Will you please turn to Matthew 24? We will read from Matthew 24:32-45.
But learn the parable from the fig tree: when already its branch is become tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh;
even so ye also, when ye see all these things, know ye that He is nigh, even at the doors.
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.
But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.
And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left:
two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.
Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season?
The song that we just sang always touches me very deeply. This was a song written by our brother Watchman Nee during the persecution in China. He wrote this song to express not only his own feeling, but also the feeling of all the saints throughout the generations.
Hopefully, the same feeling will be in each one of us. The more we look into what is going on in the world, the greater the cry of our heart: “O Lord, how long?”
Generation after generation, believers—true believers, those who love the Lord—have been waiting for the long promise of His return. But somehow, He has delayed.
We remember what Peter said: to God, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. It is not that our Lord delays His return; it is because of His longsuffering. How He suffers long for His own bride.
As long as His bride is not ready, He has nothing to return to. So, dear brothers and sisters, how important it is—not for ourselves, but for our beloved Lord—that we be ready.
He will not delay even a moment if His bride is made ready. So this is the reason why we gather together at this time. I do feel the importance of this hour.
Everything seems to indicate to us that His return is imminent. We cannot go on. The world cannot go on any longer. Every sign shows that His return is very near.
And, brothers and sisters, may we be the generation that has the privilege of welcoming Him in our time. I hope that this will be the prayer of our heart. Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we do praise and thank Thee for gathering us together here at this time. We thank Thee for Thy longsuffering. We thank Thee for Thy lovingkindness and tender mercy.
Lord, Thou hast created within our hearts a longing for Thyself. How much more, Lord, is there longing, waiting, and desire in Thy heart to come and receive us unto Thyself.
O dear Lord, do deliver us from being so unwatchful, so complacent. Forgive us for being occupied with so many things that are transient.
Lord, do capture our hearts, that there may be only one thing in our hearts: Thy return. O Lord, use this time to prepare us.
We think of those, during Thy coming, whom Thou hast prepared—a few here and there—whose hearts are really prepared for Thy coming. Wilt Thou not, our Lord, in these last days also raise up people everywhere throughout the whole world who will cry unto Thee, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus”?
Use us to bring back the King. What a privilege, Lord! With this privilege, we offer ourselves once again today. Work in us. Prepare us. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
I do thank the Lord for the theme of this gathering. I feel that it is not so much having another conference. It is good for us to come together once a year for fellowship, but to me, I feel this is a very special time.
I thank the Lord that the theme for this time is really timely: spiritual readiness.
Now, when you think of spiritual readiness, the first question probably you will ask is, “Why? Ready for what?”
There is nothing more important in the world to be ready for than what we are going to share together. To me, I feel there is only one reason—one and only one reason—for spiritual readiness: it is to be ready to welcome the coming of the Lord.
You know, from the very beginning of human history, Adam and Eve sinned. God came to the garden, and He gave man a hope.
In Genesis 3:15, it says:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed:
He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.
This is the promise of God to the sinful world. This is the only way to save and to deliver us.
God promised this from the very beginning of human history. Then you find that this promise was reiterated and reinforced many, many times through the Old Testament, through the prophets, that God’s promise would be fulfilled.
For instance, in Isaiah 9, it is prophesied:
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given;
and the government shall be upon His shoulder:
and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom,
to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness
from henceforth even for ever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
And yet, at the same time, you find in Isaiah 53 a whole chapter on the coming Messiah. But He would be a suffering One. He would be rejected. His life would be taken away. He would bear the sin of the world. He would be crushed.
Therefore, those in Old Testament times could not understand. Why was it that God’s promised Seed of the woman was to be a reigning One, a glorious One, who would establish His kingdom forevermore, and yet at the same time it was prophesied that this Messiah would suffer, even unto death?
So the Old Testament people were confused. They could not reconcile these two sides of the Messiah. Among the Jews, they even questioned whether Isaiah 53 referred to another person, because at that time it was not yet revealed.
Thank God, He is always faithful to His promise. After about four thousand years, one day a Child was born of the woman. A Son was given. The Word became flesh.
God came to become man and tabernacled among us, full of grace and truth. Christ has come.
But during His lifetime, He seemed to be interested only in the spiritual condition of His people. He did not seem to be interested in their physical condition.
