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Good morning and welcome to Gospel Light Christian Church. So glad you can join us in our online service this Sunday morning. As a church, we've been looking at the subject of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Himself taught us that He's coming surely, He's coming secretly, and He's coming suddenly. Like that flood that swept through the whole earth, the judgment of God through Jesus Christ would seize upon the world in a time we do not expect, and in a way that we cannot react. There'll be no time for you to repent. There'll be no time for you to respond in a worthy way when Jesus returns.

And so, with the signs of His coming, He also gives us warnings. He's giving us encouragements, so that we might be ready today, for His return tomorrow. So He gives us many stories, story after story, to remind God's people to be ready.

What does it mean to be ready? It means, as we have learned in the past two weeks, to be faithful to God today. To be faithful with our time, faithful with our treasures, faithful with our ties, that we might be doing all these things now, in the light of His return tomorrow.

Don't wait till Jesus comes, then you are faithful. Be faithful to Him today, in the light of His return tomorrow.

And then last week, we learnt, to be ready means we must be having faith. Faith, as represented like that oil in the lamp. You can't wait till the time Jesus returns, then you go and get that faith. You can't wait for the bridegroom to come, then you go get that oil. Readiness for Jesus is to put our lives into action, in faithfulness, and in having faith right now.

Today, we're going to look at another aspect of what it means to be ready. And it's not just to be faithful, not just to have faith, but it's also to be fruitful. And that's found in the “Parable of the Talents”.

Whenever we read of the word “talents”, we think about a kind of a skill or ability or capability. But actually the word “talents” in the ancient times, referred to a measurement of currency. It refers to a certain amount of money.

You say, “How much is a talent?” A talent is worth a lot! It is said to worth, to be worth about 20 years of salary for an average worker.

Now, I know that may not be so clear to you as yet. So let me give a simple mathematical calculation. Let's assume that a person, an average man, earns three, four thousand dollars here in Singapore, a month. If you include the bonuses and so on, you might estimate that his earnings per year, may come up to about fifty thousand dollars.

So fifty thousand dollars a year, multiply by 20 years will give you a nice round figure of about one million dollars. Now, I know not everyone earns that much. But this is the estimate, I would say. One talent for our consideration today, let's estimate that to be about one million dollars, 20 years of wages.

So the story goes that a master has entrusted different sums of money to his three servants, the three stewards. To one, he gave five talents. That's about five million dollars. To the second, he gave about two million dollars. And then to the third, he gave one million. All different sums, but all huge sums.

So he leaves them to do business, to trade and to make good of the sums of money he has given them. He goes away, and after a long time, the parable says, he comes back.

He settles accounts with each of his three servants, and he is pleased to find that the first servant, after the time of trading, has now ten million dollars or 10 talents. The second servant has also traded well, and he has gotten now four talents or four million dollars. The third one however, did nothing with that one talent he's given. And so he just keeps and maintains it to be one talent.

So the master now gives a kind of a reckoning. He does some kind of calculation, I suppose. The first guy, he got 100% profit. The second guy got 100% profit. The third guy got 0% profit.

And now he gives this statement, he gives his judgment, he gives his verdict. And says to the first and second servant, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” He gives exactly the same words to the both of them, even though the final amount is different. But to the last servant, he says to him, “You wicked and slothful servant.”

Now, what's the point of this parable? Before we go into the details, I'd like you to see the big picture. And I think the basic idea of this parable is this: Fruitfulness is the mark of those who are ready at Christ's return, and fruitlessness is the mark of those who will be damned.

Put it another way, those who are truly ready for Jesus' return, are those who are fruitful in this life, today and every day. And those who will be judged and damned will be those who are marked by absolute fruitlessness in their lives.

[1] The Responsibility

And so we now drill down into the specifics of what this really means. So I'd like you to see the first thing here, and that is - the responsibility. The master has entrusted these three servants with a responsibility.

Now it's very reasonable, as I've mentioned, that when a businessman hands you his money, he expects you to make good of it. He expects you to go do business, to trade and to bring in good returns. That's very normal.

Of course, you realize that this story is not just about business, it's not just about a story, it's about us. So Jesus is obviously reminding His people, that we too have a responsibility.

