#9 - Joby Martin // Spiritual Readiness for Uncertain Times

But my question is are you ready for the end of times and how do you know how to be ready ?

This entire week we're essentially going to study one of the parables out of Matthew chapter 25 that addresses this , and there are three parables in Matthew chapter 25 , but you have to understand that these parables come out of a question that the disciples asked to Jesus in Matthew chapter 24 .

In Matthew 24 , jesus is walking by the temple and he very famously says truly , I say to you , if you were to is walking by the temple and he very famously says truly , I say to you , if you were to tear down this whole temple , I'll build it back in three days . Everybody's freaking out about that and what he's talking about is about the end of times .

And then in Matthew 24 , beginning in verse 3 , the Bible says and as he sat down on the Mount of Olives , the disciples came to him privately saying tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming at the end of the age ?

In other words , what the disciples are asking is how are we going to know when the end of times or the end of the age is ? And then all of Matthew , chapter 24 , is fascinating . Jesus begins to get into some very specific signs . He talks about signs and wonders and wars and rumors of wars . He talks about earthquakes and pestilence .

He talks about the abomination of desolation . He talks about the second coming of the Son of man and he quotes a whole bunch from the book of Daniel . And I think , as he's doing this , the disciples have this glazed overlook because they have no idea what he's talking about .

And just to make sure that the disciples don't get lost in the details which followers of Jesus are famous for doing , they're famous for missing the point . Jesus then says but concerning that day and hour , no one knows , not even the angels of heaven , nor the son of man , but the father only .

So the warning when you are prepared for the end of times , for Christ's return , is this don't get so concerned on when , but get really concerned with who .

And so , right on the heels of him saying this , don't get caught up on the when , don't get out your calendars and your newspaper and your charts from those weird TV preachers and try to figure out exactly when I'm coming back . But in order to be prepared for the end of times , then Jesus tells three parables back to back to back .

He's famous for telling parables back to back to back . He's famous for telling parables back to back to back . And in all of Matthew chapter 25 , it contains three parables . The first one is called the parable of the 10 virgins . It doesn't mean what you think it means . The point of this parable is this don't miss the party .

In other words , the gospel message is going out around the world . One day the party will start and the invitation is over . And if you miss the invitation and the party starts , then you are not going to the party . Let me put this on the bottom shelf for you , men .

This means if you don't surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ before his return , then you are going to die and go to a Christless eternity . Or if you don't surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ before you die , then you are not going to the party .

So the point to get ready step one for the end of times is don't miss the party . Surrender your life to the declared gospel of Jesus Christ . The second parable that he shares , which we are going to spend all of the rest of this week on , is called the parable of the talents . We're going to unpack this for the rest of the week . Don't miss it .

The whole point of this parable is whatever you do , don't waste your life . Take whatever God has given you and leverage it for the advancement of the kingdom of God . And then the third parable that he shares is called the parable of the sheep and the goats .

It is called the parable of the final judgment , that when Jesus returns , he is going to separate the sheep from the goats . He's going to put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left .

And as a test to see if you have trusted Christ , the final test is this Did your faith drive you to do the kinds of things that Jesus would do in you and through you and to you ? And so the amazing thing about this is that there's a group of people the goats , and they are surprised because he says to the group on the right .

When I was naked , hungry , lonely and sick , you visited me and you cared for me . And whatever you did for the least of these you did unto me and those on the left . He says you're going to hell because you did none of those things to me . And they said we never saw you that way .

And he says whatever you did not do for the least of these , you did not do for me . This doesn't mean that if you do good things and God lets you into heaven . This means that if the goodness of God , through the blood of Jesus , has infiltrated your life , if you have been infected with the gospel , then your life will show symptoms of the gospel .

So how do I get ready for the return of Christ ? One is that you receive the gospel . That's the first parable . Secondly , you leverage everything that God has given you in this life to advance the gospel . Third , you were so moved by the gospel . You treat people the way Jesus has treated you , and that is how you get prepared for the end of times .

What I want you to remember is this the one thing is quit trying to figure out when Jesus was returning and prepare yourself for the return . My grandmother used to lovingly say that she was more concerned about being on the welcome committee than the planning committee , that she was more concerned about being on the welcome committee than the planning committee .