Oak Cliff Baptist Church

In times like these we need the Bible. We need a personal relationship with God and His word. We need to be grateful for those who've gone before us to leave a heritage of faith for those who come after us.

What does the Bible say about the return of Christ- Three things are certain- We should expect His return at any time. It will be horrific for those unprepared. Believers should live holy lives with joyful anticipation of Him.

Do you know that you are ready for eternity- Are you certain you are ready to face the judgment of God- Not everyone who thinks that he or she is a Christian is actually born again. And so, in these verses, God calls you to be ready for His coming. He calls you to be born again.

As a follower of Chirst, do you know what the infrastructure is that holds up your faith and salvation- We being walking through the infrastructure that forms the strong foundation of the Christian life, and we begin with Scripture, the Word of God. God gives us Scripture as a foundation to grow us from spiritual children to full-grown men and women of God.

How exactly are we to prepare for the return of Christ- How are we to get ready and stay ready for His return- He says to stay awake, to be alert, to be ready. How do we do that- That's what Jesus is telling us in these verses. God shows us how to be ready for the return of Christ.

God makes a promise to us on the basis of His love whereby we are called children of God.

Asa was faithful to the Lord. When he faced an impossible situation, he found that the Lord was faithful to him.

Christ's return is a certainty. What is uncertain is the timing of it. When will it happen- In this passage in Matthew 24- God commands believers to be ready at all times for the return of Christ. No one knows when it will happen, so Jesus says to us that we have to be ready all the time.

In these verses, God declares to you and me the certainty of Christ's return. He wants you to know this so that you will be confident and so that you will be comforted. Our Lord lets us know about His return because He does not want you to be shaken or led astray by all the scoffers-the unbelievers and false teachers-that we encounter every day. The Lord Jesus doesn't want you to be confused by all of the chaos going on in the world around you today, so He tells you that there is no way you will miss His coming-it won't happen in secret. The Lord Jesus DOES want you to know that those of us who are alive at His coming will see the signs that the time is drawing near and we will be encouraged and our hope will be strengthened.

Knowing that our Lord Jesus Christ is both human and divine is vital to the gospel. It is a truth that you and I must believe. If we fail to understand that Jesus is Lord because He is God- if we fail to understand that was able to keep the whole law on our behalf because He is God in the flesh- if we fail to understand that our Lord was able to live a sinless life in order to meet God the Father's requirement for the only acceptable sacrifice for our sin, and He was able to do so because He is God, then you cannot understand the gospel of salvation. It is because Jesus is both fully human and fully God that you and I can call upon Him for the forgiveness of our sins and for the gift of eternal life.