We have been entrusted with our time, with our talents, with our energies, with our lives. God has entrusted much to us! And all these things are to be used, for His purposes. We are to be productive!

But what does it mean for a Christian to use his life, his energies, his time, for God's purposes? Well, I read in the Bible, for example, in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” So we have a responsibility to do good works.

So what do you mean by good works? We read again in John chapter 15, in verse 8: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.” So we are to be full of good works. we are to be fruitful.

And what it means, I think, is that we will do everything that we can to bring glory to God. I think fruit is anything in a Christian's life that brings God glory.

So let me summarize it this way - the responsibility of every Christian is to glorify God with all that we have. God has given us life, and breath, and strength, and resources, and money, and energy - and we are all to use that for His glory.

Therefore, we can understand why Paul would say in 1 Corinthians 10:31 - “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” What's the responsibility of the Christian? We are to glorify God with all that we have.

I was reading my Bible this week and I come to Acts, chapter 22. It speaks about Paul on the road to Damascus, and how he met with Jesus. So the first question he had, when he was stunned by the glory of the Lord is this - “Who are You Lord?” [Acts 22:8] That's the first question. Very understandable – “Who is this?”

And when he knew that it was Jesus Christ whom he has persecuted, he then asked the second question. The very next thing Paul asked is – “What shall I do Lord?” [Acts 22:10]

And when I put these two questions together, I say it makes absolute sense. If we know who Jesus is, if we really know Him for who He is, then that's the next question we should ask - “What shall I do? What can I do to serve You, Lord? What is Your order? What are Your marching orders for me?”

This week, or actually two weeks ago, there was a young medical doctor who reached out to me via email. Now, he's a very famous man. I think if I mentioned his name, maybe 80, 90% of you would know who he is. He's that famous.

But he has recently come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. And he has been enthralled and excited about learning from new theologians in his life like Albert Mohler, John MacArthur. And he sensed God's call upon his life. He wonders if he should serve God full time, maybe in a pastoral ministry.

So he reached out to me to ask some questions and to seek an alternative view, or other views that perhaps I could help him with. So as we talked, he shared about his life, his calling, his conversion. And I was so excited to hear God's work in his life.

And, and so, he asked me questions and I shared about how I was, when I was 18 years old. I just came to faith, right about army time. And I shared with him that I had a very simple principle, a simple question - Who is God? If God is real, then it makes no sense for me to live a life for myself. But if God is not real, then forget about this and enjoy life as I want to.

That became a very foundational question for my life, even up to today. Is God really God? If He is, then it only makes sense that life is to be lived for His glory.

I shared with him, I then thought about the future. I thought about myself at the age of 60. What would I want to accomplish or do, have done, by the age of 60? Would I want to look back at my life and say, “You've been a great surgeon. You now own a nice swanky house and, and a Ferrari.” Would I want that at 60? Or would I want to look back at my life and say, “I had the privilege of serving God”?

As I was sharing these things - we were on Zoom call, of course - I saw his eyes turn red and tears flowed, and he choked on his words. Not because my story is particularly touching, but because I think there is the same conviction in his heart.

I think that when a man knows who God really is, who Jesus really is, he cannot help but ask the question - “Lord what shall I do?” Because deep in his heart, he wants to serve God. He wants to glorify Him.

We live today in a very difficult time, in a “Circuit Breaker” regime. And many of you must be longing to get out of your house, to the movies, to restaurants, to have your “pao pao cha” [Chinese expression for bubble tea drink] and that's what you long for, and you feel perhaps miserable, sad, deprived.

But can I offer you a different perspective? “Circuit Breaker” or no “Circuit Breaker”, I believe that the goal of the Christian is not enjoyment. Now, please get me right here. Don't, don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying that we should be anti-enjoyment. It's not that we cannot enjoy good food, good company. We can! But I don't think that should be the goal of a Christian.

The goal of the Christian is to glorify God, because we understand we are stewards of all that God has given us. So we should clarify that in our lives, because I think that is the secret to joy.

When I think about Paul, he wrote the book of Philippians. A book about joy, and where was he writing this book? He was writing from the prison. And he said that, “I've learned, whether I have much or little, I'm content. I know how to abase, I know how to abound.” His contentment is found in the realization - he's living for the will of God.