In the beginning, the Jewish people welcomed Him, thinking that He might be the long-promised Messiah. But gradually they lost their faith. Why? Because He did not seem to be the One who would fulfill all the promises—that the government should be upon His shoulder, that He should sit on the throne of David, and that He should rule over the nations.
You remember when our Lord Jesus first began His ministry. He went into the synagogue in Nazareth, and they gave Him the scroll of Isaiah. He opened it and read Isaiah 61:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
because He anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor:
He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Then He stopped. He did not finish Isaiah’s prophecy. He did not continue with “the day of vengeance.” He left something behind. Why?
Because our Lord Jesus, in His first coming, came as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He came to bear our sins and our sorrows. He came to be our substitute before God.
He came to redeem us. That was His work while He was on earth. As to the reigning part, as to the glorious part, He left it, as it were, aside.
Instead, He said, “My hour is not yet come.” The day of His glory referred to His crucifixion, not to His enthronement, because in the first coming of our Lord, He concentrated Himself upon the first necessary work.
But even though you find in the Gospels that sometimes He would reveal something, it was in a parable. He did not speak openly and frankly of how He would come back and rule over the nations.
For instance, in Luke 19, we find the parable of the nobleman. The nobleman went away to receive a kingdom. Before he left, he gave ten minas to ten servants and said, “Trade with it till I come.”
Then, when he came back, he reckoned with his servants. You know the story: one earned ten more, one earned five, and one was unfaithful. So, in other words, you find that He did give hints that there would be a return.
Even while He was on earth, especially toward the very last, one day He left Jerusalem and His disciples pointed out to Him the beautiful stones decorating the temple in Jerusalem.
You know, the Jews took great pride in this temple. It was so magnificent. Yet when our Lord left the temple with His disciples, He quietly said, “One day, not a stone will be upon another stone.”
Now, the temple was built with massive stones, so solid. Yet our Lord said, “One day, not a stone will be upon another stone.” The disciples heard it, but they dared not say anything on the way, because this would be such a shock to the Jews.
But after our Lord arrived on the Mount of Olives, He sat down, and four of His disciples came secretly to Him and asked, “Master, when shall these things be? And what will be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of this age?”
You know, to the disciples, they combined all these three things into one. If the temple was destroyed—and completely destroyed—that meant the end of the world, and that would be the sign of the coming of the Messiah.
But our Lord Jesus began to teach them. Now, without going into detail, it will probably help you when you read Matthew 24 and Matthew 25—the so-called Olivet Discourse.
Generally speaking, you can divide these two chapters into three sections. The first few verses, of course, are the background. The disciples asked the Lord, “When shall these things be? When shall the temple be totally destroyed?” Then they asked, “What is the sign of Thy presence and the end of this age?”
In answering their questions, our Lord seems to answer them toward the three sections of the world: the Jews, the church, and the nations. The world is composed of the Jews, the church, and the nations.
It seems as if Matthew 24:4-31 is addressed especially to the Jews. If you read carefully, you find that everything is literal. The Lord does not use parables, and everything will be fulfilled literally.
Then, from Matthew 24:32 to Matthew 25:30, this is the section in which our Lord addresses the church. There you find parables being used. There is a spiritual emphasis in this section. The first section is literal and physical; the second section is spiritual in essence.
Then, of course, the last section—from Matthew 25:31 onward to the end—is addressed to the nations. If you remember this, it will probably be a help to your understanding of these two chapters.
But do not forget that even though our Lord seems to be addressing three different peoples, many things overlap, and many things happen to all. If we remember this, it will probably be a great help.
Even toward the end of the life of our Lord, during His Last Supper with His disciples, He said, “I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come back and receive you unto Myself.”
When He was judged by the high priest and the Sanhedrin, the high priest said, “Art Thou the Son of God?” The Lord said, “Thou hast said. And ye shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds.”
So here you find that our Lord did hint of His return. Even in John 21, after His resurrection, He appeared to the seven by the Sea of Tiberias. He said to Simon Peter, “Follow Me.”
Peter followed Him, and another disciple also followed. Peter turned and said to the Lord, “What about this man?” Of course, he referred to John. And you remember our Lord said, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?”
So you find hints here and there, even after His resurrection, concerning His return. He finished the first part of His work, and there is another part He has to finish at His second coming.
So, brothers and sisters, to us today, His second coming is evident. There are two comings of Christ—two comings of the Lord. In His first coming, He came as the Lamb of God, taking away the sin of the world. But at His second coming, He will come as the Lion of Judah. He will judge the world with righteousness and reign over the world.
