Chapter 12, Luke, chapter 12.
I've never been a fan of high-pressure sales.
Somebody who does high-pressure sales will tell you,
you know, you better buy it because if you don't,
it'll be gone and you'll miss it.
And I always tell them, well, it wasn't the Lord's will for me to have it.
That's the one reason why I hated the housing market
looking at Pickens County because it was, you like it?
Pay it to window right now, you know.
I mean, there was no thinking about it at all.
I remember specifically when we had the joint service weekend
with Griffin Ebenezer, we had a picnic on Saturday,
and I was at that picnic,
and I was trying to get somebody who was at that picnic
checking on a piece of property for me.
At the same time, I had a deadline to decide
whether to put a contract on another house by 3 o'clock.
I had a real estate agent who was texting me saying,
we're running out of time.
It was 1.30, and I was going to spend a fortune over here,
or I was going to be able to get, it was, I said, look,
I'm tapping out.
I'm done, you know.
I'm not doing this.
I'm not going to bite with that much pressure.
I just don't do well with high-pressure sales,
and I don't like it at church either.
I don't.
I realize it's my job to try to motivate folks
and my job to try to encourage folks
and even plead if necessary,
but I'm not into high pressure.
We need to give faithfully,
but I don't like talking about it.
Now, don't misunderstand me.
I will talk about it,
because God's given me that responsibility to do that,
but it's just a discipling method.
That's why I talk about it.
It's just part of discipleship.
If you're going to grow in the Lord,
you're going to give to the Lord,
you're going to trust the Lord.
When you realize that everything you have
has been given to you by God,
you realize it's a responsibility that you have
to honor Him with what you have,
and so you respond to that,
and we trust God with that.
We need to be faithful to be in church,
to be consistently walking with the Lord,
but I'm not going to hound you about it,
for one, because you're here.
You know, so the people I need to talk to aren't here,
so, you know, I'm not going to hound you about it.
I'm going to encourage you,
and I will remind you when needed.
I don't like high-pressure prophetic speakers,
those folks that have all the answers
about what tomorrow holds.
I personally believe that God purposely left out
a lot of the coming details,
that He left it out,
so that we can have faith and trust Him,
and that we don't need to fill in the gaps
that we don't know about,
although a lot of people do it.
I don't like when they ask people
to raise their hand while nobody's looking,
or to simply repeat a magical prayer.
If you'll just say these words,
that's not true.
You've got to commit your life.
However, I do believe that you need
to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus.
I do believe that I have a responsibility
to give you the opportunity to do that,
and instruct you in how to do that,
and I do believe that requires
a personal surrendering prayer to the Lord,
and I know that Christ is returning
to receive His own.
Now, I've said a lot about my style,
what I like,
but I want to be clear about something this morning.
Jesus, on several occasions,
including our passage today,
was clear,
was urgent,
and was warning.
He will return,
and we need to be ready.
Judgment is coming.
God has charged me
to preach the Word,
and like it or not,
Jesus clearly says,
be ready.
Let me show you.
It's in Luke chapter 12,
beginning in verse 35,
and it says this,
stay dressed for action
and keep your lamps burning.
Be like men that are waiting
for their master
to come home from the wedding feast,
so that they may open the door to him
at once when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds awake when he comes.
Truly, I say to you,
he will dress himself for service
and have them recline at table,
and he will come and serve them.
If he comes in the second watch
or in the third
and finds them awake,
blessed are those servants.
But know this,
that if the master of the house
had known at what hour
the thief was coming,
he would not have left
his house be broken into.
You also must be ready
for the Son of Man
is coming
at an hour
that you do not expect.
Peter said,
Lord, are you telling this parable
for us or for all?
Matthew Henry was a commentator
preacher and commentator
that wrote in the early 1700s,
and I love a comment
he put about this passage.
He said,
thank God for Peter.
He's always asking the questions,
you know,
and he does here.
And then Jesus goes on
to clear up the matter.
Who is he speaking to?
And notice how he answers this.
It says,
and the Lord said,
who then is the faithful
and wise manager
whom his master
will set over his household
to give them
their portion of food
at the proper time?
Blessed is the servant
whom his master
will find so doing
when he comes.
Truly I say to you,
he will set him
over all his possessions.
But if that servant
says to himself,
my master is delayed
in coming
and begins to beat
the male and female servants
and to eat and drink
and get drunk,
the master of that servant
will come on a day
when he does not expect him.
