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Collierville First Baptist Church
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There's a Hebrew word for what we just experienced.
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It's called "wow."
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Don't you love that Hebrew word?
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And I am so thankful for Joshua, or choir, or orchestra, or tech team that we can come in here Sunday after Sunday.
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And we can worship the living God in spirit and in truth. Amen.
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I want you to take your Bibles today and turn to Matthew 24.
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I want to speak to you on this subject, "Ready or Not?"
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Ready or Not? As you know, we're in a series entitled "Perfect Ending."
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Our series will cover Matthew chapter 24 and Matthew chapter 25, the Olivet Discourse.
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Unfortunately, after today, I'm going to finish chapter 24, and we're going to put a pause and come back to chapter 25 in a few weeks. Okay?
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Johann Sebastian Bach, the musical genius, had a habit of sleeping late.
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But his kids had a unique way to wake him up.
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They would go to the piano downstairs, and they would begin to play a composition,
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and they would quit before they played the last note or the last chord.
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And instantaneously, Bach would get up, he would go downstairs, and he would play the last chord or the last note.
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Hey, don't you sense that the Most High God is about to play the last note on the last song dealing with this sin-sick, chaotic world?
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The last note is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ,
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and it's a prevalent theme throughout the entire New Testament.
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In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 7, Paul wrote, "So that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ." Are you awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ?
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Verse Thessalonians 5, 23, "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ?"
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Titus chapter 2, verse 13, "Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus." 1 John 2, 28, "Now little children abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame at his coming."
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Revelation 3, 11, Jesus said, "I'm coming quickly.
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Hold fast what you have so that no one will take your crown."
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As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we should long for him to come because when he comes, Satan will be finally defeated. The curse will be lifted. Believers will be glorified. Jesus will be worshiped by all. Sin and death will be eliminated, and we will receive our inheritance reserved in heaven for us.
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In the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis gives us a rich, imaginative picture of what eternal glory with the eternal Christ will be like.
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Listen to what he said in the last book of the last series, The Chronicles of Narnia.
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He wrote, "As Aslan spoke, he no longer looked to them like a lion,
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but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them."
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And for us, this is the end of all the stories.
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And we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after.
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But for them, it was only the beginning of the real story.
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All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page.
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Now at last, they were beginning chapter one of the great story, which no one on earth has ever read,
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which goes on forever in which every chapter is better than the one before. For believers, the return of Christ and the end of this world will be the beginning of a new heaven and a new earth. Don't you look forward to that.
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It's a fact.
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The Lord Jesus is coming one day. He's coming to play the final note in God's song of victory over the world, the flesh and the devil.
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Do you remember the game we used to play as children?
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Hide and seek. You remember that?
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And everybody would go and hide, and one person would be designated to count to 10 or 15 or 20, whatever it was.
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And they would call that. They weren't supposed to peek about where people were hiding.
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And they would call out, "Ready or not, here I come."
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That's the message Jesus left the disciples in chapter 24 of the Olivet Discourse.
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It's a message that He wants you to hear today and He wants me to hear today. He wants us to take it to heart and let it perform what God wants to do in our own hearts. Because ready or not, Jesus is coming. You hear me now? Ready or not, Jesus is coming.
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Are you ready for that moment?
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When you will see Jesus face to face, a face to face encounter with the King of glory?
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Today we're going to look at verses 32 to 51 of Matthew chapter 24. I want you to go there now and follow in your Bible. By the way, can I just encourage everybody?
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Our students, our young adults, our seniors, everybody. I encourage you to have a real Bible.
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Now it's okay to use the phone if you don't have anything else,
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but I believe everybody in this room can afford a Bible.
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Now I'm going to tell you the difference.
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When you're reading your Bible, you don't get a text,
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and you're distracted to look at the text.
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When you're reading your Bible, you don't get an alert from Fox News.
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You see what I'm saying?
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I'm telling you folks, bring your Bible to church
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and allow God to have sole ability to speak to your heart where you're not distracted by other things. Now the first thing I want you to see in our text today is the lesson to learn.