So let me say this - the secret of contentment is in clarifying our commitment. When we know who we serve, and why we are here, we can dedicate ourselves to that one goal. And therein, we find joy; therein we find contentment. Therein, we can say together with Jesus, “My satisfaction, my meat, my food is to do the will of my Father.”

So, I want to remind you, the secret of joy today is not having your “pao pao cha”. No, nothing wrong with that, it's nice. But deeper than that, is when you are committed to living for the glory of God today.

That's our responsibility - to glorify God with all that we have. Because He loves us, because He gave His Son for us. Because Jesus is coming one day, and we will be rewarded out of His grace for all these things that we could do, and there is sweetness in taking on the yoke of Jesus.

So may we pray daily as Jesus taught us to pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Let Your Name be set apart. This is my goal, that Your Name will be made famous. I want to glorify You! Your kingdom come, Your will be done.”

That's the secret of the Christian life. We understand our responsibility to glorify Him in all that we do.

[2] The Response

Let me rush on to the second point here and that is the response. How do these servants respond?

The, the third one actually failed miserably. Isn't it?

But we see that the first and second, instead of being lazy and doing nothing with the money, they went out at once to trade, and to make money. I see the immediacy of their response - at once. They didn't give themselves any slack time. They went about the business right away.

And again, it speaks I think, of the impulse. It speaks of the instinct. It speaks about the natural desire of a man whose heart is changed by God - he wants to serve God.

Serving God is not a chore. Serving God is not something that is torturous. Serving God is a natural impulse. In fact, in Hokkien, we say - you very “gao gway” [colloquial expression used when one feels uneasy], very uncomfortable, if you do not serve God. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

Now I know your question. You probably are thinking, “But Jason, I'm not a pastor. I'm not called full time. I can't serve God. Well, how can I serve God in my life?”

I'm glad you asked this question, because I want to clarify that glorifying God is not just when you stand on stage to preach a sermon. Glorifying God is not the unique privilege only to the pastor.

Glorifying God is the stewardship and a joy for each and every Christian. Even right now in “Circuit Breaker”, at home, I tell you, you can be fruitful, you can be full of good works, you can glorify God.

“How?” you say. Well, let me give you a few “W”s, alright?

[A] Words

First thing, first “W”. You can glorify God with your words. We can glorify God with our words. Well, it says here in Hebrews chapter 13: “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God”. [Hebrews 13:15]

Now, I think it's important for Christians to praise God, to sing unto God, because that brings glory to Him. That allows people around us to realize that there is a real God who is absolutely worthy of our worship. That's what God desires; the fruit of our lips that acknowledge His Name.

And then in Colossians, 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another”. So we can glorify God with teaching, in love, in truth. That's how we glorify God.

Now you don't have to be a pastor to teach one another. I'm so grateful that we have care groups, community groups, discipleship groups. And when we speak words of encouragement, provoking one another to love and good works, that's glorifying God with our words.

And then, it says Colossians 4:6 - “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt”. How we speak can also glorify God. You may be under severe provocation and pressure, but because you love God and you want to glorify Him, you watch your words, you watch your heart. And you depend on the Spirit to bring forth blessing from your lips, and not cursings and harsh words.

And then, not only do we glorify God with what we say, or the words we bring out, but we also glorify God with what we do not say or the words we do not bring out. It says in Philippians 2: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing”. And that's how you “shine as lights in the world”. [Philippians 2:14-15]

So, in “Circuit Breaker”, I know tensions rise. There may be conflict at home, but I want to encourage you - glorify God today with your words. Speak grace, speak truth, encourage one another; don't complain.

You know in each of these things you are mindful of, and living out because of grace, and in the power of the Spirit, you bring glory to God. That's our responsibility. That's our joy!

[B] Wealth

Secondly, we can glorify God with our wealth. Now, that's very straightforward.

The Bible says, “For the ministry of this service” - that is of giving, if you read the context of 2 Corinthians – “is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.” [2 Corinthians 9:12]

So when we use the resources God has first placed in our hands for His glory, we can meet the needs of saints. But it is also meant to bring glory to God, praise to God. As needs are being relieved, people give thanks to God through you.

And that's how I think we can glorify God with our money. Don't lay-up treasures here on Earth - moth and rust will corrupt, and thieves will take it away from you, but lay your treasures in heaven.

