Jesus warned the faithful church. Be ready, and stay awake.
According to the words of Jesus, the faithful believer is awake and alert for the return of Christ. If you ignore Bible prophecy and treat it as a supplemental portion of the scripture, you may fit the description of the sleepy Christian to which Jesus referred. We can’t be alert to the return of Christ if we don’t study the prophecy passages.
So many people like to claim they are ‘woke.’ That’s a catchy phrase meaning that they ‘get it,’ or understand a certain issue.
Well regarding Bible prophecy, too many in the church are sleeping the night away. They should be awake but instead, are enjoying a long nap.
Get woke and stay awake.
Matthew 24:42 The faithful are alert
“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”
After laying out a brief synopsis of the end of days, Jesus then provides this important closing warning. The last ten verses of Matthew 24 gave the Church an emphatic warning to stay alert, ready, and ever watchful for the return of Christ. According to the preterist interpretation of Bible prophecy, we are in the kingdom now. Thus, there is no need to be ready and alert. But Jesus said to be ready for the unknown day when the Lord would arrive. If you abide by the preterist model of prophecy, you are welcome to fall asleep. But the warning for the sleepers is graphic and deadly. Be warned.
Be Ready
Jesus rose from the dead and then spent time with the church leaders in order to prepare them for his departure. When Jesus did depart, rising up into the clouds, angels instructed the church leaders to go into Jerusalem where they would receive the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul, named Saul at the time, was brought into the Church. Peter, Paul, James, and John were the primary leaders of the early Church. Their writings reflect the urgency of the message of Christ in this last sermon. Jesus said to be ready. The words of the Church leaders for the next two centuries remained the same. Be ready — stay ready.
The not-so-surprising truth is that the Church began to change its interpretation of prophecy passages. The urgency to stay alert faded. The Church fell into a long slumber.
Thus the warning.
Matthew 24:43 The faithful should know the times
“But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.”
In the biblical model of keeping time, there were four ‘watches’ throughout the night. Each watch was broken into three-hour segments. In the NAS translation that I have used in this article, the word isn’t translated as ‘watch.’ But the idea is in the original language and points to the notion that at any time during the night, the head of the house must be alert to a possible break-in. For the Church today we have two options. We can take the path of the preterist model and say all the prophecies are finished, so we can sleep. Or we can take the stance of the early disciples in the first two centuries and stay ready.
We are approaching two-thousand years since the crucifixion of Christ. I believe we are in the fourth watch of the night. During this fourth watch, the thief will come. Are you awake and looking for the return of Jesus, or do you dismiss those things?
Matthew 14:25
During the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the sea.
Luke 12:38
Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert, those servants will be blessed!
Matthew 24:44 The Son of Man will return
“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.”
For this reason, Jesus’ words referred directly to the unknown time of his return. The early Church fathers still expected the Lord’s return after AD 70. That’s a curious problem for their theory.
They didn’t stop preaching the need to stay alert. But, as we know now, the day never came. Many prophecies were misunderstood during the many years after they were spoken.
When Israel was restored to their land in 1948, as the Bible predicted, increased awareness of Bible prophecy was also restored to the Church.
The title, the Son of Man, is a favored one among the Gospel writers. It depicts the Lord’s kinship with the affairs of mankind. He didn’t come as a dominant ruler. He came as a humble servant, another offspring of the race of men. Ezekiel the prophet has the same title.
Luke 21:36
So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Matthew 24:45 Who are the faithful?
“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?”
Not everyone who claims they are a Christian is in fact born of the Spirit. Over the centuries, there have been many imposters, but no one ever fools God. If one is faithful and a devoted servant (slave), he or she will receive the honor that is due. But few, especially in our day, have any use for the idea of serving someone else. The idea of being a faithful servant goes beyond the plastic versions of Christianity we see inside many churches today.
The Lord will return on a day and hour in which many are unprepared.
Matthew 7:24
Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Matthew 24:46 The faithful are servants to Christ
“Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.”
Here’s that word ‘slave’ again. As a true disciple of Christ, Paul considered himself a bond-servant of Christ. He was at the bidding and call of the Lord at all times. That’s the role model and high standard to which we all should set our sights. When things are difficult, we should remember that we are slaves to Christ and have surrendered our will and rights. We have no right to complain or even claim we are treated unfairly or are unappreciated. Slaves don’t have those rights.
Matthew 24:47 Though poor, they will become rich
“Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
The one who gives his or her all for Christ will be richly rewarded. If we serve for the rewards, we are not servants but mercenaries. If we serve because of a heart of love, the Lord will reward that. The faithful slave of the house will rise to a place of honor. This is when many will receive the acknowledgment, ‘Well done faithful servant.’
Matthew 25:21
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’
Matthew 24:48 The faithful serves until the Master returns
“But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,”
Not every servant of God is faithful. Some are mercenary types, expecting something in return for their service. Some, as this verse implies, will refuse to continue working if the Master is away. They only serve while the head of the house is around. When he’s not, their desire to serve reveals itself to be false.
2 Peter 3:4
“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”
Matthew 24:49 The wicked are lazy drunkards
“and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards,”
This verse reflects poorly on the nature of humans. We are quick to turn on each other. Hate and violence lay under the surface and springs into an ugly reality very quickly. In this verse, those fellow slaves are turning on each other. The context refers to those who are in service to God. If it’s still not clear, the Lord meant Christians. Those in the Church, supposedly serving God with sincere hearts will beat their fellow Christians.
Jesus warned that even family members would betray one another. Of course, history tells us that is a common theme in the story of men.
2 Peter 2:3
In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with tales they have concocted. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.
Matthew 24:50 The wicked are not expecting the Lord
“the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,”
The master of the slave, that’s Jesus, will return at the end of days. That’s not history from the first century as the preterist teaches. It’s in the future. We await Jesus’ soon return. Many around the world will hide because of shame when he returns. Many teachers and congregants in churches around the world will realize their stunning errors of interpretation. We are supposed to be ready and telling others to prepare. Instead, too many are asleep and telling others to slumber with them.
Matthew 24:51 An unspeakable punishment
“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.”
It feels like we should apologize for this graphic depiction of the Lord during the day of judgment. No one ever thinks of the gentle Jesus in this way. But judgment day will be a terrible thing. The horrors of the Antichrist and his armies will become worldwide news. The time of Jacob’s trouble will be a time of terror like the world has never seen. The tribulation, be it seven years or three and a half, will be terrifying chaos.
History records terrible events that will pale in comparison to the last days.
The Black Death; the bubonic plague
After five years 25 million people were dead–one-third of Europe’s people.
Deaths under Joseph Stalin:
Today, most historians seem to have settled on a total of about 20 million.
Deaths under Hitler
If you count all the premature excess deaths that occurred due to the war Hitler started and the atrocities committed during that war, the answer is about 42 million deaths in World War II in Europe (14 million soldiers and 28 million civilians)
Death under Mao
At least 45 million people were worked, starved, or beaten to death in China
Suffice it to say there have been some horrific displays of despotic terror in the previous century let alone centuries past. The final despot, the Antichrist, will attempt to surpass them all. His sight will be set on the restored nation of Israel. But he won’t settle for a few million Jews. He will hunt all who refuse to bow to him.
Wake up and stay alert.
The Lord will return soon.
What did the early Church Fathers know that we don’t?
Find the answers here.
Let me know what you think.