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[0:00] My message this morning is be prepared. We ought to be prepared for the coming of our Lord.! So we're going to start with Matthew 24 and reading verse 44.

[0:11] ! Matthew 24 and reading verse 44, it says this, Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.

[0:22] It's saying there, the Lord Jesus is saying, be ye also ready. Be prepared. Who knows the Boy Scouts? Be prepared. Be prepared. It's a good motto, but it's actually a Bible truth.

[0:34] Be prepared. And I put to you this morning, there's two ways that we can be ready for the coming of our Saviour. And the first way is be watching. Be watching.

[0:45] Now, we can all have time watching TV or watching various screens. We don't mean to be watching that. But to be staying awake, to be watching and to be prepared.

[0:55] We should watch what we watch. And we should watch that we're watching for our Lord's coming. Because our Lord tells us to watch for that. A lot of Christians are watching the world go by, watching worldly things.

[1:08] But they're not watching for the coming of the Saviour. In Mark 13, 35, he says, Watch ye therefore. For ye know not when the master of the house cometh at even, or at midnight, or at the cock growing, or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he finds you sleeping.

[1:27] And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. Watch, he says. In other words, be on the alert, be on the lookout, keep awake, be vigilant.

[1:40] A lot of people are watching Hollywood. And I saw this article lately that the goal of Hollywood really is Satanism.

[1:50] In effect, there is that implicit way of Hollywood that is ungodly. Of course, there's the odd movie that's not so ungodly.

[2:01] But by and large, and it's interesting, I was just talking to Julie lately, how it's interesting that the word Broadway is associated with Hollywood. Isn't it? And of course, we know what the Bible says about the Broadway.

[2:15] The Broadway. It says, Entering in at the straight gate, for wide is the way, broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in there at.

[2:27] And it's interesting also, Hollywood, of course, the word Hollywood is after the witch's wands, which were made of the holly. The witch's wand was holly wood.

[2:38] So, was that just coincidental, that Hollywood is what propagates all the stuff people watch nowadays? So, I'm putting to you, I'm not encouraging you to watch that, the Broadway, the Hollywood, but to watch for the saviour.

[2:55] Amen? Isn't that something we ought to be watching for? He says, Be ye ready. He says, Watch ye. He says, Prepare for his coming. And we know there's a broad way, and many go that way, but thank God there's a narrow way.

[3:10] The straight gate, the narrow way, which he says leads unto life. Few there be that find it. Of course, he's talking of himself. Friends, the Lord Jesus is the narrow way.

[3:21] There's not a broad way that leads to heaven. Not many paths lead to heaven. There's only one way that leads to heaven. One, and one only. The Lord Jesus himself. He is the way.

[3:32] The way. The truth. The life. And no one comes to the Father but through him. So, we should watch out. Friends, watch out. The time of his coming, again, will be a time of three things.

[3:45] I put to you, deceptions, distress, and distractions. Our Lord says, Take heed. He says, Take heed to deceptions. Deceptions. It says in Matthew 24, verse 4, Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

[4:02] Take heed. Be careful, he says, that no man deceive or mislead you. And again, in like manner, Luke 21, verse 8, And he said, Take heed. That word again. Take heed that you be not deceived, for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ.

[4:19] And the time draweth near. Go ye not. Therefore, after them. It's interesting. There's a group in Adelaide, and they actually made an inquiry.

[4:30] They wanted to actually hire this hall. They wanted to have a meeting here. And I did some research, and they're called Eastern Lightning. And, or also called the Church of the Almighty God.

[4:41] And they got some flashy videos on YouTube. In fact, one of my friends was saying, this is a great little video. And sure enough, it looked quite fine and dandy. But it's interesting, this Church of the Almighty God, they're quite, high-rating YouTube channel.

[4:58] They believe that Jesus has returned. He's already here. The Lord Jesus, they say, has returned. They've got a branch in Adelaide.

[5:09] A church in Adelaide. Jesus has returned. Actually, he got reincarnated. They're telling us that there's a Chinese woman who is Jesus Christ today.

[5:22] And they worship her as Almighty God. That's the Church of the Almighty God, is this Chinese woman who is supposedly Jesus Christ returned. And people are believing this.

[5:34] No less than four million people. Four million people believe this falsehood, this lie from Satan, that Christ has returned.

