Luke's Gospel

Luke chapter 12 and verse 35 to 48. That's on page 1 0 4 5. And this is the word of god. We believe that this is his perfect words and that he's going to speak to us now through it. So let's, listen as as we read, and then as Tom comes to preach.

So that's luke chapter 12 verse 35. Be dressed, ready for service, and keep your lamps burning like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet. So that when he comes and knocks, they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will make them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.

It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready even if he comes in the middle of the night or towards daybreak. But understand this, if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready because the son of man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Peter asked, Lord, are you telling this parable towards or to everyone? The Lord answered.

Who then is the faithful and wise manager whom the master puts in charge of a servant to give them their food allowance at the proper time. It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. Truly, I tell you he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, my master is taking a long time in coming. And he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk.

The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him. And at an hour, he is not aware of, he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. The servant who knows the master's will and does not get ready does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the 1 who does not know, and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded.

And from the 1 who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Thanks, Rory. This is the, this is the fourth of 5 sermons that we have done in this chapter, loop chapter 12. You can find the others online. It is a big chapter It's an amazing chapter.

It's a Christian manifesto, if you like, where, Jesus is describing, what it looks like to be a member of his kingdom. And, as we've seen, there are both amazing encouragement and some pretty sobering warnings. And, we find the same mixture of things here in tonight's passage. So, let's bow our heads and let's pray, and we'll turn to it together. Heavenly father, we thank you that, all of the scripture, your scripture is god breathed.

You breathed it. It is yours. You spoke it out. You recorded it. You inspired it through the prophets and the apostles.

You have preserved it across the generations, that this is the word that has been given to us and entrusted into our hands. We thank you that though, all the people of the world are like grass and our glory is like the flowers of the field. We are here 1 day and gone the next. That your word stands and remains forever. And we pray that you would please speak to us through this eternal word.

We pray that your holy spirit who first caused it to be written would speak to us this evening and that you would help us to learn the lessons of this passage. And we ask it in Jesus name. Oh, men. The bible is very clear that Christians, have a blessed hope 1 day, our great God and savior Jesus Christ will return. 1 day, we're told that the lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and we will be with the lord forever.

And that is why throughout history, although have disagreed about the details of that return, when exactly it will happen, and in what order things will happen, All of them have been united and alike on this point. Jesus Christ, our great God and savior is coming back. And when that is understood properly, it will make a difference in the present. We've been seeing that in Luke chapter 12, haven't we? Remember verse 8?

How are we gonna fight against the fear of man and keep speaking for Jesus by looking to the future and remembering that we all have a face to face date with the son of man. Or verse 16, how do we be on guard against all kinds of greed. Well, we better learn from the rich fool who was focused only on this life. Verse 33, how do we fight against worry by storing up treasure, not on this earth? But in heaven.

Jesus has made that clear throughout chapter 12, life in his kingdom, is life on your tiptoes. It's life on the edge of your seat. And unless we have that mindset constantly, we won't live well in the present. The return of Jesus then and faithful living now are very, very much connected. And if that was clear in the rest of Luke chapter 12, it is crystal clear today.

What does it look like to follow Jesus and to be part of his kingdom? It means you watch constantly and as you watch, you serve faithfully. You watch constantly and as you watch you serve faithfully. Those are the 2 headings from the passage this evening. And the first 1 is this.

Hopefully, it'll pop up on the screen behind me. Steve I've left a clicker on the thing. There we go. Thank you very much. So that's the title if we go to the next 1.

The master is coming watch constantly. So in verse 35 to 40, first part of the reading, every illustration is basically making that point. Watch constantly. Have a look at verse 35 with me. Be dressed and ready for service.

It literally means gird your loins. And in a time of history where people would wear long clothes often down to the ankles, to gird your loins, simply meant to pull up your cloak, tuck it into your belt, free up your legs, so that you were able to serve or to move quickly should you need to. If you saw somebody with that robe to into that belt. You knew they were prepared for something. They were either prepared to serve or to move quickly or whatever they needed to do.

And actually, there's quite an important link here with the Old Testament. When the Israelites, god's people were about to leave Egypt they were told to eat the passover in this way. This is how you are to eat it. With your cloak tucked into your belt, gird your loins, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste.

