As children we have all played hide and seek; the ‘seeker’ counts loudly whilst the others hide. They then shout out, ‘coming ready or not.’ This exhortation is all about Jesus’ coming; ready or not!
As BELIEVERS we have to be ready and watch. This is what Jesus says in Matthew 24:36-39 36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. (Take note, no one knows) 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man". (Remember, Noah did warn the people but they scoffed at him) At the time of Noah, people were busy with their normal lives, but then the flood came and took them completely unawares and they perished. (Remember, you are not completely unaware).
Only a faithful few (Noah and his family), were saved. It’s going to be like that at the coming of the Son of Man, we simply don’t know when the Lord Jesus will come. We know it’s got to be soon, so let’s make sure we are ready.
Jesus continues: “Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” Jesus’ return is going to come so suddenly that people will be doing their ordinary daily tasks and some will suddenly be taken away".
It has not happened yet, it's been a long time, It's only going to happen once………..just one day………..but it’s coming.
"But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect Him” (vs43-44). Just as we can’t know when a burglar may come, in the same way we can’t know the precise time Jesus will come back. Therefore, we need to be ready.
There are over three hundred separate places in the New Testament which refer to the return of the Lord Jesus. Theoretically we know Jesus is coming back; the Bible teaches it. The question is, what impact is that knowledge having practically on our lives? Does it affect the way we think and behave? Jesus repeats this idea of watching three times in verses 42, 43 and chapter 25:13. Because it’s repeated it must be really important. To watch means to be awake, vigilant, alert. So, in order to be ready for his return, what do we need to watch? What do we need to be alert or vigilant about? Here’s four suggestions based on Jesus’ teaching on the prophecy and its parables.
1.Watch the signs Jesus says, “as it was in the days of Noah so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”. He says at the time of Noah they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage. It also tells us that the earth was filled with violence at the time of Noah (v11) and man’s thinking was only evil (v5). It was because of this that God sent the flood. The time of Noah is similar to our time. Jesus wanted every generation after his resurrection to keep watch and believe He may come back in their generation. Now why would He do that, why would Jesus let believers think He could return at any time, maybe in their lifetime? He wanted them and us to think that because, not only is that true (He could have returned in their lifetimes) but when you and I truly believe He could return in our lifetimes it changes the way we live! He gives us an example, or what today we would call “a head’s up” in Matthew 24:43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. If you knew Jesus was coming next Sunday, look what kind of lives you would be leading this week!!!
BUT; IT MIGHT BE TODAY; IT MIGHT BE NOW ***** WERE YOU READY?
Q: What would you do, today, if you overheard a thief talking about your house and saying that he is going to burgle your house tonight? You would be ready, right? Well guess what; you overheard Jesus say “I’m coming” but He didn’t give a specific time, He just said “I’m coming so be ready”. It’s in 'the book'. Don’t start being ‘good’ next week!!!! Can I hear someone saying “Yes, but not yet” Well I’ve got news for you, HE’S COMING READY OR NOT! Good idea to be ready, eh?
2. We need to watch our walk In Genesis 6:8-9 we read this: - “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God”. Yes, the bible actually says “Noah was perfect” that information sometimes slips by unnoticed. Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD, because of the way he lived. He did things that were right and just, he was perfect; upright or blameless. Noah walked with God. He had a relationship with his creator. In a completely godless society, Noah was different from those around him, (separate, holy) so Noah found grace with God. We too have found grace with God, having associated ourselves with the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus through baptism and are now his servants. On this theme of being ready by watching our walk, Jesus says this in Matthew 24:45-51: 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you; he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour, he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus is saying don’t do the things that were happening at the time of Noah. Beating fellow servants; eating and drinking with drunkards. Those that do this will be taken unawares. They are unlikely to get into the kingdom.
In order to be faithful and wise servants we mustn’t just show our faith on Sunday, we have to walk as servants of the Lord Jesus every day. I find it a bit patronising or possibly embarrassing to remind people that we have to walk as servants of the Lord Jesus every day, of course we have to do that and it shouldn’t even need to be said.
3. We need to watch our faith
Jesus’ prophecy continues in Matthew 25 with the parable of the ten virgins. It says in verse 5, “…they all slumbered and slept”. Both wise and foolish were caught napping at the coming of the bridegroom. That’s how it will be for us. We know that the return of Jesus will be sudden and it will be a surprise, no matter how much we look at the signs of the times. The key to what the “oil” is, can be found in Proverbs 21:20: “There is desirable treasure, and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders it.” The wise have stored up oil, but any oil that the foolish once had has been wasted. It seems likely that the oil in the parable represents faith that has been accumulated over time through putting it into practice and reading and applying God’s word; so, the wise virgins were ready. Notice that the lamps of all the virgins were burning at first, even those of the foolish. In verse 8 it says “the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’” They had not gone out yet. At the return of Jesus there will be those who will be thinking my light isn’t burning bright enough I’m not ready to meet the Lord yet, another day perhaps, when I am more prepared! If the oil is faith, it makes sense that the wise couldn’t give their oil to the foolish because we can’t give our faith to others – it’s down to each one of us to develop individually. Verse 10 says: “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.” (It wasn’t left ajar; IT WAS SHUT!)
