Ready for Christ’s Return?

Ready for Christ's Return?

Well, each of us have a privilege of having a copy, or more than one copy, of God's Word. So open the one you have with you this morning and turn to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, please, and we want to turn to verse 15 and begin the reading there in Luke 12. We're going to read a good portion of this chapter, but beginning in verse number 15 this morning. And he said unto them, And he said, Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens, for they need not eat, but they need to eat. And neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, they spend not. And yet I say unto you that Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

And seek not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after. And your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things, but rather seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that you have, and give alms. Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning. And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meet, and will come forth. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the good men of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour, ye think not, when ye think not. Then Peter said, Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou of this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing.

Just as Jesus Christ, did not know the day and the hour that his Lord, his Father in heaven, was going to require him to drink the cup. He said, My hour is not yet come. He did not know that hour when the Lord would call upon him to be made the sacrifice for our sins. In a very similar way, we do not know the hour either of our death or our departure via the rapture. We do not know. So we're told to be ready, right? Be ye therefore ready, Jesus says, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not. Be ready. Be ready.

Well, Jesus was always ready, wasn't he? He was always ready. He was ready to go. As the hymn we sing says, he was ready to stay. Ready to do the Father's will. He was always ready for whatever the Father appointed to him. To do. He said he didn't even speak his own words. He spoke the words that the Father gave him. The works that I do, he said, when you see these works, these are the works the Father sent me to do. It's not my works. It's not my words. I'm doing the will of what my Father would have me to do.

And so how was he ready? Jesus was always ready, we said, but how was he ready? Even at an early age. Look at Luke 2. Hold your finger here, but look back a few chapters. Luke 2, 49. Look at his mindset. Look at the mind of Christ here. In verse 49, he says this. How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not? Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business? I must be about my Father's business. This is over in John 4. Verse 34, we would read that Jesus said there, John 4, verse 34, he made this statement. In verse number 34, he said, My meat is to do, my food, literally, this is important, like my daily bread, is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. In fact, it's more important, even, than physical food to him was to do the will of his Father. How do we know that? Because he went through that wilderness temptation for 40 days, right? And then when he came out, the serpent tempted him and said, command these stones that they be made bread, right? Wasn't it that he told him that? And he said he would not do that. He would not yield to the temptation, even to eat or to misuse the powers that he had to be able to do that. He said that he was going to do the will of the Father, right? I must be about my Father's business. And so the most important thing to him, his meat, whereas this world serves its own belly, Jesus Christ served his Father and did his will.

In John 6, 38, he said, I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And even though he walked on this earth, as we walk on this earth, his mission, his purpose on this earth was heavenly. It was eternal in nature. It was not merely for the, you know, living from, from meal to meal, paycheck to paycheck, and just with no real purpose or direction in his life. No, he had to eat, obviously. He was a human, just like we are. He enjoyed, you know, temporal, tangible things of life, okay? But he didn't live for those things. He didn't worship those things. He could do without them because he served his Father. He lived for his Father, not for this temporal, earthly life. That's not what he was here for. He wasn't here to please himself. He wasn't a rogue on the run from his Father in heaven. He wasn't a prodigal from heaven. He was willingly, he willingly came, and he was lovingly sent to this earth to do the Father's bidding.

He, as the Scriptures will tell us, is the express image. We've looked at those words before in the Greek. It literally has the idea. What we would say in the South here, at least, is, look at that boy. He's the spitting image. He's exactly like his, you know, well, even more so than we could say of the spitting image of my Father. I'm the spitting image of my Father or something like that. He is truly the exact express image of his Father in that in all, not merely talking about some physical characteristics, but in the way he thinks, the way he speaks. Everything he does is what the Father would do. He has the same characteristics. He has the same character as the Father. There's no difference. He's the same in nature as his Father. He's different in personhood or personality and all of that, but he's distinct in that way, but he's the same. He's God in flesh. He's the express image of the Father.

And so we're told, now, looking at Jesus, the express image of the Father, the one who always did the Father's will, we're told, let this mind be in you. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2, verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And he taught, when he spoke, he taught as one having authority, not as the scribes, which say, do as I say and not as I do, right? He taught as one having authority. He did not merely clean up the outside of the cup, and make it look good to everyone, no. He took on, truly took on the form of a servant. He was, at heart, a servant. He came to serve us, though we did not deserve anything but justice and judgment. He was always ready, ready to do, ready to endure, ready to go, ready to do whatever the Father wanted him to do. Amen.

