Okay, let's go back to Matthew
chapter 24, and I thought this would be the last message from
Matthew 24, but I think maybe next week we'll bring one more
message. I'm taking the title for the
message from the words found in verse 42, verse 44, and then
in Mark 13, 33, where it says, take heed, watch, and pray, for you know not when the time
is. So if you look at verse 42, Matthew
24, 42, watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord
doth come. So what are we instructed to
do? Watch, watch. That means look for him, look
for him. And then in verse 44 it says, Therefore, be also ready. So we're to pray, we're to watch,
and we are to be ready. Be prepared. Be prepared to meet
the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of you older ones will remember
this, that back when they had just two lane roads back before
the interstate, and there were many markers along those old
highways, and there was a sign that said, and it was a scripture
quote from Amos 4 verse 12, prepare to meet thy God. Do you remember
that, some of you older ones? I don't know if there's any of
them left anymore, but prepare to meet thy God. Now, the day the Lord's return,
the day of the Lord's return is decreed and fixed by the unchanging
will of God. That day is fixed. The hour and
day and time is fixed. And it's fixed by the eternal
decree and purpose of God. Just as his first coming was
decreed from all eternity. He was a lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law. His death was the appointed death
at the appointed time, Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. So we know His first coming
was decreed and ordered of God. Likewise, His second coming is
so fixed, ordered, and decreed of God. We read a moment ago
in Acts chapter 1, this same Jesus which is taken up into
heaven shall so come in like manner as you see Him go into
heaven. coming back the same Lord Jesus Christ. And then in
John chapter 14, our Lord said, I go away to prepare a place
for you, and if I go away, I will come again and receive you unto
myself that where I am, there ye may be also. Now, let's go
back to verse 36. But of that day and of that hour
knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. The day and time is not for us
to know, or to be watchful, or to take heed, or to expect his
coming. It's enough for us to know that
the Lord Jesus Christ will surely come. The Apostle Paul, when
he writes in 1 Thessalonians, he says that times and seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. The day the
Lord so cometh. It cometh. It's interesting if
you look sometimes through 1 Thessalonians, they say that's one of the first
epistles that Paul wrote. But at the end of every one of
those five chapters, it talks about the Lord's coming back.
The Lord's coming back. The Lord's coming back. Our only
and one great concern should be, are we ready to meet him
who is coming? Are we ready to meet Him who
is coming? You remember the scripture in Hebrews 9, 27, 28, disappointed
in men, wants to die after that judgment. So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him
shall He appear the second time. He shall appear the second time
without sin unto salvation. Where do you want to be found
when the Lord comes back? I want to be found in Him. I
want to be found in Him now and when He returns. In whatever
state He finds you in that day, He'll judge you. Your sins will
either be judged in Christ or judged in you. In whatever state
He finds you, the Lord finds you, in that day, He will judge
you. All judgment is relative to the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Father judgeth no man but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son. In Acts 17 it said,
God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained in all things. Even in the book
of Jude, it says there Enoch, and that goes all the way back
to Genesis chapter 5, Enoch prophesied, behold he cometh with 10,000
of his saints to execute judgment upon all them that are ungodly. wherever his second coming finds
you, eternity will keep you. And I would have you turn over
here to Revelation 22, the last chapter in the Bible, wherever his second coming, wherever the
second coming finds you, eternity will keep you. Look over here
in Revelation 22, we look at verse eight, and I, John, Revelation
22 verse 8, saw these things, heard them, and when I heard
and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel,
which shall be these things. Then he saith unto me, see thou
do it not, I'm thy fellow servant, and the brethren, the prophets,
and of them which keep the sayings of this book, worship God. He saith unto me, seal not the
sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
Look at verse 11 carefully, he that is unjust, Let him be unjust
still. 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. Behold, I come quickly, my reward is with me, to give
every man according to his works shall be. I am Alpha, I am Omega,
the beginning, the end, the first, the last, he's all things. If you die in your sins without
Christ, without hope, and without God, you'll be raised in your
sins. You'll be judged in your sins
and perish forever for your sins that are against God. They're
against God. The wages of sin is death. The
soul that sinneth it shall surely die. If you die in your sin,
you'll be raised in your sin. You'll be judged in your sin.
If you die in your substitute, If you die in your substitute
to the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no condemnation to those who
are in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus in that day will
be a blessed day. As Paul said, for me to live
is Christ, to die is gain. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. In Revelation 14, it talks about
blessed are the dead that die in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want
to die in faith looking to Christ for all of salvation. The psalmist
writes, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints. If you die in Christ, you'll be raised in Christ, blessed
forever in Christ with all spiritual blessings, and you'll sing that
song worthy of the land that was slain to receive all honor,
glory, blessings, and power both now and forever. Now look at verse 37. Matthew
24 verse 37, but as the days of Noah were, so shall also the
coming of a son of man be, for as in the days that were before
the flood, you remember before the flood it didn't rain. They
had never seen rain. They didn't know what rain was.
