The Gospel of Luke (57): Preparing for the coming of Christ 03/03/2024

First Baptist Church Leominster

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LoveIsNotSilent

thank you

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Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the

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Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now solemnly make this covenant with each other as one body in Christ.

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We will walk together in brotherly love, we will exercise a

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Christian care and watchfulness over each other, will faithfully admonish and help one another as the need may be.

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We will be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation without delay.

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If any stray from the path of truth, we will endeavor to restore them in the spirit of meekness.

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We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, or neglect to pray for ourselves and for others.

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We will seek to educate our children in the scriptures, we will seek to win our kindred and acquaintances to Christ and to holiness.

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As stewards of the Lord, we will aid in the support of a faithful evangelical ministry among us, and in efforts to preach the gospel to the whole human family.

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We will live circumspectly in the world, denying ungodliness and unworldly lusts, and according to our ability and opportunities, will do good to all men.

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We will endeavor as long as we live to glorify him who has called us out of the darkness into his marvelous light.

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We know that each first Lord's Day of the month we'll be observing the

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Lord's Supper, and as disciples of Christ we ought to be preparing ourselves before we arrive here for this occasion.

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It requires self -examination, confession of sin, and of course exercising fresh faith in Jesus Christ alone as our

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Lord and Savior. So let's just take a moment and do so.

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Confess your sin, confess your faith in Jesus Christ, because this is only effectual to the degree we have faith in Christ.

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So pray and ask God to bless him to you. We thank you, our

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Father, for this bread that so wonderfully portrays our Lord Jesus, the true bread that you sent down from heaven to give life to the world.

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And Father, as we hold this bread in our hands and as we ingest it, we do in faith our

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God, embrace Christ wholly and fully and solely as our blessed hope and assurance of eternal life.

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And we thank you, our God, that Christ is able to restore us to a fresh enjoyment and fullness of life, and we pray that you would do so, our

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God, as we exercise our faith in him, as we eat this bread that so wonderfully displays him before us.

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We eat in faith, our God, in obedience. Bless our fellowship with you and fellowship with one another as we eat this bread, for we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

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Well, it was at the Last Supper, our Lord Jesus took the bread and he said to his disciples, take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of me.

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We offer both wine or grape juice, depending on your conviction. The wine is in the purple shaded cups on the perimeter of each tray.

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Thank you again, our Father, for the precious blood of the Lord Jesus, shed once for all on Mount Calvary so long ago, and yet it's effectual, our

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God, because of the infinite worth and character of our Lord Jesus.

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It has the same power today as it did then, our God, to atone for our sin, to cleanse us of our sin, and so, our

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God, we drink this cup in faith and in celebration, Lord, of his suffering and his death upon the cross.

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We pray, our God, as we drink this, that we would have sweet fellowship with one another in Christ, and that we would sense the forgiveness of our sins, our

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God, as we have faith in Jesus and his death. Bless this cup to us, our

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God, cleanses of our sins, that we can be restored to wonderful and beautiful fellowship with you and with one another, for we pray in Jesus name, amen.

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Our Lord then took the cup in the same manner, he gave it to his disciples, saying to them, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, this do as often as you drank it in remembrance of me.

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And if you're a disciple of Jesus Christ, you ate and drank in faith, confessing your sins, you may rejoice in the reality, your sins are forgiven you, amen.

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Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would now open your word to us, give us understanding, may your

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Holy Spirit, our God, work effectually in our souls, accomplishing your good purposes in Christ, through the instrument of your word, for we pray in Jesus name, amen.

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Let's turn to Luke chapter 12, please. I know we have an abbreviated time on this first Lord's Day, but I really hope we can get through these notes.

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It's important to do it, I think, in one setting. Now, here in Luke 12, let's just recall that we're in the midst of Luke's travel narrative, from Luke 9 .51

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through Luke chapter 19, we have Jesus and his disciples traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem, where he would be betrayed, suffer and die, and be raised the third day.