And he has called us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, follow him. That's what he's called us to do. He does not teach us to do something that he himself does not do. He does not demand of us something that he does not first require of himself and fulfill himself. In our texts today, back here in, in our text in Luke chapter 12, we saw in verse number, um, 21. Verse number 21, we saw these words. He that, so is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. What, what is this referring to? Well, it's referring to the man who tore down his barns, built bigger barns, built bigger barns, built bigger barns, built bigger barns, built bigger barns, built bigger barns, built bigger barns, built bigger barns, built bigger barns, even though he didn't need bigger barns. He should have taken the extra that he had that was above and beyond his basic needs and he should have shared them, given them to others. That's what we're, that's literally what the text just told us, you know, take what you have and sell it. Give alms, right? He should have not said, well, I have enough, but I really want more because I don't even want to have because I don't even want to have to, in so many words, depend on God.

I want to have so much. I don't want to even have to pray for anything. I want, I don't want to have to, I don't want to have to, to ever sweat about anything. I want to take my ease. I want to live out the rest of my life without a thought of care, based on what I have tangibly, based on my possessions. I want to be so rich. And so well off that I don't even have to lift a finger or think, you know, sounds like at least what a lot of the American dream is about, right? The American dream. You know, I want to, I'm not saying that everybody wants that, but it's, you know, get rich quick and get rich and have all of this so I don't have to work. So I don't have to do anything. Well, there's a time that comes where we need to retire. I understand that. But even in retirement, we can still serve the Lord, right? Still serve the Lord. Even if we might, might be retired from a job. Well, it might be a good thing that maybe the Lord blesses you to the point where you can, you can afford to not have to be at work. Well, that would just be more time to serve the Lord, right? More time to serve him in a different avenue.

Well, our text commands us here to be rich toward God. In so many words. Be rich toward God. Unlike this man who tore down his barns to build bigger. And what was the biggest idol he had was himself, right? The idolatry of self. Jesus teaches us here in this text. He teaches us in verse 15, right at the beginning, a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. In other words. The true meaning of our life is not found. The true value of our lives is not found in what things we have because those things. Naked came I into this world and out of my mother's womb and naked will I return to the dust, right? The Lord have given and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. My purpose in this world is to know the Lord and to make him known. My purpose in this world is to do. His will, not my will. My purpose in this life is to, as verse 31 tells us, look in verse 31 here in the text. It says in verse 31, but rather seek ye the kingdom of God. Matthew will say it a little differently. He will say, he will include the words, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Rather, seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.

What does this world primarily seek after? Well, things that in and of themselves are not necessarily a problem. Health, right? Everybody wants to be healthy, right? Everybody wants to be in perfect health. I mean, who wouldn't want to be in great health and thank God if he blesses us with good health. That's a blessing. We should thank him for it. We should not try to be. We should not be unhealthy. We should not. We should be good stewards of the body, but we must not worship our health. We must not worship our wealth. The Lord may give you money. Okay? If he gives you money, just remember it may make itself wings and fly, make itself wings and fly away. The riches may grow wings and fly off. That's what they tend to do, right? If you have riches, bless the Lord and use him, use them for his purposes. Use your health for his purposes. To do his will, but don't idolize it, right? Pleasure and comfort. We all like comfort food. At least I do. My wife made cottage pie. She found out it's supposed to be called cottage pie if it doesn't include lamb in it. So shepherd's pie, we tend to call it.

She made some cottage pie and oh, it was so good in that cast iron pan with the potatoes on top and it had a little cheese and the vegetables and the beef and all the stuff that was in there. It was so good. Comfort food. We have a lot of creature comforts in this life, don't we? We have a comfortable home that we live in. We have comfortable air conditioning we're sitting in here today. A lot of people don't have those things in a lot of places in the world that are even meeting in this 24 hour period on the Lord's day. But do we serve the Lord because of those things? Will we only do his will if we have all the creature comforts? If our health, if our wealth, if our comforts were taken away from us? That's what Satan accused Job and said, you take that hedge away from him, he won't serve you anymore. He's not going to serve you. If you take away that hedge that you've made about him, you take away the comforts and the pleasing things in his life and the things that bring him joy even in the legitimate things of life. He's going to curse you Lord, curse you God.