[5:45] The Lord Jesus says, people are going to come in my name. They're going to say, I'm Christ. Wow. It's happening. And we see all kinds of mishmash of things here.

[5:57] We've got the Pope of Rome siding with a man, a Muslim imam. And here's the co-founder of Christophilies.

[6:07] Islam. Christlam. As if Christianity and Islam can somehow be syncretised and be one faith. We're not just talking about ecumenism like multi-denominationalism.

[6:20] This is multi-faith. This is going to one hole, ramping it up one step further. And then we see all manner of deceptions, friends. The prosperity gospel. We see some churches are like a rock concert or a circus.

[6:34] There's a lack of Bibles, a lack of holiness. There's multiplied false cults. It's the new age. We see the new age as there's a book called The New Age or The Old Lie.

[6:46] Really, the new age, the supposed new age, is the old lie of Satan in the garden. You shall be as gods. You know, the devil is still, it's packaging it different, but it's the same old lie that you shall be as gods.

[7:02] We've got all manner of deceptions today. Friends, we've got men walking around in dresses that kiss the ground and millions flock to hear them. In some churches, we've got, in times past, they had men dressed like wrestlers, breaking baseball bats and karate chopping ice blocks and ripping up phone books, blowing up hot water bottles till they explode and they're doing it in the name of Jesus.

[7:24] So that makes it proper to do such a thing in church. That's what they think. It's as if there's a flood tide of evil going on, isn't it? A flood tide of evil going on.

[7:36] And some have said doctrine divides. So don't talk about doctrine. You might upset somebody, tread on somebody's toes. But you could actually more truly say, not just doctrine divides, forget about Bible teaching, but actually it's more truly to be said, doctrine divides, yes, doctrine divides truth from error.

[7:59] So we need sound doctrine to discern truth and to distinguish it and we need the truth to show the error for what it is. Friends, the devil is a deceiver. He always has been.

[8:10] The Lord Jesus says, take heed that no man deceive you. The devil's a deceiver. It's his modus operandi. He's cool. He's hip. He's popular. He wears a cloak of righteousness.

[8:21] He's got ministers. He's got churches. He's got the synagogue of Satan. He's a TV preacher. He preaches from the Bible. He's got a crowd, a church with a crowd.

[8:32] You know, there's people like that today. And look at the Bible, the book of Revelation, as we've been looking at it on Wednesday nights of late. And five of the seven churches were weighed and found wanting.

[8:45] Five of the seven. Deception. It's something the Bible speaks of. We could picture from Revelation, yeah, five out of the seven. We've got a lot of work to do. Two of them were praised that we're blessed of God.

[8:59] And we see deception, friends, I put to you on a massive global scale today. And the Lord Jesus says, we can't expect it. We should watch for this deception. He says, Matthew 24, verse 10, then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another.

[9:16] This is massive. Many, many shall be offended. Many shall stumble. Many shall fall and be tripping up over the truth of the gospel.

[9:26] Many shall be offended. They shall turn and betray one another. There's Christians going to, you know, there's professing Christians going to hate one another, betray one another. We see in Matthew 7, our Lord says, some are going to say, Lord, Lord.

[9:41] You know, they're going to use all the Christian lingo. Have we not prophesied in thy name? In the name of cast out devils. In thy name, I've done many wonderful works. Lots of miracles and wonders and signs.

[9:52] The Lord Jesus says, many will say to me. And then it reads on, I never knew you. They were never saved. Many. So we should watch out for deception.

[10:03] Secondly, we should watch out for distress. The Bible talks about days of distress in the latter days. Days of distress and terror. It says in Luke 21, verse 9, but when you shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified.

[10:18] For these things must first come to pass, but the end is not by and by. It's not yet. I just saw this on today's headlines. Fierce war is imminent as China appears ready to invade.

[10:31] That's the headlines to today's newspaper. Alarming signs. Friends, there's a Bible filled with alarming signs. You know, what could this spark?

[10:42] If the, you know, Taiwan, the South China Sea, we know, it's a tinderbox out there. What could happen? The Bible says, wars, you'll hear of them.

[10:53] Commotions, riots, disorder. Be not terrified. Don't be scared, he says. These things must first come to pass. And he reads on in Matthew 24, verse 6, alike to that.

[11:04] You shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you be not troubled. Don't be troubled. Don't be terrified. These are days of terror. These are perilous times, days of trouble. But he says, be not terrified.

