PM Luke 12:31-40 Soul Searching Solemnity

[0:00] Tonight is taken from St. Luke's Gospel, chapter 12, and we'll read from verses 31 to 40 of this chapter.

[0:12] St. Luke's Gospel, 12, verse 31 to 34. And it's on page 1030 on your two Bible.

[0:30] And as we look into this chapter 12 of St. Luke's Gospel, we find in Scripture two infallible pillars of truth in the Gospels.

[0:56] In the Old Testament and in the New. We have the love and mercy and grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ.

[1:09] Given to us in the cross of sacrifice by his death and resurrection. The love and the mercy of God.

[1:20] And on the other hand, we have the pillar of truth speaking of a severity.

[1:32] The severity, the wrath and judgment of God. One which is not too popular in this day in which we live.

[1:49] And perhaps I've never possibly been very selective in the preaching of the Gospel as a whole.

[2:02] So we have two alternatives given us here. I believe in this verses which we read. Two alternatives. Heaven or hell.

[2:16] God's love and mercy. Or God's severity and judgment. So let us read from verse 31 of this chapter.

[2:38] Verse 31. For all, well we'll read from here. For all the nations of the world. Seek after these things.

[2:50] And your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom. And these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock.

[3:04] For it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money bags that not grow old.

[3:18] With a treasure in heaven. Heavens that does not fail. Where no thief approaches. And no mouth destroys.

[3:31] For where your treasure is. There your heart be also. Stay dressed for action. And keep your lamps burning.

[3:42] And be like men who are waiting for the master. Come home from the wedding feast. So that they may open the door to him at once.

[3:56] When he comes and knocks. Blessed are these servants. Whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly I say to you.

[4:08] He will dress himself for service. And have them recline at the table. And he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch.

[4:21] Or in the third. And finds them awake. Blessed are these servants. But know this. But know this. That if the master of the house.

[4:32] Had known. What hour the thief was coming. He would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready.

[4:43] For the son of man. Is coming. At an hour. That you do not. Expect. May God bless these words to our hearts.

[4:56] No greater news given to us. Than in the gospels. Calvary's cross. And the sacrifice of God's peerless son.

[5:10] Crucified. For our sins. Forgiveness for them. If confessed by us. Cast into the very depths.

[5:24] Of the sea. Was there ever. A promise given like that. Our sins. Cast into. The depths of the sea. Never.

[5:35] To be forgotten. Again. By God. Given the righteousness. Of Christ. For our filthy rags.

[5:46] Of righteousness. Seen by God. In and through. Him. As justified. Wonderful.

[5:57] To fall. On the undeserved. Heart. And souls. Of all who. Hear the word of God. In the gospel.

[6:09] Great. And wonderful words. Undeserved words. Undeserved promises. Undeserved promises. To fall in our ears. All.

[6:21] Of many. And of the sovereign grace. Of our Lord. And saviour. Jesus Christ. And a merciful.

[6:32] And heavenly. Father. Good news indeed. To a fallen world. And good news. For us.

[6:44] Here. Even. This evening. And other. What we might not be so. Acceptable. Especially to the.

[6:55] Pleasure. Loving world. As we have this day. And a society. Even. To a liberalised church. And a watered down.

[7:07] Itching. Ear. Gospel. As we may have. In this day. And generation. Even. In ecclesiastical.

[7:18] Circles. The word of God. Is being. To a certain extent. Set to the side. The gospel truths.

[7:30] That you and I. May have lived under. For many years. Are being betrayed. And. Cast aside. For a more.

[7:41] Liberalised. And. Wattop down. Conception. Of the gospel. Of her Lord. And Jesus Christ. Yes.

[7:53] This is what. We are having. Brought before us. In this day. And. Generation. A tremendous truth.

[8:06] Mostly. Sidetrap. Today. Even. Totally. Dismissed. In the minds. Of. Today's. Humanae. The fact. Again.

[8:18] Of the coming. Of our Lord. And Savior. Jesus Christ. The old mythology. I would say.

[8:29] Of them. And the atheistic view. We find. In 2 Peter. 3 and 4. Where. Where. Where they ask.

[8:40] The question. Where. Where is the promise. Of his coming. You talk about. The return. Of Jesus Christ. That it is sure.

[8:51] And certain. But. As they were asking. In the days of Peter. And they're asking. More so today. Where is. The coming. Again. Of our Lord.