They were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage
until the day that Noah entered into the ark, God shut the door. And then the flood came. And
knew not until the flood came and took them all away, verse
39, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. It will be a surprising, unexpected
day for some, like the days before the flood in Noah's day, When
the Lord Jesus Christ returns, many will be unprepared to meet
the Lord when he comes. We know in the days of Noah,
they had plenty of warning that the flood would come. Noah is
called a preacher of righteousness. It took him 120 years to build
that ark. While building the ark, every
blow of that hammer said judgment was coming, judgment was coming,
get in the ark, get in the ark, judgment is coming. It said in
Hebrews chapter 11, by faith, Noah by faith being warned of
God of things not seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark to
the saving of his house, and he became the heir of righteousness
by faith. Now it says in Genesis chapter
6, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
this is the days of Noah, and that every imagination of the
thoughts of the heart was only evil continually. Genesis six,
verse five. But then it says of Noah, and
the first time the word grace is found in scripture is found
in Genesis chapter six, verse eight, where it says that Noah
found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now, was Noah any better
than all those that did evil continually? No. Grace made the
difference. Sovereign grace. Sovereign grace. They were eating, it says in
verse 37. They were drinking. They were
having a big time. Giving in marriage. Not even
thinking about any kind of judgment. or the coming doom upon the people
in that day. Now there's nothing wrong with
eating and drinking and being married, nothing wrong with that.
But when those things become our only focus, our only aim,
our only goal to the exclusion of seeking salvation in Christ,
knowing him, serving him, then these things become a sinful
snare and trap. Paul says covetousness is idolatry. We're told in Matthew chapter
6, we studied this in the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
things will be added unto you. Seek Him first. Seek Him always. One preacher of the past said,
Woe unto those whose eating and drinking and marriage has no
reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when we think of those three
things, we should always think of eating the bread of life.
Christ is the bread of life. When we think of drinking, he's
the water of the well of life, springing up into everlasting
life. And when we think of marriage, we should think of being married
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called our husband. He's
our head, our husband. Believers are united to him in
that eternal covenant of grace. We are called, His bride is called
the Lamb's wife. We are His body. He chose us. We are married to Him in that
covenant of grace. In Isaiah 54, it says, thy maker
is thy husband. The Lord of hosts is His name.
Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole
earth, shall He be called. So we eat the bread of life,
we drink Christ who is the water of life, and we are married to
Him. He's our Head, our Husband, our
Righteousness. Now look at verse 39, And they
knew not, until the flood came, and took them all away, so shall
also the coming of the Son of Man be. They refused to believe
the message of Noah in that day, and they perished under the wrath
of God. They perished under the wrath
of God. I'm sure those people thought Noah was a crazy man. Building a boat, a big boat,
for a flood? People are still just as crazy
today. They do not think anything of
meeting God in judgment. He that believeth on the Son
hath eternal life. Those who refuse to believe the
Son will not see life, but suffer the wrath of God, the wrath and
judgment of God forever and ever and ever. Now look at verse 41
and verse 40. Verse 40 and 41, then shall two Talking about the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and two shall be in the field. One will be
taken, God's sovereign choice. One will be taken. The other
will be left to suffer the wrath and judgment of God. Talks about
two women will be working in the mill. They'll be going about
their daily business, not thinking about the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And one will be taken. taken to glory by the
sovereign choice of God, and the other will be justly left
to perish in their sin. Now, we may apply this to two
things. First of all, we may apply this
to the success of the preaching of the gospel that is the sovereign
power of God unto salvation. The gospel of Christ separates
It does. The gospel, that's the power
of God and the salvation, it separates between the vile and
the precious, between believers and unbelievers, between sheep
and goats, between tares and wheat. It is only the sovereign
grace of God that makes us to differ. Why do I believe the
gospel? Why do my other siblings, my
seven other siblings, do not believe the gospel? It's not
because I'm smarter. The only difference is the grace
of God. The only reason you believe the
gospel, or any sinner believes the gospel, is the grace of God. I am what I am, as Paul said,
by the grace of God. He will have mercy on whom he
will, and he will harden whom he will. Paul preached to those
Jews, and they would have nothing to do with the gospel of God's
grace. So he turned to the Gentiles, and it says there in Acts chapter
13, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed the
gospel. We only believe according to
the working of His mighty power. Faith is a sovereign gift of
God. If you believe the Lord Jesus
Christ is all of your salvation, it's because God has given you
life. in Christ Jesus. His elect will