It is the lord's passover. So the point is any moment now, you are going to be leaving Egypt. The final judgment is going to come. Your redemption is close at hand. You need to be prepared to drop everything in a moment so that you can go.

In modern days, it would be like eating a meal with your cotton wallet, keys, phone, all in the right pockets, shoes on. You're listening out for the car, which is gonna pick you up. You are ready to drop everything and to go. That's the kind of preparedness that Jesus is talking about. That's his first illustration.

As you wait for redemption, gird your lo loins. But there's another illustration in verse 35. And for Jesus, I think this was 1 of his personal favorites. Master, and servants. So many of his parables are about the master and the servants.

Have a look at verse 35. Be dressed, ready for service, gird your loins, and keep your lamps burning. Like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can immediately open the door for him. It'll be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly, I tell you he will dress himself to serve will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.

It'll be good for those servants whose master finds them ready even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. Now in these days, it was common for weddings to start in the evening, and they could go on for a very long time. And before the days of WhatsApp, It was therefore impossible for servants to know when the master would be home. But nonetheless, they had to be ready for him. If the wedding wraps up by 9 PM, Great.

We all have a wedding that wraps up at 9 PM. That's brilliant, but it might not. It might go on till 2 AM. Or 4 AM or just before dawn. It doesn't really matter when it is.

They need to be ready through the watches of the night. So if they sit down, and they nod off on the sofa, and then he shows up on the front door, It won't be good for them. Throughout the night and into the dawn they should be on the lookout. So that at the very first sight of the master, they are up on their feet door open ready to welcome him. Sir, it's great to see you.

How was the wedding? Did you have a nice meal He's got a lady with him, madam, you look wonderful. Why don't you come in? Can I take your coats? There are some steaming mugs of tea on the table.

Just poured. Come on in. Tell me all about it. It'll be good for those servants who are happy and ready to receive the master. And not just because they were faithful, but because he has something in store for them.

Verse 37. It'll be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly, I tell you he will dress himself to serve. We'll have them recline at the table and will come and wait. On them.

Now, if you were alive in the first century, up until now, this story would be very normal. But there is nothing normal about verse 37. The master gets home from the wedding banquet, and he is going to get changed into his servant robes and begin to wait on them. I beg your pardon, Jesus? What did you say?

The master is gonna change into servants robes. He is gonna sit the servants down and he's gonna wait on them. Is that what you're saying? Jesus says, yes, it is. And that is the great news of the gospel, isn't it?

It is not mainly about us serving god, but about sinners being served by Jesus. On the cross in his death, now by his Holy Spirit and in Glory, when he will wait on us forever at the wedding feast of the lamb. What is that gonna be like? The master who has already served us so faithfully is still gonna be at work. Refilling our cups, happy conversation, filling his house as he serves us forever.

So gird your loins. It's the first 1. Remember these happy servants who are waiting to be served. But then number 3, a bit more sober, but same idea, verse 39. But understand this.

If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready. Because the son of man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. And once more, the beauty of these illustrations is that they speak for themselves, don't they? If your house was going to be robbed this evening, if you had heard that, and not just heard it, you were a hundred percent certain it was true.

A group of thieves had been working their way up your road, and your house was next. You knew it was coming. How would the evening go? Take away. Netflix, glass of wine gently drifting in and out of consciousness on the sofa.

No, adrenaline pumping through your veins, wide eyed pupils, neighborhood watch alert, flickering at the curtains for any sign of the thief. You might be standing behind the front door with a frying pan, waiting for him to come in and give him a bonk on the head. You know, whatever it is, you you would be ready all night for the break in. God's people have got to be ready to be redeemed. They are to be like happy servants staying up to meet the master.

And they are to be like the homeowner who is wired and on guard. On their own, each illustration is clear enough. But together, they make a powerful point, don't they? How should we as Christians be waiting for Jesus like that? And so the question we've got to ask is, do those illustrations currently describe you and me.

You see, maybe at 1 time they did. Perhaps we can think back to a time in our lives when we really could have prayed, come lord Jesus. And we would have wanted that to happen. We were on tiptoes busy with his work, ready to open the door, master. It's so good to see you.