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And so his time was limited in this journey.

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There was a sense of urgency, pressing upon him, Jesus, and upon everybody, and that is reflected in Luke's narrative, and we'll point that out as we continue to work through this gospel.

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And so soon after his departure, upon his death, resurrection, and ascension, his disciples would be the ones who would carry on the work of the kingdom of God.

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But they had much to learn. Moreover, in their work of the kingdom, they would face severe difficulties and opposition, but they were not yet prepared to face these challenges.

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And so as they continued their journey, the master instructed, encouraged, and warned his followers of the dangers and difficulties that lay before them, but he also told them of the glory that will most certainly follow at his second coming.

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And we too may find much instruction and encouragement in serving our Lord in these days as we consider our

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Lord's words respecting our service in furthering his kingdom. And so may we be ready for his coming.

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May we affirm in faith, amen, come Lord Jesus. Almost the last words of the

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Bible in Revelation 22. So we return to Luke 12, where we will continue our study of this chapter, beginning with verse 35 and continuing through verse 48.

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In the passage before these verses that we addressed last Lord's day, we've already addressed these, we read of our

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Lord instructing his disciples not to be concerned about earthly possessions or provisions.

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Disciples of Jesus Christ are to beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.

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Life is much more than just living to please oneself and indulge oneself with comfort and possessions and pleasure.

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Rather than being governed by a covetous heart, disciples of Jesus Christ are to first seek the kingdom of God.

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And if they do so, God would see to it that he provides for them and protects them. They need not, no, they should not worry about such matters, for Jesus assures them that God has promised,

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God is pleased to give his people his kingdom. With verses 35 and following, the subject and focus of our

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Lord's teaching shifts significantly. Ceasing to be anxious about worldly cares and concerns, his disciples were to put forth their focus and effort to be prepared for the coming of the

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Son of Man, as expressed in verse 40. And one described the matter in this way, freed from worldly cares through trust in the fatherly care of God and hope in the coming kingdom, the disciples are not to let themselves be enticed by the temptations of the world of laziness, self -indulgence, and self -assertion, but are to spend their time profitably and in readiness to serve the

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Son of Man when he appears. Now as we glance over these verses, we can see an obvious division, and we'll read them shortly.

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But after our Lord first gave a parable, verses 35 through 40, Peter speaks up.

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He interjects a question, verse 41, and this then is followed by Jesus giving a second parable.

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And so through these two parables, our Lord instructed his disciples about being ready for his coming.

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In the first parable, Jesus compared his disciples to servants waiting for the return of their master who is away for the evening at a wedding feast.

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The time of his return to his house is not known by his servants, so they were always to be ready to serve him regardless of when he arrived home.

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We may summarize the teaching of verses 35 through 40 simply as, be prepared for the coming of the

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Son of Man. Well, again these words of Jesus generated a question from Peter whether Jesus was speaking to his disciples only or to everybody.

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And you recall that there was a great gathering of people before Jesus on this occasion, multitudes, throngs, pressing upon one another.

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Well, Peter's question resulted in Jesus giving a second parable. This metaphor considered a rather wealthy householder leaving on a trip, apparently an extended lengthy trip, but who feared a possible burglar in his absence.

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And so through this parable, our Lord was warning his disciples against unreadiness to protect and preserve the goods of the householder.

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And so Jesus promised his disciples that if they were faithful to him unto his coming, he would reward them with greater future authority for their faithfulness.

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And so this parable may be entitled the blessing of those who prepare, who those prepared, who will receive greater future authority for their faithfulness.

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And so the parable can be entitled the blessing of those prepared for his coming, but also it speaks about a warning for those who are not ready for his coming.

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There are consequences for not being ready. And so Jesus warned them of profound consequences for their failure to be faithful in his absence.

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And again, he's speaking to disciples, professing believers. And so let's consider these words of Jesus by first reading the passage.

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Jesus said, let your ways be girded, your lamps burning, and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master when he will return from the wedding.