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The lesson to learn. Matthew chapter 24 verses 32 and 33.
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Jesus said, "Now learn the parable from the fig tree.
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When its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near."
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So you too, when you see all these things, recognize that he is near, look at this, right at the door.
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Now this is a lesson from nature.
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Many people have tried to do some gymnastics with their interpretation of the fig tree. It's not speaking about Israel here. It is a natural illustration of the fact that when it gets into the spring of the year,
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a fig tree begins to change.
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Its limbs get tender and leaves start poking out of the fig tree, and it's a sign in nature that summer is near. Harvest is coming.
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Now notice he said, "When you see all these things, recognize that he is near right at the door." What are these things? What are these things that we see?
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Well, they are the signs of the Lord's coming. We've gone over these earlier in this chapter.
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There were several, I think seven general signs in Matthew 24, verses 4-14. And these included spiritual deception, global conflict, natural disasters, Christian persecution, massive apostasy, blatant lawlessness, and gospel proclamation. Now we said that these have been around a long time. They've been around forever. But as the coming of Christ draws near, there will be an increase in the intensity and the frequency of these signs.
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So those are the general signs. But there are also some very specific signs that we looked at recently.
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And you find those in verses 15, beginning with verse 15. And the first specific sign is the abomination of desolation.
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Let me tell you, when the antichrist goes into the temple in Jerusalem and sets up an image of himself and demands that the whole world worship him, that is the abomination of desolation. And when you see that, you can start your little calendar.
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Now three and a half years from that point, Christ is coming.
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So it is a very specific sign.
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And another specific sign is the onset of the great tribulation. Jesus said that there would be three and a half years of great tribulation. Tribulation like the world has never experienced before.
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And then there would be anti-Semitism on a drastic level. And we see that about taking place today, don't we? And there will be cosmic disturbances in the heavens. And when you see these four specific signs, you know that the coming of Jesus is near. He's right at the door. Okay? Now as history unfolds and it becomes apparent that the signs of the times are increasing in intensity and frequency, then we can be very sure that he's near. His coming is near.
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I personally believe that his coming is very near. I personally believe that he's right at the door.
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So there is a lesson to learn. There's also the truth to treasure.
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Look at verses 34 and 35.
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Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away.
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My words will not pass away."
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Now the generation that begins to experience these specific signs, the abomination of desolation, the cosmic disturbances and the other specific signs, when they experience those in the last days, the last three and a half years, they will see the fulfillment of all of this.
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The generation that is alive when the specific signs begin is going to still be around when Christ comes.
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Now look at verse 15. I mean, excuse me, verse 35. Look at it again. "Heaven and earth will pass away." Jesus said that heaven and earth will pass away and he's going to create new heavens and a new earth.
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Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
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The truth of our Lord's word is permanent. It's permanent.
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It is absolutely pure and without defilement.
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Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple to his disciples here on the Mount of Olives. And in 40 years, that prophecy was fulfilled. 40 years.
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He prophesied his own death and resurrection.
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And that prophecy came true. He prophesied his own ascension to heaven's throne. And that prophecy came true. He prophesied his own glorious second coming. And I'll tell you, it's going to come true.
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He prophesied his millennial reign as king of the world and it's going to come true. He prophesied the creation of a new heaven and new earth. And one day there will be a new heaven and new earth. And we as born again believers will be a part of that wonderful experience.
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Jesus is not some sham two bit fortune teller offering his opinion.
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He is the Lord of history.
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And he speaks with authority about the future. And I promise you this, you can go to the bank with everything that Jesus prophesies.
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Here's a question.
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It's a question to everybody in this room, everybody watching live stream. You've got to answer this in your own heart.
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How much do you value the words of Jesus?
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See, I'm afraid that many of us have ears to hear and we hear sounds and we hear words,
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but those words do not penetrate our hearts.
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The Bible warns us not to be just a hearer of the word, but to be a doer of the word. My prayer today as I got ready to come was that that you would not only hear the word of God, but you would do the word of God and the word of God would penetrate your heart and you would allow the spirit of God to use the word of God to cleanse your heart and to save your soul if you're not saved.