[11:17] See that you be not troubled. Don't be alarmed. Don't be disturbed. Don't be frightened. Believers in Christ, we've got no reason to be alarmed or fearful or frightened or disturbed because it's all part of God's plan, isn't it?

[11:30] It's all part of God's master plan. There's a lot of terrified and troubled Christians. We're seeing, you know, I put to you, and this is my kind of perception of it, you might differ from some of this, but we're seeing manufactured crises, mandates, nanotechnology, potentially, in some of the things that they're administering to people, where there's much raving about green energy despite the potentially devastating consequences to our future.

[12:00] And it's interesting, there's a whole lot of talk about depopulation. Depopulate. There's too many of us. You know, put your hand up and we'll exterminate you. Some of you, there's too many of you.

[12:11] We've got to wipe some of you out. That's, honestly, that's what people are believing and they're actually making money out of it as we'll talk further. You know, for example, people like Bill Gates, this is a recent story.

[12:25] He's warning that there could be some bioterrorists that could release smallpox. You know, Matthew 24, 7 says, there shall be famines and pestilences. The Bible says such a thing.

[12:36] Bill Gates has not been reticent in putting forward his agenda is depopulation. He says, there's too many of us. We've got to save the planet. There's too many humans. In fact, the book of Revelation talks about depopulation.

[12:51] Some major depopulation events are yet to come. Now, we reckon there's about 8 billion people on planet Earth today. 8 billion. The fourth seal will kill one-fourth of the population.

[13:04] Then the sixth trumpet will kill a further third. And then, this would basically cut the world population in half. Then, bowl 6 and 7 talk of even more devastation.

[13:14] The time will come when he will utterly sweep away everything alike to, as it says here in Zephaniah 1 verse 2. He's going to utterly consume all things from off the land.

[13:26] There's going to be a mass wipeout of people. The Bible says that this will happen. But friends, there's no need for you to be alarmed as God's people because he will keep us from the wrath.

[13:38] Friends, there's also talk of a great reset coming. Moves to cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. You know, your cash might one day be worthless. There's talk of how there's laws in Victoria where they can just seize your bank accounts and take all your money.

[13:54] There's some scary stuff out there on the world's media. There's a rising new world order as governments across the globe fall into line. And we see that's the intent of this new world order that ultimately there'll be a one world leader, a one world government, one world currency, one world religion.

[14:13] It's a takeover plan. And these are moves, these are things that are in the newspapers, they're on the media at the moment. These moves that we see, it's a preview, I think, of the latter days yet to come, of the end times the Bible tells us of.

[14:29] And there's moves today to strengthen the overreaching powers of government over the people. We see what's happening in Victoria at the moment. We see a lot of control, mass mind control, medical martial law, tyranny, slavery.

[14:42] Here's another recent story. Apparently the United Nations want to vaccinate children across the globe without parental consent.

[14:54] So it doesn't matter if you've got a problem with the vaccine, I know there's different views amongst us on the subject, but if you're saying I don't want my children to get that, the UN can overrule you as a parent.

[15:05] There's plans that way. This is horrendous. There should be such an imposition that we have to fall into line with big pharma, foreign powers dictating what we do. This is the reality we're living in and we should be concerned but in a spiritual way be prepared.

[15:23] That's my point today. We're getting used to emergencies. You know, the government chops and changes and just says tomorrow at midnight they're going to change all the rules. That's what they're like, isn't it?

[15:34] We're used to that now. Lockdowns, shutdowns, business closing down, talks of vaccine passports and digital IDs. Here's another thing that Bill Gates is dabbling with.

[15:46] A global ID system that everyone's going to get this and of course he's going to get his little bit of money from every person which amounts to billions.

[15:57] Friends, there's curfews, there's travel restrictions, there's this surveillance state and all of this too, there's much fake news. So you go to mainstream media and you don't hear any such things and the mainstream media is against truth and freedom.

[16:13] There's significant censorship that's happening about all that we can and can't hear. Here's an interesting little slide. Of course, all scientists agree. You know, they say that the science says, of course, all the scientists agree when you censor the ones who don't because it's not a, they don't all sing from the same songbook.

[16:34] There's people with discordant voices but you can't hear them because they're muzzled and they're de-platformed and shut down. That's what's happening and you see that there are accounts you can get, media, I can tune you into some.