His disciples gathered around Him on the Mount of Olives, and there He was taken to heaven. If you read Acts 1, you will notice that our Lord Jesus was standing on the Mount of Olives and His disciples were around Him.
Then He was taken up. He left the Mount of Olives. He ascended, and the disciples watched Him going up until a cloud received Him. They could not see Him anymore, but they were still looking up.
At that time, two men in white appeared. These two men said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This same Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven.”
Of course, the disciples saw the Lord going up, but then the cloud received Him, and they could not see Him. Now, did the Lord really arrive at the throne? Thank God, He did.
How do we know? Number one: on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down from heaven, and the one hundred and twenty disciples waiting in that room were baptized into one body. That is evidence that our Lord had arrived at the throne.
Why? Because the Bible tells us, and even Peter said, “What ye see and hear proves one thing: that God has made Him both Lord and Christ.”
After our Lord Jesus arrived at the throne, God the Father anointed Him with oil—with the Holy Spirit. As the oil upon the head of Aaron flows down to his beard and covers the whole body to the skirt of his garment, so this is the picture.
After our Lord was anointed in heaven as the High Priest, the same oil—the Holy Spirit—came down upon the one hundred and twenty. And not only upon the one hundred and twenty, but upon every member in the body of Christ. Glory! That is definite proof.
And not only that: we find in Revelation 5 that John was in the Spirit, and heaven was opened, and he saw a vision. He saw the throne of God. He saw in the hand of God a scroll, which is the title deed of the universe.
Satan may occupy this world as a usurper, but he has never been an owner. The ownership is always in the hand of God.
Then John saw a Lamb, newly slain, standing. That means resurrection. The Lamb is the only One who is worthy, because He has overcome. He has overcome Satan and all the power of darkness, and He is worthy to receive the scroll and to open it.
Thank God for that. This is a review of the ascension of our Lord Jesus. So by these two evidences, we are sure that our Lord has reached the throne. He is now sitting at the right hand of God, waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool.
Dear brothers and sisters, if His first coming is true, His second coming must be true.
If you read the epistles, the writings of the apostles, you find the return of the Lord—the coming of the Lord—everywhere.
For instance, the first epistle we have in the Bible is 1 Thessalonians. As you read those five chapters, in every chapter you find the return of the Lord, the coming of the Lord, mentioned.
God had saved them and delivered them from idol worship to believe in the one true God and to wait for the return of the Son of God.
Paul told the Thessalonian believers, “Ye are my joy and my crown at the coming of the Lord.” One day, the Lord will come with His saints. In 1 Thessalonians 4, the trumpet will sound, the dead in the Lord will be raised, and those who are still living will be changed.
They will be caught up into the air to meet the Lord, who has descended from the throne to the air, and they will be with the Lord forever.
It was the prayer of the apostle Paul for the Thessalonian believers that the God of peace would sanctify them wholly—spirit, soul, and body—and preserve them blameless unto the coming of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, in the early church, the coming of the Lord was their blessed hope. Especially when the church was under persecution, believers met each other, greeting and comforting one another, saying, “The Lord is coming. The Lord is coming.”
Throughout the centuries and generations, the promise of the coming of the Lord has been the hope of the church. Generation after generation, believers have waited for His return.
Even in the first generation, they waited for His return. Were they mistaken? No. They were right. Their spirit was right.
The more you read the Bible, the more you feel that His coming cannot be too far away. Remember, even in the first century, when you read the book of Revelation, you find that in Revelation 1:3 it says, “The time is at hand.”
He is coming. And if it was near in the first century, how much nearer now? We are in the twenty-first century.
No one knows when He is coming. Our Lord Jesus Himself told us that no one knows—not even the angels, not even the Son of man; the Father alone knows.
Even though no one knows, one thing is sure: He is coming. He gave us signs to indicate how close His coming is.
For instance, the Lord said, “Look at the fig tree. When it begins to bud and to have leaves, you know that summer is near.” So the Lord said, “When you see these things, you know it is near, at the doors.”
You know, in the lifetime of our Lord Jesus, He cursed a fig tree. At the end of His ministry, He came to a fig tree full of leaves. He thought there must be fruit, but there was nothing—nothing to satisfy the longing of His heart.
He cursed it, and it dried up, withered up, and died. Why? Because the fig tree is a symbol of the Jewish nation.