How? By giving for the glory of God.

So, the Bible reminds us that those who are rich, and as I've mentioned last week or two weeks ago, I think the average Singaporean is very rich by world standards. So we are, “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share”. [1 Timothy 6:18] We glorify God with our wealth.

[C] Walk

Number three, we glorify God with our walk.

I just show you one verse. “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honourable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” [1 Peter 2:12]

I want to include our roles as husbands, and wives, and children, and parents, as workers, as employers. Let your conduct shine. Let the way of life, shine. Let people see you live a holy, blameless, loving life.

It governs the way you drive. It governs the way you treat your spouse. It governs the way you conduct your business.

How can I glorify God? In my life. In my walk. In the way I live.

[D] Works

And then, let's look at number four - works. So besides the way I live, besides the money I give, besides the words I speak, it also involves the practical things that I do.

And it involves the spiritual gifts that I employ to serve people - “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another… whoever speaks, … whoever serves,… in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” [1 Peter 4:10-11]

So when we use our gifts, our spiritual gifts, to serve one another, God is glorified.

I hope that as Christians, you realize, real worship to God is not just sitting at home, listening to a message. I think real worship to God, involves service.

Now we long for the day we can gather together again, I really do. Because it's not just that we gather here, and I can see you when I preach, not just that. But I think that gathering allows us to know one another, to have relationships one with another, so that we may then see needs, and so that we may serve one another.

And I believe it is in that serving, meeting of needs of one another, that I discover my spiritual gift. And that's where I can use my spiritual gift. And that's where I can also worship God, and glorify God. We long forward to that day!

But maybe today, already on zoom, on technological platforms, you are engaging, you're walking with one another. I want to encourage you, if you're someone gifted with the gift of encouragement, use it. You are gifted with the gift of service, in whatever way you can, serve. You may be gifted with hospitality, welcome those who are new onto the zoom platform. Whatever your gift may be - serve, use it to glorify God.

“And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.” [Titus 3:14] And I think particularly in these times, “Circuit Breaker”, there may be needy people around you, it's a good time for us to think about how we can glorify God with our good works.

[E] Witness

Finally, let me remind you - last but not least, let's glorify God with our witness.

The Bible says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”. [Matthew 28:19] It's so important here! Just one verse, but so important, because this is the Great Commission.

This is the great task that Jesus left for His church, that we are to make disciples. That means that we are to evangelize people. We are to tell people the Good News.

But don't stop there, help them to be a follower, their whole life. Teach them to observe all that we have been commanded. So not only do we evangelize, we also build people up, we disciple them in the way of Christ.

And so you can glorify God. And I say, this is so important - you must glorify God, by leading others into a life changing relationship with Jesus.

I want to asked you today - where are your men? The men that you're pouring your life into. Where are the women, that you're pouring your life into? I ask that question, because this is our responsibility.

We are to glorify God with all that we have. And for the child of God, the response will be - we will glorify God in my words, in my wealth, in my walk, in my works, and in my witness.

[3] The Reckoning

Finally, we see in this story - the reckoning, the settling of accounts.

“Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. Well done, good and faithful servant.” - he said to the first servant who had five talents - “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” [Matthew 25:21]

I, I like this. This is the commendation - well done! How I long to hear these words from my Master, when I shall see Him face to face.

Notice that the issue here is not how smart he was, or how talented he was, or how ingenuous he was, or how, how brilliant he was, but how faithful he was. “Well done, good and faithful servant.” He says, “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.” [Matthew 25:21]

Now, I don't suppose five million is little, but it is little, if you compare it with the future responsibility he will have; the privilege of stewarding and managing even more for the glory of God. I suppose this hints of that reign that Christians will have with Christ, during the times of the millennial.

So God is saying, “I'm going to reward you with even more responsibility, and enter into the joy of your Master.” Now, this is what he said to the man given five talents.

And in verse 23, He is again saying exactly, if you notice, it is exactly the same words to the second man, with two talents.

What does this mean? This means - God judges us, not by comparing our lives with another, but with all that He has given to us. The man with five talents reaped 100% profit. The guy with two talents reaped also 100% profit.

And it reminds me, my faithfulness is to be measured in my own life, and not with another. I should not be proud that I'm doing more than another. Neither should, neither should I be jealous just because someone is having a larger ministry than I do.