[16:49] Some it's a little bit out there, a bit controversial but nevertheless, I think it's right that we should hear every side of the story so we get a full picture. We can be fully informed and we can do our own research but at the moment, everything's filtered.

[17:04] The fact checkers are biased against the truth. They're only getting one version of it and so, I put to you, this is what's happening and one of the recent stories here, this is an Australian story, is that Australian doctors are basically told, don't talk against the jab and they're stopping these stories about the adverse reactions.

[17:27] They don't want that to get out there. There are adverse reactions from this vaccine and there's questions about the long-term result and I know some of you are already vaccinated and I don't mean to alarm you or disparage you for making your own personal choice but there's some of us who are making the personal choice to say, I don't want that and we're not getting the full story about everything that's going on.

[17:48] There's a lot of social engineering and the end is not yet, the Bible says. I put to you, you ain't seen nothing yet. I think this is, I think we're in the, what's it called, the waiting room for the next phase and the four horsemen of the apocalypse are getting ready.

[18:06] They're saddling their horses. You know, conquest, war, famine, death. Things are going to get pretty hot and the Bible talks about the final hour so the Lord Jesus says, watch out.

[18:17] He says, watch out for deceptions. He says, watch out for these, the distress, the distress of the nations. You know, of course it's Jacob's trouble but there's a distress that's planet wide and thirdly, there's distractions.

[18:32] We read Luke 21, 34. Again, our Lord says, take heed. He says, be on guard, take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged. It's got the sense of burdened or weighed down.

[18:45] He says, don't let your hearts be weighed down, overcharged with surfeiting which means a headache from drunkenness. You know, you don't want to have a hangover when there's something serious going on.

[18:56] You know, steer clear of that stuff, right? You don't want a headache from drunkenness and drunkenness and cares or the worries, distractions of life and so that day come upon you unawares, unexpectedly, suddenly.

[19:12] In other words, be careful not to waste your time on worldly feasting and drinking and worrying about worldly things. Start getting spiritually prepared. Amen? Who wants to be prepared?

[19:24] We should be preppers in the right sense of that. Some people are going to be unprepared. They're not going to be prepared. He says, what? Some people, the day's going to catch them unawares, unexpectedly.

[19:36] We're seeing today, friends, I put to you and these are things that are happening. This is contemporary. This is current affairs. This is current events. Here's a picture and Julie and I watched the video and it's quite shocking where churches are being attacked.

[19:51] Such an assembly as this one. This is a picture of a church in Canada. Now, it is a bit of a funny church. They got some funny ideas, this particular church.

[20:02] But nevertheless, they chose, they made a conscious a conscientious decision, a decision of conscience to continue meeting when the government of Canada wanted to shut all the churches down.

[20:16] And so the police walked in and you can see the video of them as it happens. They sang a hymn, On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand. And friends, police are forcibly entering churches and closing them down.

[20:32] And we're not talking about communist China. We're talking about a so-called free democratic nation, a church in Canada here. As they just sung, On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.

[20:44] And the police march in and basically usher everybody out and they bolt the door so they cannot worship in that building anymore. They lock the doors and they fine the church tens of thousands of dollars.

[20:57] This is happening in recent weeks, recent days. What about us? Are we prepared? Are we prepared? Or are we distracted?

[21:08] Here's another slide of another pastor getting arrested. You know, dragged out of his home, forced into a police car, taken away, ushered away, his family in tears.

[21:21] This is Canada again. And it's happening all over, friends. It's happening where there's so many distractions. There's lies. Watch, friends. Watch, believers.

[21:32] Watch how you spend your time. It's easy to get caught up with all the cares and carry on of this unbelieving world and some people are just going to be caught on the hop, not really prepared for the ramping up of what lies ahead.

[21:45] The Bible talks about watching and praying. They come together. Watch and pray. They're two peas in the pod. We see that here as our Lord says in Luke 21, for a snare is going to come like a trap for an unwary bird.

[21:59] It's going to have the trap, this bird catcher's trap that catches that bird unawares as the picture of it. This trap will come, this snare, and it shall come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

[22:13] Watch ye, he says. Watch ye, therefore. Keep awake. Keep alert. Watch ye, therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and stand to stand before the Son of Man.

[22:29] So watching and praying comes together. Our Lord says, number one, to prepare, watch. And it's allied with prayer. Watch and pray, sister. Watch and pray, brother.