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That when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.

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For surely I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat and will come and serve them.

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And if he should come in the second watch or come in the third watch and find them so, blessed are those servants.

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But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

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Therefore, you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

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Well, then Peter said to him, Lord, do you speak this parable only to us or to all people? And the

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Lord said, who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his master will make ruler over his household to give them their portion of food in due season?

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

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Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming and begins to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he's not looking for him at an hour when he's not aware and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

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He's speaking to believers who are not true believers, they're hypocrites and their end will be the same as unbelievers.

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And that servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare himself to do or do according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes.

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But he who did not know yet committed things deserving of stripes shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given from him much will be required and to whom much has been committed of him they will ask the more.

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Now as we consider our Lord's words that we just read, let us be reminded of the great advantage we have in understanding our words over those who heard our

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Lord Jesus in person on this occasion. Our Lord had taught his disciples well but they had really very little understanding respecting the things as they followed him throughout his ministry and listened to him teach them.

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They had much common Jewish belief to unlearn and they had much kingdom or gospel truth to learn but they were disadvantaged and had diminished capacity for learning for they lived and were taught before the cross and the resurrection of our

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Lord Jesus and before the bestowal of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. For example although Jesus spoke of his betrayal suffering and death at Jerusalem they seemed not to grasp the reality of this impending event.

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We read of them earlier in Luke's gospel when Jesus said let these words sink down into your ears for the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men but then

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Luke tells us but they did not understand this saying and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

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They were clueless and when Jesus spoke of them of his resurrection they didn't really understand what he was telling them.

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We even read of the three privileged disciples Peter, James, and John when they came down off the mount of transfiguration with Jesus.

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Jesus commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen till the son of man had risen from the dead so they kept his word to themselves but notice questioning what the rising from the dead meant.

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They didn't even understand the resurrection and so before us here in Luke 12 34 and following Jesus spoke to his disciples of his of his coming.

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When we understand but we understand well to be a second coming at the end of the age but it must have been quite an enigma for these three for these disciples listening to his words.

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They didn't even understand his death, burial, resurrection, yet alone his coming again.

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Only later would they understand his words after the events of the passion of Jesus and they were enabled by the

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Holy Spirit to understand the scriptures and so it must have been puzzling to his disciples when

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Jesus said to them on this occasion therefore you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

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Well may our Lord give us understanding as we examine the words of our passage. We're greatly advantaged over them in that context when they were listening to Jesus.

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Let's consider the first parable be prepared for the coming of the son of man. Again we read the words our

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Lord's words of command and instruction let your ways be girded your lamps burning and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master when he will return from the wedding that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately blessed are those servants whom the master when he comes will find watching assuredly

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I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat and will come and serve them and if he should come in the second watch or the third watch or come in the third watch and find them so blessed are those servants so we read that the returning master will honor his faithful servants as illustrated in this parable by the master of the house causing his servants to be seated so that he might serve them our master the

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Lord Jesus has prepared wondrous things for his disciples for having faithfully served him and kept themselves with view to his coming the blessing will be so great that watchfulness should be maintained regardless of how long one must wait as house servants wait for the returning master even into the early hours of the morning and the great outcome or perseverance in godly living and faithful witness that's what

