Singing indeed. We're turning tonight in our
Bible to the Gospel of Luke, The Gospel of Luke.
We're in chapter 12 and I want to read from verse 22 right
through to 40, Luke chapter 12. We're at verse 22 for those
online. The words will come up and
scream. And we're reading, of course,
from the King James Bible, Luke chapter 12, verse 22.
Let's hear the word of God. And He said unto his disciples,
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life what
you 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 neither sow nor reap, which
neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them.
How much more are ye better than the files?
And which of you with taking thought can add to His stature?
1 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 spin not. And yet I say unto you, that
Solomon and all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
If then God so clothed the grass which today is in the field, and
tomorrow was cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe
you? O ye have little faith, and seek
not ye what ye would 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. Sail that you have, and give
alms. Provide yourselves bags which
wax not old a treasure in the heaven that feel of not where no
thief approaches, neither moth corrupt of.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and you
yourselves take unto men that wait for the Lord, when he shall
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 serve them. And if he shall come in the
second watch, or come on the third watch and find them, so,
blessed are those servants. And thus know that if the good
man of the house had known what are the thief would come, he
would have watched and not have suffered his house to be broken
through. Be ye therefore ready also, for
the Son of Man cometh at an hour when you think not Amen.
We know that God will stamp with His own approval and blessing
this reading of His own precious and infallible Word.
This evening. My text is found in Luke chapter
12, verses 37 through to 40, and I've entitled the message
tonight, Watching and waiting for the coming King.
Now, there are few truths more neglected in the modern church
than that of the personal, visible, bodily return of the
Lord Jesus Christ in power and glory.
So often we speak of home improvements.
So often we speak of personal improvements, our personal best
here and now. But in stark contrast, the New
Testament continually exhorts and directs born again believers
to live in light of another world, to live in light of
another world with another cry. The day when the king returns,
you see the early church, the 1st century church, they lived
with the expectancy. They greeted one another with
the cry, Maranatha, our Lord comes.
They worked, they worshipped, they witnessed, they prayed,
they evangelised. They all suffered much
persecution, some even suffered martyrdom while looking for and
longing for Christ's visible bodily appearing.
Remember the Bible says in First Corinthians 16 and 22, if any
man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be in Natham
Maranatha. That word anathema means let him
be cursed. The word Maranatha means our
Lord comes. Remember what the Lord Jesus
said in his Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24 and 12.
Here's one of the verses. And because iniquity shall
abide, the love of the many shall wax cold.
And in this 21st century, sadly, that is so true of our
generation. Even those who profess the name
of Christ have become cold and careless.
They are spiritually drifting. They they are in a state of
spiritual drowsiness. Sadly, in a true sense, we have
all allowed ourselves to be lulled to sleep by this anti
Christian world. Lulled to sleep with the world's
comforts. It's entertainment.
It's ambition. Long to sleep with things and
possessions. Materially long to sleep with
trinkets. But the Lord Jesus Christ
repeatedly commanded his church to watch.
Not to speculate, not to date set, not to be overcome with
fear, not to panic, not to be full of a spurt of unbelief, but
to watch. And this section, Luke chapter
1237 to 40, comes in a portion of the Holy Scripture where the
Lord Jesus Christ is teaching his disciples about stewardship,
about readiness, about eternal priorities.
Just before uttering these words, he warned his followers
against carelessness, against anxiety.
He told them to consider the Ravens, He urged him to consider
the lillies, and he called upon them then to seek first the
Kingdom of God and to lay up treasure in heaven.
And after he did that, then he turned his attention to this
great theme. What is the theme of Luke 1237
to 48? Is this living ready for his
return, or watching and waiting for the coming king?
This is not merely A prophecy for the curious.
No, this is practical Christianity for the Church.
The great Puritan John Owen said when sin lets us alone, we may
let sin alone. But as sin is never less quiet
than when it seems most quiet, so our watchfulness must never
be laid aside. If Christ is coming, and he is,
then his people, those who say we are God's children, they must
be found watching for him coming.
They must be found waiting for us coming.
They must be working in light of his coming.
Here's a question for us tonight.
Are we living ready for his return?
Four simple little truths. Look with me at verse 737.
