Will You Go With Him

"Will You Go With Him" – Matthew 24:44 "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." On this night another minister of the congregation expounded. The message starts from the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25) to ask one question, repeated through the whole service: if He came today, would you go with Him? The thesis is that the world conditions us to believe Christ is delaying, and that this loss of fervour is a scheme against the church. It moves through 2 Corinthians 7:1, 2 Peter 3:9, Matthew 24:31, Matthew 12:36-37 and 1 Corinthians 16:22.

I. The parable that ought to make us tremble

A. It has been a while since the parable of the ten virgins was heard. Everyone here knows it, and the children too, since they are taught it from small.

B. Imagine we are all sitting here and suddenly the pastor disappears, and the person beside you too, and you are left sitting there.

C. For the word says one half is taken up and the other is not. And none of us would want to be of the half left behind.

D. This used to be preached far more. Today it is all a pretty gospel: anyone speaks of Jesus as if it were something ordinary and the same for everyone. And it is not.

E. The Bible says it: to go to heaven one must be sanctified.

F. The fire of feeling that Christ is coming has been lost. It was taught for centuries; today it is not, because it seems Christ is not coming.

G. And the world entangles us: work, what we watch, social media. We all do it, and it quiets that fervour.

H. So instead of saying "let Christ come now," we say "let Him take a little longer." Because in truth I am not right, and I do not know whether I would go with Him.

II. The question

A. Do you think that if Jesus came today you would go with Him? Think about it: if it happened right now.

B. How have I acted? Have I obeyed or been disobedient? Have I loved or not loved?

C. Have I kept what Jesus commands: thou shalt love God with all thy strength, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself?

III. How the world conditions us

A. The world conditions us to think Jesus may be a long time coming.

B. And to think "he did it to me, so he will pay for it." These are false teachings: the Bible says to forgive seventy times seven.

C. And the trouble is that if we do not forgive, we do not go with Him.

D. For how am I going to heaven with the brother I cannot stand? Are we going to decide to be friends up there? There will be no room.

E. It is not wrong to sing to God: it is among the greatest things one can feel. But we come to think that is all there is.

F. So we sing and shout, and when we walk out we do as we please. And that is not someone who has known Christ.

G. If Christ comes, those are left behind. And it may have looked like a glorious service, where God was felt and people wept.

H. In the end what matters is what is inside. It is not the pretence, not the appearing to be well.

I. From whom can we hide? From the pastor, perhaps. But from God? There is no way.

J. As in the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, when the people were headed for captivity and would not believe them. The same happens today: "Jesus is not coming."

IV. There is no limbo

A. It is not that if Christ comes, or if we die, we go to some limbo to wait. That is a false teaching.

B. Either we go straight to heaven, or we go straight to hell.

C. Accounts are told of the dying: some say they feel angels coming for them; others cry out, because they feel the demons.

D. We ought to feel peace going to bed and waking up. And yes, I failed today, because none of us is perfect; that is why we must ask forgiveness daily.

E. But it is not only the gesture: it is improving and changing, day after day.

F. The world deceives us, saying nothing happens, there is no consequence, everything goes on the same.

G. Since Jesus died the apostles held that teaching. Yes, it has been long; we are already in 2026. But our hope is that He is coming.

H. And that ought to bring us joy rather than fright.

I. We take it for granted because we see no signs. But wars? There have always been. Earthquakes? How many have there been?

J. We wait for something spectacular before we believe. No: we must be ready every day, in case He comes soon.

K. When Christ comes, the body will be joined with the spirit of those already dead, and those alive will be caught up together with Him in the clouds.

L. How glorious to hear that trumpet. But how dreadful not to hear it, and that others should and I should not. Let us not take it for granted.

V. A scheme against the church

A. Thinking there are no consequences is a devilish scheme against the people of Jesus Christ, so that no one fights.

B. For if we lose the faith that Christ is coming, we take it easy: "I have years ahead, until I die."

C. That is what the devil wants: that people not persevere and live a lukewarm life, not hot, without fervour.

D. So we must open our spiritual eyes, and not do as the five virgins who stayed comfortable, conditioned by the world.

E. I picture the foolish ones saying to the others: "why do you work so hard? why seek the oil, if He is not coming yet? why not take it easier?"

F. And those who meant to have it their own way were left outside. They could not go in. Because they took it easy.

G. The same today: "she thinks she is the holiest of all." Well, yes. For if God comes now, do I want to be of the group left behind, just to please them?

H. We take part in such things only to look good with others; and we forget God may come at any moment.

I. We shall give account of every word. When those books are opened, all we did is written there. We shall stand utterly exposed.