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Jesus is speaking about is what is being stressed regardless of how long or perhaps how difficult a period of time one waits and endures for you and me it's between now and the second coming of Christ an analogy is given of servants who are to be busy preparing the house and themselves for their master who would return that night from a wedding banquet they were to have all things ready and they themselves were to be ready to joyfully welcome him and serve him upon his return the application is for disciples of Jesus Christ if they are were ready at the coming of Jesus Christ that is if we are ordering our lives according to his will and are found doing so upon his return great reward beyond our grandest dreams will be realized the returning master will honor his faithful servants as illustrated in the parable by the master of the house causing his servants to be seated so that he might serve them the great outcome for perseverance in godly living and faithful witness is what's being stressed regardless of how long or perhaps how difficult a period of time one waits we read in verse 35 that two commands are given by the master to his servants let your waist be girded your lamps burning loose robes were the common garment for men in that day and so to gird up your waist was to tie up the flowing robe to facilitate labor or ease of travel the verb in this sentence which is actually a participle use has significance as one wrote the use of the perfect participle with the imperative a me the greek word meaning to be gives the sense be the kind of person who never needs to be told to gird up his loins because they were always girded up garments were worn loosely around the waist without a belt in the house to tie them up with a belt was a sign of readiness for departure on a journey or for activity and service they were always to be ready the second command to his disciples was let your lamps be burning this suggested need to be prepared for activity even in the time of darkness what is suggested is that they always be ready for future service both presently and for future service to the master upon his arrival perhaps peter had these words of our lord in mind when he wrote first peter peter wrote therefore gird up the loins of your mind be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of jesus christ as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lust as in your ignorance but as he who called you as holy you also be holy in all your conduct because it is written be holy for i am holy one could say that is an interpretation of what jesus said on this occasion in luke chapter 12 the purpose of always being ready for service is set forth as preparation for the return of the master again verse 36 reads you yourselves be like men who wait for their master when he will return from the wedding that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately take note that in this parable there is no suggestion that the master is a bridegroom he was away at a wedding feast but it's not said he is the bridegroom there's no mention of a bride moreover later in luke's gospel we'll read about the promised messianic banquet but that's not what's suggested here that won't occur until the second coming of christ this master is simply a prominent man in the community who is attending a wedding feast and would then return home and his servants were to be ready to open the door to his house and to welcome him on his return that's what faithful and diligent servants would do we then read in verses 37 and 38 of the blessedness of the servants if the master finds them awake and ready to serve him upon his return home blessed are those servants whom the master when he comes will find watching assuredly i say to you he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat and will come and serve them and if he should come in the second watch or come in the third watch and find them so blessed are those servants the jews divided the night into three watches whereas the romans divided the night into four watches well luke recorded jesus using jewish time in this parable the master does not appear in the first watch and might only appear in either the second or third watch of the night the point is that the servants are unaware of the precise time of their master's arrival home they don't know they would be ready regardless of when he would arrive by the way an additional subtle point might be interjected here the lord is hinting to his disciples of a possible prolonged period before his coming before his return it's not an overt indication but it's implied that the lord might return at a much later time than expected as one wrote the verse reckons with a certain interval before the parousia which is the greek word for appearing in other words the second coming jesus' appearance at his second coming and here we might say is a word of correction to something you might have heard frequently but that is simply not true some argue for an imminent second coming or rapture of jesus christ by claiming that the christians of the first century expected christ's second coming to occur at any moment you've heard of that they teach the early church believed in the imminent return of jesus christ but this is not taught in the new testament in fact just the opposite is true the disciples were instructed that a prolonged period of uncertain duration would transpire before second christ's second coming for example the disciples knew before christ would return jerusalem would be utterly destroyed and the city would be occupied by gentiles for a prolonged period of time a time referred to as the times of the gentiles before the end comes and we'll see that clearly in luke 21 when we arrive there someday the disciples were also taught that the time before christ's coming would be characterized by nations rising and falling and war seemingly many wars being conducted that doesn't sound