Well the number one idol is me, me, me, me, me, me. I'm going to do what I want to do. Nobody's going to get in the way of me doing what I want to do and having what I want to have. You know, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, pride of life we talk about. Lovers of our own selves is what's going to characterize the perilous last times. I can't help but think that we're in those times. That we're in those times because we look around and it's just, it's everywhere. And certainly the spirit of this has been spread rapidly and is very influential on a global scale because of the internet. Because of the internet. It just amplifies it even more. The love of self, deny myself no pleasure, love pleasure more than God. This is the, this is the mindset. And that's not to be our mindset. It's not to be our mindset in this world. There's a lot of different ways that can express itself. It might express itself in a very religious sort of way like the Pharisees. Remember the Pharisees, they were, they served themselves. Even the Pharisee we read of, he prayed thus with himself. It was all about making himself feel good about himself.

It was not about serving God and doing his will. It was about worshiping his own, his own way. It was not about serving God and doing his will. It was about worshiping his own, his own way. So, but Jesus, when he spoke to the Pharisees said, you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, or judgment, mercy and faith. This is in Matthew 23, 23. You've omitted the weightier matters. These all ought you to have done. These as in the tithing of these things, that's, that's good. That's well. But. But you ought to not have, you ought not to have left off judgment and mercy and love or faith. I'm sorry. Well, love too, but judgment, mercy, and faith. You ought not to have left these things off because this is my will for you too. You can fake the outer ones, but you can't fake the inner ones. You can't fool me. If your heart is, if you don't have real heart religion. You can fool people with the tithing, but you can't fool me is what he's saying here. You have omitted because you're really worshiping yourself. The weightier matters. You've omitted the weightier matters.

I was reading a book that someone gave me a brother in Christ some time ago. He, um, it was a book by Francis Asbury and there was something in that book where he said this. Practicing revenge is the way to continue divisions and to end to the end of the world. Such offend me. Therefore I will offend them and therefore they offend me again and I then, and so it may run in infinitum. They deny me a kindness. Therefore I will deny them. Therefore they will deny me. So these unkindnesses run on endlessly. Divisions will have a line of succession. Where will it? Where can it? Stop. If this be the way of men, and you know, I've, I've, I've thought about this. I've given the illustration before when talking about couples, married couples, and you know, the only way a marriage can work is there must be, well, at least one party, but definitely for it to work properly, they have to be two parties that say, not my will, but God's will, not what I want, but what God wants.

That's the only way a marriage can prosper, is for two people, because what, what is it, you know, when we bring two people together, we, we used to live our, our own little path, right? I lived the way I wanted to live. I folded things the way I wanted to fold them, did things the way I wanted to do them, and then my spouse that I married, she had, my wife had her own ways. We didn't live a whole long, a really long time with, before we got married, some people live longer and they develop further habits. Yeah. And that also, and that also the same thing is, oh, I don't want to know what my wife is doing, because that's what the heart of marriage is. And it is, but they would act sad, and it is, but the heart of marriage is, is not, instead, it is, it is a constant change. It is, it is a constant change. But that is what I'm saying. Is that right? I'm not saying that you can't change, you know, your life. No. It is. It is. And, it, I mean, I, I'm not saying that you can't change your life. It is. But it is, it is. I mean, you know, I, my wife, I have a husband. I have two children and I have two children, and.