[9:02] Jesus Christ. All things continue. As they are. Well. In a sense. Things are. Continuing. As they were. Even. Away back.

[9:14] In the days. Of the apostles. In a sense. That may be true. But we must. Ask ourselves. Are they.

[9:25] Are they. Continuing. As they were. Do you and I. Do you and I. Really believe. That. Do we believe.

[9:36] That. In our hearts. And minds. Even. This evening. Hour. Acts. Are being carried out. Today. Unspeakable. Even.

[9:48] In the. Ecclesiastical. Bounds. Acts. Are being carried out. Laws. Are being passed. Today. That never. Have been. Passed.

[9:58] Or would have been. Passed. In years. Gone by. Unspeakable. Acts. So. We may. Is the world.

[10:08] Becoming more. Godless. Godful. For God. Or Godless. In this generation. Or.

[10:20] Are we finding. More and more. Defiance. Against the word. Of God. And. All. The divine. Attributes. Of God.

[10:31] God. And all. The moral. Fabric. Of our world. And generation. Today. I would say. No. I don't know.

[10:42] Whether you. Would agree. To that or not. The world. Is becoming. More. Godless. Less.

[10:53] Than being. God. Filled. In. This day. And generation. And treated. Sometimes. With theologians.

[11:04] With caution. This. Idea. Of. Christ. Returning. Again. And putting. All things.

[11:14] Right. And judging. This world. According. To. When he finds it. When he comes. Theologians.

[11:26] Today. Are treating. With caution. And fear. But we must admit. We are living in times.

[11:38] Where things. Spiritually speaking. Are not so. Inclining. To the contrary. There was a day.

[11:49] When I was. Growing up. As a youth. That. Maybe. Seven. Out of ten. Sermons. We would.

[11:59] We would hear. Either. Of. The return. Of. The return. Of. The Lord. Jesus Christ. Being preached. Or. Revival. On.

[12:10] The other hand. These two. Things. Used to control. Quite a lot. Of. Preachers. Some proof. But. Today. That. Has to. Somehow. Or.

[12:21] Other. Been. Tuned. Down. The Bible. Says. That. Things. Will get worse. And worse. There is no.

[12:31] Recommendation. Of. Anything. Getting better. It says. They shall. Grow. Worse. And. Worse. So.

[12:43] There is not. Much. Hope. Given. There. In these. Biblical. Terms. And. The. The. Lord. Jesus. Christ. Was even. Pressed.

[12:54] To ask. This. Question. Once. He said. Will. The son. Of. Man. Find. Faith. On. The earth. When he. Comes. Nevertheless.

[13:05] He said. When the son. Of. Man. Cometh. Shall. He. Find. Faith. On. The earth. So. He was not.

[13:16] Given. As a very good. Picture. There. Of. What. Was. To come. When we are. Facing up. Today.

[13:26] We must. Admit. The church. Membership. And. Attendance. Is. In. Decline. Church. Doors. Are. Closing. Cults. Are. Expanding.

[13:39] Christ. Here. And. Christ. There. As. The message. We are. Getting. From. Many. Today. Go. Here. Go.

[13:49] There. You will. Find. Christ. Know. You want. You will. Find. Christ. In. The scriptures. Alone. If you seek him. In. Repentance.

[14:00] And. Faith. And. Turn. To him. But. And. Through. It. All. The fact. Remains.

[14:11] Jesus. Christ. Is. Coming. Back. And. Jesus. Christ. Will. Return. The hour.

[14:24] Is. Known. Only. To. God. Alone. At. One. Time. The most. Heard. Theme. As I said. From. Pulpits. Was. Of. Revival. And.

[14:34] Christ. Return. And. The psalmist. Says. He waited. Long. Upon. The Lord. But. The answer. Came.

[14:45] And. It. Will. Come. In spite. Of. All. The praying. And. The waiting. All. Of. The. I've. Known. Many. Throughout. My.

[14:55] Lifetime. In the meetings. Praying. Again. And. Again. For revival. And. It. Hasn't. Come. So far. But.

