Ready or Not—Here I Come!, Part 2

Today were closer to the second coming than we have ever been in human history. The night is far spent the day is at hand is therefore cast off the works of darkness and lettuce put on the armor. He thankful radars lights another technology that have revolutionized the way we prepare for disasters but while experts can typically predict dangerous. Whether no one can predict the hour of the Lord's return to earth and for many that will be the ultimate disaster. What should that mean for you in practical terms, and how can you prepare for the Lord's return.

John MacArthur addresses that today on grace to you as he continues his series, Jesus is coming and here's John with a lesson if you remember, as we began the study of chapter 24 we noted verse three.

The disciples gathered around Jesus on the Mount of olives and they said when shall these things be and what shall be the signs of the end of the agent of thy coming they wanted to know when. Also when is it going to happen when you come in glory and are reward the righteous and judge the wicked. What are you going to come and establish your kingdom. When is it going to happen and what are the signs well. In verses four through 35. Our Lord gave the signs and told him the signs now beginning in verse 36 he answers the wind? The what question he already answered, gave them assignments. Now it's the windy question when shall these things be they said. His answer comes in verse 36 look at but of that hour, but of that day and hour know what no man, no, not the angels of heaven, nor the son, but my father only his answer about the winners. Nobody knows, but God alone. Sort could come at any time on any generation know what is to be our response to the end of the age. First of all, we sought our last study alertness.

Look at verse 37 but as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be friends in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe 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 the first requirement is alertness. The second is readiness. Look at verse 43 and I will go on to what we didn't know this or II think this could be an imperative. It could be an indicative I like to think it's an indicative that is it states affect comparing with verse 42 you do not know what hour your Lord does come, but you do know this I mean this is obvious you do know this, that if, and it's a gift with a condition in the Greek that is contrary to fact if any doesn't. But if he did. If the householder had known in what watch that is and what three hour period during the night the Jews divided the night into 43 hour period from 6 PM to 6 AM 6 to 990 1212 33 to 6. He says if I householder knew what hours in the middle of the night the thief would come do it or watched and allowed his house at not allowed his house to be broken into. Literally the Greek word for breaking is digging through they would dig through the mud walls or dig through the tile roof to get in and steal everything so he says you don't know when the Lord's coming, but you do know this. If a man knew when a thief was coming, if you know in general, not the minute or even the hour but if he just knew the general watch if he knew the general time frame. He sure would be ready for a morning out there right sure will. And that's what he say that you do know any fool knows that if robbers coming and you know is, you gotta be ready for when he gets the Lord's coming is often likened to the coming of the thief and would be good at this point to say that it is not because it is a criminal coming. The likening of the Lord's coming to a thief which occurs here. Second Peter 310, Revelation 33 Revelation 16 five Luke 1235 to 40, which is surely in a moment. It also occurs in first Thessalonians 52 and following, and in those places where the Lord's coming is like into a thief.

It is not that Christ is like a thief is that Christ will come suddenly and unexpectedly, like a thief comes suddenly and unexpectedly. That's the only analogy that's the only analogy there's one other footnote that I might add to it.

When a thief comes he takes everything you have and so will Christ when he comes and finds a man who's not ready for his coming.

Everything that man has will take warning and the law be burned up. So in that sense to we might see Christ like the thief who comes and takes everything that man is which he puts his faith in which cannot stand the test of judgment so as point of the analogy is simple.

If a man knew a thief was coming he be ready if you know Jesus is coming you better be ready. You better be ready.

You know is coming. If a man knew a thief was coming to get ready for the faith. Jesus is telling you, I'm coming, I'm coming. Remember, a preacher was preaching on the second coming.

He was a one of those guys who believe they should have any notes shut up restricted off your head, and he forgot his point all I could remember was, behold, I come quickly.

Behold, I come quickly, and it should jog his mind so I set about five times and nothing happened. Final time he thought of hit the Pope real hard and say behold I come quickly, maybe some will jerk jar loose nor remembered study, not the Pope will refill in the lap of the lady in the first row and he apologizes and why are you apologizing you warm your times were coming. She got the point. And if he says he's coming and says he's coming and says he's coming that you can believe is coming in only a fool who has all that information is right at this point if you knew what period of time he was coming if you knew what the signs word you could see that you would be ready for that. If you were to full look at Luke 12 for just a moment and find the other passage where the Lord gives us basically the same warning in a few different terms and again the Lord very often taught the same lessons using the same illustrations are very closely related ones. As any good teacher knows you repeat good things and you repeat good illustrations in different settings because they are helpful to people in the Lord. Here in Luke chapter 12 is also concerned in warning people about his second coming.

