in that day, so you shall be forever. Believers shall
be caught up to heaven, glory, honor and eternal life. Unbelievers
shall be snatched away and cast into hell, damnation and eternal
destruction and everlasting death. J.C. Ryle wrote, Blessed and
happy are they who are of one heart in following Christ. Their
union alone shall never be broken. It shall last forevermore. That's the only union, the only
union. Those who are one in Christ shall
be one forever. They're the only ones. Who can
imagine the happiness of those who are taken when the Lord returns? Who can imagine the misery of
those who are left behind? May we think on these things
and consider our ways. Fourthly, look at verses 42,
43, and 44 and learn this fourth lesson. It is our responsibility to be
always watchful, ready for, and anticipating the Lord's coming. Watch, therefore, for you know
not what hour the Lord doth come. 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. If a fella had a good apology,
that a thief had planned to come at a certain hour and break up
his household, that a burglar planned to come at a certain
hour and rob him, then that fella would set up in the night and
watch. He'd set up in the night, he'd hear a rattle at the door,
he'd be there with his gun and he'd take it, and his house wouldn't
be destroyed. But our Lord doesn't give us
that kind of warning. Look what he says. Verse 44, Therefore
be ye also ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the
Son of Man cometh. This is a point, this is a point
which our Master frequently, frequently presses upon us. He
seldom ever mentions his second coming without urging us to be
watchful. You see, He knows the slothfulness
of our nature, cunning devices, and therefore He arms us with
heart-searching exhortations to be awake and alert at all
times, lest we be found at last among the damned. Somehow, somehow there is, there
is between The presumptuous carnal security of one side that says,
I'm sorry, everything's alright. And the despairing envy from
the other side that says, I don't know whether I'm saved or not.
I don't know whether the Lord is merciful or not. I just tremble
all the time. Somewhere in between. Somewhere
in between is the blessed knowledge of the Son of God that makes
men watchful all the time. All the time. Lest you be damned
at last. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians
9, I keep unto my body. I have beaten in this objection,
lest when I have preached to others, I myself be cast away. Lest when I preach to you, I
prove to be reprobate. Our Lord commands us by the Apostle
to examine ourselves whether you be in the faith. And here
he commands us to be watchful, to be ready. Look in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse
6. Back up to verse 4. But you brethren
are not in darkness that they should overtake you as a thief.
You're not in darkness. You've been given the light of
Holy Scripture. You've been given the light of
the Word of God. You know these things yourself. Ye are all children
of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night
nor of darkness. Therefore, because we are God's
children, children of the light, let us not sleep as do others,
but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in
the night, and they that be drunk are drunken in the night. But
let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the best plate
of faith and love, for in Him let the hope of salvation. For
God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. He calls for us then to be watchful. Be ready. You say, Pastor, how
can a man be ready for that day? You can't make yourself ready.
You can't prepare to meet God on your own. You cannot, by any
works of yours, make peace with God. God's got to make peace
for you. And the only way on this earth
you and I can be ready in that day is to be washed. Washed in
the blood of Christ. The only way we can be ready
is to be found not naked, but clothed upon with the righteousness
of the Son of God. The only way we can be ready
in that day is to be united to Christ. And I want to tell you
this, the only way you can be united to Christ is believing
Him. Trust Him. Trust Him and you
are united to Him. Take hold of Him by faith and
He has taken hold of you by grace. Trust Him and He's put Himself
in you. And the faith by which you lay
hold of Him is proof of your union with Him. And the fact
that you're washed in Him and robed in Him. Let me show you
one more thing. In verses 45 through 51. I may
come back to this later. In that great day, Every faithful
servant of God shall be publicly recognized and honored, publicly
rewarded by Christ, and every false prophet shall be publicly
exposed and publicly damned. Let's just read it together,
and I'll maybe next week come back to these verses. Verse 45. Who then is a faithful and wise
servant? talking specifically about gospel
preachers. The application may be to you
who teach. The application may be to you
who are in your very stations in life, the servants of God.
