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Okay, my goal is not to preach too long this afternoon. As you know, I'll be rushing to Brisbane Airport later this afternoon to catch my flight to Perth. If again, just keep that in prayer, just I want to keep reminding you guys, it's so important and we value your prayers for the big work that we'll be doing in WA. Now Matthew 24, I forgot how long the chapter is, thank you for the reading brother. But Matthew 24 of course is about the coming of Christ, the end times. I'm not teaching on the end times, though it is associated with the end times. Of course, what's wonderful about Matthew 24 is we're reminded that Jesus Christ is returning. He is coming back and the world is not going to continue as we see it. I remember being young in church and thinking that the world would just continue generation after generation and we're just trying to do the best we can to live a life that pleases God and I didn't understand that one day everything's going to change, that Christ is coming back. What is our response in light of that truth? We need to live day by day, we understand that, but are we just here to just make up the hours, make up the minutes, God's given us a certain number of days to live. What does God expect from us? If we look at Matthew 24, verse number 44, it says, words of Christ, therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. Therefore be ye also ready. The title for the sermon this afternoon is, are you ready? Are you ready, brethren? Are you ready for the coming of Christ? Are you ready to see Him face to face? Are you ready to be rewarded by the Lord? Are you ready to be judged by Him for your works? As I said, I don't want to preach too long this afternoon, but I've just got some thoughts. I was just thinking about myself and what does it mean to be ready? When you're saying, well, this person is ready, you're essentially saying this person is prepared. You might be getting yourself ready for work in the morning. What does that mean to get ready? Means you're preparing yourself, you're leaving on time, you're making sure you can arrive on time if there's a bit of traffic. If you've got to wear a uniform, you make sure your uniform's washed and ironed and it's ready to go for the day. You're prepared for what is required from you. What Jesus Christ is asking of us, therefore be ye also ready. He wants us to be prepared. He wants us to be ready folk, prepared for the life that God has given us in light of His coming. Now, that's the only thought that I want to take out of Matthew 24, if that's okay. But are you ready? I've got six points for you that you need to be ready about in this very day. If you can come with me to the book of Ecclesiastes. Come with me to Ecclesiastes chapter five. Ecclesiastes chapter five and this morning we're in the house of the Lord, this morning we're in the church, we're at New Life Baptist Church. Did you get yourself ready for New Life Baptist Church? Are you ready this afternoon to hear this sermon? In Ecclesiastes chapter five please, Ecclesiastes chapter five and verse number one, Ecclesiastes chapter five and verse number one, the Bible says, keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God. What does it mean to keep your foot? It means, what's it mean? Keep thy foot. It's saying, you know, like, what's it, what are you going to say? Be steadfast. Be sure. Yeah. What's that? Sorry. Consider. That's kind of weird. That's, you know what, it was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't figure it out. But yeah, consider. Before you walk into God's house, you need to consider what you're doing, okay? It's Sunday, you're coming to the, again, you're not going to just tick a box. You're coming to hear God's word. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, look at this, and be more ready to hear. Be more ready. Be more prepared to hear. Look, there's lots of things that we can do in the house of the Lord. We can sing in praises. We come to get together for fellowship and encouragement and to be a blessing and to be sent out and preach the gospel, but it says here, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not that they do evil. Brethren, I know we come to the house of God to sacrifice, don't we? We sacrifice our time. Some of you travel for hours to be in the house of God. You are sacrificing your time. And that's wonderful that you're willing to sacrifice, you know, our songs of praise are sacrifices of our lips toward our Lord God. But more so than all of that, he wants us to be ready to hear. And so, brethren, it's such a, again, a sobering thought for me or any other preacher that gets behind the pulpit. The main thing, the primary thing when it comes to the house of God is to hear the word of God, to hear the preaching. So we need to not just hear it, but we need to be ready to hear, meaning that we need to be prepared to hear. You know, many times when we go door-to-door soul-winning, we knock, you know, the doors of our community, don't we often say a prayer similar to, Lord, please go out before us. Lord, please soften their hearts. Lord, please, you know, bring to remembrance their concerns and their fears and their confusion about the afterlife, you know, so we can come along. We're asking, Lord, can you plow the ground for us before we get there? So all we need to do is just plant that seed in that ready heart, okay? Well, you need to be prepared to come to the house of God. You know, again, if you just come to tick the bar at Sunday, we've got to be in church, you've got to prepare your heart. You've got to soften your