He says let your loins be girded about in your lamps burning in you yourselves like men that wait for their Lord when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks you may open on to him immediately mean be ready so that when he comes back. Everything is as it ought to be blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he comes to find watching. Verily I say and you, you shall gird that he shall gird himself and make them to sit down to eat and will come forth and serve them leasing when the Lord comes back. If you been faithful he'll sit you down to eat, and he'll serve you.

That's the kingdom. If you're prepared when he comes, you will sit down with him in his kingdom and he will serve you and if he should come in the second watch her come in the third watch, and find them so that blessed are those servants because there ready whenever he comes. They know is coming general when it is but there ready and this know if you are the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would've watched and not permitted his house to be broken through.

B therefore ready also. For the Son of Man comes at an hour when you think not. I go back to Matthew 24, but the same idea that's the same basic lesson is the same idea that he is given here that when he comes is a devastating judgment when he comes is in immediate glory for the redeemed, so be ready.

And since we don't know what it is and no one knows when it is, and no one can know when it is when you be ready at all times. At all times. So alertness and readiness is one thing to be alert say well recognize the signs for something else to be ready and readiness speaks of salvation of a prepared heart. There's 1/3 thing that's called for not only alertness and readiness, but faithfulness does verse 45 through 51.

Faithfulness in here again is a beautiful analogy, a story, a parable if you will, which are Lord also uses in Luke 12 in another setting because it illustrates so very very clearly the point that he wants to make is a powerful powerful illustration. Verse 45 who then is a faithful and front of my sensible wise servant, whom his lord has made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season. I was he talking about was a very, very interesting parable, the Lord is like God.

The servant is like every man woman in the world and everyone of us has been given a stewardship everyone of us has been given a responsibility.

It's as if the Lord is it all right here you manage life and breath and intellect and will and emotion and talent and truth, and spiritual sensitivity and opportunity and privilege all that I give you in creating you in my image.

All that I give you in endowing your world with all the good things that I could possibly create all that I give you in terms of opportunity to serve me.

You're responsible for like a servant who is told to rule over the house.

That is to manage all the goods and make sure that he properly gives food to everybody in the right time in the right place.

In other words, every person in the world, not just Christians. Every single person in the world has been given a management test by God, life, breath privilege, all those things are granted to us by God, and they are a stewardship for which we are accountable and hell will be populated not only by the devil and his angels, but by people who wasted that privilege who embezzled God's substance likely like the man did in Matthew 18, and was called in to give an account for how it is that he could've embezzled the Kings money and stood there bankrupt and he fell on his face and pleaded for mercy. Every man woman in the world has been given a stewardship by God. And if you embezzled God's goods and privileges and resources and opportunities. Then you will be accountable to God for the wastefulness of your stewardship and as I said hell is going to be filled with people who used God's opportunities for themselves who abuse their God-given privilege and who failed and refused to serve God in the way that he commands so every human being on the face of the earth is being tested by God as to the stewardship of what they possess and so this householder does that with a servant. Verse 46 says that blessed is the servant whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing that when the Lord comes and finds servants doing what he wanted them to do that are going to be blessed. That indicates that there believers that indicates that they are the redeemed. They are obedient. Obedience is always the mark, doing the will of God is always the mark of true salvation. So when the Lord comes you will find the true servant doing what he told them to do fulfilling his will, living out there stewardship to the folks verse 47 verily, I say to you that he shall make him that is that servant obeying ruler over all his goods smart. What that says is when the Lord comes back and finds his faithful servants is trustworthy servants is, obedient servants, he is going to put them over everything he possesses is a marvelous thing.

