Matthew 24 - Be Ready - Part 3
Be Ready: Matthew 24 - Part 3 - 4/22/26
Islamic End Time Beliefs
In Islamic Eschatology (End time study) there will be an End Times Messianic figure called the Mahdi who ushers in the end of the world and paradise in Islam.
What Islam believes the Mahdi will do.
Looking at Ezekial 38 as End Times Prophecy, then what we see at the end is a group of nations in the world gathering against Israel. They wage a multi-front war and it looks like Israel will be destroyed, but then -
Jesus steps on the scene! He will come on a white horse, with a tattoo on His thigh (a name that only He knows), Fire in His eyes (A refining fire), sword out of His mouth (His Word), and Jesus will destroy the nations that have risen against His people.
Ezekiel uses the names in biblical times. But I want to look at the modern-day names a moment. All of this has a purpose.
All but one of those nations today is Islamic. Russia is Orthodox. However, the fastest-growing religion in Russia today is Islam.
Christians should love the muslim people - God wants all to be saved!
However, we should pray against (Spiritual Warfare) the Islamic Faith. It is demonic, it enslaves people, and it destroys.
All of this brings into focus Luke 18:8 “Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth when He comes?” & Matthew 24:45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
On the Coming of the Son of Man
Daniel 7:13–14 — "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven… He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him."
Matthew 24:30 is a direct quote of this passage. Daniel's "Son of Man" is a heavenly figure who receives universal dominion from the Ancient of Days. Jesus applies this title to himself — a breathtaking claim of divine authority. The "coming on the clouds" is the language of God coming in judgment and salvation, not just a description of physical transportation.
On the Unpredictability of the End
1 Thessalonians 5:1–4 — "Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night… But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief."
Paul echoes Jesus' "thief in the night" imagery from Matthew 24:43 almost word for word. The apostolic teaching is consistent: the timing is unknown, the arrival is sudden, but the community of faith should not be caught off guard because they are living in the light.
Readiness is not about knowing the date — it is about knowing Jesus!
On the Faithful and Wise Servant
Luke 12:35–48 — "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet… It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes."
Luke's version of the faithful servant parable parallels Matthew 24:45–51 and adds important detail, including the principle: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded."
Readiness is not just about waiting — it is about stewardship. Those who have been entrusted with more responsibility will be held to a higher account.
Living as Ready People
Matthew 24 is not primarily a prophecy chart or map — it is a call to a particular way of life. Jesus' final word is not "figure out the timeline." It is "be ready."
Here are five concrete, practical ways to live out this week what you've studied today.
1. Biblically Informed — Not Anxious Scrolling
This week, pay attention to how you consume news and social media. When you encounter alarming headlines — political crises, natural disasters, cultural conflict — practice pausing before reacting. Ask yourself: "Am I responding with informed, prayerful engagement, or with anxious absorption?" The disciple's posture toward world events is neither ignorant detachment nor fearful obsession. It is watchful, grounded in the word of God — rooted in the conviction that God is sovereign over history. Before you read or watch, pray a one-sentence prayer: "Lord, help me see this through your eyes."
2. Tend Your "Fig Tree" — Cultivate Spiritual Alertness
Spiritual alertness doesn't happen by accident; it requires intentional cultivation. This week, set aside time each day to read a portion of Scripture with this question in mind: "What is God doing in the world, and what is he asking of me right now?"
3. Love Someone Whose Love Has Grown Cold
Think of someone in your life, your church, or your community whose love seems to have cooled: someone who has drifted from faith, from community, or from warmth toward others. Reach out to them this week — not with a lecture, but with genuine, unhurried care.
4. Identify Your "Assigned Work" and Do It Faithfully
What is the work God has assigned to you — in your family, your workplace, your church, your neighborhood? This week, identify one area where you've been tempted to coast, delay, or cut corners, and recommit to doing that work with excellence and love, as if Jesus were arriving tomorrow.