Sorry. Blessed are those servants from
the Lord, when he cometh shall find watching the servants that
are mentioned. Who are these servants?
Notice their identity, how they're described.
Those servants. I believe this is covenant
language. They are those who belong to
their Master. I believe these servants are
those who have been born again of the Holy Spirit, who've been
savingly joined to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ as their Lord
and Saviour. True Christianity begins with a
bowing the knee in submission to Jesus Christ as Lord and
Saviour. That involves coming to Him as a
Sinner. That involves crying out to him,
Lord save me, I perish. That involves true repentance
and faith in Jesus Christ. We live in a world where the
modern world wants a Saviour without a sovereign.
The modern world wants men to like Jesus without Him being
their Lord. But the true gospel called
sinners to repent of their sin and receive Christ as Lord and
Saviour. Remember the Philippian Geeler
cried out to Paul and Silas, Sirs, what must I do to be
saved? What was their answer?
Acts 16 verse 31 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved. Philippians chapter 2 and in the
verse 10 and 11 we read these words that at the name of Jesus
every knee should buy of things in heaven and things on earth
and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Let me state tonight I believe it's wrong.
I believe it's the height of folly for those preachers who
preach a gospel that says to individual sinners that you just
need to trust Jesus as your Saviour, but you can reject him
and refuse his Lordship, His ruling reign over your life.
I I believe that's a false gospel.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
And the full title is very important.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.
The word Lord refers to his deity.
Jesus refers to his humanity. Christ refers to his ministry.
You can't divide Christ, and the Lord Jesus said, if you love me,
keep my commandments. So I asked this question
tonight. Are you one of his true
servants? Have you been born again of the
Holy Spirit? Do you have a testimony that
you've been washed in the precious blood of Christ by
faith? Because the servant watches
because he loves his master? Do you love the Lord Jesus
Christ and sincerity and truth? Are you watching for his return?
I remember years ago in Larne and the little mission hall, a
man from America, a preacher by the name of the Reverend Paul
Finch. And he told the story of his
father, that his father used to get out of bed every morning,
pulled back. He called them the drapes.
I didn't know what a drape was. That's a curtain, fancy name for
a curtain. And he pulled back these
curtains and he looked out into the light of the new day.
And every morning he'd have said this.
Even. So come Lord Jesus, there was a
man who was watching for his Lord's return.
See, the unbelieving world doesn't watch for Christ's
return. Christ is not in all their
thoughts. And if he was in their thoughts,
the return of Christ wouldn't be a truth for them to triumph in.
It would be a truth to terrorise them.
It was Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher, that said
this. To the ungodly, the coming of
Christ is a dreadful threat. But to the true believer, to the
child of God, it's a delightful truth.
We call this the blessed hope. It's sure and certain.
The servants that are mentioned, listen to what he says.
Blessed are those servants from the Lord, when he cometh shall
find watching. Are you one of those servants
watching for Christ because you love him, because he's your Lord
and your master? The second thing I want you to
discover tonight is this the surety that is affirmed, it says
in verse 38 and find them. So blessed are those servants.
Matthew chapter 2442 says, Watch therefore, for ye know not what
are your Lord cometh. Mark 1337 says, What I say unto
you, I say unto you all, watch. First Thessalonians 5 and 6
says, Therefore let us not sleep, but let us watch and be
sober. You see, the surety that is
affirmed here in light of this blessed hope, is that there's a
spiritual watchfulness, not just the servants that's mentioned,
but the surety that is affirmed. The watching servant is marked
by what spiritual alertness He is watchful.
Now what does that mean? He or she is living with
spiritual discernment. The King is coming.
That individual is guarding their own heart and mind against
all the encroachment of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
That individual is remaining faithful in the place of prayer,
private prayer, and public prayer.
That individual is persevering in a life of holiness unto God
as the evidence of salvage, not the ground.
The ground is the meritorious work of Christ.
Here's the fruit, persevering in a life of holiness unto God.
And on top of that, he's daily looking and longing for Christ.
Remember in the last book of the Bible, in the Book of
Revelation, it was old John the Apostle that said this in
Revelation chapter 22 and in the verse 20.