like an imminent return does it the time before the end would also entail a worldwide mission of the gospel encompassing all nations the world the gentile world the disciples were warned that before the end came many of them would be dragged before kings and would forfeit their lives for their faith in fact at least one of the disciples that being peter himself knew that he would die before christ's return jesus told them that in john 21 certainly peter was not expecting christ's imminent return the emphasis of the new testament is not to stress the imminence of christ's return but the need for preparedness for his coming for you do not know when he will return that's the point of emphasis matthew henry wrote of the delay of the coming of christ the time of our master's return is uncertain it will be in the night it will be far in the night when he is long deferred his coming and many have done looking for him the second watch just before midnight or in the third watch next after midnight is coming to us that our death is uncertain and to many it will be a great surprise for the son of man comes at an hour that you think not without giving notice beforehand this bespeaks not only of the uncertainty of the time of his coming but the prevailing security of the greatest part of men who are unthinking and altogether regardless of the notices given them so that whenever he comes it's at an hour that they think not there's uncertainty and of course that's what the lord wants our lord expressed some amazing and startling words regarding this master's behavior toward his faithful servants jesus said assuredly i say to you he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat and will come and serve them amazing statement jc ryle commented on this this is perhaps one of the most wonderful promises which is made to believers anywhere in the new testament it is it must probably be interpreted figuratively he suggested the meaning evidently is that there is there is no degree of honor and glory which the lord jesus will not gladly bestow on those who are found ready to meet him in the day of his second advent some think that there will be in some way a literal fulfillment of this promise and that our lord refers to this when he says at the last supper i will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of god should come who would think or expect the master to have his servant seated and he would serve them but the lord jesus is intimating that this reflects his gratefulness and the graciousness he will show to his disciples at his second coming as william hendrickson wrote the underlying figure seems strange must we imagine then that an earthly master would actually wait on his servants probably not but this master the one here symbolized did that very thing when he was on earth note i am among you as one who serves in john 13 picturing jesus washing the feet of his disciples what is promised here therefore is that our lord at his second coming will in a manner consonant with his glory and majesty wait on his faithful servants no wonder these servants are called blessed this almost unbelievable promise is introduced by the formula amen i say unto you well after our lord's initial exhortation he gave them a cautious warning to watchfulness jesus said but know this that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into therefore you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect well if the previous words of jesus emphasize the possibility of a delay in jesus returning at his second coming these verses stress the lord's return to be like the sudden and unexpected arrival of a burglar coming to pillage the house he comes as a thief and that doesn't mean he comes quietly you know it means he comes without people knowing it or expecting it he comes at a time when you think not so this warning is given through the illustration of a house owner who suffers lost of his things through burglary because he was not alert to guard his house this warning is to disciples professing followers of the lord jesus the warning is for that disciple who lives with no thought of christ's second coming and accounting the counting that will come will then suffer great loss this is not a warning against true disciples rather it's a warning against hypocrites false disciples god does not promise salvation to the hypocrite one who claims to be a disciple of jesus christ but whose life testifies otherwise and churches are filled with them the hypocrite will be found out on the day of the lord and therefore the warning extends to all who claim to be followers of the lord jesus you must always be ready for you do not know when he will come in fact if you are in reality a ready when he comes free purposes to judge you damn you by the way here is a word to all date setters and date setter followers you do not know nor can you know when jesus christ will come again in fact if you say he will come on such as such a day we can be certain he will not come on that day because he will come at an hour when you do not expect him and yet there are always those ready to set dates and they're all over youtube and there are always those willing to embrace those dates and date setters i have two books i've saved over the years 88 reasons why the rapture could be in 1988 that little booklet was sent out to every pastor in america and then the book 1994 by harold camping jesus is coming back in 1994 each of these authors were convinced jesus christ second coming would occur in these years and don't be so foolish to say well i might not know the hour but i think i know the season the whole point of our lord's words are this you will not know when he comes so always be ready that you're ready regardless of when he comes again the lord deliberately left matters vague so people would not know when he will return because he knows human nature he knows that we would postpone readiness if we knew we had time to postpone action the prophecy of