Those who have the reserve of faith which includes trust in the mercy and forgiveness of the master, knowing that he is merciful and compassionate, they are the ones who are ready to go out and meet the bridegroom when he comes.
4. We should long for Christ’s return The apostle Paul when writing to Timothy said this: - “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). We believe that God exists and that he rewards those who diligently seek him. We know that when Jesus returns, he will reward those who have been faithful, with everlasting life. To get ready for the Lord Jesus we need to want his return and focus our minds on rewards that God has in store, like being free from temptation and lust, being able to say the right thing, to never grow old and have everlasting joy. All these are part of eternal life. We can only be properly ready for Christ’s return, through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. He gave his life to take away our sin and give us the promise of eternal life in the kingdom. On our website you can read more about watching and today it’s difficult not to see the signs of the times as described in scripture and I ask the question, “are we living in the last days?” Yes, no one knows the day or the hour but this certainly feels like THE YEAR!
When Israel was attacked on October 7th 2023 it was almost 50 years to the day the since last time Israel was officially at war in what is known as the Yom Kippur War back in 1973 when she was attacked by Egypt, Syria, and others. But this is a different kind of war. Thousands of rockets rained on Israel from multiple directions, and Hamas gunmen invaded by land, sea, and sky. The Bible predicted, thousands of years ago, that the end times events would revolve around Jerusalem. Not New York. Not London. Not Moscow. Not Paris. But Jerusalem, this tiny little place in this tiny sliver of land, will play a key role in world events of the last days. It kind of reminds me that God chose a tiny little stable for the birth of His son, not a grand house or even a grand palace but a stable.
Jerusalem will be the focal point of end times events. It’s amazing when you think about it because in Zechariah 12:3–4, God says, “I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves”
On the heels of the Holocaust, who would have ever thought that these Jewish people who lost six million lives to the Nazis would somehow regather in their homeland, but it happened, against all odds. And on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation. But after Israel was regathered, the Lord said Jerusalem would come under attack. Specifically in Ezekiel 37 and 38, the Bible speaks of the regathering of Israel, and then it speaks of a large force from her north attacking her. That force is identified as Magog. Who is Magog? No one can say with absolute certainty. But many Bible students and prophecy teachers believe it’s modern-day Russia. I think you can make a very good case for that. If you get out a map of the Middle East and look to the north of Israel, you will find Russia.
Let’s just examine Ezekial 38 v 15 a little more closely.
New International Version
You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you…
New Living Translation
You will come from your homeland in the distant north…
English Standard Version
You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north…
New King James Version
Then you will come from your place out of the far north.
Lebanon, Syria, even Turkey is north of Israel but it is easy to see that Russia is unquestionably the far north, there isn’t anything any further north.
Why would Russia ever want to invade Israel? Well, there’s another thing the Bible says about Magog, if it is Russia, and that is one of her allies that will march with her is Persia. Persia is the ancient name for modern Iran. So, the Bible predicted hundreds of years ago that this large force from the north of Israel would attack her after she was regathered, and one of the allies that would attack Israel with Russia or Magog, whoever it is, would be Iran or Persia. Not once in the past 2,500 years has Russia formed a military alliance with Persia, Iran, but they have recently developed a special connection. Russia has signed billion-dollar deals to sell missiles to Iran, and the Iranians have helped the Russians, providing them with drones, weaponized drones to use in the Ukraine war.
Bible Prophecy Before Our Very Eyes How do you even stop something like this? Let’s just say, for the sake of a point, that Israel decided to strike out at Iran, specifically, because they’re funding all of this. What would that produce? Well, it could produce the conflict we read about in Ezekiel 38. The Bible says that Magog will come against her will; the Bible describes hooks in her jaws, pulling her forward almost as though Magog is coming in reluctantly along with her ally, Persia (or Iran). Am I saying with absolute certainty this is the scenario that will play out? No. But if you get up in the morning and read this headline, “Russia Attacks Israel,” fasten your seatbelt because you’re seeing Bible prophecy fulfilled in your lifetime before your very eyes.
Jesus is coming, ready or not!