heart. You've got to say, Lord, if there's something that I need to hear today, can you please, you know, set that in my mind, set that in my heart. Lord, I've got to prepare for this. I've got to soften myself. Lord, if I have unconfessed sin, I've got to be made right with you. Lord, if I've been rebellious this week, Lord, you know, I'm sorry for that, but help me to be obedient and attentive to your word. Be prepared, bring your Bibles, listen to the preaching, listen to the reading. Be prepared to sing praises and be thankful to what God has given you, but it says be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not that they do evil. You know, the last thing I want us to do is we are sacrificial, we come to the house of God, and we don't want our sacrifice to be foolish sacrifices. So God says be ready to hear, be prepared, you know, set aside your distractions, forget what's happening this afternoon, forget what's happening tomorrow at work. Be prepared to hear the word of the Lord, and then it says in verse number two, be not rash with thy mouth. You know, we know this teaching, they'll be quick to speak, right? And let not thine hearts be hasty to utter anything before God. So he wants us to meditate. Before we just talk to God, before we just go to prayer, don't just rush into some prayer, be thoughtful about what you want to say to him, what, you know, how you want to speak to him. He says, for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few. I mean, it doesn't say here, I'll just say a few words, like just say, you know, just say 10 words to God, meaning that what he's saying is, look, instead of just saying foolishly, you know, gibberish and vain repetition that means nothing to God, be mindful about how you speak to God. You know, we come to God's house, we sing praises, we open the hymnals, please concentrate on the words that you're singing. You know, be mindful. We're saying these words to God, and I better be prepared about what I'm saying to God. I better be prepared to hear what he has to say to me this afternoon. Be ready to hear. And of course, in the book of James, you don't need to turn there, but we have the same teaching in James chapter 1, verse number 19, where it says, wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, or quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. You're better off speaking fewer words at church, as long as they're meaningful words, okay, than speaking a lot. And I think about this a lot when I'm preaching, because I've said to you, I've given myself 40 minutes to get through this sermon, okay. I've got less notes than I normally do. I have less verses than I normally do. And what's strange about it, when I prepare to preach a shorter sermon, and I tell you guys it's going to be a shorter sermon, it's often over an hour. I don't know why, because am I speaking too much? You know, we have to be, you know, man, I've been there, you go to churches, and it's just gibberish. Oh, we've got the guest preacher coming up here, he spends the next 15 minutes telling you some joke, telling you some story, you know, we're not even hitting God's word yet. Boy, I've been there, I'm like, man, the time's ticking along. I want to hear from you, Lord, you've told me to be ready in your house, to be ready to receive your word, but Lord, I'm not hearing the jokes. All I'm hearing is the communication of man. I mean, these are okay things to talk about, but maybe we can talk about that after the service. Maybe we can have a laugh after the service, but I've come to the house of God, I'm sitting in the congregation to hear your word. That's why we spend so much time on Bible verses and expanding God's words, but at the same time, I want to be careful not to just gibber on and just keep, you know, just going on about nonsense. You want to be careful about the words we speak in his house, and more so, so you can be ready to hear and to receive and understand what God wants you to receive. So brethren, in light of the coming of the Lord, are you keeping your foot, are you considering, you know, when you come to the house of God, that you're ready to hear, that your heart is ready and prepared to receive God's word. Come with me to Romans chapter 1, Romans chapter 1, verse number 13, Romans chapter 1, verse number 13. What else do we need to be ready for? Now again, I've got six things for you this afternoon. I hope some of these you can say, yep, I'm, pastor, I'm ready to hear. Great. Tick that off. But if there are things that are missing, then you need to take note. Okay? Well, you say, pastor, I'm not ready for this, you know, and if I'm not ready, this is an area of my life that I'm not ready, I want to be ready before the coming of the Lord. I want him to come and say, thou good and faithful servant. You did get ready. You did hearken to the instructions and the commandments that I gave you. Romans chapter 1, please, Romans chapter 1. I think it's funny because we turn to Matthew 24 and Romans 1, some of the favorite chapters of people in this church, but we're not hitting your favorite topics today. But Romans chapter 1, verse number 13, Romans chapter 1, verse number 13, Paul writes, Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was let hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the Gentiles. He's saying to the Romans, look, I can't wait to go to Rome. I want to bring forth fruit. I want to see souls saved, okay, just like I have in other places. You know, when we go to Perth, brethren, when we go to WA, we want to see fruit. We want to see people saved in that state as we've seen in other places. Then he says in verse number 14, I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. It's interesting that he says these words. He goes, I owe a debt to my fellow man. I owe a debt to the Greeks, you know, and to the barbarians. Barbarians were known as people that were not educated and the Greeks were known as those that are educated. He says, look, I owe a debt to everybody, regardless of your intelligence, regardless of your education level, regardless of your place in society, I owe a debt to everybody. He goes both to the wise and to the unwise. What is that debt? Verse number 15. So as much as it is in, let me read it again. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Reverend, the next one that I have for you, are you ready to preach the gospel? You don't have to go to WA to preach the gospel. You can just cross the street and knock your neighbor's door and give them the gospel. Are you ready to do so? When God opens an opportunity one-on-one with you and a loved one, one-on-one with a friend, one-on-one with a relative, one-on-one with a co-worker, when God opens that door of opportunity, are you ready to preach the gospel? Because you owe it to them. That's what the Bible says. You owe it. Now we don't want to, like, typically we don't like debt, right? Typically, like speaking, you know, it's not nice to take out a loan or take out a mortgage and now you know, oh man, I've got to pay seven years for that car loan. Like it's this kind of burden, all right? Well, there is this burden amongst God's people, okay? Where God has freely given his life unto us a free gift. Now we don't owe God anything because if we owed him something, then it's not free. People say that all the time. Oh, you know, I'm trying to live a life to pay God back for what he gave. You don't have to pay God. You'll never pay him back. It's impossible. That's why Jesus had to, if you could pay God back for your salvation, then you could have saved yourself to begin with because if you're paying it back, it must be possible. No, but we owe a debt to the rest of the world. We owe a debt to our community and that's why Paul says I'm ready to preach the gospel. It doesn't matter who it is. It doesn't matter if it's WA or it doesn't matter if it's Queensland. It doesn't matter if it's New South Wales. It doesn't matter if it's someone with a big mansion. It doesn't matter if it's someone that's homeless on the street. It doesn't matter who I come across. I'm ready to preach the gospel. Brothers and sisters, are you ready? Are you prepared? Are you prepared? Look at verse number 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. You know what that tells me? If you're not ready, if you're not prepared, you're ashamed. You're ashamed. You're timid. You're worried about what people are going to say to you. Or you just think, man, salvation is so easy. People are going to laugh at me. People do laugh at you, by the way. That's part of being prepared. Being prepared about whatever situation, whatever the outcome might be. Whether they receive it, praise God, or whether they reject it, you need to be prepared for what takes place. But are you prepared? Or are you ashamed? There's no in between. You're one or the other. You're one or the other. You know? And the last thing we want to be is ashamed. Right? And if you say, pastor, I am ashamed. I am timid. I am afraid. I am afraid what people have to say to me. I do have a fear of man. Okay, don't beat yourself up continually. Just say, God, God, I've got a problem. Lord, I see that I need to be ready for different aspects of my life. And I don't believe I'm ready to give the gospel. All right, Lord, help me. All right, I'm not here to make you feel horrible. I'm here trying to uplift you, edify you. It's okay, there's an issue. All right, Lord, you know I'm a weak man. You know I'm a weak woman. You know I've got limitations. You know I have struggles. You know that I'm self-conscious. Lord, can you help me have victory in these areas? And then, Lord, help me to open my eyes that I'm indebted to the rest of this dying world. You've given me the wonderful words of eternal life and I'm keeping that hidden to everybody else. Why am I doing that, Lord? Work in me. Open my heart. Help me to overcome whatever it is, the shyness, the timidness that I have, Lord. He continues in verse number 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. It doesn't matter what country you're in. It doesn't matter what nationality or race someone has. The gospel is the same across every race, across every nation. That's what's wonderful. Look, if you prepare yourself today, if you're ready to give the gospel today across the road from your house, you'll be prepared and ready to give the gospel anywhere you find yourself in the world. Any situation you find yourself in. Let me encourage you, if you haven't gone soul-willing, come out as a silent partner. Look, it's okay to be silent. You can be silent. Look, you're better off being a silent partner till the day you die than never coming out. You know why? Because you're an encouragement to those that do go out. You're an encouragement. You can fellowship and you can encourage and while someone else is preaching the gospel, you can be praying about that situation, praying for that individual. It's teamwork. Winning souls is teamwork. You know, and we want you to be part of the team. Are you ready to preach the gospel? Come with me to 1 Peter chapter three, please. 1 Peter chapter three. 1 Peter chapter three, verse number 14. 