the bible with respect to the second coming of christ is designed not to tell us when he will return but to stress the certainty of his coming and to promote anticipation and readiness in view of his coming well these last words must have troubled peter and so peter asked a question and peter said to him lord do you speak this parable only to us or to all the people this question could be understood in one of two ways first lord you must be talking about non -disciples aren't you for we're your people and these things seem to portend destruction even for us if we're not ready are you telling this parable to us your disciples or to non -disciples to the crowd the multitude or this question could be understood in this way lord are you telling this parable to all the disciples or specifically to the leaders of your disciples in other words the apostles and there are different views on this and i've read the arguments for both views well the lord responds with the words recorded in verses uh 41 should through 48 which we may describe as the blessing of the servant prepared for his coming and the consequences for the one not ready and the lord said who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his master will make ruler over his household to give them their portion of food in due season blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes truly i say to you he will make him ruler over all that he has but if that servant says in his heart my master is delayed is coming and begins to beat the male and female servants to eat and drink and be drunk the master that servant will come in a day when he's not looking for him at an hour when he's not aware and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers see he was a professing believer but his fate is the same as unbelievers this guy was a professing believer or they will be professed but they're hypocrites and that servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare himself or do according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes but he who did not know yet committed things deserving of stripes shall be beaten with few for everyone to whom much is given from him much will be required and to whom much has been committed of him they will ask the more and so the response to peter's question seemed to suggest that jesus told forth his parable especially to leaders but if it's true for them it's also has bearing on all others as well of course and so in verse 42 we read the great responsibility of the disciple but especially the leaders of the people the lord in response to peter's question suggests he was speaking directly to them specifically the apostles but generally to all disciples the ones who were accompanied him to jerusalem were to be the leaders of his disciples they were as servants but servants who were put who were to be put in charge of other servants who were to give them their food allowance at their proper time in other words the apostles were to care for and support the other disciples under them a christian leader is a manager or steward with responsibilities to which one day he must render account to the lord paul declared woe is me if i preach not the gospel it was a privilege but it was a responsibility to which he was accountable woe to me if i fail in this matter and so he's to be faithful and wise in the execution of his responsibilities matthew henry thought that this parable was specifically to leaders christian leaders particularly ministers yes applicable to all christians but especially ministers he wrote christ replied to this question directed to peter and the rest of the disciples if what christ had said before did not so peculiarly concern them but in common with other christians who must all watch and pray for christ coming as his servants yet this that follows is peculiarly adapted to ministers who were the stewards in christ's house now our lord jesus here tells them what was their duty as stewards and what the trust committed to them first they are made rulers of god's household under christ whose own house is ministers derive an authority from christ to preach the gospel to administer the ordinances of christ and apply the seals of the covenants of grace second their business is to give god's children servants their portion of meat that which is proper for them allotted to them convictions and comfort to those to whom they respectively belong to every one of his own this is rightly to divide the word of truth and three to give it to them in due season at that time and in that way which are most suitable to the temper and condition of those that are to be fed a word in season to him that is weary and for herein they must approve themselves faithful and wise faithful to their master by whom this great trust is reposed in them and faithful to their fellow servants for whose benefit they are put in trust and wise to improve an opportunity of doing honor to their master and service in the family ministers must be both skillful and faithful i take those words to heart that's why i just cannot personally see any any future in retirement until the day i have a stroke and i get up here and start babbling and slobbering i'm going to be here lord willing in verses 43 and 44 we read of the great blessing if found faithful by christ it is coming jesus said blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes truly i say to you he will make him ruler over all that he has it's a wonderful thing to have responsibility and leadership in the kingdom to be a church leader an elder deacon to be a teacher of others giving them spiritual food allowance at the proper time for when the lord comes he'll bestow great blessings on them who assume these duties and fulfill them faithfully we see that when the lord returns as a reward for their faithfulness greater privilege and opportunity for service will be given to them we're not going to be strumming on harps on clouds we're going to have service to