At an hour,
he does not know
and will cut him in pieces
and put him with the unfaithful.
And that servant
who knew his master's will
but did not get ready
or act according to his will
will receive a severe beating.
But the one who did not know
and did what deserved a beating
will receive a light beating.
Everyone to whom much was given
of him,
much will be required.
And for him
to whom they've entrusted much,
they will demand
the more.
I do want to remind you,
I didn't make up those words.
That's the words of Jesus.
And first I want you to see
the truths that we see here
about the return of the Lord.
What we know
about the return of the Lord.
I know it's a story
about a master coming home
after a wedding feast,
but it is really speaking
of how the Lord will return.
The themes he gives here
are recurring in scripture.
And we need to be clear
about three certainties,
all of us.
One is,
the return of the Lord
is certain.
It will happen.
It's not up for debate.
Jesus is coming again.
I want you to notice
what was,
what happened
as Christ ascended
into heaven.
Acts chapter 1
tells us about
Christ ascending into heaven.
Notice what happens.
It says,
so when they had come together,
they asked,
Lord,
will you at this time
restore the kingdom to Israel?
And he said to them,
it's not for you to know
times or seasons
that the Father
has fixed by his own authority.
But you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you
and you'll be my witnesses
in Jerusalem
and Judea and Samaria
and to the end of the earth.
And by the way,
when you throw a rock
into a body of water
and watch it ripple out
like that,
when he says Jerusalem,
he's talking about right here,
Pickens,
if you live in this area,
that's our Jerusalem,
okay?
And then Judea
is that county.
And then Samaria
is, man,
taking in them other counties.
And the uttermost
is the rest of them.
We have a responsibility
to share the gospel
with those
that God has put
right here with us
and not just to stop there,
but to continue on.
And when he had said
these things,
as they were looking on,
he was lifted up
and a cloud
took him
out of sight.
And while they were
gazing into heaven,
he went,
as he went,
behold,
two men stood by him
in white robes
and he said,
Men of Galilee,
why do you stand here
looking into heaven?
This Jesus
who has taken you up
into heaven
will come in the same way
as you saw him
go into heaven.
His return
is certain.
The second certainty
that we need to understand
is this.
No one
on earth
knows
when he will return.
Nobody.
Don't care how big
their church is,
how big their ministry is,
what book they wrote.
Nobody knows.
1 Thessalonians
chapter 5
verse 2 through 8
says this.
Paul says to Timothy,
For you yourselves
are fully aware
that the day of the Lord
will come like a thief
in the night.
That whole talk
of thief in the night
means you don't know
when they're coming.
Unannounced.
Okay?
While people are saying
there is peace and security,
then suddenly destruction
will come upon them
as labor pains
come upon a pregnant woman
and they will not escape.
But you are not
in darkness, brothers,
for that day
to surprise you
like a thief.
For you are all
children of light,
children of the day.
We are not of the night
and of the darkness.
So then let us
not sleep
as others do,
but let us
keep awake
and sober.
For those who sleep
sleep at night
and those who get drunk
are drunk at night.
But since we belong
to the day,
let us be sober
having put on
the breastplate
of faith
and love
and for the helmet
of hope
of salvation.
The thief comment
speaks of the uncertainty
of the time.
It's not that we're trying
to bar the Lord
from returning
like I would a thief
coming in my home
at night.
It's not that.
We're not.
We couldn't bar him
from coming
if we wanted to.
We're not trying
to do that.
There's no need
to try that.
It is that we don't
know when he's coming
and so we are
on the lookout.
But we know
as believers
that he is coming.
Therefore,
we're not in the dark.
We're aware
and so we live
our lives in a way
that show we believe
that the Lord
could return
at any time.
No one on this earth
knows when he will return.
The third certainty
is this.
He's talking to us.
This is relevant to us.
Why?
Because he ain't
come back yet.
Hello?
It's relevant to us
because we need
to live in response
to that.
We need to be alert
and make sure
that we and ours
are ready.
He mentions
that some
in their waiting
for their master's
return got careless.
They did wrong.
They lived
in a riotous fashion.
It's very graphic
in the things
that they did.
How they treated
other people.
What they did
at night.
How they had
a lack of self-control.
They treated
others badly.
They lived
in a bad way.
Don't be like
one of those.
That's what he's saying.
Don't be like
those folks.
Let's live each day
as if it was our last.
You know why?
It might be.
Let's live each day
as if our last.
So how do we do that?
How do you prepare yourself?
One, be faithful.