1 Peter chapter three, verse number 14. And by the way, preaching the gospel, you're preaching the simplest doctrine in the Bible. The easiest thing, level zero. It's literally level zero teaching. You know how you got saved. And by the way, there's such confusion in the Christian world because of bad terminology. And if you've got this terminology, let me encourage you, get it out of your system. What terminology? You talk to someone. Oh, you know, are you saved? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I invited Jesus into my heart. What does that mean? Look, is anything wrong with that in of itself? No, but what does that mean? Oh, I made him the Lord of my life. What does that mean? Because even the Catholics consider Jesus the Lord of their life. Don't they? You know, what else? I gave my life to Christ. Is that how you got saved? You gave your life to him? Or did Christ give his life to you? Like, there's a lot of terminology used out there, even within the Baptist world. And it's not even like, what does that mean? And you talk to people. And usually those that use this terminology, they have confusion. Either they're saved or they're just confused. I don't know. Sorry, unsaved or they're... Either they're saved and confused or they're unsaved. I don't know. Okay, but you know, there's a lot of people that go under the Christian umbrella. And they're like, they can't even explain to you what salvation really is. Oh, you know, but I'm following the ways of Jesus. And how do you know you're saved? Well, you know, I mean, I love the brethren. And it's like, people say everything besides, I've placed my faith on his death, burial and resurrection. What? Like, people say everything else. But I've placed my faith that he died for my sins. He rose from the dead. And I'm trusting that he's done everything necessary. Christ has paid the penalty. Christ has paid my way to heaven. And I know that he's done that for me. That's why I'm saved. It doesn't matter how you say it exactly. But that truly is salvation. Faith on Christ's sacrifice. And how many Christians struggle to say that? Again, confused, bad teaching, not prepared, not ready to give the gospel. Or they're just flatly unsaved and they're trusting something else besides the sacrifice of Christ. Like they know about it. So when you tell them about it, oh, yeah, yeah, I know about that. But that's not what they're trusting in. They're trusting that they've given their life to Jesus, whatever that means. They're trusting that they've made him the Lord, whatever that means. They've trusted that they've said some sinner's prayer, whatever that means. I'm not against sinner's prayer, okay? But have they trusted Christ? Have they put their faith on his death, burial and resurrection? Saying some prayer that Jesus please save me without understanding that by faith alone that he's done all the work necessary for you means nothing. It's like baptism means nothing. Unless you're first saved, okay? Then you do the baptism, you're taking that first step of obedience. Sorry, got a bit sidetracked. First Peter chapter three, verse number 14. First Peter chapter three, verse number 14. That's what I mean. I'm telling you, I'm trying to do a short sermon and then I got sidetracked. All right, first Peter chapter three, verse number 14. First Peter chapter three, verse number 14. Oh, yeah, because I was telling you, preaching the gospel, that's level zero. Okay, you're doing that. You're doing the minimum. You're doing what you owe. Okay, the next thing that you need to get ready for in first Peter chapter three, verse number 14. But, and if you suffer for righteousness sake, happier ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. Look at verse 15. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always. For what? To give an answer to every man that ask of you of a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. What's the next criteria that you need to be ready for? You need to be ready always to give an answer. Okay, always to give an answer. Meaning, you need to know a little bit more than just how to get saved. Now, that's a great answer to give. If someone asks you, how can I be sure of heaven? Great, if you can give them the answer, but that's not what I'm focused on right now. We're focused on any question that comes your way. They see you live in a holy and righteous life and they ask you why. Well, you can share with them what God has done for you. You can share why you love him. You can share with them the value of being in church. What are the advantages of living this clean, holy life? You can give them the answers. If they've got some question about the Bible or they've got some question about life and it's part of the challenge of them receiving the Bible as a true word of God, you need to be ready to give them some level of answer of the hope that is in you. See, the people see that hope in you. They see the excitement that you have for Jesus Christ and his return and it will cause people to ask you questions. Are you ready? Do you know the Bible well enough? Are you growing in your knowledge and understanding? Again, are you hearing God's word and accepting it and approving it from God's word? And are you growing in your own study and your own reading? I want you to apply all these things so you can give an answer to every man, any man that asks you of the scriptures. You know, one thing, one reason in my early, in my teenage years when I was afraid to give the gospel, I was, one reason I didn't go out soul winning earlier is because I was worried that people are going to ask me questions and I'm not going to be ready to give them the answer. I was like, oh, they're going to ask me questions