Because at the end of the day, we are all given different amount of talents, but we are all called to be faithful to the exact amount He has given to us. So we don't want to compare ministry. It's not wise! It's carnal! We don't want to compare church size. That's carnal!

But we want to ask ourselves - have we been faithful to all that God has given to us? So, let's not hide behind false humility. “Oh no! I'm not good enough.” Let's not be proud. But let us be faithful, that one day we may hear, “Well done! You good and faithful servant.”

However, we still have the third guy. And the verdict upon the third guy is, “You wicked and slothful servant!” [Matthew 25:26]

Now, this servant is called “wicked and slothful”. Why? Was he a rapist? No! Was he a murderer? Not that we read of. Did he steal? No!

What did he do? The problem is that he did nothing. He did nothing to hurt others as far as we know. He did nothing also with all that he has been given. He was negligent. He did absolutely nothing.

So you realize that on that final day of assessment, the Day of Judgment before Jesus, He’s saying that those who are fruitful are those who are ready for Him, and those who are fruitless are those who are wicked and slothful - those who do nothing in words and wealth, in works, in walk, and in witness; those who are absolutely unfruitful. The reason is because they are wicked and slothful.

And by the way, these people actually know about the master. We read in verse 24, that this third servant, says, “Master”. He acknowledges Jesus. He acknowledges the reality that Jesus is the Son of God.

He might be someone who sits in church, listens to sermon, reads his Bible, as we often say. But the problem with this man is that he is slothful. His life does not reflect what he says. He does not live his life faithful to his master.

And what's his sentence? “Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Matthew 25:30] I think these are very strong words. These are not words that communicate just a loss of reward. But this is a strong picture of condemnation, of damnation, of fierce wrath of God, against sinners.

So we come back to this basic idea: fruitfulness is the mark of those who are ready at Christ's return. How do you know you are Christian today? Because your life is consistently manifesting fruitfulness. Your life is bringing glory to God.

And then - fruitlessness is the mark of those who will be damned. Now I'm raising the bar here. Jesus actually raises the stakes here. He's not saying this is a matter of comparative more or less rewards. No! He's talking about those who will be saved and blessed and entering the joy of God, and those who will be damned!

So when you don't have fruit in your life, it's not just that you go to Heaven but with less rewards. But that you will not even get there, but you will be heading to the fires of hell - because that just shows that you were never a true believer in the first place. It's scary!

He said this, so that you will not continue in presumption, but that you would humble yourself, and get ready today to cry out to Jesus for mercy to save your soul, and not just live your life pretending, all is well.

You see, Jesus, earlier on talked about the Parable of the Sower. There's a parable of four different kinds of hearts. And actually, there's only one soil here that is called “good soil”.

The first soil is hardened ground - no seed grows, no crops come forth.

The second kind is where there seems to be a little seedling. But, the sun is so hot and because the ground is just shallow soil, no deep roots, this seedling dies and eventually proves to be unfruitful.

The third kind of soil is where there are lots of weeds. And this seedling grows for a while but the weeds all around choke it, the thorns choke it, and it dies, and it's also unfruitful.

There is only one good soil, and the good soil is proven by its fruit.

Jesus likewise spoke about John 15: “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” [John 15:2]

“If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” [John 15:6]

So there are branches that seem to be in Christ. There are people who look like they belong to Christ, but they are actually unfruitful, fruitless. And one day they will be thrown into the fire and burned on the Day of Judgment.

So fruitfulness is the mark of those who are ready at Christ's return. And fruitlessness is the mark of those who will be damned.

My friends, don't, don't allow yourself to be fooled by this presumption - that as long as I say, “I believe”, as long as I said my sinners prayer, it doesn't matter how I live my life today. No, no, no.

The way your life turns out is a reflection of your real heart condition. Are you really born again? Do you really know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, and not just mouth those words?

It will be evidenced in the way you're faithful to your time, your talent, your tithes. It will be seen in the way you are deliberately and actually glorifying God with your words, with your works, with your walk, with your witness, with your wealth.

And if you have absolutely nothing like that in your life, I want to invite you today to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

Some of you may say, “Oh, then shouldn't I be more active in ministry, so that I can get myself saved?” No, no, no. Please don't get the order wrong.

