Luke Series #61 “Ready Or Not - Here I Come”
April 7, 2002
Introduction: Welcome to New life in Christ. Each week I bring you a message from a verse-by-verse teaching we are currently doing in the Gospel of Luke. I teach verse-by-verse because I believe that we need to hear everything that God speaks to us from the Bible and going verse-by-verse keeps me from focusing on pet subjects while ignoring or downplaying other less familiar or less popular passages or topics of Scripture. Today we will be continuing in Chapter twelve of the book of Luke.
Read Luke 12:35-48
Opening prayer
It is a common and wise practice in our society to prepare diligently for the most important or significant events in our lives. For example, we prepare for our wedding day with careful planning and rehearsals. We also prepare for retirement (if we are wise) with careful investments and savings. We prepare for natural disasters with the appropriate responses. These preparations are all prudent and good but it is rather ironic that we can be so careful about being prepared for these important events and not be ready or prepared for the most significant and life impacting event in history. I am, of course, referring to the return of Jesus Christ.
An event that is sometimes referred to in many ways: The Second Coming, The Rapture, The Second Advent, or the Parousia (which means arrival or presence.) Technically these terms do not all apply to the same exact event but I wanted you to be aware of them because people often use all of them to refer to Jesus coming in one fashion or another.
There are 260 chapters in the New Testament, and Christ’s return is mentioned no less than 318 times in those chapters. Statistically, one verse in twenty-five mentions the Lord’s return.
Source: Page 59 of Luke Volume Two, Preaching the Word commentary by R. Kent Hughes.
In fact the very last recorded word of Jesus are “I am coming soon!” (Revelation 22:20) It’s clear that Jesus return is a major topic in the Bible and as such should be a major concern for Christians.
This passage refers to the return of Jesus and the need to be prepared for that event. Now some of you are very familiar with what the Bible teaches about the return of Jesus but others may know little or nothing at all so I want to take a couple of minutes and share a little of what the Bible says about the return of Jesus.
It should be noted that all true Christians agree that Jesus will physically return and rein in power, but Christians do differ as to the timing and sequence of events regarding his return. At New life in Christ we hold to and teach the pretribulational and premillennial viewpoints. Do not be too concerned if these terms are unfamiliar to you. They simply mean that we believe the Bible teaches the following sequence of events concerning the Lord’s return. First we believe that the church, that is all true Christians, will be raptured (caught up) to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. Read 1Thessalonians 4: 16,17.
Now all orthodox Christians believe that this will take place but they differ about when it will take place. We believe that it will take place before the tribulation - hence we are pretribulational. The term tribulation usually refers to the last seven years of time, as we know it, when God will pour out judgment upon the whole Earth for their sins. These seven years are described in the Book of Revelation as a time of trouble and tragedy like has never been seen before. During this time a world leader will arise who is known in the Bible as the Antichrist. He will lead many astray so much so that people actually worship him.
At the end of the seven years and tribulations Jesus will return with his church. This is sort of like a stage two of the second coming. The first stage being the rapture of Christians. Jesus will destroy the Antichrist and set up his kingdom on earth to rule for 1000 years. This epoch of time is referred to as a millennium. Now we teach a premillennial viewpoint which means that we believe that Jesus literally comes back before (pre) the 1000 year reign. Some people believe that Jesus does not come back before the thousand year reign and some people believe that the millennium teaching is only figurative.
Any teaching on end time events is known as eschatology. You have just received a very short course in eschatology. I it was more helpful than confusing. I wanted you who may be unfamiliar with the Bible teachings on this subject to have some understanding before we dealt with today’s passage which deals with being prepared for the return of Jesus.
The main thrust of vs. 35-48 could be summarized in the following sentence.
Summary Sentence: We Need To Always Be Prepared For Jesus Return Because It Will Be Sudden And Significant.
In other words, this is a life impacting, significant event that will happen so suddenly you will not be able to prepare later so you need to get ready now.
Read verses 35-38
Illustration: Most men laugh at the Ameritrade commercial on television where the lazy husband is reclining on the couch and his wife tells him to do one thing that day - establish an online investment account. He says, "Sure." Then he watches television and goes to sleep. He hears her car pull into the driveway and jumps up and runs to his computer. With a couple of clicks he’s signed up. He rushes back to the couch just as she enters. Her first question is, "Did you set up the account?" His indignant reply is "Of course!" Now maybe you can wait for the last possible second to establish an online account, but you cannot act that way with God.