hear the Word of God, just not with this ear, but with the ear
of understanding. The gospel will come not in word
only, but also in power. His elect will not only hear
the Word of God, but they will follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
His sheep hear His voice, and He loves them, and they do follow
Him. His elect will persevere in faith,
because we're kept by the power of God. His elect will be finally
and fully glorified in the Lord Jesus Christ, predestinated to
that end, to be conformed to the image of Christ. We may also
apply this, this separation. There is that separation the
gospel makes, a distinguishing mark of the sovereign grace of
God. There's also a great separation that's going to take place at
his second coming. In a moment, in a twinkling eye,
of an eye at the last trump, the trumpet shall sound, and
there shall be a great separation between believers and unbelievers. The elect will be taken to glory,
while the wicked reprobate, will be left to face God in judgment. Look back to verse 30, Matthew
24, verse 30. Then shall appear the sign of
the Son of Man, In heaven, then shall 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, verse 31. Then he shall
send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together his elect from the four winds, north, south,
east, west, and from one end of heaven to the other, You remember,
turn one page, Matthew 25, verse 31, there, Matthew 25, 31. When
the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and
before him shall be gathered all nations. He shall separate
them, he shall separate them one from another. As the shepherd
divided his sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, the goats on the left. Then shall the king
say unto them, On his right hand, come ye blessed to my father,
verse 34, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world, God's eternal purpose and decree. In that day, there
will be, Daniel even writes about it, Daniel chapter 12, some will
be raised to everlasting glory, some to everlasting shame and
contempt. and the resurrection of the just
and of the unjust. Lastly, verse 42 and 43 and 44. Watch, therefore,
for you know not what hour your Lord doth come, but know this,
that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch or what
time the thief would come, he would have watched and would
not have permitted or suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore,
verse 34, be also ready. For in such an hour as you think
not, the Son of Man cometh. Notice present tense, the Son
of Man cometh. He's coming. So three things
there, watch, pray, and be ready. In such an hour as you think
not, the Lord will appear in great glory and great power. Great glory and great power.
Hold your place there in Matthew 24 and turn over here to Luke
21 because Luke gives us some additional information over here
in Luke 21 where the gospel of Luke records the Lord's words
here. Luke 21. Look at verse 32. Verily I say unto you, this generation
shall not pass away till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. Verse 34,
take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged
with surfredding, that is excess, drunkenness, cares of this life,
so that the day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall
it come upon all them that dwell on the face of the earth, that
do not take heed, that do not watch. Look at verse 36. Watch
ye therefore, pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to
escape all things, all these things that shall come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of Man. So watch therefore, pray
always, that you may be, and this word here, accounted worthy.
Now how can this vile sinner be accounted worthy? Only by
having righteousness charged to my account. And that's Christ. And that's Christ. And that's
the only way this sinner, or any sinner, can stand before
God, is to stand in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's look
at those three things. This should be the motto of every
believer, to be ready to meet the Lord, to be prepared to meet
the Lord. Now, when I was a young lad,
12, 13, 14, well even before that, I was in Cub Scouts and
I was in Boy Scouts, and you know the motto of the Boy Scouts?
Be prepared. Be prepared. We as believers
should be prepared to meet the Lord Jesus Christ. He says this
again, look over just across the page, Matthew 25, 13. Watch,
therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour when the
Son of Man cometh. Watch, be ready, be prepared
in such an hour. So let's look at those three
things. Pray, watch, and be ready. So let us pray as believers about
everything. Men ought always to pray, our
Lord said in Luke 18. What a privilege we have to take
everything to God in prayer. We are to rejoice evermore. We
are to be praying without ceasing and everything give thanks for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. So we are
to pray. What a privilege we have to call
upon our God our Father in heaven, and to ask for mercy and grace
to help in our daily need. That'll be the last thing we
do when we go to bed. That'll be the first thing we
do when we wake up. Lord, have mercy upon me. Lord,
have mercy upon me, thee sinner. I had an old brother, a believer, I've been
a believer a long time. And he asked me one time, he
said, I just don't know what to pray. I don't know how to
pray. I don't know what to pray for. I said, seven words. Lord,
be merciful to me, the sinner. That's my prayer. But I have
another prayer that's even shorter than that. Three words. Remember
Peter walking on the water to go see the Lord, and he began
to sink. What did he say? Lord, save me. That's what I need, Lord. He's
the only one that can. He's the only one that can. So
we're to pray about everything. And what are we to do? We're
to watch. We're to watch. Be on the lookout.
