The Revelation Of Jesus Christ: “…Of that day and hour knoweth no man…”

 

Matthew 24:, the companion passage to Rev 6:, tells us…

 

 

 

Mat 24:36-44 KJV

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

 

In this section of Matthew 24, we come face to face with a very simple, yet important, principle.  This principle is stated in vs 36,42 & 44…

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

 

What is this principle?  NO MAN knows the exact time of the second coming of Christ.  Thanks to the signs of His coming, all mankind is constantly reminded that He is coming again and, in response, we should be forever vigilant and waiting.

However, our text clearly tells us that all of the lost and many of the saved will be caught unawares.  This principle is then illustrated in three ways:

1. vs 37-39 – Just as in the days of Noah, men will not see the urgency of preparing for His coming nor change their lifestyle in any way.  They will be preparing for a future, uninterrupted life on earth by continuing to marry and make plans for future marriages, eating and drinking to give them strength for the coming day.  Looking for the Lord’s second coming will change our lifestyle and plans for the future.

2. vs 40-42 – Two men in the field and two women grinding at the meal. In both cases, the saved is taken the lost is left.  In both cases, He came unexpectedly to both lost and saved.  In both cases, lost and saved were not prepared for His coming.   We should never think that, because we are saved, we are exempt from being unprepared for His coming.

3. vs 43 – The coming of the thief caused great harm and loss because the master of the house was not prepared for his coming. When a person is unprepared, whether lost or saved, great loss will ensue.  For the lost they will be condemned to the Lake of Fire for an eternity, failing to trust in Christ as their Lord and Savior.  For the saved, it will involve a great loss of reward and opportunity to glorify God on earth and in heaven.

 

Are we prepared for His coming?

 

For an in depth look at these sections of the Revelation & Matthew:

Seals 1-4:   http://wp.me/pU88A-3TJ

Next weeks’ posting – Seals 5-6:   http://wp.me/pU88A-3Uc

Matthew 24: http://wp.me/pU88A-IW