VI. The sequence

A. God comes, takes us with Him, and we are at the marriage of the Lamb: seven years.

B. Three and a half years in which peace is made on the earth, and three and a half in which the chaos begins.

C. At the seven years the church comes down with Jesus; and that is held to be the great Armageddon.

D. Then the devil is bound and the millennium passes: those who did not let themselves be beheaded remain on the earth, and we reign together with Jesus.

E. After that millennium Satan is loosed again to tempt those people; and then comes the great final judgement.

F. And at the end of everything the devil is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, with all those read out at the judgement.

G. Billions of human beings have passed over the earth, and one is only one. But I too will be judged. One by one.

H. No one gets off for having been better than the rest. "People were so unjust to me": it does not matter. It is you and God.

I. And He is a just God: He will not feel sorrier for me. The Bible says what is good and what is evil, full stop.

VII. The only thing that helps

A. Fasting and prayer are the only things that can help us grow in holiness day by day and love God more.

B. Loving Him more each day is what makes us love our neighbour. And loving our neighbour is what keeps us from failing.

C. For every sin is against another: not to fornicate, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to kill, not to lie, not to covet.

D. If I love, I will not harm the other; and doing him no harm, I do nothing evil. But if we do not love, sinning is easy: nothing holds you back.

E. That is why these are the two greatest commandments: they are the only thing that can keep us from doing evil.

F. What the enemy wants is that we lose the hope that Jesus is coming for us.

G. Of course life is to be enjoyed; but always with that hope, for it makes us like the wise virgins, the ones who were ready.

H. And the question again, answered inwardly, firmly and without hesitating: if He came today, would you go with Him?

I. Each of us knows what he does and what is in his heart. Let us take stock: why do I move? Am I doing this because I am preparing for when Christ comes?

J. Today the people are no longer prepared for the Lord's coming. But God comes for a holy people, not a middling one: that is why He spews out the lukewarm.

VIII. The passages

A. 2 Corinthians 7:1 — "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

B. It is not "yes today, no tomorrow": it is a fear that makes us take decisions and speak as He would speak, not as I would.

C. 2 Peter 3:9 — "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise... but is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish."

D. His promise is that He is coming soon; and He delays out of love, waiting for us to be sanctified, to see whether more will turn to Him.

E. Matthew 24:31 — He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect.

F. The word runs on one thread from the Old Testament to the New, and never tires of teaching us: from then it was said there would be a second coming.

G. How can we not believe? With our mouths we say yes to everything at the service; and outside we do and say other things.

H. And if the parents do not watch, neither will the children; and they will go on living enslaved to this world.

I. Matthew 12:36-37 — of every idle word we shall give account; by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words condemned.

J. "I forgot what I said last January 15th." But it is written. If you asked forgiveness, it was erased. If not, there it stays, and you will be asked to account for it.

K. Paul said: "I keep under my body, lest I myself should be a castaway." Five years of doing well, and one outburst against a brother loses it all.

L. 1 Corinthians 16:22 — "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema": a sinner expelled from the community of the faithful and set apart from divine grace.

IX. What the world promises

A. The world wants to show that they are happier than we are, when we are the ones who have the good.

B. Everyone looks perfect, but they go to bed unhappy, with trouble at home; they have no peace of Christ, nor that kingdom of righteousness, peace, joy and love.

C. And what do those of the world have? The devil. And is that what I want, instead of the King of kings, who has a sword in His hand?

D. We do not value enough what we have: "if I had more money, a better house, a better car, a better family."

E. We do not know how to give thanks for what God gives. If we did, we would live happily, fighting for what is ours.

F. And what a shame that friendship with the world rules us: we believe those who do not have the truth, and listen to anyone on social media.

G. Of every word we shall give account: at church, painting the building, at a rehearsal, cleaning. For having been sarcastic because I wanted to wound.

H. Better not to come: stay home, and spare yourself more entries in your book.

I. For what is not love is hatred. It is one of two: either you love, or you do not.

J. If we are the family of the faith, there must be sincere friendship. And in any activity, if there is no love, Jesus is not there.

K. These are truths we do not like to hear. But that is the reality, and that is what God will read to us out of the book.

L. And no one can deceive you unless your own heart allows it. Ten years pass and nothing deceived you, and suddenly the heart chose to believe the lie.

X. Application

A. Answer it today, inwardly and without hesitating: if He came now, would you go with Him?

B. Forgive, because if we do not forgive we do not go with Him.

C. Do not mistake a moving service for being ready: what matters is what is inside.

D. Recover the fervour of expecting Him: losing it is exactly what the enemy is after.

E. Guard your words, for you will account for every one; and ask forgiveness, which is what erases what is written.

F. And teach this hope at home: if the parents do not watch, neither will the children.