Be on the lookout. The type cancer that I have,
they have what they call watchful waiting. And my good doctor back
there, he was doing watchful waiting upon me. And he would
do those blood tests, and he finally And with him, he said,
you need to go see somebody. So we were watchful waiting and
keeping an eye on things. I appreciate his looking out
for me. He's been a good doctor and a
good friend, faithful believer, appreciating very much. But watchful
waiting, watchful waiting. Be on the lookout for his coming
with power and great glory. Be on the lookout. Watch, therefore,
he says, verse 42. Watch, therefore. Paul writes
about it this way. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. And then Titus chapter
2, verse 3 says, looking for that blessed hope and glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave
himself for us to redeem us from all our sins. So we are to watchfully
wait upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul writes about this from
his prison cell right before they're coming to take off his
head. for preaching the gospel, he says, henceforth there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day, not to me only, but unto
all them that love his appearing. We love his appearing. We love
his appearing. So let us pray, let us be watchful,
and then let us be ready. Let us be ready, as it says there
in verse 44. Let us be ready for The Lord
Jesus Christ, He's coming back. He's coming back. You remember
in Revelation chapter 1, it says there, Behold, He cometh. Behold,
He cometh. That means He's on His way. There's
but one way that we're to be ready to meet the Lord Jesus
Christ, and that's to win Christ and be found in Him. To be found in Him. That's how
we're ready. Turn back to the Revelation.
Let me show you scripture here. I think it'll help us a little
bit. Revelation 19 this time, it talks about the Lord and his
bride, and then it uses that word ready. In Revelation 19
verse six, and I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude,
as the voice of many waters, as the voice of mighty thundering
sang, hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let
us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage
of the lamb has come and his wife hath made herself ready.
How did she do that? By being married to the Lord
Jesus Christ and to her was granted Given, she should be arrayed
in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness
of the saints. And he saith unto me, right,
blessed are they which are called to the merry supper of the Lamb.
And he said unto me, these are the true sayings of God. How do you make yourself ready?
Being married to Christ, being married to the Lord Jesus Christ.
How do we make ourselves ready, united to Him by that vital union
of faith? Turn to Luke chapter 2. A further
example of a man who was ready to meet the Lord. You remember
the story in Luke chapter 2 of Simeon? God told him he would
not die until he'd seen the Lord's Christ. Luke chapter 2. Verse 25, behold, there was a
man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. The same man was just
and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought
in a child, Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
Then he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord,
now let us our servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
which thou has prepared before the face of all people alike. to lighten the Gentiles and the
glory of the people Israel. When is a man ready to meet the
Lord? When he believes the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Be united to him by that vital
union of faith. This is the record that God has
given to us eternal life and that life is in his son. He that
has a son has life. Without faith it is impossible
to please God. So how do we make ourselves ready?
by faith, looking to Christ. Secondly, washed in the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His blood cleanses us from all
our sin. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. As of a lamb without spot and
without blemish, it was foreordained before the foundation of the
world. God said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. That's
still true. How do we make ourselves ready?
by that vital union of faith, by being washed in his blood,
and this is the work of God. It's God who worketh in you,
both the will and the do of his good pleasure, and clothed in
his righteousness. Blessed is that man whom the
Lord imputes righteousness without works. He hath clothed me with
the garments of salvation, with the robe of righteousness. When is a man ready to meet the
Lord? When he believes the gospel. when he trusts and rests in the
blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, when he sees Christ
as all of his righteousness before God, and when he's regenerated
by the power of God the Holy Spirit and made a new creature
in Christ Jesus. Remember our Lord said to that
proud Pharisee, except a man's born again, he cannot see, He
cannot enter into the kingdom of God unless he's begotten from
above. Now in closing, are you ready? Are you ready to meet the Lord?
He's coming back. And think about this. He may
come back tomorrow for you or for me by way of death and call
us out. But are you ready? We are only
ready if we're in the Lord Jesus Christ. May God grant it to be
so. May God grant it to be so by
his grace, by his love, by his mercy. We can say with Paul,
I am what I am by the grace of God. He requires no more than
what he gives. He gives us all things. He's
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
And He will only accept that which He gives. He'll only accept
that which He provides. He provides Himself. We're accepted
in the Beloved, aren't we? What more can God say? We are
complete in Christ Jesus. What more can we desire? He's
able to meet all our need. according to his riches in glory
through the Lord Jesus Christ. So pray, watch, be ready, be
ready to meet the Lord Jesus Christ.