THE LORD IS COMING

© CreationSwap | Simeon Hughes 2009

In Luke 12:35-48, we read a message that is about being prepared for the coming of the Lord.

Luke 12:35-48
35 “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 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. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.

38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 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. 40 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

41 Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”

42 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? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.

45 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, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47 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. 48 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.

The first thought consistently found in these passages is that Jesus is coming. He shall return. Today, our generation is living in times that are really getting worse which has made it very easy for this truth to be lost but as Christians, we ought to believe that Jesus is truly coming back.

Another thought repeatedly brought out is that He is coming at an hour that is not expected.

Luke 12:40 "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

When there is no definite time to someone coming, it calls for those who are waiting to be prepared all the time.

It is also worthy to note that the illustration used the Master-servant relationship. Jesus' second coming was likened to the coming of a master and we are likened here as servants. This makes the one who waits accountable to him who is coming. He is made accountable for two things.

1. The servant is expected to be fulfilling duties in the master's house even when his master is away. There is a saying that goes that when the cat is away, the mouse can play but this should not be so for a Christian. Are we faithful even when there is no one physically watching us?

2. The servant is also expected to be awaiting his master's return that he may open the door for him.

Luke 12:36
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.

These are God's expectations on us as well as we wait for His return. From this passage, we can learn from what Jesus told the servant ought to do and not to do.

WHAT JESUS TOLD THE SERVANT TO DO

1. Prepare to wait. Gird your waist and let your lamps burn. 

Luke 12:35
“Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning"

In those times, girding the waist or tucking the skirts of long robes was needed to give men freedom to move. It signifies readiness. In the same way today, we are taught that we ought to gird the loins of our minds.

1 Peter 1:13
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;

Ungirded skirts restrict movement and can even be a cause of stumbling. The same goes for our minds. If ones’ thoughts are not girded, he starts to have wrong thoughts and his thoughts become all over the place that he could hardly move. Wrong thoughts can come in the form of worries, fears, lusts, wrong desires, and cares of this world, among others.

We are called to follow the Lord wherever He goes. But if a person has an ungirded mind and life, then he will have a hard time recognizing where God is going much less follow Him in His direction. Preoccupations make it difficult to hear God and keep pace with Him. We have to be in a stance that is ready to move all the time. We need to have the liberty to move with God. This liberty calls for a mind that is not impeded by troubling or distracting thoughts.

How we need to learn to stop when the Spirit says stop - to stop at the wrong path of thinking, to stop at looking at things we shouldn't be looking at anymore, and to stop at that conversation that's not going to be profitable. The freedom to move with God and the capacity to obey Him depends so much on how well we have girded the loins of our minds and disciplined our thoughts.

Luke 12:35 also tells us to keep our lamps burning. This speaks to us of how we ought to walk in the light.

Romans 13:11-14
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

It is time to cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. What are these works of darkness? Revelry, drunkenness, lewdness, lust, strife, and envy are some. It is time to walk in the light of God’s truth. It is time to walk in holiness and purity.

Romans 13:11 also says that now is the time, it's not tomorrow. We need to be right with God today. Now is the time to shake off what's keeping us from following God. We ought not to wait for tomorrow.

2. Wait on the Master that you can open the door for him immediately.

Luke 12:36
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. We are not called to kill time and dilly dally. We are told to be waiting alertly so that we can open the door immediately. We ought to set our hearts towards waiting on God. He really has to be first in our lives.

However, we cannot learn to faithfully wait for the second coming of the Lord unless we also learn how to faithfully wait for Him in our daily devotions. This is where we learn how to wait on God. This is where we develop patience, sensitivity, and a love and yearning for God. For we can only wait faithfully on the Lord if we have grown in love with Him. And growing in love with God takes place in that secret place, in our quiet times, in our daily communing with God. Are we waiting on God just as a heavenly bride longs for her Bridegroom?

Another area where we learn to wait on God is when we are under trials. In the place of hardship, we learn to wait patiently for God’s deliverance. Trust and faith is also built up.

Finally, we also learn to wait on His coming when we wait on the promises of God to be fulfilled in our lives. As we learn to stand on His Word for our lives, we also learn to trust His promise that He is coming back.

Just as the faith of the disciples was tested when they didn't expect that Jesus was going to be crucified, our faith will also be tested because His coming will be delayed by human standards. When Jesus died on the cross, the disciples were downcast and discouraged because they thought that Jesus was defeated and they didn't think that He could rise from the dead. Jesus had to rebuke them for their unbelief.

Luke 24:25
Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!"

And so in those hours, may we not be found foolish and unbelieving but may we be found having faith and patience as we stand on His promise that He is coming back.

3. Watch while waiting. Watch and not allow your house to be broken into.

Luke 12:39
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.

We have to be vigilant. The enemy is waiting for an opportune time to attack.

John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.

He is likened to a thief, waiting to break in, steal, kill and destroy. The thief will attack the weakest point of a house to gain entry. In the same way, the enemy will look for the weakest spot in a person’s life to gain entry. Thus, we need to fortify our lives. We need to be careful with our goings, our conversations, who we go along with, what websites we visit, what videos we watch, what music we listen to.

4. Work while waiting. Fulfill your duties as a servant.

The servant of the Lord has to be faithfully serving in the Lord’s vineyard. He ought to be watching over the affairs of his Master’s house. It is this servant that will not only be ready when the Master comes but he shall also receive promotion when the Lord comes.

Luke 12:42-47
42 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? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. 45 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, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47 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.

As we wait for the Lord to come, He is calling us to love one another and serve one another just as how He did the greatest service for us when He died on the cross.

WHAT JESUS TOLD THE SERVANT NOT TO DO

Jesus also warns us in this passage that we should not have the wrong mindset of the servant that his master will be delayed. Because when we are not really taking to heart the truth that Jesus is coming soon, we are allowing complacency to creep into our hearts.

More than that, we are also giving an entry point for evil, to fulfill lusts and do evil to others. When the servant thought his master was delayed, he beat other servants and he got drunk. When we do not have a proper sense of time, it is hard to walk circumspectly.Therefore, we must take seriously the revelation that Jesus is coming soon and prepare for it.

WAIT WITH HOPE

As we wait, let's wait with hope. We are told to look up!

Luke 21:25-28
25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

The coming of the Son of Man will be preceded by distresses, calamities and wars. The shaking shall be so terrifying that it will cause men's hearts to fail. Yet for the Christian this shall not be an occasion for great fear but instead, it will be a time of joyful expectation. For the tumultuous time shall be for a sign that Jesus is coming. Jesus tells us to look up and lift up our heads. While the times ahead will lead many to have their heads drooping down, but for the Christian, the future gives much reason to hope and look up. We ought to look up to see our Messiah coming from the clouds!