You know what were going to do in the millennial kingdom and in eternity were to sit with Christ on his throne. Revelation 321 says, as he is sitting with the father on his throne will rule over everything he possesses. That's verse 47. Life is a stewardship. What you do with this little slice of time will determine whether or not you will rule in eternity in the throne of Christ, or whether or not you will be dominated in hell by the demons and the devils for whom it was prepared. So when the Lord comes, he'll check the stewardship and the one who is proven faithful will be rewarded with eternal ruling verse 48 but and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delay since coming I shall begin to smite his fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunkards, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him in an hour that he is not aware, and shall cut them in half and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. On the other hand, when the Lord comes. He's going to find someone faithful son who not being faithful over little can be made Lord over much. Some of those that lamps were not trimmed in the terms, it will see in chapter 25.

Some who didn't take their talent and use it but buried it and hoarded it and they'll be cast into a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The evil one it says there doesn't the evil servant to cost evil and quality evil in nature, says in his own heart mylar delays is coming. It will be here for a while. I'm watching the signs and you know they're going to be people like that they say will look okay. I got all his prophetic stuff laid out as I see the signs go along on his way to the last moment. In the meantime, I'm not going to use what I've got for others to feed myself and if the others get in the way try to take any of what I've got all hit all smite him and I want to have my fun and I'm going to eat and drink with the drunks. I want to be a good time Charlie. I want to party it up to grab all the gusto I can get on the live the worldly lifestyle. It's not that everybody whose unregenerate lives like that not everybody was unregenerate beats other people. Upper abuses of the people to the degree that the servant did not everybody that's unregenerate parties with drunkards, but he's an illustration of an unregenerate person and that's why it says he will be given a portion with the hypocrites.

Verse 51. It doesn't seem to indicate here that is much of a hypocrite and a hypocrite is somebody who pretends to be religious disguise and pretending to be religious not beaten up people and living around with runaround drugs, but he will go the same place that religious phonies go, which is to say that the category is broader than just a single illustration. It's for all the unregenerate by the way Luke in paralleling this says he will be cut in half and appointed a portion with the unbelievers, so he's only one illustration of a whole lot of kinds of unbelievers, including not only those who live a drunken dissolute lifestyle, but those who are religious hypocrites as well so he thinks he's got all kinds of time and the people be people say maybe some listening to me right to say well okay I see I want what I want. Okay, I'll watch for the rapture. If I miss the rapture. I'm in good shape.

I know what's coming.

I watch for the abomination of desolation is when I see that happen are right on checking through my thing and then I went to watch the unfolding of Revelation 6 to 18. Then I see the sign of the Son of Man and have since I don't know just exactly what's going to happen after that. I'll try to say sensitive and just before I think it's going to happen.

I'll just get in there and not to stay. Christ just make it in the meantime, have a great time with the Lord of that servant is gonna come in today. Verse 50 says when you're not looking for an hour. You're not even aware of. Don't try it.

What makes you think if you will give your heart to Jesus Christ. Now you're going to want to do in the future. Christ does not change.

He will be no more wonderful. No more glorious. He'll have no more power to save no more power to change your life then that he does now if you don't want to.

Now why would you want then if you don't want Jesus Christ. Now when sale is sin is to some extent restrained. It's hard to imagine what it is you think you want him more in a. When sin is unrestrained in your evil can run amok to the degree that it's never in the in the history of man run amok. The world will be worse than it's ever been. You think you're gratified by your lust. Now there will be such a lustful gratification, the tribulation. It's indescribable. Why would you want Christ in the midst of that more than you want him now and don't you fool yourself into thinking you're able to read the signs. The Bible says nobody is able to do that. And Jesus is going to come when you don't think he's going to go in an hour. You're not even aware and there may have been a lot of folks in Noah's day who said well if it if the water gets up to my knees all bang on the door too late, too late, too late. In verse 51 says this is a terrible thing. When the master comes back and finds a son faithful servant. He cuts them in half.

The Greek verb is dichotomy L dichotomized is used in Exodus 2917 in the Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament of the sawing and half of an animal when an animal was offered in sacrifice and cut into two pieces is to illustrate the serious devastating deadliness of the judgment of the Lord when he comes back and finds this person who thought he could sew his wild oats, and live it up and do whatever he wanted and sliding under the wire. It's going to be two ladies go to comely doesn't expect. It is gonna pay with a very severe price demands will be cut in half. Given a portion with all the rest of the unbelievers and hypocrites and spend the rest of eternity, weeping and gnashing his teeth. By the way, weeping and gnashing of teeth is mentioned five times at least in the book of Matthew and each time is a way to describe the terrible unrelieved uncontrollable pain of eternal hell. So what is to be the right kind of preparation for an unexpected and sudden coming of Christ, alertness, readiness and faithfulness.