Write down one specific task or responsibility you've been neglecting or half-heartedly engaging. Commit to giving it your full, faithful attention this week as an act of worship and readiness.
5. Pray the Lord's Prayer with Fresh Eyes
The Lord's Prayer ends with "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" — a prayer for the very consummation Matthew 24 describes. This week, pray the Lord's Prayer slowly, once a day, treating each phrase as a genuine petition rather than a recitation. Let the phrase "thy kingdom come" connect you to the hope of the parousia — the glorious, public, unmistakable arrival of King Jesus that Matthew 24 anticipates.
After praying "thy kingdom come," pause and ask: "What would it look like for God's kingdom to come in my specific circumstances today?" Then live toward that answer.
4. Matthew 24 ends with urgency, but the entire chapter is framed by Jesus sitting with his disciples on the Mount of Olives — a quiet, intimate moment of teaching between a teacher and his friends. In the middle of all the apocalyptic language, there is a relationship.
Jesus wants you to be ready not because he is a harsh judge, but because He wants a relationship with you and is a loving Lord who is coming for you.
The primary call of Matthew 24 is readiness, faithfulness, not calculation. If the conversation drifts toward date-setting or prophetic speculation, gently redirect: "Jesus' point isn't that we figure out the timeline — it's that we live faithfully regardless of the timeline." It is an act of trust in Him of His Faithfulness to us!
The "faithful and wise servant" is the climax. The entire chapter builds toward this parable. The question Jesus is really asking is: "What kind of person will you be while you wait?"
Question: If Jesus were to return today, what would you want to be found doing? Does your current daily life reflect a life of active, unwavering faith in Jesus?
The final call of Matthew 24 is: "Be ready. Stay awake. Keep working. Be FAITHFUL TO JESUS!"
What does that look like practically in your own life this week? What is one area where you feel you've been spiritually "asleep," and what would it look like to wake up in that area?
Keep returning to this.
In prayer keep these points in mind:
● Praise: Thank God for his sovereignty over history — that no war, disaster, or deception is outside his knowledge or control.
● Confession: Bring before God any area where you've been spiritually asleep, or letting love grow cold.
● Intercession: Pray for those around the world currently experiencing tribulation, persecution, or suffering — that they would endure with faith and hope.
● Petition: Ask God for the grace to be a "faithful and wise servant" in your specific season of life — to do your assigned work with love and excellence.
● Hope: Let us keep in mind the prayer of the early church: "Maranatha — Come, Lord Jesus."
Heavenly Father, we come with hearts that have been stretched and stirred. Thank you for not leaving us in the dark about the shape of history — that you have told us, through your Son, that the world's upheaval is not chaos but labor, pressing toward the new creation you have promised. Help us to live in that hope — not anxiously calculating, not spiritually asleep, but faithfully awake: doing the work you have assigned us, loving the people you have placed before us, and holding tightly to you and letting go of everything that is passing away.
Where our love has grown cold, Lord, rekindle it. Where we have thought you have delayed your coming and grown careless, forgive us and restore in us a holy urgency. And where we are weary from the weight of the world, from persecution, from the long waiting — remind us that the birth pangs have a purpose, and that what is coming is worth every moment of endurance.
Come, Lord Jesus. We are watching. We are working. And we are ready. Keep us Faithful!
Gog (Ezekiel 38:1–2, 7)
Islamic End Time Beliefs
In Islamic Eschatology (End time study) there will be an End Times Messianic figure called the Mahdi who ushers in the end of the world and paradise in Islam.
What Islam believes the Mahdi will do.
- He will emerge as a charismatic Messianic world leader during global crisis.
- He will take control of the world and destroy everyone who resists him.
- He will invade many nations & rule and reign for seven years
- He will broker a peace treaty with the Jews, conquer Israel, and massacre the Jewish people.
- He will establish an Islamic one-world government headquartered in Jerusalem.
- He will establish Islam as the only acceptable religion.
- He will come on a white horse with supernatural power.