I'm your life for her love your wife love your wife love your wives as an address to the body and so the understanding is it you might be tempted and you will be tempted to be bitter or hold some kind of grudge because of something she did that you didn't like or something that she's doing that you don't like but you should not you're literally commanded not to be bitter against her I'm commanded not to be bitter against my wife and that is God's will and if I am bitter then I'm not doing God's will towards my wife as a wife if you would deny yourself yourself seek first the kingdom of God just as with the husband you you must submit to your husband's submit to your husband as one what is all this in the context of Jesus Christ was ready to go meet his father to go to the cross but to go and return back to heaven ultimately after his death burial and resurrection he was ready when that cup came he was ready to drink of it so should we be ready to meet the Lord part of being ready to meet the Lord is just everyday basic stuff you know husbands love your wives wives submit to your husbands children obey your parents think not only on your own things think all the other things of others as a body submit your submitting ourselves one to another in the fear of God praying one for another having fervent charity among ourselves all these things as it pertains to one another we ought to be doing because we love the Lord because we know that he loves us if we're not seeking first the kingdom of God and we're seeking our own will the result will be what it will be strife it will be confusion it will be blame shifting there'll be all of this confusion and it will be a lot of confusion and it will be a lot of going on and we'll be busying ourselves with handling the fallout from disobedience with handling the fallout and the confusion that comes from not doing God's will and you know a marriage can be one of the most wonderful things there can be one of the most terrible things in the world if it's not in in God's will having children can be one of the most wonderful things or one of the most as we saw this morning Solomon and Rehoboam it can be a bad thing you can have children that are lawless and you know just full-blown rebels you can have children that well you can't change the heart of the child but you certainly can instruct them and train them in the way they should go and pray for them that God will guide and direct them and they'll respond to him well we have a choice to make don't we we have a choice to make animals serve God regardless the birds always get up and sing every morning you know they don't say well I think I'll take the day off because I just don't really feel like it today no they get up and they sing every morning the rooster crows the rooster crows whether you want him to or not he crows I don't think brother Tim wants any chickens but we have a choice we have a choice to make don't we look in Matthew 12 verse 50 please Matthew chapter 12 verse number 50 for whosoever shall do the will of my father which is in heaven Jesus says the same as my brother and sister and mother you'd also say in John 15 verse 14 you're my friends if you do whatsoever I command you the mark of discipleship is self-denial isn't it one of the prominent marks of a disciple of Christ is that they deny themselves and serve by love to do the will of the one who loved them first if our righteousness doesn't exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees then it isn't true righteousness is it if our righteousness doesn't go beyond skin deep into the heart and we do the will of God out of the heart then what kind of righteousness do we have where your treasure is verse 34 back in our text says this look in look in verse 34 again Luke 12 verse 34 says for where your treasure is there will your heart be also what do we treasure what do we value what is what means the world to us so to speak in a world that is following its own heart we must follow the Lord with all our heart his our greatest treasure and delight should be to follow him and do his will right is our greatest desire and treasure to follow him even if it means trouble even if it means loss even if it means some discomfort or great discomfort in our lives what what is our are we willing to be bought or we sold out to the Lord one thing that should mark our lives if that is true of us that we we're we are the friends we are the brother and sister of our Lord because we do the will of God and we do the will of the one who sent him what is it what are we going to be doing well we're going to be saying something along the lines of it should ever be at the forefront of our hearts maybe today the world will come back Maranatha maybe the Lord will come back today I am ready to meet him but if he doesn't come back I want to do his will Lord help me to do your will I know that I can't do it in my own strength but maybe the day the world will come back in verse 37 verse 37 verse 37 verse 37 it says this verse 37 blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching look at this verily I say unto you that he shall gird himself and make them sit down to meet and will come forth and serve them well I'm probably going to you know if I would feel like what is it Peter who said Lord watch not only my feet but my whole my whole body I like John the Baptist who said I'm not worthy to loose his shoe latchet why should he gird himself and serve me and if he shall come in the second watch come in the third watch and find them so blessed are those servants but then in verse 40 be ye therefore ready also learning from the good men of the house that would've if you'd known the hour of the thief was coming you would not have allowed the house to be broken into be ye therefore ready also for the son of man cometh at an hour when you think not we live in a world where people don't know what's going to wait none of us know what's going to happen next ok and that's why police departments they have continual training right they continue to train for scenarios schools do drills in case there's a what a tornado or a fire or some any of those things firefighters other than the Rocky Mountain Fire Department has a place over there where I believe it's still over there by where the Tom Stith Park was and they have a place where they stage and they practice doing all of their you know going in and putting out a fire sometimes they'll burn down an old abandoned