Everything is ready. I've been waiting for you. But then life and busyness and money troubles, and other problems, and and now, to be honest, we're thinking secretly. Well, I hope it's not today. Often, we can be like the mockers in Peter's day, can't we?

First on the screen. Where is this coming he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has. Since the beginning of creation. We would never join those false teachers in those words.

But in our hearts, nothing really changes. It's been 2000 years. Apart from a few little details, everything goes on in my life basically as it always has. And therefore, without really meaning to, we become like the servant who sat down on the sofa switched on the telly, they had plenty of time to get the place ready, but they fell asleep. And of course, what makes this even harder is the culture we're in.

For all the benefits, of the media and the mobile phone, and there are many. We need to understand that these things train us not to think well about the future. My mobile phone wants me to think that every news flash and every notification is 10000 times more significant than it actually is. And therefore, instead of having 1 life that is on tiptoes and devoted to this future, It is divided up and split into a million meaningless moments. That is why Jesus doesn't make this point just once and move on.

He uses 3, 4, 5, 6 illustrations to press it home. Our master is coming to redeem us. The night is nearly over. The day has almost arrived. Our salvation now is nearer than it was when we first believed.

He is coming. Wouldn't it be good if we were ready to greet him? Through all the watches of the night. Master. It's good to see you.

Everything's ready. But let's say that we do agree on that, What does it actually mean to get ready and to prepare for him? How can you tell if you or I or each other are waiting for Jesus. How should we wait for him? Does it mean we just sit by the window and look blankly up into the sky, thinking that each cloud might be the first parting, or is there something else?

That we ought to be doing. Well, second point is this. The master is coming. Watch constantly. That was the first point.

Secondly, the master is coming. Serve faithfully. Have a look at verse 41. Peter asked, Lord, are you telling this parable to us or to everyone? So it looks like that the disciples or at least Peter felt a bit uneasy at this point.

Jesus, are you really talking to us? Is this for us? Are you saying that about us? Or are you talking to the crowds? There were massive crowds.

We know that. So so who is Jesus talking to here? Some of these words are wonderful. Some are pretty sober. Is that is that for us?

Verse 42, the lord answered who then is the faithful and wise manager who the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time. So it's a good question. But no direct answer. Now, some people actually think, no, that is the answer. The parable is about managers in the household.

And because these disciples were to go on and become leaders in god's church, the parallel kind of fits. Managers in the house, leaders in the church. And there's truth in that certainly. It is for them but it's not only for them. All of us are going to meet the lord Jesus 1 day, and so we all need to pay attention.

The fact that we don't get a direct answer in verse 42 doesn't mean we can tune off. It means we must all tune in. There is something for everyone here. And as you can see in this next parable or series of parables, there are 4 different situations that Jesus uses to describe how we should wait for him. First 42, the first 1.

Who then is the faithful and wise manager whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time. It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. Truly, I tell you. He will put him in charge of all his possessions. So in a nutshell, this servant is faithful and that faithfulness is rewarded.

When the master comes home, there are no nasty surprises. He walks in the front door, and he sees everything as he expected it to be. There is nothing wrong with this picture. Here is a man who has been faithful, cared for the servants, and obeyed the word of his master. And who is this manager?

Well, first and foremost, he or she is a Christian. The way that you and I get ready in an ultimate sense is by obeying the gospel word. Repenting of our sin and believing in Christ. The way that we prepare for him The wise thing to do is to trust the master's gospel word. But Luke chapter 12 has much more to say, doesn't it?

It kind of expands the picture for us. What in totality does a faithful manager do? Well, verse 33, they store up treasures in heaven. Verse 15, they fight against all kinds of greed, verse 22, they war against worry. Verse 32, they trust a heavenly father.

Verse 8, they proclaim the son of man. They give to the poor in verse 33. They care for other people in the master's family verse 42. In other words, they are faithful to all of his word. And as we've seen, when the master comes home and greets the faithful servant He is rewarded.

Now when it comes to the subject of rewards, we need to know that we're not talking about some kind of hierarchy where the best Christians are walking around with their shiny medals on and the rest of us are feeling slightly embarrassed in their presence. That is more like the dressing room after sports day when you didn't do so well. Never happened to me, but, to some, unfortunately, it has. In the new creation, we will all be clothed in the righteous robes of Jesus Christ, and we will be praising his name for whatever good was done on earth. The Bible tells us that even the best of Christian works were prepared in advance beforehand by him so that no 1 can boast and so that he might get the glory.