[15:07] Patiently. And. Persevering. We know. And. Trust. That it. Will. Come. but assuredly in all our praying and persistently the psalmist must have prayed and waited long but waiting long or short the answer is sure to come and so there are given us in scripture many many solemn portions in God's word you remember that there are many given us in scripture and they are soul searching and this is one of them that we have here in the reading that we had in St Luke's gospel this is one of them and it's crucial it's crucial the words that are given us here in this gospel of Luke they are crucial and that call us supremely to our utmost attention

[16:18] I heard a preacher once say I heard a preacher once say every dawn every dawn leads nearer his day every dawn leads nearer his day and you know I thought that's a very rising thought as you and I rise up each morning and each day that the consciousness that this is another day nearer the approach of Christ's return God God and the Lord Jesus Christ comes to us continually in many forms in situations in afflictions and in trials and temptations he comes to us and he speaks to us three years three years ago

[17:27] I have no doubt God spoke to me one step I was one step from eternity and I believe that God spoke to me and gave me another chance to be here and that's the reason why I stand before you tonight God comes to us in many forms and situations not in bodily form as he shall but in various arresting and convincing experience that you and I go through unconsciously or consciously but God is calling and speaking to us in these certain circumstances to which we are brought into and there are many given us in scripture where

[18:30] God has appeared unseen but nevertheless not unknown you remember that great feast and celebration made by Belshazzar in Daniel 5 verse 1 there in the midst of all his revelry and rejoicing he decided to bring the glasses taken from the temple in Jerusalem by his father and take them out of the temple to Jerusalem and they be brought that he might drink in them and rejoice to the idols that they were worshipping and then suddenly suddenly unexpectedly there came the writing on the wall the writing on the wall the moving hand but the unseen person but the moving hand greatly troubled so much that even his knees shook and rightly so which brought an end to his revelry by the unseen writer which came in judgment and the rest is history that night he was destroyed and his kingdom given to another these tremendous words were given to him thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting there was no recovery as I said with the love of

[20:23] God here we have a picture of a severity of God and the judgment of God you see there is a time when God says enough is enough enough is enough and brings an end to what he has not brought to completion take that rich man Jesus spoke of like so many today who think they are here forever they think that they are here for an everlasting and continuous life he says I will build me greater barns I will say to my soul take rest take thine ease you've many years ahead many years ahead but listen to these tremendous solemn and soul searching words and here is where God says enough is enough this night this very night thy soul shall be required of you and then who shall these things be that you have required this very night thy soul shall be required of you here comes the midnight cry as it were and as we find in our reading of Luke here behold

[22:09] I come there God came again and entered into this man's life this is a calling from God and it is a calling to self examination a soul searching in the light of such unexpected appearances and in the one supreme arrival of God and Jesus Christ there has been many speculations of the Lord's return one sect said that he returned I think around 1914 Jesus returned how was he not sufficiently then seen for the scripture tells us he will be seen when he comes with no jubilee about his return why was he not seen by all the kindred of the earth ah ah but they say he came in spirit form so he was not visible he came in spirit form so he was not visible who came in this might I ask who came in this occasion well it was Judge

[23:44] Rutherford the leader of the Jehovah's Witnesses with over 14,000 dollars and built himself a huge mansion in Illinois so Jesus here Jesus there it was not Jesus who came it was Judge Rutherford and we remember and recall at Christ's ascension a bark to heaven what was the message given to that gathering in Acts 1 and 14 even stand for you and I today these men of white apparel said ye men of golly why stand ye gazing up into heaven this same Jesus which is taken into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven he ascended bodily he will return bodily because every eye shall see him no spirit no ghost no aspiration have you ever seen a ghost have you ever seen a ghost what does a ghost eat what does a ghost eat have you saw a ghost what what have you saw him eat a ghost doesn't eat it says

[25:29] Jesus ate and talked with him and drank with him and showed himself doubting and he said to Thomas behold my hands and my feet reach forth and stick your hand into my side and see where the sword was pierced there was no apparition there it was our Lord Jesus Christ himself in bodily form so it convinced Thomas and he believed I believe that even there when Jesus comes again I'm assured feel that we shall still see the marks of these nails on the sword on his side as he comes again the everlasting signs of his being crucified for each and every one of no ghost illusions

[26:43] Christ in person revealed and even to those on that Easter day at the walk to Amher from Amher they realised it was him who was sitting and talking with them and he vanished out of her sight the late Reverend John Macbeth a great Baptist minister once at East at New Press Baptist Church he wrote a book the second watch based in Luke 3 verse 18 if you shall come in the second watch if you shall come in the second watch what would be the results you know I had an experience once serving my her majesty's forces we were on sent on guard duty one night it was a 48 hour guard and we mounted at 6 pm and