eternity and our position and place of future service is contention on how faithful we are as stewards in this life jesus said truly i say to you he'll make him ruler over all that he has we will share in his authority at the coming of christ the fullness of his kingdom paul wrote to timothy if we endure we also we shall also reign with him if we deny him he also will deny us paul includes himself with timothy on the other hand there'll be great loss if found by christ to be unfaithful at his coming but if that servant says in his heart my master's delaying his coming begins to beat the male and female servants to eat and drink and be drunk the master that servant will come at a day when he's not looking for him at an hour when he's not aware and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers well this troubles many professing christians when they hear words like this this these words don't fit into their understanding of salvation as a gift and it's through faith alone apart from works but they misunderstand the scriptures many wrongly think since i'm saved by grace alone through faith alone what does it matter how i live that is the opinion and thought of many professing christians what's it matter we're not saved by works but we may be assured that these words of jesus are perfectly consistent with the scriptures true teaching of salvation as a gift bestowed by christ with its present justification forgiveness of sins for the believer but these words are also perfectly consistent with the biblical teaching of eternal security of the true believer these were not true disciples they were hypocrites and he's warning about them when i read verses like this i cannot help that to think that our present popular methods of evangelism do not take into consideration the implications of our lord's words here many assume that because a person walks down an aisle or gives forth a sinner's prayer the matter is concluded all is settled with respect to his fate and i've witnessed this firsthand on many occasions i used to do it myself i was a staff soul winner when i was 21 years of age and i used to lead about eight or ten people a week supposedly to christ through the sinner's prayer and the roman's road to heaven and i was quite good at it as just a kid but thousands of people that i was convincing them that they had salvation through a simple sinner's prayer mercy i've been trying to make up for that for the last 40 years at one time i was in london i visited the famed westminster chapel the church that was pastored earlier by d martin lloyd jones and the evening service that i attended only had about 15 people present this the most beautiful sanctuary i think i've ever seen westminster chapel the days of lloyd jones were no longer but an invitation was given at the end of the sermon not a word about repentance from sin toward god had been taught or stressed only some words about christ and his death resurrection and the need to accept him were said and the congregation was assured that anyone coming down the aisle would be confessing certain truths and thereby secure salvation for all time and sure enough one man came forward and the pastor standing in the pulpit he never came down and talked with the man somebody else did and there in the altar so -called and some pastor from the pulpit with the man standing below pronounced the man saved declared the angels in heaven were rejoiced no word decision and yet for all this pastor knew the man might have had no intention of forsaking anything for christ not a word of repentance was said and really there was no ability to understand if this guy had a true understanding of who jesus christ was but this pastor assured this man he had eternal salvation and that is played out all over the evangelical world in fact some would regard this church as liberal because we don't offer an invitation at the end of the service that is a false method of doing evangelism that was invented by charles finney in the early 1800s and furthered throughout the 19th into the 20th century and crusade evangelism is one of the great reasons we have so much nominal christianity in today's world public decisions for christ as they are called are nearly always meaningless and even dangerous to the souls of people they often do nothing more than foster the delusions of many that they have forgiveness of sins and eternal life when they're yet in their sins and under god's wrath i've read this passage many times charles spurgeon in his classic book the soul winner in his chapter on what is it to win a soul all and this was in the middle of the 1800s all hurry to get members into the church is most mischievous both to the church and to the supposed converts i remember very well several young men who were of good moral character religiously hopeful but instead of searching their hearts and aiming at their real conversion the pastor never gave them any rest till he had persuaded them to make a profession sinner's prayer he thought that they would be under more bonds or obligations to holy things if they professed religion and he felt quite safe impressing them for they were so hopeful imagine that to discourage them by vigilant examination might drive them away and so to secure them he made them hypocrites these young men are at the same time much farther off from the church of god than they would have been if they had been affronted by being kept in their proper places and warned that they were not yet converted to god it's a serious injury to a person to receive him into the number of the faithful ones and unless there's good reason to believe that he's really regenerate born again i'm sure it is so for i speak with careful observation some of the most glaring sinners known to me were once members of a church and were as i believe led to make a profession by undue pressure well -meant but ill -judged do not therefore consider that soul winning is or can be secured by the multiplication of