Can anyone help me out?

What are these two passages saying?

Matthew 24:44
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Luke 12:40
Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

I've heard some say the day and hour we cannot know are those when the earth and heavens pass away due to placement in the passage.

I've heard some say that this terminology is specifically said so that we will seek to know the day and hour, which may be the very hour and day of Pentecost when God's Holy Spirit was poured out (the 3rd hour of the day...9am).

I've heard some say we simply won't know and are not given to know anything.

But, what do the passages above mean in terms of any of this? In an hour when I think not?

What is that?

Thanks.

In Christ,

Mike

Hi Mike,
Useing the Amplified Bible.
Mt.24:40)You also must be ready therefore,for the
Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not
expect Him.
(in the flesh).Jesus can come at any moment.Like
maybe:you were taking a shower.Would you expect
to hear the shofar,while taking a shower.(ONLY)
An example.
Also in Lk.12:40.Jesus is telling His people to be
ready at all times.
Bless you,
Hope that answered your question about the
scriptures.
Star

I think our Lord is admonishing His saved to stay on the look(up) for His return for its purifying effect upon His own, since we don't know the hour.



Our God has told us to pray without ceasing, so, I believe our God desires we keep watch without ceasing . . . .

keeping watch, looking up . . . I see His command for us to stay ready, as wonderful encouragement.

I like Matthew Henry's commentary:

. . . "Christ is our Master, and we are his servants; not only working servants, but waiting servants.

We must be as men that wait for their lord, that sit up while he stays out late, to be ready to receive him.

In this, Christ alluded to his own ascension to heaven, his coming to call his people to him by death, and his return.

We are uncertain as to the time of his coming to us, we should therefore be always ready.

If men thus take care of their houses, a daily thing, let us be thus wise for our souls.

Be ye therefore ready also; as ready as the good man of the house would be, if he knew at what hour the thief would come".

Mike, do you know me? I have a suspicion you might be a Mike I know and I'm just checking. I'm not really sure why I think that, it's not like Mike is an unusual nam e or anything....I just thought I'd ask.

In Christ,

John

Email: murleyj@gmail.com

My thoughts on this is He does not have to come on a Feast day...like Passover, Pentecost or Rosh HaShanna...Tabernacles...could be at Hannukkah or Christmas time when most do not expect Him....

In other words it is imminent...since 1948 or 1967...after that He could come any time. Most likely when His Bride is ready....He has been working on her for many years...many are already up there and He still has some He is working on. COME QUICKLY LORD JESUS!!!

GOD BLESS...Virginia

Email: varnke@roadrunner.com

Website: RITA

Mike,

To me it means that He could come BEFORE a time that we are expecting Him to come, BUT not after.

That He may surprise us!

Email: scuggers1@gmail.com

Website: www.biblebelievers.com/

Scuggers, it's amazing how you think like me.

I was praying a couple of hours ago and asking the Lord to please not let me get my hopes up so high unless this was real. And I asked Him if He's not going to rapture us on Pentecost to please do it before and not after.

Wow....I guess great minds think alike huh? LOL

Email: murleyj@gmail.com

1 John 3:1-3 (Amplified Bible)

1 John 3
1SEE WHAT [[a]an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him.
2Beloved, we are [even here and] now God's children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be [hereafter], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall [as God's children] resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He [really] is.

3And everyone who has this hope [resting] on Him cleanses (purifies) himself just as He is pure (chaste, undefiled, guiltless).

Wow, John, It sounds as though it's an answer to prayer and confirmed through the RITA forum!!! So that all of us would be blessed!

Chills!

Email: scuggers1@gmail.com

Website: www.biblebelievers.com/

I'm not thinking he's coming back this hour--- so maybe He will???

Exactly. Not only that, but check out what it says in Matthew 24:46-50

46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.

47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.

48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’

49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards,

50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of

The Lord is warning us to be ready at all times, and to not get into the trap into thinking that His coming is delayed, as not to eat and drink with the drunkards in a backslidden state. This encourages us to want to live holy lives, like He is coming tomorrow.

Thanks for all the great replies, and the very appropriate scriptures. What LOVE our Lord has for us!

What I take from your answers and the Lord:

BE READY! Don't let the the flesh, the world, and its system lull your mind into complacency, for the Devil as a roaring lion is seeking many to devour. LOVE the truth, so as to be saved! Jesus is the TRUTH! Let him by his Holy Spirit root out the little foxes (SIN) in me that spoil the vine, having my mind washed by the water of his WORD!

I love the following passage:

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

May I, by God's Holy Spirit, purify myself by his word much as a bride looks over herself in a mirror to make sure that every little detail has been checked.