Listen to the word of God. He which testify of these things
saith, surely I come quickly. That's the Lord Jesus speaking,
and here's John's response. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus. See, he was living in light of
the Lord's return. He was looking and longing for
the Saviour and coupled with this spirit of watchfulness,
this spiritual alertness is that we hold fast to the form of
sound words. I was encouraging you there in
the singing, standing in the promises of God.
And I want you to understand tonight that according to the
Bible, it says in second Corinthians chapter one, verse
24, all the promises of God in him that's in Christ are Yeah.
And in him, Amen. And according to Herbert
Luckier, there's something like 7300 promises in the book, and
they're all found in Christ and all connected to him.
And we need to hold fast to these words.
You see, this is not merely A passive waving.
It's a personal waving, an act of faithfulness.
Remember what we read in Psalm 127, except the Lord keep the
city. The watchman waketh, but in
vain. That has to do with the
sovereignty of God. That has to do with God's act
over the city, providentially in keeping the city.
What do you think of a city? Think of the watchman and guard
on the wall. Could you think of the city
watchman and guard duty falling asleep?
What good would he be? You'd say he's as useless as a
chocolate fire guard In ancient times.
If you go up to Londonderry, you'll see the Maiden City stand
in the walls there. You look down over the whole
city and then think back to ancient times, how the ancient
cities had walls. And the Watchmen stood in the
walls, especially through the night.
And while others slept, they slayed alert.
They, they, they kept awake. They, they were there to warn of
the enemy approaching. They were there to warn of
danger. They were there to announce the
coming of the dawn of the new day.
But if the Watchmen slept, the city suffered.
And likewise the servant of Christ must be watchful in the
light of that blessed hope. And I've explained what I mean
by watchfulness. Living with spiritual
discernment, guarding 1's heart and mind against the world, the
flesh of the devil. Remaining faithful in prayer,
persevering and holiness unto the Lord, Longing and looking
for Christ. Holding fast the form of sound
words. This is an active faithfulness,
but there's also a spiritual waiting, not just a spiritual
watchfulness. If you look at our text, it says
in verse 38. And if he shall come in the
second watch or in the third watch and find them, so blessed
are those servants. Now, this has nothing to do with
a timepiece that you wear in your arm, OK?
So the word watch has nothing to do with a timepiece.
OK. The second watch or to come in
the third watch means in the deep hours of the night.
The second watch was 9:00 PM to midnight.
The third watch was midnight to 3:00 PM.
Then of course, there was a fourth watch of the night, which
is not mentioned, and that was 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM.
Now this was very late at night. And what does he say?
And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the
third watch and find them, so find them what?
Find them watching? Bless it, or happy.
Happy are those servants you see late at night.
Those late night hours are when exhaustion is greatest on the
body, when vigilance is the hardest.
And the point of the passage is about watchfully waiting with a
spur of readiness and faithful expectation.
See, Christ is teaching here, or hinting that his return may be
delayed, and in the period of delay can grow a weariness and a
carelessness. And this is where many churches
have gone astray. They have grown careless.
They have struggled with spiritual drowsiness.
Remember Peter second Peter 3 and 4?
The scoffers came in his day and they asked us, well, where's the
promise of us coming? And they mocked and scorned the
idea of us coming. And they made false accusations
and they made false assumptions. But the delay was not a denial.
You see, God's clock is different from ours.
The Lord Jesus used an illustration here in verse 39
about the good man of the house. Think of him, he's worked hard
all day, he's sleepy, he wants to go to bed.
But it says here if he'd known what timer are, the thief would
come. He would have watched.
Now the point is that not that Christ is like a thief morally,
but when does the thief come? He comes suddenly, it comes
unannounced, it comes unexpectedly, and of course
that's how the Lord Jesus will comes.
According to Matthew 244244, First Thessalonians 5 and two
Revelations 6 and 15, no one knows the day they are.
And this fact destroys date setting.
It destroys prophetic sensational nonsense.
It destroy speculative obsession.
You see, let me illustrate. There's a man in America called
Harold Camping and he run a radio station called Family
Radio and he set the date may the 21st, 2012 that Jesus was to
return in power and glory, not date, come and gone.