- He will be assisted by a power prophet.
Looking at Ezekial 38 as End Times Prophecy, then what we see at the end is a group of nations in the world gathering against Israel. They wage a multi-front war and it looks like Israel will be destroyed, but then -
Jesus steps on the scene! He will come on a white horse, with a tattoo on His thigh (a name that only He knows), Fire in His eyes (A refining fire), sword out of His mouth (His Word), and Jesus will destroy the nations that have risen against His people.
Ezekiel uses the names in biblical times. But I want to look at the modern-day names a moment. All of this has a purpose.
All but one of those nations today is Islamic. Russia is Orthodox. However, the fastest-growing religion in Russia today is Islam.
Christians should love the muslim people - God wants all to be saved!
However, we should pray against (Spiritual Warfare) the Islamic Faith. It is demonic, it enslaves people, and it destroys.
All of this brings into focus Luke 18:8 “Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth when He comes?” & Matthew 24:45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
On the Coming of the Son of Man
Daniel 7:13–14 — "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven… He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him."
Matthew 24:30 is a direct quote of this passage. Daniel's "Son of Man" is a heavenly figure who receives universal dominion from the Ancient of Days. Jesus applies this title to himself — a breathtaking claim of divine authority. The "coming on the clouds" is the language of God coming in judgment and salvation, not just a description of physical transportation.
On the Unpredictability of the End
1 Thessalonians 5:1–4 — "Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night… But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief."
Paul echoes Jesus' "thief in the night" imagery from Matthew 24:43 almost word for word. The apostolic teaching is consistent: the timing is unknown, the arrival is sudden, but the community of faith should not be caught off guard because they are living in the light.
Readiness is not about knowing the date — it is about knowing Jesus!
On the Faithful and Wise Servant
Luke 12:35–48 — "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet… It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes."
Luke's version of the faithful servant parable parallels Matthew 24:45–51 and adds important detail, including the principle: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded."
Readiness is not just about waiting — it is about stewardship. Those who have been entrusted with more responsibility will be held to a higher account.
Living as Ready People
Matthew 24 is not primarily a prophecy chart or map — it is a call to a particular way of life. Jesus' final word is not "figure out the timeline." It is "be ready."
Here are five concrete, practical ways to live out this week what you've studied today.
1. Biblically Informed — Not Anxious Scrolling
This week, pay attention to how you consume news and social media. When you encounter alarming headlines — political crises, natural disasters, cultural conflict — practice pausing before reacting. Ask yourself: "Am I responding with informed, prayerful engagement, or with anxious absorption?" The disciple's posture toward world events is neither ignorant detachment nor fearful obsession. It is watchful, grounded in the word of God — rooted in the conviction that God is sovereign over history. Before you read or watch, pray a one-sentence prayer: "Lord, help me see this through your eyes."
2. Tend Your "Fig Tree" — Cultivate Spiritual Alertness
Spiritual alertness doesn't happen by accident; it requires intentional cultivation. This week, set aside time each day to read a portion of Scripture with this question in mind: "What is God doing in the world, and what is he asking of me right now?"
3. Love Someone Whose Love Has Grown Cold
Think of someone in your life, your church, or your community whose love seems to have cooled: someone who has drifted from faith, from community, or from warmth toward others. Reach out to them this week — not with a lecture, but with genuine, unhurried care.
4. Identify Your "Assigned Work" and Do It Faithfully
What is the work God has assigned to you — in your family, your workplace, your church, your neighborhood? This week, identify one area where you've been tempted to coast, delay, or cut corners, and recommit to doing that work with excellence and love, as if Jesus were arriving tomorrow.
Write down one specific task or responsibility you've been neglecting or half-heartedly engaging. Commit to giving it your full, faithful attention this week as an act of worship and readiness.
