Are you ready?

Introduction

Well, Good Morning. If there is anyone I have not had the privilege of meeting, my name is Conrad Proctor. I am a college student at OCC here in town and I grew up sitting where you are sitting now.

I was deeply honored when Jared reached out and asked if I would preach this morning. He texted me and said that they were going to have a college-kid-led Sunday, and asked if I would be willing to preach. I didn’t really feel worthy of this request, but I thought “sure, I’ll give it a shot.”

So he sends me the passage that I am to preach (and mind you, I am still pretty young and inexperienced with preaching, I certainly have’t preached here on a Sunday morning). I am sitting outside at a picnic table right outside the cafeteria at ozark, eating lunch and I start reading over this chapter and hear phrases like: “the abomination of desolation” and “how dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers” and “He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

I kind of chuckled and said out loud “thanks jared,” yeah i heard you were really, really busy with the garage sale, I’m sure that was it haha.

If you have you Bibles, go ahead and pull them out and turn with me to Matthew Chapter 24, Matthew Chapter 24. Jared has done a great job walking us through the gospel according to Matthew. Now while we are getting started, I need to give you a little bit of background. Jesus is with his 12 Disciples, they have just left a very heated discussion with the pharisees at the Jewish temple. We won’t get through the entire passage, but I want to give you this morning what I believe to be core of this chapter.

Lets read the first few verses of the text, chapter 24, verses 1-3 (read Matthew 24:1-3

Matthew 24:1–3 (NIV)

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Now when the

Of all forms of deception self-deception is the most deadly, and of all deceived persons the self-deceived are the least likely to discover the fraud.14

A. W. Tozer

The fundamental deception of Satan is the lie that obedience can never bring happiness.

R. C. Sproul

Are you ready? (focus your heart)

How do we get ready? (Reject deception).

How do you stay ready (preach the truth).

conclusion