That didn't happen. And then he said no, he got his
calculations wrong. He said a new date, this time
October the 21st, 2012. Well, that was soon to be 14
years ago. He also added in that there was
a flock of birds gathering in the valley of Megiddo in the
land of Israel and the birds were a saying that the battle of
Armageddon was soon going to take place.
I believe one day there will be a battle of Armageddon,
literally in this earth. But you cannot set dates and the
true Church of Jesus Christ does not set dates.
But what it did do was historically emphasised
readiness over recklessness, readiness over reckless dates
setting. The church's task is not to
calculate a calendar but to cultivate holiness.
JC Rile, the first Protestant Bishop of Liverpool, said this.
The highest style of a Christian is the one who lives ready for
the Lord's return. Now when's he coming back?
This is what he said himself. Mark chapter 13, verse 32.
But if that day and hour knoweth no man, not the angels which are
in heaven, neither the Son but the Father.
And some people have taken that truth, and they've made an
argument. But wait a minute, if Jesus is
the Son of God, how could he not know?
And the assumption and the inference is well, then he's not
truly or fully God. Well, I want to tell you tonight
that he is truly and fully God, greatest semester of God.
And his God was manifest in the flesh, but he was also truly
human. And in that human body he had
limitations, hunger, tiredness. He was also one in that body to
grow in knowledge according to Luke 2 and 52.
In that body He suffered and who can tell the physical never mind
does merit the the the the mental and the emotional
sufferings of Christ. He lived a life of dependence on
the Father. He didn't act independently of
the Father and in His divine nature, I believe, of course, He
is eternally the Son of God with the attribute of omniscient.
But here He is speaking in His human nature, and He speaks from
a position of sincere human limitation.
And it's a mission to the Father.
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, not the angels, which
aren't Him, neither the Son, but the Father.
Many events are being prepared for.
If you know the events coming up, say it's retirement, well,
you prepare for it. Examinations, hopefully you
prepare. Young people don't go into an
exam without being prepared. A wedding, a lot of preparation
for a wedding. And with some weddings coming up
later on in the church, a holiday, you'll also get
prepared. Passport ready, you'll think
about what you're going to pack, a journey where you'll make sure
that your tyres are pumped up and you're got fuel in your car.
Get multitudes. While they're prepared for these
things and they have wisdom and sense to prepare for these
things, multitudes tonight are unprepared for one of the most
important events that's going to come to this world, one of the
most important meetings ever. And that meeting, of course, is
the personal and visible appearance of Jesus Christ.
Listen to me very carefully. Come to verse 40.
Here's the Third Point very quickly, the steadfastness that
is required. Look at verse 40.
Be ye therefore the word therefore means, in view of what
I've just said, Be ye therefore ready also for the Son of Man.
Cometh it an hour when ye think not.
The command is simple. Be ready not panic, but of
perseverance. The believer remains steadfast
because he believes and lives and light that Christ may return
at any moment. The believer remain steadfast
because he knows about the uncertainty of life.
One minute we could be health and strength, the next minute we
could be in a bed of sickness. One minute we could be alive,
the next we could be dead. The believer remain steadfast
because eternity is so near. Or put a heartbeat away from it.
The command is be ready. Be therefore ready also like
these servants, ready, watching and waiting for their master to
return. Ready in repentance and faith.
Ready in holiness. Every man that hath this hope in
him purifies himself even as he is pure.
First John 3, verses 2 and three.
Living in light of Christ's return promotes a life of
holiness, a life of true sanctification that we preached
on this morning. You see a church that loses
sight of eternity. It becomes worldly, it becomes
woke. Ready and faithfulness as a call
to faithful stewardship. The steward is watching.
He's a waiting servant. He does his duty when the
masters away. He works on and does what his
master told him to do. The tasks are fulfilled.
What are you doing? I'm doing what I'm told.
See, what are we told to do? Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature.
We're not called to idleness. We're not called to date set.
We're not called to speculation. We're not called to fearfulness.
We're called to faithfulness. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature.
That's the Great Commission and that's what I seek to do here
Sunday by Sunday morning and evening.
