LUKE 12:39-40 “ARE YOU READY?
A) The word that I want to emphasize in this message is the word “ready.”
* And the question that I want to ask you is this, “ARE YOU READY?”
B) To be ready is to be available, and this is the attitude which we as
Christians should adopt.
* We should be ready before the Lord – Prepared to do His will, and always
be available for Him.
C) The Greek word is “hetoimos” (het-oy’-mos) and means “prepared.”
* There are several questions I would like to ask in this message tonight .......
(1) ARE YOU READY TO MEET THE LORD? * v.40 of our text .......
* It’s important to read the context in which these words of our Lord occur
and go back to v.35-36 .......
A) Jesus is referring to His second coming.
* Let nothing be between us and the Lord when He comes.
B) Over and over again Jesus exhorts us to be ready to meet Him, whether
it’s by death or by way of the Rapture.
* In Matt. 25:1-13, Jesus gives the parable of the ten virgins.
* Five of them were wise and five of them were foolish ... (Explain)
C) Are you ready to meet Him? – Are you prepared?
* How do you get ready to meet Him? – By receiving Him into your heart and in
your life if you have never done that – Rom. 10:9-10, 13
* If you’re backslid, then you need to repent – 1 John 1:9 .......
(2) ARE YOU READY TO SUFFER FOR CHRIST?
A) In Acts 21:10-13, we read about a man named Agabus who prophesied
that the Jews in Jerusalem would capture Paul .......
* And they would bind him and deliver him to the Gentiles.
* This did not move Paul at all – He immediately said in v.13 .......
B) When you got saved, you immediately became a target for the devil.
* I can’t explain human suffering – All I can tell you is to trust Christ through it all.
* Let me give you some Scripture – 2 Cor. 12:7-12 ....... Paul’s thorn in the flesh.
C) 1 Pet. 4:12-19 ....... 1 Pet. 3:13-18 .......
* Phil. 1:29 “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe
on him, but also to suffer for his sake;”
D) If you’re saved, you might as well be ready for the world to treat you
like a low down snake – Especially the religious crowd.
* The religious crowd are the ones who treated Jesus bad.
* They hated Him and they will hate us – John 15:18-19 “If the world .......”
E) But listen to what Jesus told us in Matt. 5:10-12 .......
* He told us to rejoice and be exceeding glad (jump for joy) when people treat
us bad because we will have a great reward in heaven.
F) The word “suffer” means, “To experience a sensation or impression
usually painful.
* Another word for suffer is “vex,” which means “to bring trouble, distress,
or agitation to, to bring physical distress to.”
(3) ARE YOU READY TO PREACH THE GOSPEL?
A) In a sense, all of us are preachers of the gospel.
* Our job and responsibility is to spread the gospel – Rom. 1:15 .......
* Rom. 10:14 “How then shall they call on him .......”
* The Greek word for preacher is “kerusso” (kay-roos’-so) and means,
“to herald as a public crier, to proclaim, publish.
B) The message will never go out if we don’t carry it out everywhere we go.
* The Lord is counting on us to get the job done – So don’t be silent.
(4) ARE YOU READY TO HELP THOSE IN NEED?
* Turn to 1 Timothy 6:17-19 .......
A) We ought to be concerned about others needs and be willing to help
them all that we are able to.
* 1 John 3:17-18 “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth .......”
B) Are you ready to help others in need?
* Let’s look at the first church in Acts 2:44-45 “And all that believed .......”
C) If we’re not ready to help others, then where is the love of God
in our hearts?
* John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye .......”
(5) ARE YOU READY TO DIE? * Heb. 9:27 .......
A) You might not want to die, but you better be ready to die.
* 2 Kings 20:1-11 ....... Hezekiah didn’t want to die, but he was ready to die.
* Paul was ready to die – 2 Tim. 4:6 “For I am now ready .......”
B) Paul couldn’t escape it – He was sentenced to die for Christ
and he was ready.
* He saw the chopping block and the executioner.
* I ask you tonight – Are you ready to die? – You don’t know when it will
happen, but just as sure as you’re in this building tonight, you will die.
(6) ARE YOU READY TO DEFEND THE FAITH?
* 1 Pet. 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your .......”
A) The faith of the gospel of Jesus Christ is under attack, and we as
Christians must defend the gospel – Stay true and stand firm.
* Are you doing that today or are you compromising the gospel?
* What we need today is a church that is not going to let anyone or anything
get in the way of us serving God and standing up for heaven.
B) We don’t take a stand anymore because it makes us unpopular.
* Christians don’t need to be popular – Politicians need to be popular.
* Christians need to take a stand for truth even if it means to be unpopular.
C) We can’t be one way on Sunday and another way on Monday.
* If you’re a Christian on Sunday, you ought to be one Monday – Saturday.
* Jude 3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you .......”
* Contend – To struggle for, to fight against difficulties.
CLOSE
A) Are you ready for these things I’ve mentioned tonight?
* Are you ready: To meet the Lord? ... To suffer for Christ?
* To preach the gospel? ... To help those in need?
B) Are you ready to die? ... Are you ready to defend the faith?
* If you’re not, then I beg you, “Be ye therefore ready .......”
* If we’re gonna be successful, we have to take our stand for God, and let
the world and everyone else know that we’re on the Lord’s side.
C) I have great respect for the woman I read about that started out
during the Civil War with a poker.
* She heard the enemies were coming and went out to resist them.
* When someone asked her what she could possibly do with the poker,
she said she would at least let them know who side she was on.
D) And that is what we want – To let them know whose side we’re on.