[28:00] I had just come off the first watch and joke joke one of the guards from Lags said he was on the second watch and that was maybe from 8 o'clock it could be to 4 o'clock in the morning sometimes you saw the morning star and the thought of Christ being the bright in the morning star sometimes you saw the morning star at 4 o'clock and he came off that center post and joke said oh you're alright boys he said you can trust in me there's no orderly officer will get past me tonight I can tell you and you can lie down in the beds no mattresses or anything you just lay down in the wired beds and he said have a sleep yourself I'll keep an eye and then he'll get past me and suddenly about 2 in the morning the garden room door opened and he came in for a heat it was a cold

[29:10] December night and he came in for a heat at the garden stove that we had and we were all asleep and suddenly the garden door opened and in walked the ordinary officer where did you come from never mind he said where I came from I know where you're all going and Jock got 28 days at the Majesty's School of Correction at Colchester we were confined to barracks for 14 days peeling potatoes behind we had to go behind the garden all our kit change all that kit and go and peel potatoes and wash about thousands of dishes and fatigues as I called it as a judgement for the officer finding us asleep and the corporal got his ronks torn off and went to be private such was the judgement of the orderly officer but you see the guard room door was open this door in

[30:27] St. Luke's gospel was shut and it was shut by the hand of God and it was no man or nothing on earth would open that door and they were shut out those that were unprepared and caught out just like Jock was with the orderly officer and God shut this door and the awful judgement was depart from me I never knew you there God came in judgement upon those who were caught unprepared for his coming and so Jock's experience here is in a way a lesson for us in the coming again of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in a sense in a sense what we have here is the midnight cry those who were ready to meet the bridegroom and those who were not the guard room door as I said was open but the one in

[31:48] Luke was shut and shut forever nothing would ever be able to open that door the door open to our Lord Jesus Christ in faith and repentance is open and thanks be to God it is open even tonight and it is for those who come to him in faith and repentance of their sins that are able to enter into that door with the bridegroom when God says enough is enough and again it is referred to as a thief coming in the night suddenness and unexpected what an exhortation is here for us all is it not what are we called to do about this we are called to be watchful called to be watchful to be in that situation of arrest and alertness to the coming of our

[33:04] Lord Jesus Christ discernment in the things that we see that are happening before us today we have to have readiness found it in Christ repentance of our sins claiming Christ as Saviour and his sacrifice and finished work his blood shed for you and for me salvation trusting in his finished work because Calvary covers it all there is one sure factor of being not only watchful but ready again for the coming of Christ observation to the signs given us in God's word we heard something about these signs this morning from John from John observance to the signs given us in God's word our lamps lit and burning with the oil of a spirit and God revealing spirit trimmed in readiness waiting with all expectation how is our watching how is our readiness that's what these verses in Luke are asking us tonight be called he cometh with clouds it says and every eye shall see him they that pierced him was it those at

[34:41] Calvary it was those at Calvary but it is also us that pierced him and we shall see him as those who pierced him including you and I because our sins put these nails into his hands and feet and our sins placed that crown of thorns on his pierceless head so they shall see him and we who pierced him shall see him our guilt lay upon him and all was included in his death and sacrifice meantime we are waiting David waited long upon the Lord we may wait long we may short but the answer will come and Jesus Christ will return with the sound of the trumpet no ghostly figure but absolute and true reality it will be most assured and come at that trumpet call the awakening will be to all in each of us and will be will we be among the mailers or the worshippers there shall be wailing on one side and worshipping and praise on the other

[36:20] God has not left us without this glorious hope of being with him forever unsaved no hope no hiding place just a cry for rocks rendering rocks to fall upon them and hide them from the wrath of him who has come for his redeemed nothing will ever or can be compared to that coming for Lord Jesus Christ so with these solemn tokens and warnings Paul speaking to the Corinthian church in 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 and 1 he says this he reminds the Corinthian church having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of the

[37:37] Lord Jesus last words last promises behold I come quickly and my reward is with me our question tonight is this is our response even come so Lord Jesus may God bless his thoughts to our hearts our concludingください next is the hearts as parents are are going to dreams around the keys to им to him