It's all about him. But still, it would be strange, wouldn't it? To arrive in heaven and to discover that how we lived was totally irrelevant. The earth was just a holding pen, and what we did or didn't do was of absolutely no significance. Surely, if the father has given us a Bible full of truth and has kept us alive up until this point, then what we do with his truth matters.

So look, this is a parable. And we mustn't press every detail too hard, but the point is clear for these kind of servants. There will be some way in which their faithfulness is honored. How? I don't know.

Some other parable seems to suggest a kind of responsibility or an authority that people might have. I don't know. But here's the thing. It's not about performance and podiums. It's about a relationship with the master who calls us to be faithful.

Whatever the situation with rewards, leave that to him and let us crack on. We know what we're called to do to trust him as savior, to live with him as lord, and wonderfully to all be 1 day set over his possessions. To inherit the earth with him and to join him at the banquet. That is how to live on your tiptoes. Not looking blankly into the sky, trusting Jesus and obeying his word.

The faithful and the wise manager lives like that. But verse 45, there's another situation here. But suppose the servant says to himself, My master is taking a long time in coming, and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and in an hour he is not aware of. So here's the second scenario, and although this 1 might be called a servant, he has no intention of serving.

He is a power hungry brute. Not only does he get drunk and beat the men, He raises his hand against the women. He is a domestic abuser, drunk, power drunk, literally drunk. Servant. And sadly for him, he's caught in the act.

Even though he may have been thinking, I got plenty of time to reform. You know, I'll treat them like this for now because they deserve it. But when I see the master coming over the hill, I'll clean them up, I'll wash their wounds, I'll get rid of the booze, We're we're fine. We've got loads of time, but that time never came. He was caught.

And not only was he caught versus at 46. He was divided limb from limb. Cut to pieces and assigned a place with the unbelievers. And as to the identity of this man, who is he? Well, he is not a Christian.

He is an imposter. And if we follow the idea that this is about spiritual leadership, It's quite possible Jesus had religious frauds in mind here. People who knew about the master who had received his words, who had been sent over his people to care for them. But instead, they abused the vulnerable. With their lies.

They loaded them up with burdens that they were unable to carry. This man is a word of warning to religious leaders who are in god's house with god's word dressed up like god's managers, and yet instead of feeding god's children, they brutalized them with lies. Religious impostors might survive today and they might survive tomorrow, but eventually they will be caught in the act. That's the second scenario. But there's another 2.

Right at the end of verse 47, The servant who knows the master's will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the 1 who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. Now what are we to make of these 2? But it's hard to know, I think. It could be that they are Christians.

Unlike the man in verse 46, they don't end up with the unfaithful. Do you notice that? But for whatever reason, they don't live faithful lives. And so when the master comes home, There is a sense of loss that they have not been faithful with what they knew. That's 1 way of taking it.

Or and this is the side that I would take. This is another way of describing unbelievers. And the reason I say that is because this chapter is all about straight clear divisions. In verse 8, There are 2 groups of people who are they, those who are acknowledged by the son of man, and those who are denied. There are those who are rich in themselves, and there are those who are rich towards god.

There are those who know god as father. And those who treat him like the pagans. Next week in verse 52, even in our own families, there can be division with Jesus or not. And it seems that that is the case here. You've got faithful servants waiting for Jesus in verse 42 and different kinds of unbelief in verse 45 to 48.

Some are religious frauds, woe to them, their judgment will be extreme given what they knew to be true and the responsibility they had. But then there's others who might not have had the same knowledge or the same authority as those leaders, but still in their different ways they suppress what they knew about the master and don't live according to his word. And on top of that, I'm just not convinced that being beaten fits with a biblical heaven. I know I know it is just a parable and it may mean something else, but still I don't think we are supposed to imagine a quiet corner where lazy Christians are being sorted out. Like some kind of purgatory where they're being beaten for a while and prepared for heaven.