5. Pray the Lord's Prayer with Fresh Eyes
The Lord's Prayer ends with "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" — a prayer for the very consummation Matthew 24 describes. This week, pray the Lord's Prayer slowly, once a day, treating each phrase as a genuine petition rather than a recitation. Let the phrase "thy kingdom come" connect you to the hope of the parousia — the glorious, public, unmistakable arrival of King Jesus that Matthew 24 anticipates.
After praying "thy kingdom come," pause and ask: "What would it look like for God's kingdom to come in my specific circumstances today?" Then live toward that answer.
4. Matthew 24 ends with urgency, but the entire chapter is framed by Jesus sitting with his disciples on the Mount of Olives — a quiet, intimate moment of teaching between a teacher and his friends. In the middle of all the apocalyptic language, there is a relationship.
Jesus wants you to be ready not because he is a harsh judge, but because He wants a relationship with you and is a loving Lord who is coming for you.
The primary call of Matthew 24 is readiness, faithfulness, not calculation. If the conversation drifts toward date-setting or prophetic speculation, gently redirect: "Jesus' point isn't that we figure out the timeline — it's that we live faithfully regardless of the timeline." It is an act of trust in Him of His Faithfulness to us!
The "faithful and wise servant" is the climax. The entire chapter builds toward this parable. The question Jesus is really asking is: "What kind of person will you be while you wait?"
Question: If Jesus were to return today, what would you want to be found doing? Does your current daily life reflect a life of active, unwavering faith in Jesus?
The final call of Matthew 24 is: "Be ready. Stay awake. Keep working. Be FAITHFUL TO JESUS!"
What does that look like practically in your own life this week? What is one area where you feel you've been spiritually "asleep," and what would it look like to wake up in that area?
Keep returning to this.
In prayer keep these points in mind:
● Praise: Thank God for his sovereignty over history — that no war, disaster, or deception is outside his knowledge or control.
● Confession: Bring before God any area where you've been spiritually asleep, or letting love grow cold.
● Intercession: Pray for those around the world currently experiencing tribulation, persecution, or suffering — that they would endure with faith and hope.
● Petition: Ask God for the grace to be a "faithful and wise servant" in your specific season of life — to do your assigned work with love and excellence.
● Hope: Let us keep in mind the prayer of the early church: "Maranatha — Come, Lord Jesus."
Heavenly Father, we come with hearts that have been stretched and stirred. Thank you for not leaving us in the dark about the shape of history — that you have told us, through your Son, that the world's upheaval is not chaos but labor, pressing toward the new creation you have promised. Help us to live in that hope — not anxiously calculating, not spiritually asleep, but faithfully awake: doing the work you have assigned us, loving the people you have placed before us, and holding tightly to you and letting go of everything that is passing away.
Where our love has grown cold, Lord, rekindle it. Where we have thought you have delayed your coming and grown careless, forgive us and restore in us a holy urgency. And where we are weary from the weight of the world, from persecution, from the long waiting — remind us that the birth pangs have a purpose, and that what is coming is worth every moment of endurance.
Come, Lord Jesus. We are watching. We are working. And we are ready. Keep us Faithful!
Gog (Ezekiel 38:1–2, 7)
- The name of a person rather than a nation.
- Some scholars believe Gog is a title rather than a personal name.
Nations in the Alliance:
Magog - Modern-day “–stan” countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and perhaps Afghanistan)
- Home of Gog
- Noah's second son (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5; Revelation 20:8)
- Modern–day Russia
- Ruled by Gog
- Territories in modern Turkey
- The fifth and sixth sons of Noah (Genesis 10:2)
- Changed its name to Iran in 1935
- Fiercely opposes Israel today.
- Modern–day Sudan and Ethiopia
- Founded by Cush, grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:6)
- Sudan is one of Israel's greatest enemies
- The same as modern–day Libya
- Founded by Put, the grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:6)
- Has current ties with Russia
- Modern Germany
First son of Japheth, grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:2)
- "From the far North" (Ezekiel 38:6); Modern–day Turkey
- Third son of Gomer, great grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:3)
Posted in Matthew 24