But who 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. shall find what? Find him faithful
and wise, faithful to the trust God's put in his hands, wise
as a ruler over God's house, setting the house of God to instruct
the people of God in the ways of God and in the truth of God,
who gives his children meat in their season, so that he cuts
out for each one the portion that's due for them and feeds
them with the word of God, with knowledge and with understanding.
And it does it faithfully. That's the one thing God requires
of His servants. I had someone asking me last
week, just yesterday in fact, day before yesterday, about the
test of a preacher. How do you know who to hear,
where to go? I said two things. What does he preach? Is he faithful? That's all. What does he preach? Is he faithful? It doesn't matter
whether he speaks in the King's English or butchers the King's
English. It doesn't matter whether he's educated or uneducated.
It doesn't matter whether he has great gifts of eloquence
and oratory or whether listening to him is like listening to somebody
beat on a cow's bell. It doesn't matter. What does
he preach? Is he faithful? That's all that
matters. Doesn't matter whether he's good
looking or ugly. That's insignificant. It doesn't matter whether he's
a good mixer, a good social fellow, or whether he's a loner. That's
totally insignificant. What does he preach? Is he faithful? That's all that matters. That's
all that matters. Find yourself a faithful man.
Follow him. Listen to him as he declares
to you the truth of God. And stick to him. That's what
my recommendation was to them. That's what my recommendation
is to you. Wherever God puts you in this world, seek out that
kind of ministry. God will honor you by honoring
that ministry to you. Those who are called of God are
faithful in their character. They are placed in a position
of highest trust and honor for their rulers over the house of
God. They are given the work to do. which is to apportion
out to God's children the meat that's needed for them, seeking
a message from God Almighty. And his reward, his reward is
simply astounding. Verse 47, he says, Verily I say
unto you, that he, the Lord Jesus, shall make him, his faithful
servant, ruler over all his people. Be thou faithful in a few things,
and I'll make you ruler of many things. That's what he promised.
You'll be faithful in what God puts in your hand. God will put
something else in your hand to be faithful with. Be faithful. That's the only thing God requires
of his servants. Faithfulness. And God honors
it. But then he describes the unfaithful
servant. The false prophet, verse 48. But and if that evil servant
shall say in his heart, my Lord, delayeth his coming. After a
while he grows weary. He began well enough, but after
a while he begins to think, well, you know, I've been at this thing
a long time now and I'm not getting ahead. And he shall begin to
smite his fellow servants. That's what you are. We're not
somehow purging laity. We're fellow servants in the
kingdom of God. But the false prophet comes and
he begins to smite his fellow servants. Rather than comforting
the people of God, he beats them down. Rather than comforting
God's saints, he puts them in fear and in bondage. And he does
it for his own gain. Look what it says. And to eat and drink with the
drunken. That is, he gives himself to
be absorbed in worldly pursuits and sensual pleasures. He gives
himself like those in the days of Noah, like those in the world
today who live eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.
He begins now not to live for God's glory and God's kingdom,
but for his comfort and his pleasure. And so he eats and drinks with
the drunken. And the Lord of that servant
shall come in a day when he looketh not for him. The Lord of that
servant, because he's Lord of all. That servant pretends to
be his servant. That servant pretends that Christ
is his Lord. And little does he know, Christ
is indeed his Lord. He is his master. He'll come
when the servant looks not for him. At an hour that he's not
aware of. And when he comes, he'll cut
him asunder. He will hack him in pieces. He
will cut him off from the kingdom. He will publicly, publicly cut
him off from himself and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites,
because that's what he is. And there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth when that servant is brought to eternal ruin. I
say to you and to myself, what Amos said long ago to the people
of God, Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. Prepare to meet God. It'd be a good idea when you
lay your head down tonight on your pillow to prepare your heart
to meet God. And it'd be a good idea when
you wake up in the morning to wake up with this thought on
your mind, am I prepared to meet God? And this day, this day,
I trust the Son of God. This day, I take his blood for
my only atonement. This day, I take his righteousness
for my only righteousness. God be merciful to me, the sinner,
right now, for Christ's sake. That's what it is to be ready. Are you ready? Amen.