When Jesus said it is finished on the cross, he sorted it out. He had paid for all of our sin, even the sin of laziness and not doing what we should do with god's word. He paid for that. And by faith, we are made perfect in him. So that is how I would take it.

Verse 45 onwards, we're dealing with unbelievers. But, okay, if that is the case, is Jesus saying that there are different degrees of punishment for unbelievers here? Some with many beatings, some with few. Well, again, I think we need to be careful with with that idea. I mean, the idea that there are layers of hell and that the hottest part of hell is reserved for these particular people seems to borrow more from kind of medieval religion than from biblical Christianity.

But having said that, Jesus does say in especially in Luke that what we knew and what we heard and what we saw will be taken into account for better or for worse. Have a look at Luke 10 on the screen. We looked at this a few weeks ago. Woe to you Corizon Woe to you Beth Sader. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed entire and sidon, they would have repented long ago sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

But it will be more bearable for tire and sidon at the judgment than for you. So whether there are layers of hell, I'm not sure how good it is to speak in those categories. But certainly, for Corizen and Beth Seder, there will be a sudden terror, a jaw dropping realization, a gnashing of teeth, How how could we? We were so privileged. We got to look the Christ in the face We heard him speak, we saw his signs, and we turned away, woe to us.

Or people might say to our generation, You sat in church week after week. You had the full council of god in your hands. You tasted of the bread and wine, and you would not come. You were the most blessed of all generations, and you wouldn't turn. And if that is us, and we refuse to believe despite our privileges, then we will say rocks fall upon us.

We were so blessed, and we wouldn't turn. In that sense, there are degrees of punishment. And therefore, the point seems to be that truth is a dangerous thing. If you are here and you have heard the good news of Jesus with his word open in front of you, you know that he is coming back now, and you will not repent, then the same truth, which can fill our hearts with joy and peace, will bring a terrible damnation upon us. If you are not a Christian this evening, you must come to Jesus while you can.

The foolish servant said I could do it tomorrow. The wise servant said I've gotta get ready today. I've gotta get my house in order I've gotta prepare for the master. I need to trust in his gospel word. But if you have done that already, then Christians, let us be thankful for the truth that we have been given.

And pray that we do not take it for granted. That's the take home idea in verse 48, isn't it? Here's how Jesus supplies the whole thing. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the 1 who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

See, when I think about my situation, and I'm sure this is true for others, we we have been given much, haven't we? How many Bible translations do you have at home? How many bookshops can you buy a bible from today? Do you own any books that teach you about god and how to live a Christian life? Do you have a church that he has placed you in that you can serve?

Do you have any neighbors on your street who don't know Jesus? Much much has been given, and therefore much is required. What did we do with the knowledge that we had? We will all have to face that question 1 day. What did we do with the knowledge that we had?

Not as people who are trembling as they are about to be beaten But as children with a savior, being served by a king who adores us, The night is nearly over. The day has almost dawned. So, by grace, let us watch constantly and work faithfully. Life in god's kingdom is a life on tiptoes. Let's pray together.

Give you a moment to read over the passage. And to use this opportunity to talk to the lord about anything that he has spoken to you about this evening. Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peels of thunder. Shouting hallelujah for our lord god almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory.

For the wedding of the lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. Father, we thank you for this certain promise. That 1 day the master is coming back. We thank you that when he arrives, he will change into his servant's clothes once more.

And he will sit us down at the wedding feast of the lamb, and he will wait on us forever. We can hardly believe that would be the case. But we thank you that your great glory is seen in your humble service, even to sinners like us. We thank you that on the cross, the lord Jesus cried out as he's finished, and that if we will repent of our sin and believe in him, we can be purified from all our wrongdoing and not just the things that we have done wrong, the good things that we have failed to do. Thank you that Jesus has paid for them all on the cross.

Thank you that this fine, righteous linen, pure, and clean. Has already been given us to wear in him. And so we pray father as we think about this great moment when we see the lord Jesus face to face. That we would please prepare ourselves for him, that you would help us not to be lazy. That you would help us not to take your word for granted.

Much, much has been given to us. And therefore, much will be required. So help us please in light of your great grace to put into practice what we know to be true. To prepare ourselves and to watch constantly and gladly and eagerly. For the knocking on the door when the master comes.

Help us all in Jesus' name. Amen.