That's what I do in the open air in Belfast when I stand at the
City Hall, when I go up the sandy road or or go up the
Shankill. That's what we do when we go
round the doors and carried off Ryan and myself, John Calvin
said this, We must hunger after Christ until the day that he
shall appear. We're not only ready in
repentance and faith in Christ and and ready in holiness and
ready in faithfulness, but we're also ready in hope.
You see, it's a certainty. Jesus said I will come again.
It's not a fancy, it's a fact. The first time he wore a crown
of thorns when he came. This time when he returns, he'll
be wearing many crowns over there.
In the book of Acts and Acts chapter 1 and in the verse 11,
remember what the Angel said to the disciples.
Acts chapter 1 and verse 11 Listen to the word of God.
Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
This seeing Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into
heaven. The second coming of Christ to
this earth and power and glory is not just a warning to the
unconverted, but as a comforting welcome for the people of God.
Titus 2 and 13 says, looking for that blessed hope and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ. And when Christ returns, a life
of suffering ends, Sin will cease, death will be no more,
and Christ will come and reign visibly and power in the throne
of David. The steadfastness is required.
I want to say one final thing, the surprise that is revealed.
Look at look chapter 12 verse 37 again.
It says, verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself and
make them to sit down to meet, and will come forth and serve
them. The returning Christ, the coming
King will serve his servants does not point to the wondrous
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the servant King.
He's the the kingly servant in glory.
Christ will eternally fellowship with his redeemed people.
There'll be a sitting down at the married supper of the Lamb.
What grace, what condescension, what mercy?
You see, it's not that these are worthy servants, you're earning
a reward, but they're unworthy sinners and they've been sealed
by a gracious king, and now they're being served by that
same gracious king and are watching and are waiting and are
working. Doesn't merit salvation, but it
reveals the genuine working of God's grace in our hearts and
lives. I was struck yesterday by a
little text as I finish. Whoso trusteth in the Lord,
happy as he. Proverbs 16 and 20.
Let me ask tonight, do you know that you're saved by grace
alone, through faith alone in Christ alone?
The watching believer doesn't watch and wait and work to earn
heaven. He watches and waits and works
so he can experience home to be with Christ.
Christ is the highest and fountain of all happiness.
So I asked this question as we finished tonight. 3 questions.
Are you prepared for Christ's return and power and Dory or are
you spiritually asleep? It's not about discovering or
date setting. The simple question is, Are you
ready to meet Christ when he comes?
That's the first question. The second question is this are
are are you weary in waiting? Many people are weary in
waiting. Where is the promise of us
coming? And, and they grew discouraged.
And then the delay, they think the delay is a denial and they
go through trials and troubles and, and, and, and they,
they're, they're problematic for many of the people of God.
Their prayers are not answered. They become greatly discouraged,
maybe even at the point of despair.
Over there in the book of Hebrews and Hebrews chapter 10
and verse 7, it says for yet a little while.
And he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
And here's the third question tonight.
Are you living faithfully in light of his return?
See, I believe when Jesus Christ returns in power and glory, many
of us superfest his name, and I put myself in the front row,
many of us will be ashamed. Do you know why we'll be
ashamed? We'll be ashamed because of the
way we've lived. We're ashamed because of the
misspent opportunities that we had to do a great work in his
name. We'll be ashamed because of the
sinful habits that we engaged in.
Suppose I said this as we finish.
Suppose I phoned you up and said, do you know that tomorrow
at lunchtime King Charles is coming to your house?
What would you do when you went home from church this evening?
I'll tell you what you would do. You would get ready for King
Charles. You would try your best to tidy
your house, the best room you'd be showing them in time.
Isn't that right? Well, if that is true and we're
living in light of his return, therefore all our habits, our
sinful proneness, our worldliness, whatever we're
doing, we need to put away and live with this thought.
When he says, Behold, I come quickly be like old John and
say, Amen, so shall it be. That's what it means.
Even so, come Lord Jesus, the servants that are mentioned, are
you one of them? The surety that's affirmed He's
coming. We need to be spiritually
watchful and spiritually waiting.
The steadfastness that's required be there for ready and
the surprise is revealed. He's going to serve you and me
at the married supper of the Lamb.
May the Lord bless these few thoughts and take them to heart
this evening. If you have any questions, feel
free to ask me as you leave God's house.