I love my Lord. I long for his return. I pray so earnestly for my lost relatives/friends/acquaintances that they would all be granted repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

As a serpent lifted up on a pole in the wilderness that all may look and be healed, so was he lifted up and sacrificed for all that will look to him. So really simple, isn't it!?

May the Lord keep you all until we gather before him ON THAT DAY!

By the way, good morning all! WE ARE ANOTHER DAY CLOSER!

In Christ,

Mike

P.S. WOW....thank you Lord!!!

Oh, to be in your book!

Malachi 3:16
Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

Email: mike@christark.org

Website: www.christark.org

Good morning all!

Yes, Mike, we are another day closer! Praise God!

I just wanted to post a link here to another thread I started yesterday where I copied and pasted an article form F.M. Riley that, I think, gives a good explanation of "No one knows the day or the hour" or "in such an hour as ye think not" could possibly apply here too:

Let me know what you think.

Here is the link to my thread with the article:

http://pub48.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=4086901292&frmid=13&msgid=952605&cmd=show

Email: murleyj@gmail.com

There are various teachings on that part of scripture as to whom is being addressed - (“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” Matthew 24:44), and I'm not absolutely sure as to the correct interpretation, but tend to wonder if the time being addressed isn't the Second Coming of Christ - that is at the end of the tribulation.

The following verses speak well to christians:

1Thessalonians 5:4-5 "But you, brethren are not in darkness so that that day should surprise you like a thief. You are ALL sons of light and of the day. We DO NOT belong to the night or to the darkness."

Also the following quote is not attributed to the church as many believe:

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14 (KJV)

"Some still take this to refer to the gospel of God’s grace that is being preached today, but such is not the case. Note that the Lord said “this gospel of the kingdom” will be preached. In other words it was the same gospel He and the disciples preached prior to His crucifixion and resurrection: “Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The Millennial Kingdom was being offered to Israel at that time and they refused it. But the same message will once again be preached during the Tribulation Period. In the meantime believers who are now living in the Church Age must preach the gospel of God’s grace, not the gospel of the kingdom being “at hand.”

This is another subject entirely, I realize that, but one that is being popularized by the "Kingdom Now" teachers.

Email: sweetbyandbyx2@yahoo.com

Judith, I agree in that I am leaning towards the fact that Jesus was not even referring to the rapture in that verse. I heard some teaching the other day that said He was talking about the time the heavens and earth shall pass away in Matthew 24:35 and not about the rapture at all. It was said that Jesus never referenced the rapture to His disciples, but that Paul was the first one to reference it some 14 years later.

thank you for sharing that. That makes sense about the preaching of the kingdom before the church age and after the church age. I have never heard that and it never occurred to me.

Wow.

In Christ,

John

Email: murleyj@gmail.com

"Some still take this to refer to the gospel of God’s grace that is being preached today, but such is not the case. Note that the Lord said “this gospel of the kingdom” will be preached. In other words it was the same gospel He and the disciples preached prior to His crucifixion and resurrection: “Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The Millennial Kingdom was being offered to Israel at that time and they refused it. But the same message will once again be preached during the Tribulation Period. In the meantime believers who are now living in the Church Age must preach the gospel of God’s grace, not the gospel of the kingdom being “at hand.”
_____________________________________________________

Judith, I have been taught that this is referring to the second coming as well! I really like this explanation and it seems to make sense!

You're welcome John.

Here's another tidbit from Matthew 24 that I have come to believe is true.....

"“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” Matthew 24:13 (KJV).

"This refers to those who manage to survive the Tribulation Period and includes both saved and lost as evidenced by the fact that the Lord will separate the sheep from the goats prior to the Millennial Kingdom (Matt.25:33). But many have stumbled over this verse because they think they must “hold out until the end” to be sure of God’s salvation. Even though believers must persevere in the faith (and if they are genuine, they will), our salvation does not depend in any way upon our “holding on” to it. The Lord holds on to us and not vice versa! "

I realize that these teachings are not familiar with a lot of christians and I myself was surprised to see others teaching the opposite of what I had learned.

No matter who is correct, what does matter is our relationship with Jesus and knowing that we are born again and belong to Him. All our confidence is in Him
for He is faithful.

Email: sweetbyandbyx2@yahoo.com

Hi Melissa - Yes, it makes sense to me as well.

Email: sweetbyandbyx2@yahoo.com

Judith . . Thank you for your reply, which I think nicely helps us better understand the dispensations in God's program over mankind.

Especially reassuring is our blessed Hope in this era of Grace, (the Day of Christ).