The faithful
will be rewarded.
They'll be rewarded.
There are two terms
used in these passages.
One is for servant.
And that speaks
of all who come to Christ.
When we are saved,
we commit
to serve the Lord
as a bond servant.
As if we have been
bought
and paid for.
Because spiritually,
my friend,
we have.
Now that is not popular
in today's time.
People don't want
to hear that.
But it is very timely
to the first century.
And it is also true
for us.
The other term
he uses here
is basically
a house manager.
That's what verse
42
talks about.
And that speaks
of somebody
who's not just
a servant,
yet they work
under the owner.
But they've given,
they've been given
the responsibility.
And because of
the responsibility
they've been given,
much more is expected
of them.
So much is
given,
much is required.
And there are wolves
in sheep's clothing
that may fool
a lot of people,
but they will never
fool God.
The Pharisees
loved their religion.
They loved it.
And they loved
to hold it over people.
As if what they had
nobody else could have.
And they rejected
Christ as Savior
because they didn't want
him to change
their program.
They liked their program.
And so they didn't
want him to change it.
There are those today
that as Paul warned
Timothy,
folks that have
a form of godliness
but deny the power
thereof.
And if that be the case,
they may look
affiliated,
but in reality
they are without Christ.
And without Christ,
you'll have hell to pay.
Period.
It's true.
That's who he speaks of
when he says
cutting them in half
or cutting them out.
God sees what wolves
are up to
and the unfaithful
that he puts
them with
are those who have
never entrusted
their lives to Christ.
God has given
each person
a gift to invest
and to use
for his glory.
And when you waste
that life,
that investment,
by never giving it
back to God,
you lose that opportunity
for all of eternity.
Now,
boy,
preacher,
that's unpleasant
on Sunday morning.
I'm in my soul.
It's not fun
to talk about.
I don't say it
with a grin on my face.
I don't say it
with zeal in my bones.
But I have to say it
because Jesus said it
so much.
He didn't just say it here.
He said it again and again.
There will come a day
when eternal punishment
will come
to all those
who have not
surrendered their lives
to Christ.
And those who hear
the gospel again
and again
and never respond,
it says here,
will face greater punishment
or degrees of separation
from the Father
than those who have
never heard the gospel.
Now,
I realize that's unsettling,
but Christ said it himself.
I don't like it.
I don't quite understand it.
But God is not conditioned
to what I like.
God's not conditioned
to my understanding.
We have to be conditioned
to his word.
Now,
I want you to get this,
church,
not just about this topic,
but about all topics.
Okay?
I don't really understand
what God says about that.
It ain't our job
to ascertain
why it's wrong
or why it's right.
It's our job
to follow it.
The rest of the world,
those outside of Christ,
will tell us
we're ludicrous,
we're narrow-minded,
we're backwards,
we're yesterday,
or what?
No.
No,
we're just people
of the word of God.
And that cannot change.
Amen?
That cannot change.
The world's gonna change.
It's gonna continue
to spiral out of control.
And when it does,
we just stick
to the word of God.
Charles Spurgeon
was approached one time
about what happens
to the heathen
that we don't preach to.
And he replied,
my great concern is,
are we saved
if we don't preach
the gospel to him?
Because the evidence
of our walk with God
is more than a Sunday
morning attendance.
The evidence
of our relationship
with God
is how we live out
that faith daily.
our salvation
is not based
upon that.
That's based
upon our salvation.
Hell is certain.
And there are certainly
degrees of hell.
And I'm not talking
about the Fahrenheit.
but all of it
and everyone in it
is separated
from God forever.
If you want to understand
the hell of hell,
that's the hell of hell
that you're separated
from God forever.
Don't try to change that.
If you believe something else,
you believe a lie.
It's not true.
If you share something else,
you share a lie.
It's not true.
What a shame that is.
Be faithful in how you live.
Be faithful in how you share.
Be faithful.
The other thing
we do in response to this
is we be ready.
Be ready
because we don't know
when he's coming.
And don't try to figure it out
because you don't know.
Neither does the guy
selling that book.
I mean, listen,
the first century knew
that he was coming back
in their lifetime.
They knew it.
They were sure of it.
And that's why Paul tells them,
you're stealing my punchline, dude.
That's why Paul tells them
in 1 Thessalonians 4.13,
not to worry about those
who died
and will miss his return.
A lot of confusion.
Edgar Wisnett
was a former NASA engineer
when he wrote
this little booklet
called
88 Reasons
Why the Rapture
Happened in 1988.
