Matthew 24:36-44 "No-one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 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 you do not expect him."

And also in Matthew 25:1-13 in "The Parable of the Ten Virgins." Are you ready to meet Jesus face to face today, this minute, this very second? What happens if you die right now or Jesus decides to come back right now? Will you be ready to meet him? If you stood before him now, what would you say to him? If you asked various Christians these questions, I am positive you will get different answers. Some might say with a little bit of confidence - "Yes, I'm living right. I think I'm ready to meet Jesus now." Others might say - "No, I need to work on a few things in my life first before I meet him." While yet others may say - "No, I'm not ready at all. I'm weak, I'm sinful, I have a little faith, I get anxious and worry all the time about trivial things, I don't do enough good deeds, I don't feel I know enough about God's Word and I'm surely not ready to meet Jesus now."

Is there anything wrong with the questions I just asked? Do these questions reflect the kinds of concerns we must have about being ready for Jesus? If you think that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the questions or think it is reasonable to suggest that we have to make every human effort to be ready for Jesus, WE FALL INTO THE TRAP THAT THE GALATIAN CHRISTIANS FELL INTO! In fact, we fall into the trap that many Christians fall into in the present day. So what is wrong with the questions I asked about what WE should do to be ready for Jesus? What kind of trap did the Galatian Christians fall into when looking at this kind of question?  

 Read Galatians 2:15-21 / 3:1-3. The problem with the questions I asked is that all of the questions rely on OUR efforts, on HUMAN effort to be ready to meet Jesus. I fell into the same trap myself over the years as a Christian. I've often thought of the question: "What must I do to be ready to meet Jesus?" And most times I came up with the following answers: 

I've heard so many sermons preached on what WE have to DO to be ready to meet Jesus. And Paul warns the Galatians that human effort or mere obedience to rules or laws cannot make us ready to meet Jesus. So if these can't make us ready, what will?   I believe 4 key elements taught in the Scriptures will!

Note Paul's key words "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" Two of the key elements are contained in this passage alone: the grace of God and Christ dying. And what about the third and fourth elements? What about the Holy Spirit of God and our faith? Paul words again in Galatians 3:3-5 "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing - if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?" There are the third and fourth elements: the guidance of the Holy Spirit and what you believe (your faith).

James tells us that faith and deeds is what actually saves us. Correct! However, we need to understand what actually prepares us and what the essentials are which make us ready.   What use is it to do good deeds only and not to have the correct understanding of the favour and mercy extended to us through God's grace, the value of Jesus' sacrifice for us, the life-saving guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the benefits of our faith in God and his Son, Jesus Christ?

Here are some examples of how our own efforts cannot gain us salvation and make us ready. Muslims do good deeds. Buddhists do good deeds. But are these people going to be ready for Jesus when he comes back? No! Why not? They won't be ready because they do not share in the grace and mercy of God. They do not value the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to take their sins away. They do not have the guidance of God's Holy Spirit indwelling them and they do not believe or have faith in God's appointed Son, Jesus Christ. Are they going to be ready with all of their good deeds and sacrifices? No!   Are they going to be ready even if they cloister themselves away in monasteries and hide themselves away from the sinful influences of the world? No! Are they going to be ready by doing hundreds of years of good deeds? No! Because their beliefs are built on the wrong foundation!

And we Christians are in danger of not being ready for Jesus if we build our beliefs and hopes on the wrong foundation as well. On the foundation of HUMAN effort! On the foundation of observance of laws and rules! Or on good deeds only! If you died and an angel asked you "What qualifies you to enter into God's Eternal Kingdom of Light? Are you trying to enter on the basis of your good works?" What will you say? Can you say with confidence "I deserve to enter because I was a "good" Christian or because I brought a thousand sinners to Jesus, or because I am so handsome I deserve to go in or because I was an Evangelist or because I was an Elder or Deacon. What will you say? The ONLY thing you can say is this:

I am an unworthy sinner saved by the grace of God. I claim the blood of Jesus. No good deeds I've ever done qualify me to enter. The blood of Jesus and the grace of God make me ready to enter into God's Eternal Kingdom of Light.

We have to understand that our readiness can only come from God himself. Only He can make us ready and justify us. Only He can proclaim us righteous. Only He can proclaim us "Not Guilty" and allow us to be ready to spend eternity with him. Only He can give us entrance to Heaven because we believe in His Son, claim his blood as the remedy for our sin and live our lives to serve him. We have to understand that we are mortal sinners who stumble from day to day praying for guidance.   We don't deserve to spend eternity with our Glorious and Holy God and His remarkable Son, Christ Jesus.   Nothing we can do or say can make us ready to meet Jesus. The Scriptures teach that all our good works are like filthy rags before God. 

Let us look at the parable of the ten virgins. What was remarkable about this parable? All ten virgins were given the light (spiritual enlightenment) and all of them knew that the bridegroom was coming (they had prior knowledge of the impending return of Jesus). Why did Jesus say 5 of the virgins (believers) were foolish? They did not stay vigilant. Rather, they became complacent and through time, lost their hope, desire and longing for Jesus. They fell asleep spiritually - they did not keep their eyes and focus on Jesus. Rather, they allowed themselves to be lured away from the protection of Jesus and lost hope. When Jesus returned without warning, they were not ready for him. Their lamps were going out - the light of Jesus in their lives were being extinguished due to lack of faith, hope and neglecting to remain vigilant. They were too late in desperately trying to revive the light of Jesus in their lives. 

Notice something? Does this parable say anything about Jesus allowing the virgins to enter because they did good deeds? No - it says that some were ready (vigilant and kept the light and hope of Jesus alive in them) whereas others were not ready (not vigilant and who allowed the light of Jesus to dwindle in them). Does this parable even mention that the virgins were visiting the sick, leading the blind, giving money to charity, spending all their time in worship services, doing Bible Studies, praying continuously? No. Because these alone DID NOT MAKE THEM READY! And I am not suggesting that we should not do these things. However, we must understand what makes us ready and keeps us ready for Jesus. 

Our faith in Jesus and in his saving grace will keep us ready. The guidance of his Holy Spirit will keep us ready. Remembering the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf will make us ready. And then doing good deeds OUT OF THANKFULNESS to God will keep us ready. Even after serving as a committed Christian in the service of God for 50 - 60 years, when we come face to face with Jesus, what are the ONLY words we can say? Lord, I am a worthless sinner saved by grace. Thank you for saving me by shedding your blood on the cross and giving me your grace and mercy. We can't boast about how many good deeds we've done or the money we've given to charity. We can't boast about financially supporting Evangelists or our exemplary church attendance record. And we certainly can't boast even if we do 1000 Gospel outreaches.   The only thing we can boast about is the saving grace of Jesus on the cross, shedding his blood to atone for our sins.

As we look forward to meeting Jesus face to face and as we hope for and call for his return, let us remember that Jesus himself makes us ready to meet him. And in response to his love and sacrifice for us, we do good works and live obedient lives before God. These things will make us ready to meet Jesus. These are the things that will justify us before God and make us ready to spend eternity with him.