[22:41] Here's a quote. If an army advances on its stomach, a church advances on its knees. We need to pray. We need to pray. Keep on praying. We need to intercede. Here we will see God's power.

[22:53] It's been said, the worst sin is prayerlessness. That's a telling statement, isn't it? And prayer moves the hand that moves the world. So brother, sister, pray.

[23:05] Pray without ceasing. Pray always. There's a Latin proverb, to work is to pray. So let your work, let your prayer be working, let your working be prayful.

[23:16] The prayer leads us to action. Brother, sister, it's time we rose up. Here's another telling image. This is where it's most dangerous to follow Jesus. Notice we're in that little nation down there on the right, bottom right corner.

[23:30] And that's shaded black. There's no, it's not dangerous to follow Jesus here. It's not dangerous. And yet our brothers and sisters, as we see in the orange areas, in the yellow, this is called the world watch list.

[23:49] It shows modern day, modern day persecution of Christians worldwide. Friends, we're talking about the second coming of Christ. There's basically two ways to be ready. We've looked at the first one, be watching.

[24:02] Watch out, watch for deceptions, watch for distress, for distractions. Watch and pray. Be praying while you're watching. And the second way, to prepare for the coming of our Lord.

[24:14] Be watching. Secondly, be working. Be working. Now, I know Julie says, I'm always preaching works. You know, serve the Lord. But we should. We should be working.

[24:25] We should be a functioning, active, occupied, engaged Christian, a busy, working Christian. Our Lord's got work for us to do, and you're the ones who are going to do it. The Church of God.

[24:37] We're called to that. We're called to be working. Our Lord says this, blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. In other words, working, functioning, occupied in the master's work.

[24:50] The Lord commends that one in the parable here, the one that he finds at work, doing his work, doing a good job. And friends, we do have a Christianity that works, not a passive, stagnant, inactive one.

[25:03] There's no excuse for slackness. Every one of us can do something. It's been said, do what you have, where you are, with what you have. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.

[25:15] Our Lord tells of a time coming when no man can work. We've only got a limited time to work. One day, we'll be ushered into the next life, and that'll be the night.

[25:28] We can't work then on this planet. And friends, we all have only got so much time to work, only so much capacity. Of course, be careful also with your working that you don't be so busy in the kingdom that you don't have time for the king.

[25:43] Sometimes we get busy, busy, busy, doing ministry work, and we don't actually have time for the king. And, you know, that's a trap too. But nevertheless, we're called to be energetic for the Lord and involved at work.

[25:58] There's a work for all to do, to bring them in, as it were, as the picture here of this parable of the great supper, and of the context, it says, as some were, many were invited, but they all made some excuse.

[26:11] They come up with some excuse. Then the master, he was really angry. It says, the master which speaks of the Lord, our Lord, and he calls the servants, he was angry. In other words, he was passionate.

[26:23] This was an affront. This exasperated the master of the house. He became angry. He said to his servants, go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor, the maimed, the halt, the blind.

[26:38] Bring them all in. The beggars, the crippled, the lame. Bring them all in, he says. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou has commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled.

[26:55] That's the heart of God to see souls reached. Friends, another parable, he tells the servant, occupy till I come. We should be occupied with the things of God.

[27:07] In other words, be active. Work in the kingdom. Now here's a picture of one of our number. You might recognize this young fellow. This was yesterday at a doorstep in Elizabeth South.

[27:21] Friends, there's work to be done and this work that we all can do. Maybe this might be too hard for some. I'm not saying this is everyone's cup of tea, but there's ways we can witness, isn't there?

[27:34] There's ways we can tell another soul and what better message than to tell a soul of the Saviour. We're all called to the King's business. We're all on a mission. Some of us, we can give out tracts.

[27:45] We can do letterboxing like we talked before. We've got 20,000 leaflets. Maybe you could take 10, 100, do your street. There's things you can do.

[27:56] Surely you can. Surely you can. God helping you. Even if you're shut in, you can send them by letter to souls. Reach out. Tell another while you can, while you've got breath, be invested in his mission.

[28:12] We're all called to mission, to be engaged, employed in his service. And even our Lord says, he was challenged as he had come astray from his parents. He says, didn't you know that I must be about my father's business?