baptisms and the swelling of the size of your church what mean these dispatches from the battlefield and i'm sure he must have been alluding to methodist revivals last night 14 souls were under conviction 15 were justified 8 received full sanctification i am weary of this public bragging this county of uncounting of unhatched chickens this exhibition of doubtful spoils lay aside such numberies of the people such idle pretense of certifying in a half a minute that which will need the testing of a lifetime hope for the best but in your highest excitement be reasonable inquiry rooms are all very well but if they lead to idle boastings they will grieve the holy spirit and work abounding evil and that has been played out the point is this a decision for christ but set you on a course that must be finished and will be finished if you're truly saved but the christian life and salvation cannot be reduced to a sinner's prayer or profession of the lips you have set out in a race that must be finished you you began a fight which must be won you entered a battle which in which you must be victorious you embarked on a pilgrimage which you must complete pilgrim's progress you got to get from the city of destruction to the celestial city and you're you were prepared for a judgment day when the fruit of your life will prove or discredit your claim to saving faith it's what your life testifies you not what your lips declare you believe be ready the lord essentially tells his disciple be ready for if you profess to be a believer but you live as a hypocrite that is you begin to act and live like an unbeliever i will see to it that when i do return you will be discovered in that state and will receive the consequences of an unbeliever watch how you live do not be presumptive assuming that because you're under the blood of christ that you can indulge in sinful living you'll discover on that day you have no covering for your sin watch how you live jesus you're talking to us or everybody he's talking to everybody disciples too do not go to a place you would want to be found if your lord would return for you do not participate in an activity which you would not want to be discovered in which you would not want to be discovered for jesus says you will be discovered in it you'll see to it do not put an image on your phone television or computer screen that you would not want to be found to be viewing when the lord jesus returns suddenly that's a pretty good motivation isn't it for holiness for purity and verses 47 48 we read there will be greater judgment on those with greater privilege jesus said that servant who knew his master's will did not prepare himself to do according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes that was that's what masters did with unfaithful slaves in the first century they got whipped publicly but he who did not know yet committed things deserving of stripes are beaten with few god is just in his judgment people will get what they deserve for everyone to whom much is given from him much will be required and to whom much has been committed of him they will ask the more and we should tremble when we read these words the lord was attempting to sober his disciples on the one hand he'd encourage him greatly with the prospects for tremendous reward but on the other hand he intended to put the fear of god of the consequences of neglect presumption and rebellion with great privilege comes great responsibility again in former time public flogging was the manner in which an unfaithful or dishonest servant was punished by his master and our lord used this this analogy to show the great consequences of a professing believer christian but is not true not a true disciple ryle wrote on this he lived in the 19th century died in 1900 the lesson of these words is one of wide application it demands the attention of many classes it should come home to the conscience of every british christian he was in the church of england his judgment will be far more strict than that of the heathen who never saw the bible it should come home to every protestant who has the liberty to read the scriptures his responsibility is far greater than that of the priest ridden romanist in other words the roman catholic who is debarred from the use of god's word it was forbidden for catholics to read the bible until 1963 the roman catholic the roman catholic the pope had a list of forbidden books and there were several hundred on the list the bible was included on that list until 1963 you can as a good catholic you can read the bible now but you can only interpret it as the magisterium the pope in the card will say this is what it means it should come home to every hearer of the gospel if he remains unconverted he's far more guilty than the inhabitants of some dark parish who never hears any teaching but a sort of semi -heathen morality it should come home to every child and servant and religious families all such are far more blameworthy in god's sight than those who live in houses where there's no honor paid to the word of god in prayer that these things never be forgotten our judgment at the last day will be according to our light and opportunities the fact is sin will be punished but the one who has greater understanding of his responsibility will suffer greater judgment than the one who sins in ignorance old testament teaches that new testament teaches that and so the idea is similar to the earlier words of our lord to the people who are listening to him it should be more tolerable on that day for sodom than for you why because those of his generation sinned against great understanding and therefore their sin was greater and was deserving of more severe punishment than even those wicked people in sodom and gomorrah

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I actually intended these last two pages of notes not to be covered but rather for the benefit of those who receive our notes in Africa and India and Asia and elsewhere