about evolution. They're going to ask me questions like, if it's a Buddhist, I need to know about Buddhism and if, you know, every false religion, I need to know a little bit about every false religion and I forgot, all I need to know is the Bible and I need to know the gospel because that's what I'm going for. I'm going to give them the gospel and then what you find at the door, you're the expert. Like, you know, you just know some basic truth of God's word and without getting sidetracked, you know what you're talking, they don't know what they're talking about and you bring them back in line with what you're trying to share with them and there might be questions and I've shared with you a few times where in order to get someone saved, I had to systemically debunk doctrine after doctrine after doctrine of their false beliefs, okay, not because they were trying to get me sidetracked but because I realised these were hindrances of them accepting the gospel but I was able to help them through that to see that the false religious system was wrong in order to then put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone but we need to have a little more knowledge of God's word. Being saved is wonderful. You've done level zero. Level zero because it requires zero effort from you. It's all the work of Christ, okay, but as you grow in knowledge, you get to level one and then level two, you know, you're drinking of the milk of the word of God and you're growing to take in, you know, the meat of God's word. You know what? The more you know God's word, the more opportunities God's going to open the door for you that people will come across you and ask you questions about your faith. Are you ready for that? Are you ready to give answers? Or are you the Christian that well, I mean, I only open the Bible when I go to church. I'm not ready to show anybody anything. Look, sometimes people ask me questions about the Bible and I've got to stop. Like, I don't have every chapter and every verse memorised in my head and every story. I still get confused sometimes with the king's names and the stories of certain kings. I know the story, but I'm like, which one was that again? There's a lot in the Bible. There's a lot to consume. There's a lot to remember, but what you'll find is when people are asking you questions, you are the subject expert because if you spent time in God's word, well, you should be and that's what you need to get ready for. Are you ready to give an answer? Are you ready to give an answer? You know, the Bible says in Psalm 45 verse 1, I'll read it to you. My heart is indicting a good matter. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Psalm says my tongue is a ready pen, ready to pen down some words. Is your tongue ready? You know, when someone asks you a question and it may not even be Bible related. It just might be life in general. It might be about society in general, but if you know what God's word says and how He wants society to be and why society is breaking apart because we've gone contrary to God's will, you're able to share that information. You know what I also like about first picture of the free, it says be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you. Then it says with meekness and fear. Meekness. Okay, it's not about showing off. It's not about looking down on people that don't have the understanding that you have. You've got to be meek. You've got to be lonely about it. You know, and listen to what they're saying. Think of them as a real human being. Think of them as someone who is lost, someone that God loves and cares about. And I bet with great fear toward my Lord God and humility toward my fellow man, I better make sure I give an answer that will satisfy their question. Are you ready to give an answer? Come with me to first Timothy chapter six, first Timothy chapter six, first Timothy chapter six, verse number 17, first Timothy chapter six, verse number 17, first Timothy chapter six, verse number 17, verse number 17 says, so Timothy is a pastoral epistle. So you've got the apostle Paul teaching pastor Timothy how to teach his church. Okay, and we know that in our church, there's all kinds of people. Okay, different backgrounds, different experiences, and different levels of riches. All right, verse number 17, charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, you know, people with big bank accounts and possessions and wealth, often high-minded, you know, looking down on people, but not God's, we should not be like that as God's people, nor trust in uncertain riches. Just because you've got a big bank account doesn't mean that's going to be your safety net tomorrow. I mean, that bank account can go to zero tomorrow. All right, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. So someone that is wealthy, if you go to, if you're wealthy, and by the way, I truly believe that all Australians are wealthy. So apply this, because look, look how it started, charge them that are rich in this world. If you've never left Australia, go to Southeast Asia, go to South America, go to Africa, look, just open your eyes, and then you come back to Australia and you truly appreciate how much you've got. You are rich in this world. So this is for you anyway, okay? Don't trust in your uncertain riches, okay, trust in the Lord. But then verse number 18 says that they do good and they be rich in what, in good works, look at this, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. So the next point that I have for you brethren is you need to be ready to distribute. God has given you such wealth here in Australia. God has given you so much. But you