[28:25] You know, the father's business, that's for all of us. We all should be engaged in the business of our Lord. To be faithful, to be trustworthy. Some Christians will say, I'm willing to be a servant, I just don't want to be treated like one.

[28:44] Sometimes you're going to be treated like a servant. You know, be a doormat for Jesus. Don't care if you might serve and there's no recognition. You might do things, give things, you know, be an active servant of the Lord and you might not get much pat on the back.

[29:01] In fact, you might just get criticism. But be willing to be a servant and be willing to be treated like one. Here's what the Scottish missionary David Livingston said. He said this, people talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa.

[29:17] Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blessed reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter?

[29:29] Away with the word sacrifice. Say rather, it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering or danger now and then with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink.

[29:47] But let this only be for a moment. All these things are nothing when compared with the glory that shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.

[29:59] Here's a man who left the fair country of Scotland to go to a land of great danger and darkness, a land darkened where the gospel was scarcely there, a land where it was commonplace to be speared to death and he says, I never made a sacrifice.

[30:21] Friends, let's be encouraged by such an example today. We see the Bible says it's required in stewards that a man be found faithful. And friends, let's serve from the heart.

[30:33] Don't serve because the pastor puts you on a guilt trip and says, we need a bus driver, we need someone helping in the IT booth, we need someone helping the youth group, we need someone to cover for the Sunday school.

[30:46] Don't do it because I'm saying it, do it because, yes, God's put that in my heart to do. Because I can see I want to serve from the heart because I love Jesus, that's why I want to serve.

[30:58] Not because you hear a heavy message that makes you feel like you've got to say, okay, pastor, all right, I'll reluctantly put my hand up. I don't want that. I don't want you to feel badgered or coaxed or bribed even.

[31:14] I just want to say, I want to serve the Lord and I'd love to do that. I'd love to do that for the glory of God. That's what we want. Amen. And lastly, friends, it says, little children abide in him that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him that he's coming.

[31:31] Friends, he's coming. He's surely coming. Some people are going to be ashamed before him that he's coming. They're going to be caught out. They're going to be thinking, oh, I blew it. I didn't take the opportunity that I should have had.

[31:43] I didn't take that ministry, that service that I could have rendered, that witness that I could have given, that love that I could have given to another soul, that message of the gospel.

[31:57] I should have told someone and I didn't. I failed to do it. Woe betide us. We don't want to be ashamed before him that he's coming, do we? How much time have you got?

[32:09] Nobody knows. Some of you could outlive me by decades. Some of you might only have days. Friends, time is short.

[32:20] And when he shall appear, are we going to have confidence before him? We're going to say, yes, Lord Jesus, I'm ready. I'm not going to be ashamed. It says abide in him.

[32:31] So friends, be prepared. And it's not just for the Boy Scouts. Be prepared. It's for all of us as believers in Christ. Prepare for his coming. We may have confidence before him at his coming.

[32:42] Not be ashamed before him at his coming. Of course, the absolute essential way that you can be prepared is to know the Saviour. Friends, you know, I could be preaching to you and you could say, oh, I'll try to be a better Christian.

[32:57] Well, if you're not saved, you can't be a better Christian because you're not one. You've got to be saved. That's how you get, you've got to be saved and that's by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's saying, Lord, none of me, all of you.

[33:10] None of my works, all of your finished work. None of any good that I can render. None of any wonderful works that I can do, but all of your finished work at the cross, all of you, Lord, all of your blood shed for me, all of your love ministered to me, all of your gift on my part, I receive, I trust.

[33:31] And he renders to us his own righteousness. He gives to us all of his promises, all of that assurance, that heart peace, that forgiveness of sins, that washing, that cleansing, that new heart, new mind, new life, that conversion, that new creature in Christ Jesus.

[33:48] Jesus, that's how to be prepared. And then as such, as such a new creation, then think, what more can I do? Out of love for him, let us pray.

[33:59] Lord, we thank you for your coming is surely closer every day. Lord, help us to be such a prepared people that we'll be ready at your coming. We won't be ashamed.

[34:11] We'll be watching, we'll be working, we'll be aware of deception and the distress and the dangers of our time, the ways of the world that we see seem ever more, more and more signs of that closeness of your coming.

[34:26] Lord, help us to be such a people that will be ready. Help us to be finding that place to serve, to take every opportunity we can, while we can work, because night is coming when no man can work.

[34:39]  In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.