SUCCESS FAVORS THE PREPARED

PROCLAMATION

“Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.”  Nehemiah 4:23 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

Chapter three of The Bible Book of Nehemiah reveals how the Israelites were assigned sections of the wall to rebuild. (Nehemiah 3:1-32)  The priests and the people went to work rebuilding sections of the wall as they were assigned. Some of the people were assigned to rebuild the sections of the wall which was near their homes. (Nehemiah 3:10)  Chapter four recounts the opposition they encountered while rebuilding the wall. Their enemies said that they would sneak up on them and kill them to stop the work on the wall. (Nehemiah 4:11)  Some of the men worked while others stood by armed with spears, shields, and bows and arrows.  In some cases, men did work with one hand and held a weapon in the other hand. (Nehemiah 4:16-18)  They kept their weapons with them at all times and slept fully clothed. (Nehemiah 4:23)

APPLICATION

There is an old saying, “Stay ready so you won’t have to get ready.”  Preparation beforehand is always better than waiting until the last minute to get ready.  In this case they stayed ready for battle.  Today, however, we need to be ready for and stay ready for the coming of The Lord. The Bible says, “… be ye also ready …” because we know not the hour or the day when The Son of Man will come. (Matthew 24:44 and Luke 12:40)  We need to humble ourselves, pray for forgiveness, and turn from our sinful ways before Christ returns. (2 Chronicles 7:14) 

Blessed Is The Servant Whom The Lord Finds Doing Good

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  But understand this; If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.  So you also must be ready, because The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.  'Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?  It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.' "  Matthew 24:42-46 (NIV)

The Apostle Matthew, the former tax collector, recorded this parable which Jesus spoke to His disciples regarding the end of the age, (Matthew 24:3-36), the rapture of The Church, (Matthew 24:40-41), and His return to earth. (Matthew 24:44)  He told them to keep watch and be ready, because not one knows exactly when He will return.  He then taught them using a parable that the wise and faithful servant will be doing the work which he was assigned when The Master returns.

Since no one knows exactly when Christ will return, we need to prepare now for His return.  It is said that we need to get ready now, and stay ready, so that we be ready when He comes.  If we stay ready, we won't have to worry about trying to get ready when He comes.  Just as in the days of Noah, the people would not turn from their sinful ways before the flood, and after the flood came, it was too late for them. (Matthew 24:37-39)  It would be better for us today, if we were like the good and faithful servant. (Matthew 24:45 and Matthew 25:21 and 23)  Blessed is the servant whom The Lord will find doing good works when He returns. (Matthew 24:46)  

You Should Also Be Ready

"So you also must be ready, because The Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him."  Matthew 24:44 (NIV)  The King James Version (KJV) renders this verse as "Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not The Son of man cometh ."  Matthew 24:44 (KJV)

The Apostle Matthew, the former tax collector, recorded these words which Jesus spoke to His disciples when they asked Him about the coming of the end of this age. (Matthew 24:1-2)  After He gave them a number of things to watch for as signs that the end is near, then Jesus said to them be ready, for no one knows the exact time judgment day and The Lord God will come.

The Boy Scout motto is "be prepared."  It would be a good idea for us to be prepared, to be ready, just in case The Lord comes back sooner than is anticipated.  We know that He is coming back because He said that He would. (John 14:2-3)  We just don't know when He is coming back.  He said that He would come back when we least expect Him to come.  When He returns He is coming for His Church, and if you are not part of The Church and one of the believers in Christ, then you will be left behind.  We get ready for a lot of things, we need to get ready for the coming of The Lord.  While disaster preparedness may take hours, days, or months to complete, getting ready for Christ, to those who believe, can be accomplished within minutes.  All one has  to do is believe and accept Jesus, The Christ. (John 3:16, Acts 16:31, and Roman 10:9)  Get ready, He's coming back, "Be ye also ready ..."

Be Ready To Defend Your Belief In God

"But sanctify The Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear..." 1 Peter 3:15

We should all know why we love The Lord and we should be prepared to answer anyone that questions us about that love of God and we should be able to tell them what He has done for us.

We should all know what we believe, why we are Christian, and be able to articulate that humbly, thoughtfully, reasonably, and Biblically to anyone. (MacArthur)

A defense of one's beliefs is something we all should be able to do with Bible references and life examples.