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How much do you value what Jesus says?
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Listen, ready or not, Jesus is coming.
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You say, "Well, I don't believe that. I don't care if you believe it or not.
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I'm telling you ready or not, He's coming.
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Well, Pastor, I have a different interpretation. I don't care if you have a different interpretation.
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I'm telling you ready or not, Jesus is coming."
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You say, "Well, Pastor, I'm not ready. Can there be a delay?" Ready or not, He's coming when He gets ready to come.
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And it's up to you to be ready when He comes. Are you ready? Are you ready?
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There's a lesson to learn here. There is the truth to treasure and there is the caution to consider.
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Look at verses 36 to 42.
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"But of that day and hour no one knows,
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not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father alone.
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For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
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For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, and carrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark.
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And they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away.
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So will the coming of the Son of Man be." That scares me to death, that statement right there.
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Jesus said that during the days of Noah, they didn't understand what was happening.
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They were swept away in the flood of God's judgment.
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And He said it'll be the same way when the Son of Man comes.
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Verse 40, "Then there will be two men in the field, one will be taken, one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the meal, one will be taken, one will be left."
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Don't be lulled to sleep by the delay of the Lord's coming. Maybe you're like the scoffers that Peter writes about in his epistle, who scoff at the idea of the second coming of Christ, because it's been talked about for 2,000 years now, and He still hasn't come. You better praise God that He's delayed for 2,000 years, because it's given many more people an opportunity to be saved and to enter His wonderful kingdom.
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Don't be lulled to sleep by our Lord's delay.
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He cautions us to count on the fact that His return will be sudden,
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to be sudden.
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To make His point, Jesus referred to the days of Noah,
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to the days when people were eating and drinking.
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And that's not talking about gluttony or drunkenness. It's just of normal things that people were doing.
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And they were marrying, and everything was normal, that is, until the day that the door on the ark was shut by God, and it began to rain, and water began to come up from the bowels of the earth.
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And only eight people were saved.
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Only eight people were allowed to go into the ark, Noah and his family, the rest of the human race, was wiped away in judgment, just judgment because of their wickedness.
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The unbelieving world in Noah's day ignored God's will.
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They ignored God's Word. They ignored God's way. They ignored the powerful preaching of Noah, who for 120 years preached as he built the ark. They did not know the precise day on which God's judgment would begin.
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Therefore, they did not know the specific time by which they had to be prepared.
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We don't know either.
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I can't tell you the exact time that Jesus is coming.
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But I'm telling you this morning, on the authority of the inerrant, inspired, infallible, Word of the living God, that ready or not, he's coming. He's coming.
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And it's up to you to be ready.
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You say, "Well, Pastor, I'm going to time it out.
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I'm going to make an educated guess about when he's coming. I'm going to keep doing what I want to do until that time." You are playing with fire, my friend.
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You are making the same mistake that boys and girls, dads and moms, grandfathers and grandmothers made in the days of Noah.
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By the way, it won't matter who you're around on that day when Jesus comes.
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Families, communities and nations will be divided among two groups of people.
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Those who have truly repented of their sin and placed their faith in Jesus
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and those who have refused to repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus.
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That's how it's going to be at the second coming.
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Listen, he talks about in verse 40, "Then there will be two men in the field. One will be taken, one will be left." By the way, let me just clear up something for you. When it says right here that two men are in the field, one will be taken, one will be left.
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Understand, the one taken is taken into judgment. The one left is left to go into the millennial kingdom. Same thing with the two women in verse 41.
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Listen, what I just described for you, what I just read for you, it's exactly what's going to happen when Christ comes again. People will be eating lunch.
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People will be going to work.
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People will be enjoying their hobbies.
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They'll be taking their kids to sports.
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They'll be going to ballgames.
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Suddenly, without warning, Jesus will come.
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He'll return in judgment.
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Beware of thinking that the day-to-day stuff of your life in this world will last. It won't. It will not.