He had come to work upon that nation for three and a half years, and they produced no fruit—only leaves, a big show, but no reality. Satisfying to man, but utterly unsatisfying to God.
The Jewish nation was set aside, as it were, for almost two thousand years. But the Lord said, “Look. When you see the fig tree begin to bud and to produce leaves, the summer is near. When you see these things happening, you know it is near, at the doors.”
In 1948, after almost two thousand years, the Jewish nation came into being. It was the surprise of the world. No race, no nation, has ever been revived after so many years without land and without government, and yet it did happen.
The summer is near. How near it is—at the doors.
Now, I believe you have to be Oriental to understand this parable. In this country, when you are at the door, you open the door and you are inside the house.
But in the Orient, it was not so. You find that in the Orient you have many courts, door after door. The richer you are, the more courts you have, and the family lives at the very end. You do not see the family until you cross all the doors.
But as soon as you are at the front door, you are near. Brothers and sisters, the Lord is already at the doors. How close, how near? Suddenly, He is there.
Would that be a great surprise to you? A pleasant surprise?
Without going into details, one thing we are sure of: you may read the Scriptures and all the prophecies concerning the coming of the Lord, the second coming of the Lord. So far as we understand, all the prophecies concerning the coming of the Lord that must be fulfilled before His coming have been fulfilled.
There are still prophecies left to be fulfilled, but they will be fulfilled at the coming of the Lord and after the coming of the Lord. But everything that must occur before the coming of the Lord has been fulfilled.
That is to say, the Lord can come at any time.
Now, the problem with God’s people today is that we do not have a real understanding of the meaning of the coming of the Lord.
You know, the Bible uses different words to describe His coming. But one word that is used often, and is used here in Matthew 24, is parousia. The word parousia means “presence.”
Today, the Lord is absent, physically speaking. Of course, we know He is with us in Spirit. But physically speaking, He is absent. One day He will be present physically.
Those who understand Greek tell us that this word, parousia—presence—is a word that covers a period of time, including a series of events.
In other words, the word “presence” has a beginning and an end. It is not just something that happens suddenly, immediately, once, and then is over. No. It covers a period of time, though that time must be short, and it has a series of events occurring during His presence.
Now, let us try to explain it. You remember the two men in white in Acts 1:11: “Men of Galilee, why do you look up? He who is taken up”—the word is “received up”—“He will return, come back, in like manner, in the same way.”
So His presence is in two parts, as His departure was in two parts. When He departed from this world, from the Mount of Olives to the cloud was visible; from the cloud to the throne was invisible.
Therefore, when He comes back and returns, it will be in the same way: from the throne to the cloud, invisible; from the cloud to the Mount of Olives, visible.
That is the reason why you find two different signs being given. One is the sign of a thief. When the Lord comes, He will come like a thief.
Why? Because He will come quietly, secretly, suddenly. He comes, and He takes away. But when a thief comes, what will he take? He will take your treasure. He will leave your garbage.
That is exactly what will happen. When the Lord uses that kind of metaphor, it is clear that He wants to show us that His presence from the throne to the cloud is invisible, like a thief.
A thief will never blow a trumpet and announce, “I am coming.”
Brothers and sisters, for the Lord to come from the throne to the cloud, He will be like a thief coming. No one knows when. In an hour that you think not, He comes, and He takes away the treasure of His heart.
Then two women will be grinding: one is taken, received; one is left. Two men working in the field: one is taken, one is left. Two men sleeping: one is taken, one is left.
Now remember, when the Lord says these things, He refers to the church, not to unbelievers. He refers to those who are still living at the coming of the Lord.
We who are still living may have the privilege of being raptured—taken without going through death.
You remember, in Revelation 12, John saw a vision: the vision of a woman in travail, and then the red dragon waiting there. That dragon was not concerned with the woman at that time, but he was deeply concerned with the man child in the womb of that woman.
He was waiting there to try to swallow that man child. But the Bible says that as the man child was born, he was taken right to the throne.
Brothers and sisters, this man child is what God is looking for. The church is supposed to be the overcoming church, but unfortunately God’s people do not fulfill God’s purpose.
Therefore, out of the travail of the church through the ages, God is looking for a man child—the overcomers. The overcomers are not someone special. The overcomers are the normal Christians.
They follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. They will be taken because they are the treasure to the Lord.