Source: Sermon by David o Dykes. Part 60 of “Jesus; The Perfect God-Man.”
You cannot wait for the last second and suddenly get your life in order. You will not here Jesus pull into the driveway. His return will be unexpected and sudden. Some people are like this man with their spiritual lives and service for Jesus Christ. They put off getting their lives in order and think that they can get ready or do their part right at the very end. This is exactly the type of attitude Jesus was warning us against. He says we are to "be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning like men waiting for the master to return from a wedding banquet."
In New Testament times a wedding celebration could last from several hours to several days - you just never knew. While a master was away from the house the servants were supposed to keep everything in order i.e. do the dishes, take care the laundry, fill the pantry, etc. but the temptation was to slack off because you always felt there was time to get things in order later. Jesus says that we are to like faithful servants who are always ready! They are dressed, watching and waiting, and their lamps are burning. All these phrases indicate preparedness.
Jesus says that the proper and prepared servant will be so ready that that the moment the master knocks they can "immediately open the door for him." (Verse 36) There was no last minute, mad scramble to get things ready.
Illustration: Imagine men at the starting gate waiting for a race to start. They are not milling around inattentively or unprepared. No they are in the blocks and in position ready for the starting gun to sound. Jesus us wants us to be just as ready and focused on His return as those runners are.
In practical application to our lives this means that everything in our lives is always ready for Jesus. There is no sin that we have not repentant of. There is no active service our ministry that we always intended to do but never did. There is no apology we never made and no prayer we never said.
Jesus tells us that we can be prepared if we have the attitude "those servants whose master found them watching." Watching does not mean a literal looking up to the sky but rather it refers to an attitude of constant expectancy. The attitude that says that Jesus may come today so I am not going to leave anything undone and I am not going to have anything in my life that I would regret or be ashamed of if Jesus came today. Are you prepared for Jesus return? Is everything in your life what it should be? We’ll Jesus be able to say to you "well done my good and faithful servant?"
If you can honestly answer, "yes" to those questions, you can be joyful and at peace because as it says in verse 37 and verse 38 "it will be good (literally blessed) for those servants whose master finds them ready...” You are going to get your socks blessed off! Jesus is going to bless you like no earthly master ever blessed his servants. According to first 37 the master is going to treat you like a master instead of a servant. This should not be taken too literally but it is certainly indicative of great blessing! In fact three times in this passage Jesus says, "it will be good for the servant who is ready." (Verses 37, 38, 43) There is a special blessing in being prepared for Jesus return especially if we maintain that readiness with constant diligence. As verse 38 notes we are to be prepared even if Jesus comes after a delay and at an unexpected or inconvenient time, which would be comparable to a master coming home in the middle of the night. This is a time when all but the most diligent servants would not be prepared because it was not typical for a master to return in the middle of the night. We are never to let our guard down or our spiritual lives become slack.
Illustration: As a soldier in the Army we were told to always be ready for surprise barracks inspections by the commander. We usually were but one time the commander decided to inspect at 2:00 AM in the morning after we had just completed maneuvers and shifts of fourteen hours a day for two weeks. We were unprepared and it seemed unfair for the commander to inspect at such an inconvenient and unexpected time so some soldiers complained but the commander just said, "You are to always be ready."
This is the same thing that Jesus is communicating to us; always be ready. Jesus may come when it is inconvenient. He may come when there are other things in your life that could consume your attention. He may come when you’re busy with relationship issues, business issues, or money issues. All these things must be taken care of but they must never cause take priority over our spiritual lives and service. We must all be careful to make sure that nothing in this life distract us from being prepared for Jesus return. He expects to find you ready whenever he comes even if it is in "the second or third watch of the night."
Summary Sentence: We Need To Always Be Prepared For Jesus Return Because It Will Be Sudden And Significant.
Read verses 39-40
Here Jesus uses another analogy to emphasize one of the reasons we need to always be prepared; He will come suddenly- "like an thief." Thieves do not make announcements about when they will arrive. They do not RSVP. The only way to be prepared is to always be prepared because you can never know when they will show up.
As a former police officer I cannot tell you how many times I’ve responded to a home burglary only to find that the doors were left unlocked or that the alarm had been turned off in the house. When I would ask why the owners of the house did not lock their doors or turn on the alarm they would say things like, "I did not expect a thief to rob my house in the middle of the day!" Or "I thought it would be too cold out for a thief to be prowling around." Thieves come in the day and they come at night. They come in the cold, rain and the heat. Thieves do not come when you expect them to, so always be prepared.