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One day, Jesus is going to turn everything upside down in your life because he's coming.
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You need to be ready when he comes.
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Now, the fourth thing I want you to see in our text is the appeal to alertness.
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Matthew 24, verses 42 to 44, Jesus said, "Therefore," in other words, "based upon everything that he said in this chapter, be on the alert,
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for you do not know which day your Lord is coming." That absolutely knocks a hole in the idea that you can time out the Lord's coming and live like you want to live until right before he comes.
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That's why I urge teenagers, don't bind to this idea that you're going to sow your wild oats and before you die, before Jesus comes, you're going to give your heart to Jesus. Give your heart to Jesus today. This is the only moment that you're sure you have. That's why the Bible says today is a day of salvation.
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There's no guarantee that you'll have another opportunity to receive Christ as your Savior and Lord other than today, right here in this service at the end of this service.
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But be sure of this in verse 43, that if the head of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert
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and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
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For this reason, you also must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will.
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He's coming when you don't think he's coming.
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Jesus in this text today gives some powerful illustrations.
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The illustration of the fig tree, the illustration of the days of Noah, the illustration of the two men in the field, the two women grinding at the meal,
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the illustration of the thief coming at night.
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A thief does not warn you. A thief does not call ahead and say, "I'll be there at 10 o'clock tonight."
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A thief doesn't do that.
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But I'll tell you what the owner of the house and the head of the family has to do. He has to anticipate that a thief may break in, and he has to be willing to do everything he can to protect his family and to protect his valuables.
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You see, the most valuable thing you have in your life is your soul. It's your soul.
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And the thief wants your soul. The enemy wants your soul.
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And you got to protect it. You got to give your soul to Jesus.
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This is a powerful illustration.
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Now listen, this teaches the sudden, unpredictable coming of the Lord.
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And it's used this way in several other New Testament passages. Let me read you three of them.
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In 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 2 and 3, Paul wrote, "For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord, his second coming, will come just like a thief in the night.
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While they are saying peace and safety, then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape."
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Revelation 16, verse 15, "Behold, I am coming like a thief," Jesus said.
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"Blessed is a one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked, and men will not see his shame."
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Revelation 3, verse 3, Jesus said, "So remember what you have received, and heard, and keep it, and repent. Therefore, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you."
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Are we hearing what the Scripture's saying?
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Christ presented two practical implications.
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Verse 42, he said, "Be on the alert continuously, present tense." "Be on the alert continuously for his second coming."
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In verse 44, he said, "Make sure you're ready to meet the Lord when he does come."
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Are you ready?
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I'm telling you, if I'm ready or not, Jesus is coming.
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He's coming.
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There is the lesson to learn here, the truth to treasure, the caution to consider, and the appeal to alertness.
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And finally, number five, there's the invitation to integrity.
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Matthew 24, verses 45 to 51, "Hear the word of the Lord,
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who then is the faithful and sensible slave, whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time.
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Bless is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.
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Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions."
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Verse 48, "But if that evil slave says in his heart, my master is not coming for a long time,
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and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards,
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the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him,
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and at an hour which he does not know,
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and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites.
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In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
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Now notice the contrast.
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Here's another illustration in this chapter.
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There's about four of these illustrations that Jesus packed into this chapter,
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into this teaching with his disciples.
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It's the illustration of the faithful and the unfaithful slave.
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In light of the fact that one day we will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ
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and we will give an account of our lives to him.
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We would do well to devote ourselves to a life of integrity, a life of faithfulness to Christ,
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serving Christ with all of our hearts, honoring Christ.
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Consider these questions.
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Question number one,
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"Am I staying alert for the coming of Jesus?"
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That's something you've got to consider today.
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Are you staying alert for the coming of Jesus? The Bible teaches that we're to stay alert continuously.
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Continuously.
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If you go to a football game, you ought to be alert for the coming of Christ.
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When I go to a Mississippi State football game, I've got to keep my eye peeled on the Eastern sky.
