“Jesus is Coming...Be Ready”
Dec.2, 2007 Mt.24:36-44 Play
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Changing Climate: Expect the Unexpected
○ sloping driveway problematic when icy
○ don’t normally expect our plans to be
interrupted
○ Jesus will come when least expected (36, 42,
44)
○ owner doesn’t know when thief will break in
(43; 1Thess 5:2; Jn 16:15)
○ people in Noah’s day surprised by flood from
nowhere (38ff)
The Thief is Choosy
○ universality: all nations will mourn to see
Son of Man come (30)
○ won’t miss it; not ‘invisible’ as Watchtower
Society teaches (27)
○ mourning because wickedness increased, love
grown cold (12)
○ selectivity: gathering of elect/chosen - one
taken, other left (31, 40f)
○ caught up (‘raptured’) to meet the Lord, be
with Him forever (1Thess 4:17; Jn 14:3)
○ Jesus sovereign over heaven and earth; words
over matter (35)
Watchful Readiness
○ basis of choice: trust in / know / love /
obey the Lord (Jn 14:1,7,12,15)
○ keep clothes of righteousness so not ashamed
(Rev 16:15; Eph 4:24, 6:14)
○ keep watch so not taken by surprise like
householder (42f)
○ Gaza militants’ mindset / Iran EMP training
heighten threat of cataclysm
○ should expect a major nuclear event (W
Buffett)
Beware the Slippery Slope
○ flood at Noah’s time due to evil inclination
of human heart
○ keep watch over our own inclinations