know what? Sometimes there's a time of need. Sometimes there are people that are lacking, people going through difficult times, a brother or sister in the Lord, you know, having some challenge that's fallen upon them. Are you ready to go to your bank account? And you know what? Say, Lord, you want me to be ready to distribute. Remember, ready means to be prepared. If you say to me, pastor, if I take this out of my bank account, I literally have a bill to pay tomorrow. Well, then you're not ready to distribute. Leave it for your bill, okay? Because you should pay your bills. You should pay what you owe, okay? Don't, but to be ready means to be prepared. It means when you earn your paycheck, don't blow it all. Don't use it all up. Keep a little bit on the side. Get ready. You know what? You know, as your bank account builds and builds and builds, slowly your savings builds up, it may very well be that the Lord will lead you to a situation where you can be a blessing to someone in need, ready to distribute. Look at verse number 19. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. God says if you're willing to distribute your wealthy goods, if you're willing to help out in a time of need, God makes sure that in eternal life, he's going to reward you abundantly for what you've given. But you need to be ready to distribute, ready to be generous. You know, distribute, you know, to the house, the needs of the house of the Lord, amen, for sure, okay? But other needs that might pop up. You know, my practice is to have a buffer in place, you know, and for me, because we're almost 14 in my family, I think about a thousand dollars, maybe inflation has destroyed a little bit, but a thousand dollars per head in case of rainy day. But more often than not, in that buffer, in my bank account, I barely touch it. More often than not, if a need comes up where someone is in some financial challenge or having some issue come up where I'm able to take from that buffer, okay, because I've prepared, I've got myself ready for that, where I can take that out and be a blessing to someone else. And then in time, I'll build that buffer back up where it needs to be. But I'm ready in that regard. I'm ready to give, you know, and this is what the Lord's asking of us. Can you please come with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 9? Come with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 9. And I'll be honest with you, I don't even like, I never like preaching about money. I never do. There are topics in the Bible that I just don't like to preach, like, you know, honouring your pastor or, you know, giving to the house, because I don't want people to have this impression on me that that's what I want. But you know what? I just thought, oh, we need to get ourselves ready. I'm going through the Bible. What do we need to be ready about? Oh, we need to be ready to distribute. Okay, so this is in God's Word. This is what he's asked of us. But I want you to learn from the mistake of the Corinthian church. If you look at 1 Corinthians chapter, oh, sorry, 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 9. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. I'll give you the context. You read about this in the book of Acts. And there's a famine that hits Judea. It's affecting the churches in Jerusalem, affecting God's people, the saints in Jerusalem. A big famine, they're going without, you know, they're having a hard time. The fellow Christians. So Paul, read it for the book of Corinthians. He goes church to church to church, asking, look, can you please do a collection together, a special collection. This is not your regular tithe given to the church. This is a special collection for the saints in Judea. You know, can we come and help them in a time of need? And in first, he actually brings this up in 1 Corinthians. And according to 2 Corinthians, the entire church was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're going to give to the, we're going to give to our brethren. You know, we want to be at help. We want to distribute. You know, we want to be a blessing to other people. But then we get to 2 Corinthians and it still hasn't happened. Okay. So the Corinthians church, they're all, they're all words. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm ready to distribute. But when it comes time to actually, you know, open their wallets, that's a harder process. I take their wallets out and give to what a special donation to the brethren in Judea. So in 2 Corinthians, chapter nine, verse number one, he says, for as touching the ministry into the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you. So this is ministry into the saints in Judea. Okay, if you get the context of this all. Verse number two, for I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaea was ready a year ago and your zeal have provoked very many. So Paul's gone from church to church and goes, you know what, when I told the church in Macedonia that you guys were just ready to give, they got excited and they did a collection themselves. They're thinking, oh man, look how we're all coming together. You know, we love our brethren. We're all going to give to this, this noble cause. He goes, yeah, yeah, you guys got your hearts ready a year ago. It's been a year and nothing's come through, is what he's saying. Okay, you said, yep, we'll give to the needs. A year goes by and the church still hasn't given. I mean, we know the Corinthian church is a really messed up church for several reasons. This is another reason why. So it's funny because other churches are getting excited because they think the