This guy sold
nearly 5 million copies
of this book.
If you can find it,
you can get it today
pretty cheap.
It ain't quite as relevant
as it was in 1987.
He followed it up
with a book called
The Final Shout,
Rapture Report, 1989.
That's because he sold
5 million copies
the year before.
His next work,
listen to how it changes.
His next work was this,
23 Reasons Why
Pre-Tribulation Rapture
Looks Like It Will Occur
on Rosh Hashanah, 1993.
No certainty anymore,
it just kind of looks like it.
You know,
and the next year's book
was not near as specific
and it was the last book.
Every time there's
a Middle East war,
people think it's Armageddon.
You know what Jesus
says about it?
In Matthew 24,
6 through 8,
he says,
and you will hear
of wars and rumors
of wars,
see that you're not alarmed,
for this must take place,
but in the end,
but the end is not yet.
For nation will rise
up against nation
and kingdom against kingdom
and there'll be famines
and earthquakes
in various places.
All these are but
the beginning
of the birth pains.
Please tell me
when there hadn't been wars
in the Middle East.
At midweek service
this week,
I spent time
talking about
generation after generation,
century after century,
how the Jews
have been attacked
over and over
and over again.
Jerusalem's been
at the middle of it
over and over
and over again.
You can't tell me
when there's not been
wars in the Middle East
and every time
that there is one,
somebody thinks
it's the end.
Every time there's
a government mandate,
people think it's
the mark of the beast.
I remember particularly
when Bilo came out
with the Bilo bonus card
and on the back
of the Bilo bonus card,
although it was personalized
for each one of us
to get values
like none other,
there were 10 digits
on the back of it.
Somebody,
and when I researched
this this weekend,
I found out
somebody in Pickens County
came up with this.
So,
I'm about afraid
to say it
because I might
offend somebody,
but anyway.
But there were
10 digits
on the back
of that card
and they took
the first six digits.
Why did they pick six?
You know why?
Because it worked.
That's why.
They picked the first
six digits of that card,
which think about it,
they're practically
all the same number
because if you got
a 10 digit number,
you know,
you got four digits.
You know,
you got to get
to 9,999
before you even
change one of those digits.
So,
it's going to be
a very similar digit,
you know.
If you take
the square root
of the first six numbers
of the 10 number
on the Bilo bonus card,
it is 666 point something.
In order for you
to get a deal
on Doritos,
you got to sell
your soul to the devil.
You got to sell
your soul to the devil.
It was a PR nightmare.
I went back
and looked
and it was right,
it was just about
the time I first
arrived in Pickens
when all that went down
and they were saying,
man,
do I take the deal
or not,
preacher?
I mean,
what'd I do,
you know?
I said,
dude,
I'm going for it now.
I'm telling you,
it's two for five.
You know,
I got to,
but anyway.
The mark of the B
is not a grocery store,
not a grocery card.
It's not.
There is no,
even in the Hebrew
or the Greek,
there's no talk
of Bilo in the scripture.
It's not there,
you know?
It's also not a vaccination.
Sorry.
It's not a computer chip either.
When the COVID vaccine
first came out,
I remember people talking
and it was being
pushed aggressively.
I mean,
if you love your country,
if you love your money,
if you love anybody,
you got to get the shot.
You know,
I got the shot.
By the National Guard,
a qualified 19-year-old
that had just went
through boot camp.
And we went
to a horse park
in Octavio County
where it started
with Mississippi
and drove this line
like a cow to the slaughter.
Just follow the tail
in front of us
and raised up our sleeve,
still in the driver's seat.
Sent us through.
I mean,
it would have made
a good end time movie.
You know,
it would have,
but man,
I got my card.
You know,
I'm bonafide.
You know,
but I remember
when that first happened,
there were rumors
that Bill Gates'
computer chip
was going to be
in that shot.
And he's going to
monitor us
and he knows
exactly where we are.
He already knows
exactly where we are.
Why?
Because we got this
in our pocket.
They know where we are.
Don't you worry about that.
It was like something
out of a
gestopian novel
or something.
Christian end time
enthusiast
started paralleling it
with the mark
of the beast.
Let me be clear.
The Lord's not waiting
on a grocery card.
Okay?
The Lord's not waiting
on a shot.
He's not waiting
on a chip.
He's waiting
on the Father
to say,
go get them.
Be ready.
Be ready
because we don't know
when.
So be ready.
Be faithful.
Be ready.