Of course Jesus is no thief but he will come like one. He coming will be unannounced and suddenly as it says in verse 40, "you must also be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Do not wait until later to get ready. This is one time when bad timing can really hurt you!
Illustration: Many of you have probably seen the Ameritrade commercial about the guy was bad timing. He tries to throw money into the toll collector receptacle ten seconds after he crashes to the barrier. He tries to return the tennis volley seconds after the ball has passed him. He responds to his girlfriend’s "I love you” ten seconds after she left the table in disgust at his silence. Bad timing can definitely hurt you.
Bad timing can definitely be detrimental in worldly concerns but even more so in not being ready for Jesus return. There will be no time later to get ready! There will be no announcement so that you can get your life together! You need to be ready now!
Summary Sentence: We Need To Always Be Prepared For Jesus Return Because It Will Be Sudden And Significant.
Jesus does not only emphasize the suddenness of his return but in this next passage he also emphasizes the significance of it.
Read verses 41-48
In verse 41 Peter wants to know whom Jesus is telling to be prepared. Is it a warning for the unbelieving crowds? Is he speaking to disciples in general? Or is Jesus referring particularly to spiritual leaders? Jesus does not directly answer the question but instead he says in verse 48 that everyone will be held accountable according to the position they held and the knowledge they had of God’s will. "From everyone who has been given much, much more will be demanded...” This means everyone needs to be ready although those entrusted with much (spiritual leaders) are going to be even more accountable so they need to be even more ready.
The point I want you to see and understand is that all of us need to be ready for Jesus return because when Jesus comes it will be a significant event in which he will reward us or punish us according to our faithfulness to him and therefore our readiness for his return.
Summary Sentence: We Need To Always Be Prepared For Jesus Return Because It Will Be Sudden And Significant.
In verses 42-46 Jesus seems to especially emphasize the accountability of those in a leadership position. They are referred to as "managers" whose responsibility it is to give the other servants their "food allowance." This may be a reference to leaders faithfully feeding God’s flock with the word of God. If leaders do that faithfully and diligently they will be rewarded according to verse 44.
Some people do not see ministry as an opportunity to serve others but rather as an opportunity to "fleece the flock" rather than feed it. They are described in verse 45 as foolish because they do not really expect Jesus to come at any moment and therefore they use their position abusively. They use their leadership position to pad their own bank account and look at others as people to be used and deceived rather than served. Certainly we have our share of such people in leadership positions today. Jesus will come on the day they do not expect and despite their Christian leadership position he will punish them severely. As it says in verse 46 he we’ll "cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers." This is certainly a reference to being sent to hell, as the parallel passage in the Gospel of Matthew makes clear. The person being referred to here may not have been a true believer at any point in their life; certainly their character is not consistent with the true children of God.
There is much debate about who is being referred to in verses 47, 48. Some think Jesus is referring to unbelievers or pseudo Christians like the unfaithful servant who was just cut into pieces. I think Jesus is referring to true believers who are not as faithful as they should be. Jesus is giving us a principle that is applicable to all Christians. We will all be held accountable for being ready by being faithful. Those who know the most about the Father’s will, i.e. Christian leaders, but do not do it will be punished more severely than those who are not in the same position or have the same understanding. As it says in James 3:1 "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers come because you know that we who teach we’ll be judged more strictly."
I expect more from my twelve year old than from my two year old though they both will be punished or disciplined for doing wrong or failing to do right. The twelve year old will receive a greater punishment based on her knowledge.
Again I emphasize that I believe vs. 47 and 48 refer to true believers who have the characteristics of Christians but are not being completely faithful as they should be. The punishment or judgment that is referred to in these two verses does not refer to eternal damnation but rather to a loss of heavenly rewards.
For example my daughter’s may be punished, by losing their allowance, for not having their room clean and being prepared when I arrive home unexpectedly but they are still my children and I am not going to kick them at of the house.
Conclusion: The point of all these teachings and parables today is for us to take seriously Jesus message of readiness for his return.
As children most of us played the game of “hide and seek” In this game we would say, "Ready or not here I come!” I believe that today’s passage announces to us from Jesus, "Ready or not here he comes! "But this is not a game; it is a serious call for us to be ready and prepared for his return.
Source: The idea for the previous paragraph comes from a Sermon by David o Dykes. Part 60 of “Jesus; The Perfect God-Man.”
Summary Sentence: We Need To Always Be Prepared For Jesus Return Because It Will Be Sudden And Significant.
Are you ready?