house and practice with that because they have to stay ready for whatever their job is right they have to be ready because at a moment's notice that alarm may ring and there's a huge emergency that they need to be ready to address well our we certainly should be ready to speak to souls ready to give an answer for the reason of the hope that's in us with meekness and fear but ultimately what we need what the Lord is preparing us for and what we need to be ready to do is Lord I'm ready to go and meet you you if the Lord should should should knock and say it's it's time I'm ready let's go let's go we should not hold on to anything in this world we should we can enjoy the things God has given us but we should not hold on we should hold loosely on to the things God has given us so we could let go of them at any moment and say not like Lot's wife remember Lot's wife but let go and say Lord I'm ready to go I'm ready I'm ready to meet you well we need to take heed to ourselves the scripture tells us Luke 21 verse 34 Luke 21 verse 34 warns us because it's a very real temptation isn't it verse 34 take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged or overburdened with surfeiting that is gluttony and drunkenness and carelessness and so that day come upon you unawares you can eat you can enjoy the things of this life we're going to have certain cares that have to be taken care of that's part of living life but do not become do not allow the word to be choked in your heart by the the abundance of these things sometimes the word may bring us through a storm to show us we need to lighten the ship some things we need to lighten the ship some things we need to lighten the ship some things will have to be thrown overboard some things we just have to say well at least for now I need to get rid of that thing because it's weighing down my ship too much I need to be not overburdened overcharged with these things because I want the main priority the number one priority of my life is to seek first the kingdom of God and be ready to ready to go should he call me today I want to be ready to just leave it all behind Pastor Peacock he would make the statement you know he said and it's really not a funny thing but he said I wonder if I went drove around Rocky Mount today if I could get a bus load up ready to go to heaven right now and that's a good thought to think are we ready we say that we were children of God so we should be ready right let us not be so tied to the things of this earth let us look to the Lord blessed is that servant of God and let us look to the Lord and let us look to the Lord and let us look to the Lord verse 43 blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing we recently went to Ocracoke when we were down at the beach and we went over to the lighthouse over there I'd never been to Ocracoke before and I can say I've been now I'm not I'm not racing to get back over there or anything but it was there was some neat things there to be seen and I think probably the most was the was the lighthouse we just walked over there and talked to the park ranger or whoever it was that was standing there and talking about the lighthouse and I noticed there was a can a metal can sitting there and she said that's a lard can and she said before kerosene and certainly before electricity they the light keeper would use lard to keep that light burning the lamp lantern burning and and and they had really a full-time job at night and that job consisted of continuing to make sure the lamp was supplied with lard and the wick was trimmed evenly because if the wick not like modern wicks but they had to be trimmed then if they were not trimmed evenly the light would not burn brightly like it was supposed to and then because the lard was a would burn they would have to keep the however many it was a bunch of lenses they had to keep wiped clean so that it would properly reflect that light out into the darkness and I'm thinking about that lighthouse keeper they didn't they couldn't see the ships that were out there but there were ships out there and they needed that light they had to be faithful knowing having the integrity and the faithfulness to continue doing what they knew they needed to be doing out of concern for those people out there in the water certainly but they were going to give an answer for how they kept that that light I'm going to keep this light burning whether the storms come whether it's fair weather the light's going to be burning the light is going to be shining out into the dark and so as Christians we must as we as we do the father's will as we keep our eyes upon him and we keep our eyes upon him and we keep our eyes upon him our lights are burning right our lights are burning in this dark world that we live in when Jesus comes we sing to reward his servants whether it be noon or night faithful to him will he find us watching with our lamps all trimmed and bright oh can we say we are ready brother ready for the soul's bright home say will he find you and me still watching waiting watching when the Lord shall come father help us to be ready you send chastening and trouble even to our lives difficulties to our lives to help prepare us for heaven we know that if we're in Christ heaven is our home but Lord there are things in our lives Lord that perhaps we're holding on to where we hold dearer than we should that we need to we need to be sure that we are we have nothing before you in our lives that we truly are in everything we're seeking first the kingdom of God while we enjoy many things many creature comforts of this life Lord help us to not help us help us to serve thee help us to truly have thee in the first place in our lives help us to keep ourselves from idols and Lord to not only have a flickering lamp but to have a brightly burning light in and to be that light that you you have made us to be in this world bless us now as we sing this final hymn we pray Lord that we would be a people that are ready to meet the Lord ready should it be today we we hear people say all the time I never thought it would happen to me or I I didn't think it would be today or or or so many things that people say about unexpected things that arise in their lives may we live the day the rest of this day Lord with that understanding that it really may be today that our Lord will come and may it may that show in the way we think may the mind of Christ pervade all that we do we pray in Jesus name Amen