A. "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not." - Luke 12:40
B. The Bible has a great deal to say about readiness, getting ready, being ready, staying ready
1. It will be profitable for us to consider some of the things the Bible says about readiness
A. Ready to pardon - Nehemiah 9:17; Ready to forgive - Psalm 86:5; Ready to save - Isaiah 38:20
1. Think of how good it is that we don't need to wait for God to get ready to save us
2. God is willing, able, and ready to save us
a. Regarding Jesus - Hebrews 7:25
b. There needs to be persuasion, but it is men who need to be persuaded, not God - 2 Corinthians 5:11
3. We need to be thankful that He is a God who's always ready
B. When we desire the forgiveness of sins, we don't need to wait for God to be ready - 1 John 1:9
1. God is ready to pardon, forgive, and save. What needs to be done is to persuade men to be ready to be pardoned, forgiven, and saved - 2 Corinthians 5:11
a. We need to be reconciled to God and not Him to us - 2 Corinthians 5:20
2. We ought to be thankful to God that He is always ready. He is a ready God
1. We ought to be more ready to hear than to offer the sacrifice of fools
2. What is the sacrifice of fools?
a. When we offer as our own worship - Matthew 15:9
b. When we presume that something is acceptable - Psalm 19:13
c. When we do not hear and do what God has said, we become fools before God
3. We need to be ready to hear and do God's word
a. Some very simple but important questions:
(1) "What has God commanded?"
(2) "What does the will of God teach?"
b. The Word itself becomes the standard by which we are saved, how we worship, and whether we will be judged in the last day - John 12:48
4. We need to receive God's Word with all readiness of mind and humility - Acts 17:11; James 1:21
A. Peter said - 1 Peter 3:15
1. We must study the Word of God to be able to do this
2. Consider the essential attitude in the first part of the verse
a. First and foremost, God needs to be set apart in our hearts
b. When He has been set apart in our hearts, we will gladly give a defense (literally, "apology") of our hope
(1) The word "apology" meant, at first, simply to give an answer or defense for one's belief, attitude, or action, but later it came to mean to give an answer or reason for one's fault or failure.
c. Our "hope" is the very foundation and motivator of our religion - 1 Peter 1:13
d. We give an answer or defense with humbleness and gentleness, and at the same time with awesome respect toward God - 2 Timothy 2:24-26
A. This is not teaching that if someone begs, pleads, beseeches, and finally persuades and coaxes us, we consent to do a good work
1. It says, "ready." Preparation has been made in advance
B. What are some of those good works? Consider those in context
1. Titus 2:1 - Speak the things which benefit the sound doctrine
2. Titus 2:2 - Older men are to set a good example
3. Titus 2:3-5 - Older women are to teach the younger women
4. Titus 2:6 - Younger men are to be sober-minded (of sound mind)
5. Titus 2:7-8 - In all things we show ourselves to be a pattern of good works
6. Titus 2:8 - We let no corrupt speech proceed from our mouths
7. Titus 2:9-10 - We are diligent and faithful workers
8. Titus 2:11-12 - We live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world
9. Titus 2:13-14 - All of these things are part of being ready for the Lord's coming
A. The question each of us need to ask ourselves is, "Am I ready?"
1. Matt. 22:4 - "All things are ready..."
2. God has a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Pet. 1:5), and all those who are ready will go in - Matthew 25:10-13
3. The Lord is ready to forgive and save, and at the same time He is ready to judge and condemn - Hebrews 7:25; James 5:9
B. Again, the question that each one of us needs to ask himself, "Am I ready?"
1. If you are not ready, why not get ready?
-- Don Treadway, May 2011 --
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