Ephesians tells us: “For by grace, you have been saved through faith.” [Ephesians 2:8] No one is saved by works. No one is saved by more things he does.

We are saved by grace, the free gift of God. Why? Because God has paid the price for your sin, through His Son Jesus Christ.

So we can be saved only by grace through faith. “This is not your doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works”. [Ephesians 2:8-10]

So I think Paul is very clear here, in Ephesians. We are not saved by works, but we are saved for works.

So the evidence of a man who is saved by grace is that he will be full of works. Not that the works saved him, but the works, show him up. Not that you are made a Christian by works, but you are manifested as a Christian by works. It is not that you earn salvation by works, but you evidence salvation by works.

So if you have no fruit, no works in your life, the goal of this message is not for you to get to do more works. But for you to humble yourself and come to Jesus Christ, that you might be saved.

But if you see fruit, fruits in your life, you know that you're Christian. I'm thankful for that, and I want to encourage in this message for you to step it up even, in greater faithfulness.

Serve God with your life! That's the joy and privilege and responsibility we have.

Are you a young person? Are you a youth? Don't say to yourself, “Oh! I'm too young to serve God.” No, no, no. Serve God today, glorify God today in all that you do; whether you eat or drink. Serve God, whilst you are young.

Maybe you are a young adult, and you say, “Maybe I'll serve God later. Let me establish my career first.” Now, that's unwise. Because the whole goal and stewardship of life is to serve Him today.

Now, I'm not saying that career need to be pitched against serving God. But if that is so in your mind, you've got to repent of that idol. Properly viewed, when we glorify God, we can also glorify God in our work, in our jobs, in our occupation.

But let me remind you today, we are ultimately called to glorify Him.

Maybe today you're someone who has a young family. I know how hard it is. Because you have kids, you have bills to pay, pressures all around. But let not your family become your idol. Let not a successful family in Singapore become your ideal picture.

But let us be a people, balancing all these things together, serving our family well, but still realizing that my ultimate responsibility is the glory of God. Let God not serve my family, but let my family serve God – “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” [Joshua 24:15]

Maybe you today, are retired. Good that you're retired. Good that you can retire. You can retire from your jobs, your secular work, but don't retire from serving God! You're called to be fruitful to Him, still.

He has not retired you; if He has, you'll be up there! But as long as you are left here on Earth, it should be our goal to glorify Him. I hope that in your retirement years, actually you will do even more, for the glory of God, unencumbered maybe with financial constraints. Now, let's serve Him well, till our Master comes back after a long time to settle accounts with us.

Spurgeon, he says, “Remember, my hearer, that in the day of judgment, your account must be personal; God will not ask you, what your church did - He will ask you what you did yourself.”

Don't hide behind the fact. “Oh, I'm so thankful this church, does this or that church does this”, or “We are doing this.” How about you? That's my question! Because we all will stand before God, individually. And you can't hide anymore.

Hey, I hope this message is used by God to lead you to true repentance and faith and salvation in Jesus Christ. There's no greater desire in my heart than that will happen for you. I'm praying for you, that you will not just be a churchgoer, but you will be a true believer and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And for all my brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray that in the light of Jesus' return, let us be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labour will never be in vain in the Lord.

People may not realize. People may not know what you're doing. People may not appreciate what you're doing, but live and serve for the audience of One. Won't you?

Are you ready today? Are you ready for Jesus' return? He's going to come surely. He's going to come secretly. He's going to come suddenly. Are you ready for His return? Are you faithful? Do you have faith? Are you fruitful? These are things for us to seriously consider as we await the return of our Saviour.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

Father, thank You for your gracious words. These piercing words, I believe are not meant to discourage us from You, but that it might humble us and know our true state. So that those who need to be saved will now repent, and truly rely on Jesus alone to save them from all their sins.

Thank You we are not saved by works, but we are saved for works. And I pray that this church will be made up of a people who understand, truly believe the Gospel. And who will be full of good works, because we understand Your love, the hope in Jesus, and the joy of doing Your will.

So may we be absolutely fruitful, may we be absolutely faithful. That through this church, You will be greatly glorified. So take Your Word, plant it deep within us. May we be all ready for Your Son's return. Thank You, we pray all these in Jesus’ Name. Amen! God bless.

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