We need to be watching for the signs we need to get ready for his coming and to do that we need to be faithful to his command in his word and the stewardship is given us a listen carefully as we conclude first Thessalonians 5 verse two.

I want to read this to for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. That is to say suddenly and unexpectedly, is emphasized again for when verse three they shall say, peace and safety. Just when men think everything is okay. Just when they think they're going to make it and they're going to survive then sudden destruction comes on them like prevail on a woman with child, and there are those birth pains again and they shall not escape.

So they're going to be those people who say all peace and safety. It's all work out. Everything is going to be fine, and suddenly the devastation and destruction is going to fall upon some of those people who think they can survive the great tribulation are going to find themselves facing God before Christ comes through death and devastation and disaster that occurs in that time. So Paul says you brother and are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

You are sons of light that is not going overtake us. That is not to take us captive were not people in the darkness. I don't believe will ever go into the tribulation. I believe will be taken out were not children of the darkness were not sons of the darkness were sons of the day were children of light, and I believe the Lord takes us before that darkness breaks loose. I don't have any desire to go through that. It's infinitely worse than any description in the Bible could conjure up in our imagination. There's no sense of having a silly preoccupation with wanting to see the tribulation want to see Jesus Christ why would I want to be in an antichrist rule when I could be in the presence of Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb. I believe that were not the children of the darkness Lord will take us out because our hearts are ready for the rest of the world are to say all along work out peace and safety, and then sudden destruction when they least expect.

Hope you're ready. William Barclay records the interesting story of three apprentice demons came before Satan and he sent them to the earth to do their apprenticeship in the first apprentice demons said I will tell people there is no God and Satan said it will work.

They know better in the second apprentice demons and I will tell people there is no hell. Satan said it won't work.

They know better in the third demon said I will tell people there is no hurry.

There is no hurry. Satan said you will gain many souls. There is a hurry. There is a hurry. Listen to what Paul said knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed today were closer to the second coming, then we have ever been in human history. The night is far spent the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor. This is grace to you with John MacArthur. Thanks for being with us.

John is Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary and his current study is titled Jesus is coming to John today we wrap up this study of the second coming and it's been a great exciting study you stress several times in our talks that Scripture is clear and what it tells us about the second coming.

And yet there is still quite a lot that shrouded in mystery about the future. We don't know the timing of Christ's return. For example, and other things that maybe we wish we knew but we don't. So how do you walk that tight rope between what's clear and you need to know when what's mysterious and you really don't need to probe into well I think Peter summed it up when he said the prophets looked into what they wrote to see what person, and what time so that the two things we don't know is the person in the time and Jesus said that right you don't know the day or the hour it said he didn't know the day or the hour and he told the disciples, it's not for you to know the times and the seasons, the father has in stock so there's two things we don't know we don't know we don't know the time and the prophets didn't know the person they they they couldn't have anticipated. Who the Messiah would actually be in Tilly showed up like Revelation is not a sketch Revelation is not like in a little outline of the two pages long, is going to come to go this way.

It is 22 chapters of my new detail about the end times. The details are there for us to understand and I said this all through the series. It is disturbing to me that people don't make the effort to see what the Lord is revealed in the book of Revelation in these details as well as what we've studied in Matthew chapter 24, because the Lord has given these details to encourage us and to put his glory on display, and to let us know that the devil loses and in Christ wins them and what is ahead is already been pre-determined by the purposes of God and also so that we knowing these things can warn the world of what is to come. And also we can rejoice in the coming king and his kingdom, and know that actually we are going to be a part of the kingdom.

This series is been really important for us and for you as well is available on nine CDs you can order from Grace to you or you can download MP3s for the whole series and transcripts are also available on the website and if you didn't get the order in on the book the second coming. Do that as well. Today right and both of these resources will fine tune your thinking about the end times to order the audio series called Jesus is coming, or the book titled the second coming.

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John MacArthur on Phil Johnson reminding you to watch grace to you television on Sunday. Check your local listings then be here when John launches a series on the greatest news of all time, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't miss the next 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on Mondays, grace to you