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Whatever you're doing, if you're fishing,
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if you're in a college classroom or a high school classroom,
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you ought to live with the constant awareness that Jesus could come at any moment.
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Continuous alertness.
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That's the first question you need to ask yourself today.
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Now in just a moment, I'm going to invite the worship team to come. I'm going to invite the staff to come.
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And it's going to be an opportunity for you to respond.
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I know you hear that week after week.
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We have invitations every Sunday.
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I'll tell you, it breaks my heart.
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When we preach the Word of God, we sing the worship music that we sing, and we pray, and we seek the face of God, and we come to the end of the time, and people are more interested in making a break for the restaurant than they are in getting right with God or giving their heart to Jesus.
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There's something wrong with that picture.
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I'm going to invite you today to search your heart,
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to ask yourself, do you take this stuff seriously?
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Do you really believe that Christ is coming?
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Do you really believe He can come in any moment?
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Do you really believe that it's up to you to make sure you're ready for that moment?
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Are you staying alert for the coming of Jesus? Here's the second question.
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Are you faithfully following Jesus?
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Do you realize that's what it means to be a Christian?
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Being a Christian is not just being a Baptist.
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Being a Christian is not just being baptized. Being a Christian is not just having your name on the membership role of the church.
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Being a Christian is denying yourself, taking up your cross daily and following Jesus like you love Him more than anybody or anything on this planet.
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Are you faithfully following Jesus? Let me ask you, how would you live differently
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if you knew that Jesus was coming at four o'clock this afternoon?
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How would you live differently?
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Teenagers, how would you live differently?
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Adults, children, how would you live differently?
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Would you read the Word and pray this afternoon?
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Would you seek to abide in Jesus
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so that He can produce much spiritual fruit through your life?
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Would you love people, even people who are hard to love?
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Would you devote yourself to your spouse and minister to your spouse?
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Would you live in holiness?
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We sang holy, holy, holy.
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Well, He says in His Word that He is holy and He expects us to be holy.
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How would you live if you knew that Jesus was coming at four o'clock this afternoon?
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That's what it means to faithfully follow Jesus.
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It's a 24-7 thing.
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Following Christ is a privilege.
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It's an honor.
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And I'll tell you, the reward for following Christ is out of this world.
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Here's a final question.
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Are you absolutely certain that you're saved?
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Now, I remind you that Jesus gave the illustration of the faithful and the unfaithful slave.
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I want you to look at verse 51, excuse me, 1551. "The master of that slave, who's unfaithful, will come on a day when he does not expect him, and in an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the hypocrites in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." You say, "Pastor, do you really believe in hell?" Absolutely.
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You know why I believe in hell? Because Jesus taught that hell is a real place.
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Heaven is a real place. Hell is a real place.
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And I promise you, you will spend eternity in one of those places.
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There's no plan B. There's no other option for you. It's either you go to heaven or you go to hell.
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And the most important thing you can ensure today is that you have truly repented of your sin and placed your faith in Jesus.
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Let me read you something out of Matthew, chapter 7.
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This text puts chills up down my back.
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Verse 21, Matthew, chapter 7, Jesus said,
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"Not everyone who says to be Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,
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but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter.
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Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Cast out demons in your name, performing many miracles." Look what we've done, Lord.
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And you would think that Jesus would roll out the red carpet for them.
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But listen to verse 23.
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"And then I will declare to them, I never knew you,
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depart for me, you who practice lawlessness."
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Friend, we don't go to heaven because of what we do.
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We go to heaven on the grace of God.
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We go to heaven on the righteousness of Christ.
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The most important thing you can do in your life, whatever your age,
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the most important thing you can do in your life is to turn from your sin and place your faith in Christ and commit your life to him.
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Ready or not, Jesus is coming.
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I want our worship team and staff to come.
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More than anything in this world, I want to see the Holy Spirit
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do a work in people's hearts today.
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I'm going to ask you today, please don't leave the sanctuary.
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Not today.
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If there's somebody around you that the Holy Spirit is dealing with,
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let's let the Holy Spirit have a free shot at their heart.
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