January 1, 2023
Dave Stephens
ARE YOU READY?
We have to be ready…then we have to be ready to help others be ready.
The way we view the future determines the way we live our lives in the present.
- If we aren’t looking forward to next week’s bills, we won’t be saving today.
- If we aren’t planning for retirement…we will be caught off when we can no longer work.
- -We understand this in the financial realm.
If we aren’t looking forward to Jesus’ return, we won’t live like it today.
Matthew 24:37 NKJV
- “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
When Jesus comes back, the world will be like the Days of Noah…
- Population Growing - Gen 6:1
- Sexual Perversion - Gen 6:2
- Demonic Activity - Gen 6:2
- Constant evil in the heart of man - Gen 6:5
- Violence and Corruption around the world - Gen 6:11
Are You Ready For The Lord’s Return?
Luke 12: 35-40
“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
1. Stay
Back in ancient days, they would wear long robes.
- -Wearing a long robe or dress makes it very hard to run or move quickly.
- -The idea here is that you are always prepared for The Master.
- You are always ready for His return.
Again, in the ancient day, obviously they didn’t have any electricity.
So, if you were expecting a visitor, you would keep your lamp lit all night.
- You are staying ready.
This is the 3rd picture Jesus gives us..
Back in His day, they knew how to throw parties..
They would have feasts and it could last a week.
Feast for a week? Praise God.
We see that the Master could come back at midnight, so the servants must be ready to open the door and serve their master.
4. Last picture that Jesus gives us… The
If the homeowner would have known a thief was coming, then they wouldn’t have let him break in.
Then Jesus tells the disciples…
- “YOU MUST BE READY FOR THE SON OF MAN IS COMING AT AN HOUR YOU DO NOT KNOW!”
2 Peter 3:10–14 NIV
10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.”
THE APOSTLE JOHN TOLD HIS READERS…
1 John 3:1–3 NIV
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”
ARE YOU READY?
Spurgeon (English Minister in the 1800’s…highly respected) said, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”