Be rewarded.
It's a fun part.
Jesus liked
to call himself
more than anything else.
He liked to call himself
the Son of Man
because a son
was thought to be
a servant to his father
until his father passed.
Therefore,
he would gain
the inheritance
because he had taken
care of his father,
taken care of the farm,
taken care of the estate,
whatever needed to be done
because he took care
of what he was doing.
He was supposed
to take care of.
He was a servant
to his daddy.
And so Jesus used
Son of Man
because Jesus
considered himself
a servant of humanity.
And that's what
he liked to call himself
more than anything else.
And he was
because he gave
his life for us.
But even before
he gave his life,
he showed what he meant
by that when he washed
the disciples' feet.
That was the job
of the lowest servant
of the house.
That was like changing
somebody who was
sick and unable.
That was,
in their mind,
that was a parallel
because they walked
where they went.
They had nasty feet.
It was the job
of the lowest servant
of the house.
But the Lord knelt down
and served in that way.
And that is the picture
that we get
when he mentions here
that you'll recline
at the table
in verse 37
when he talks about that.
He is saying,
have a seat.
Pull up a chair.
Share a meal.
And if you think
sharing a meal
with somebody
is a special way
to spend time
with folks you love,
that is biblical.
You get that
from the Bible.
Heaven is described
as a wedding feast.
The joys of heaven
are who we sit
at the table
of the Lord with
and who we'll worship
with and who we'll worship
and the reward
that we'll receive.
Understanding that.
Let's be faithful.
The days are short.
They're short, folks.
They say,
well, how long is that?
I don't know.
And anybody
that tells you they do
is a liar.
What's the world coming to?
I'll tell you
what the world's coming to.
It's coming to Jesus.
So be ready.
We ought to live our lives
like Jesus died yesterday,
rose this morning
and is coming back tomorrow
because he just might be.
Be ready.
With every head bowed
and every eye closed.
If you're here this morning
and you have never
surrendered your life
to the Lord Jesus Christ
and ask him to come
into your life
and change you,
today's the day of salvation.
It's your opportunity.
I've tried very plainly
and very nicely
to put out before you
what Jesus says
about the need
of your life
to commit to him.
And if you feel him
speaking to your heart
and life
about giving your heart
and life to God,
you didn't come up with that.
You didn't wake up one day
and realize you needed God.
He initiated that.
He's stirring your heart.
And so you listen.
You obey.
You do what God tells you.
We'll guide you
in that process.
I told you
we're not manipulative.
I'm going to work you over.
I ask anything of you
that you don't want.
We just want to help you
make a right decision
about the Lord Jesus Christ.
So I encourage you to come.
We're going to stand
and we're going to sing
and when we stand
and sing in just a few moments,
it's your time to come
to be obedient
and follow the Lord.
Maybe you're here this morning
and you have done that
but you've never
acknowledged that publicly.
It was a private decision
that you made.
You've never acknowledged
that publicly.
Last week we began
our service
with people being baptized.
I know that's already
stirred the hearts
of other people.
I've shared with them
this week
because they realize
the need in their own lives
to be baptized
and be made right.
First step of obedience
after you give your heart
and life to the Lord
is to be baptized
as a believer.
And if you've never done that,
there's a hindrance
in your life
so I encourage you
to be obedient
and follow the Lord.
If you've been baptized
as a believer,
you don't need to do it again.
If you hadn't,
you need to.
Maybe God's drawing you
to be a part of this church.
You want to join us
in the journey.
Do what we need to do
to follow the Lord
in the days ahead.
I encourage you
to be obedient to that.
Just follow the Lord.
We'll guide you
in that process.
Welcome you in
and show you
what that means.
Maybe God's stirring
your heart
about a personal matter
in your life
you need to get right.
Maybe it's a burden
that you have
for somebody else
that needs the Lord.
I don't know
what God's laid
on your heart
but I know
that now's the time.
Let's just pause
before we go out
to the wild world.
Let's just pause.
Take time to seek
the Lord in these matters.
Bring our petitions
before Him.
Maybe bring them
to this altar
and lay them down
at His feet.
Rest them with Him.
Maybe you want me
to pray with you.
I don't know
what you want.
But you just be obedient
and follow whatever
God tells you to do.
Lord Jesus,
I love you
and I thank you
for the love
that you have for us.
And I ask today
that you'll help us
to simply be obedient.
Simply follow
your will and your way
and everything
that you tell us to do
in Jesus' precious name.
Amen.