All So Ready

Matthew 24:44 “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

Be ALL SO ready.

Readiness must come before we do anything or go anywhere.  We get ready to go to town. We get ready to go to bed. Getting ready is a part of life. Outside the walls of the temple on the Tuesday before he would be crucified, Jesus told his disciples to be ready. We assume at all times no matter what our spiritual condition we’re ready for Jesus to come. Jesus wanted his own disciples to take note of it.  “Am I really ready?”

Jesus would leave the disciples but told them he would return in all power, majesty and glory.  In Matthew , Jesus Himself details the signs of the coming, and even though we don’t know when, it’s imperative not to go to sleep or slack up now.  It’s time to draw near to the Lord. Is there anything in your heart that can cause you not to be really ready?  You can’t imagine yourself ready.  You can’t set your own conditions of readiness. You can’t set a readiness time. The Lord has it all set.  Are you measuring up? Are you prepared?

Whether we realize it or not, the imminence of the Lord’s return is upon us. We can’t listen to the news or read the paper and not see it. The devil is so strong and the political, natural, moral, and supernatural signs are a witness for or against us.  It’s time to prepare. It’s time to be ready.   Fair warning has been given. The gospel is being preached to all even as it’s being demoted by many. Are we ALL SO ready, ALL SO prepared to leave at the rapture?

Are you ALL SO ready? Now is time.  Verses 27-31 say “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

A sober heart will take a first look at itself. There are so many signs right on top of each other that point us to the return. There are more fulfilled than not. We need to be in a state of readiness.  There will be no warning trumpet to signal the end. The signs are already here. When society and mankind get to the conditions they are in now, they sound a trumpet every day. There won’t be a miniseries of trumpets. It will be startlingly quick. There won’t be time to wrap it all up and get it ready.

In a twinkling of an eye the sun will seem to explode as the clouds of glory open up. The trumpet will sound through the entire world. There will be the shout of the voice of the archangel as Jesus descends with a shout.  There will be a meeting in the air as the dead rise alive and we are all changed to be with the Lord forever. Don’t fool around with life. There is no time for double lives or hypocrisy.  External professions don’t make internal ones. The Lord knows who is right..and who really isn’t.

Verse 42 says “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”  Watch what? Watch yourself!  Jesus is serious about this. He looked at each disciple. From John to Judas he said “be all so ready.”  Just because the preacher is ready doesn’t make the congregation ready or vice versa. Just because your wife or husband is doesn’t mean you are. You’re not fit for heaven if you’re not ready yourself.  Do you have to let the world go?  There won’t be time to tie up loose ends. You won’t face the Lord for or with your preacher, your church, your husband, wife, or kids. It will be a one-on-one meeting.

A saved person should be a ready person. We must have spiritual stability to stand on our own two feet. We can’t hide behind anyone but Jesus. The devil’s biggest job is to make us think we’re ready.  In the end all that will matter is our relationship with the Lord.

Are you ready? Are you sure you’re ready? How do you know?  Compare yourself to the Lord’s readiness plan. Ready or not he is coming.  I want to be ready, all so ready!