Corinthian church is like, oh, there's just this generous church. But again, it's just, it's just, it's just noise. Their hearts aren't really right, okay. Then he says in verse number three, yet have I sent the brethren lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf, that as I said, you may be ready. Again, they've been ready. So he said, look, I'm sending brethren to you to get the collection. I don't want them to turn up in vain. All right, Corinthian church, we're ready to, you know, that offering that you've collected a year ago. Remember that, remember? It's like that's your Jerusalem. And it's like, it's empty. It's like, why do we come all this way? So Paul is kind of rebuking them at the same time, encouraging them. A bit of mix happening here. Verse number four, lest happily, if they of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared. You can see the relationship between being ready and prepared. Okay, they're not ready. They're unprepared. We, that we say not ye, should be ashamed in this same confident boasting. He goes, man, not just you guys, but we're going to be ashamed. If we all come and we expected you to give, all these other churches have given because they've been encouraged by your words. And we come a year later and there's nothing to give. So this church, Corinthian church, we're not ready. They thought they were ready. All right, they had the zeal to say they're ready. They said, yeah, we'll empty our bank accounts to help our brothers across the land. But they weren't ready. And so brethren, you need to be ready to distribute. God has given us so much, so much. I stress sometimes about bills and things to pay. But really in light of it all, man, we have so much. And I think if you really pay attention and set aside, you know, the fleshly desires, you'll come to realise, Lord, you've blessed me so much in Australia. I have so much. You know, I've been so encouraged by the brethren in Western Australia. One reason I didn't want to go to WA is because it is expensive to fly there. It's like I said, it's like flying an international distance and the costs are high. You know, we're not big churches that can finance these things. And I don't mind financing these things. We've done it before as a church, but it's so wonderful when you see the hearts of the brethren over there saying, hey, we'll cover that cost. Hey, we'll pick you up. Don't worry about that. Hey, we'll take care of the accommodation. Don't worry about it. Hey, we'll cover the cost of the flights. I'm willing to give this much. We just want you guys over here because we need to learn how to go soul winning. We need to be encouraged by brothers and sisters. We want to see you. And we've been blessed with a good church. Let's not take our church for granted. You know, if you know what the Lord might, you know, we take the church for granted, the Lord might close the doors of this church and instead of people in WA want it more than here, you know, and it takes it over there for whatever reason. You know, we don't want to remove the candlestick that we have here on the Sunshine Coast. Instead of being removed and taken to WA or something rather, let's start a new candlestick in WA, if that's what the Lord wants. But see, I love the hearts of the brethren. When they can appreciate and they see what we have and we don't appreciate it. It makes me sad. Makes me sad. You know, I'm not saying we don't appreciate it, but I think after you've got a church for years and years and years, it's normal for you. Or this is what we've got. This is going to continue, assuming that it's going to continue. I'm very thankful for COVID. Very, very thankful, you know, for closing our doors, you know, for reminding us that we're not guaranteed to have church tomorrow or next week. You don't know what could happen around the corner. But you know, the work of God, the ministry and the needs of the saints. We need to be ready to distribute. We need to be ready to help out in a time of need. Come with me to Titus chapter three. Titus chapter three and verse number one. Titus chapter three and verse number one. Titus chapter three and verse number one. Okay, I've got three minutes to get to my last two points. Titus three one. Titus is another pastor and has been taught here. Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers to obey magistrates. But the next point is the issue. To be ready to every good work. Reverend, are you ready to every good work? Verse number two. To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle. Showing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient. I'm reading this list here because I want you to notice the opposite of being ready for every good work. Okay, because you could be like this. Because even Paul says for we ourselves also were sometimes. Because even we're sometimes like this. Because foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. Reverend, in order for us to be ready to every good work. You know, everything that you apply your hands to. Mothers, your cooking, your raising of the children, your teaching. Every good work. Men, when you get up and you go to work and you spend time with your family. You know, you guide your children, your friendships, your relationships. You know, your service to the house of the Lord. Wherever God will allow us to do something of productivity. God wants us to be ready to every good work. To give our best for the Lord. But in order to do that we must lay aside like we saw. The foolishness, the disobedience, the deception. As we saw that list in there in verse number three. And very quickly Hebrews 13 20, I'll read it to you. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus. That great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Make you perfect in every good work to do his will. Working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. To whom be glory forever and ever amen. I'll read verse 21 just beginning. Make you perfect in every good work to do his will. So now we know what it means to be ready to every good work. That everything we do is aligned with the will of God. How you raise your family is aligned with the will of God. How we operate church is aligned with the will of God. How we serve our employers on the job is aligned with the will of God. How we go across the country to do a soul winning marathon is aligned with the will of God. This is how we prepare ourselves to be ready to every good work. Second Timothy chapter four please. Second Timothy chapter four verse number six. Second Timothy, oh last point, last point. Second Timothy chapter four verse number six. So the first five points. Are you ready to hear? Are you ready to preach the gospel? Number two. Number three. Are you ready always to give an answer? Number four. Are you ready to distribute? Number five. Are you ready to every good work? And the last one. And the last one, I'll put this last for a reason. Because I'm not ready yet on this last one. Okay and I think the majority of us would say yeah I'm not ready yet pass on this one. Okay. Second Timothy chapter four verse number six. Paul says for I am now ready. What are you ready for Paul? To be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. Paul is ready to be with the Lord. Paul says I'm ready to go. You know my time is short now. Any moment now the Lord's going to take me home to be with him in heaven and I'm ready for that. He's not saying I'm ready because I'm saved. What he's saying is I've done everything God's asked of me. I've accomplished his mission, his plan for me in my life. I know I'm not ready to be with the Lord just yet. I know the Lord has a lot more work for me to do. A lot more work. There's a lot more to do. I know the Lord has a lot more work for New Life Baptist Church to do. And bless it up Baptist Church. There's a lot to do. There's a lot to do. So I don't feel that I'm ready. Like I'm ready. I'm looking forward to being with the Lord. If the Lord ends my life today praise God I'm ready for that. I'm ready to face him. But I'm not ready in the sense that I know there's still a lot more work that God wants us to accomplish okay here in Australia. And he says in verse number seven, I have fought a good fight. So he's gone fighting. He's a soldier of the Lord. Okay he goes man I've served in the army of the Lord. I've finished my course. He goes man I was on the race and I ran. I ran well. I've got to the finish line. I've kept the faith because I've been faithful all the way. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day. He's so confident. He goes the Lord's going to give me this crown of righteousness because I'm ready to go. I've done everything he's asked of me. And then he says and not to me only but unto all them that also that love his appearing. So it's not just a gift to Paul. This is Paul is saying we can all have this crown. We can all have this crown of righteousness but we need to be ready to be offered unto the Lord. Have we really lived the life that he wants us to live? Have we really accomplished the works that he wants us to accomplish? And so I'm not ready. I'll tell you now. Again if the Lord says you are ready it's time for you to go all right praise the Lord. Can't wait. Can't wait to see him face to face. Can't wait to get rid of this simple flesh. But I feel like in my heart there's so much the Lord wants me to do. So much to be done. And I hope it's not just my will but I hope it's the Lord's will. These things that need to be done. Kind of give me the confidence I'm not about to die tomorrow if the Lord has a lot more work for me to get done. Right? But we need to number our days. We haven't got forever. You know if you say by pass I've wasted my days. Well then okay fix today. You're in church great. Good start. Okay how can you serve the Lord tomorrow? How can you serve the Lord on Tuesday etc etc etc. Okay the Lord's given you a day so you can continue and finish the work that he's asked you to do. He wants you to be a soldier in his army. He wants you to run that race. He wants you to remain faithful unto him. I think it'd be wonderful to get to that point in life where you can say Lord I've made mistakes in life. I could have done better but I've done everything you've asked of me and I'm ready to go to be with you for eternity. I think that'd be such a peace. It's being saved has a great peace but then a peace where I know when I like the confidence of Paul I'm going to get that crown. The Lord's going to reward me when I see Christ is going to say that good and faithful servant. I want to hear those words. I don't want to hear oh you made it. How good and faithful good and faithful servant. There's only one chance to hear those words. If we waste the days that God has given us well you're going to be in heaven praise God. Like I said it's level zero. Christ has done all the work for you. Okay but what are you going to give the Lord in return? So brethren in conclusion those six points. Number one are you ready to hear? Number two are you ready to preach the gospel? Number three are you ready always to give an answer? Number four are you ready to distribute? Number five are you ready to every good work? And number six are you ready to be with the Lord? Let's pray.