But believers, beware. If we are not watchful, if we are laden with eating and drinking and the cares of this life, we may become so rooted to the world that we cannot be taken away and are left behind.
This taking is taking to the throne. They are the welcoming party at the beginning of the presence of the Lord.
Immediately after the man child is taken to the throne in Revelation 12, there will be war in the air. Michael and his angels will come and fight with Satan and his angels.
There will be no place for Satan, because the air is his headquarters. He will be thrown from the air to the earth. The air will be cleared for the Lord to descend.
Brothers and sisters, it is going to happen—suddenly, at any time. Today, may it be so?
Suddenly, all over the world, some will disappear. Blessed are those who are taken. They are ready—spiritually ready.
He will come like a thief. At a time that you think not, He comes and takes away the treasure of His heart.
Then, when Satan is thrown upon this earth, what will happen? The great tribulation.
Unfortunately, many Christians will still go through that great tribulation. But thank God, in one sense, even though it will be difficult because it will be a great tribulation that the world has never known before, God gives another chance. Even those who fail Him will be given another chance.
Then the trumpet will sound. As our Lord said, when people say, “Christ is here,” or “Christ is there,” do not listen to it. His coming is like lightning. It flashes from the east to the west; the whole world will see it.
He will come with a trumpet sound, with the angels. In the twinkling of an eye, those who are dead in Christ will be raised, and those who remain and are still living will be changed. All will be caught up to the air—not to the throne, but to the air.
Brothers and sisters, every time I sing hymns about our blessed hope—that when the trumpet sounds we shall be taken to the air—I feel, “Too late, too late, too late.”
How much better, as the Bible says:
Because thou didst keep the word of My patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour of trial,
that hour which is to come upon the whole world,
to try them that dwell upon the earth.
How much better is that?
And that is true. There is the second part of the parousia. His feet will come upon the Mount of Olives, and it will be divided into two. The Jewish people, His chosen people, will see Him and mourn for Him, and He will come to deliver them.
Dear brothers and sisters, do you not think it is time that we wake up?
What would happen if He returned? When believers, as the church, are all gathered in the air to meet the Lord in the air, what will be going on in the air?
The seven bowls of the wrath of God will be poured upon this earth. But what will happen in the air? The Bible tells us: the judgment seat of Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, thank God. Because our Lord was judged for our sins on Calvary’s cross, we will not be judged anymore for life or death, eternal life or eternal death, at the great white throne of God.
In other words, judicial judgment has passed. He has saved us out of judgment, out of death, into eternal life. Thank God for that.
But that does not mean that believers will not be judged. There will be a judgment seat of Christ.
It is called a judgment seat. It is not a throne, because a throne is judicial, and it determines life or death, eternal life or eternal death. But it is a seat—a bema.
What does bema mean? Again, you find the Oriental background. In the Orient, you have big families, and in the big family you have the head of the family—perhaps a grandfather, perhaps a great-grandfather.
The head of the family has authority over the whole family. Once in a while, there will be a family gathering. Only members of the family can attend.
They gather in a room, and in one part of the room there is an elevated platform. The head of the family sits there, and there he judges the members of the family.
Those who have done something that adds glory to the family will be commended and rewarded. Those who have brought shame to the family will be punished, chastised, disciplined. That is bema.
In Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10, they both speak of the judgment seat of Christ, the judgment seat of God. His family will gather around our Lord Jesus and will be judged according to all that we have done.
Not before we are saved, but after we are saved and receive His life. How do we live before Him?
Brothers and sisters, to those who are ready, it is the most blessed time. It is a time when all tears will be wiped away.
It is a time when all misunderstanding will be cleared up. It is the time when the cross you have borne through the years will be turned into a crown. How the apostle Paul looked forward to that day.
But to those who are not ready, it is a time to be feared. Brothers and sisters, that is why we must be ready—spiritually ready.
It is not an outward physical readiness. Through the years, there have been instances in which people prophesied, “Christ is coming today,” or “tomorrow,” or on a certain date. People left their homes, went to the wilderness, clothed in white, waiting for His return. He did not come.
It is not physical. Do not be afraid to go to sleep tonight. Do not give up work and stop working because the Lord is coming. Why do you work? How can you sleep?
Brothers and sisters, readiness is not in these things. It is in your spirit. It is in your heart.
Are you spiritually ready for the coming of the Lord?
O Lord, make us ready—not just for fear, but for the Lord’s sake. We want Thee back. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.