Focused and Faithful

0:57But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. It is clear from these passages, and more importantly, from our text this morning in Luke 12, that Jesus desires for his people to live expectantly. The way we handle our work, the way we handle our possessions. Our wealth, our time, and our spiritual responsibilities will all demonstrate if we really believe that Jesus is coming soon.

1:44My hope and my prayer for this message is that we will see in this text that believers must live their lives focused and faithful as God's people. The first thing we see here in this text in verses 35 through 40 is that we must be focused on the master's return. We must be focused on the master's return. This is the first of three brief parables or similitudes that Jesus uses to illustrate his teaching to his disciples.

2:20Look at verses 35 through 37. Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning and be like men who 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.

2:57Verse 35 says, Stay dressed for Action and keep your lamps burning. In the old King James, it says, Let your loins be girded about. Doesn't that sound awesome and hilarious, right? Let your loins be girded. May your loins be girded for action. Well, back then, clothes were longer. We didn't have the abomination of skinny jeans back in the first century. And so clothing was longer. You had robes, you had cloaks, and all those sorts of things, and it's hard to move around very quickly. And the truth is, people normally didn't move around really quickly like that. The work was slow. The work was hard.

3:39And so if you needed to move quickly, if you needed to get and go, you had this sort of girdle-like garment that you would wear about your waist. And when you needed to go, you would just sort of hike up your robe, very undignified, as undignified as it sounds, and you would tuck that into your girdle, and then you would skedaddle. You would go. He says there in verse 35 also to keep your lamps burning. That phrase is in the middle imperative sense, meaning that it was a command not to light the lamps, but to keep the lamps lit. There was an expectation that God's servants would be about his business, that the lamp would already be burning. Why? Because when the master returns, there's not. Going to be time to go and find the right clothes.

4:32You're not going to have time to go and find the right workout clothes so you can run and get busy. There's not going to be time to go and find the oil to put into the lamps. Jesus is saying that we need to live our lives expectant, like the good and faithful, and more importantly, in this part of the text, focused servant. Luke's readers would have immediately recognized the urgency in Jesus' plea. There's no time to get these things together when the master returns. They should have these things ready, ready for this. And what is this? This is his imminent return. Similarly, when Christ returns, there will be no more time to confess sin and to repent and to trust in Christ for eternal life.

5:24Listen to the words of the writer of the book of Hebrews as he talks about whether we die or whether Christ returns immediately, we are going to go and face judgment. That time is going to come to an end. Our lives are going to come to an end. And when that time comes and our life is of account to the Savior, there's no time to go back and make things right. Hebrews 9:27 and 28. And just as it is appointed for man to die once. And after that comes judgment. So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin. That time's over.

6:14But to save those who look at this, there's action with those whom he is saving, who are eagerly waiting for him. The master expects his servants to be waiting for him. Look at how this sentiment of Christ suddenly coming for those awaiting him, which the writer of Hebrews so eloquently conveys, is exactly what Luke wants his readers of his gospel to pick up here in chapter 12. In the passage, Jesus paints the picture of a master leaving for a great wedding feast. And back then, if you left for a wedding feast, you could be gone anywhere from five days to a week, ten days. Before he leaves, he charges his servants to be awake and waiting at the door for his return.

7:11Look at the last part of verse 37. It says that he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table and will come and serve them. So, what's the reward for those servants who are awake and are awaiting his return? Those servants who are living their life. Expecting their master to return at any time, they find the master in the servant's clothes, beckoning them to recline at the banqueting table. Now, listen, a servant in the first century, shoot, a servant in the 21st century would never dare to approach and recline and feast at the master's table.

7:57But this master and this banquet is different. Jesus most certainly has in view the marriage supper of the lamb from Revelation 19 that comes at the end of the age. Read with me. Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of many peals of thunder, crying out, hallelujah! For the Lord, our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.

8:35For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure. For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, Write this: Blessed are those who are invited. To the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God. Church, if you're of the elect, if you're a repentant son or daughter trusting in the finished work of Christ as Lord and Savior, then this is your story.

9:25The master provides it all for you. Christ has prepared a place for you, not according to your merit, but according to his work on the cross. But the reason that we are to be watching for his return is not only that he has prepared a place for us, but also that he is preparing us for that place. Notice that the servants from Luke 12, they aren't bringing anything to their master's feast. Notice in Revelation 19 at the marriage supper of the Lamb, the guests are not the ones who are bringing the food to the table. The master provides everything, going so far as to put on the clothes of the servants. The servants are trusting the master for all of their banqueting needs. Jesus is imploring his people to watchfully look. Live in light of his provision. The servants aren't anxious about their needs. They're not worried about their earthly possessions. They're not concerned with status. No, they are awake. They are serving and they are awaiting the return of their master. Church. May we also be found by Christ upon his return to be a people awake, serving, awaiting his return, regardless of the condition of our time.

11:09Look at verse 38. If he comes in the second watch or in the third and finds them awake, blessed are those servants. Now, what in the world is that? It's talking about watches now? No. So back in the first century, when you had servants or if you were in the military, somebody always had to be awake to watch the troops, to watch the possessions, to watch the house, to watch the camp, whatever it is. And so essentially, time was divided up into watches, and these could be three, four-hour periods of time that were broken up, depending on whether you went by the Roman watch system or you went by the Jewish watch system. It isn't clear, actually, which system Luke, who's a Gentile, is talking about. He may have been familiar with the Jewish watch system, or maybe not. It doesn't matter.

12:06Either way, this time is between something like 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. Now, for some of you, that sounds like the middle of your day, right? Amen. I don't have as many college students here today, so I'm not speaking to them. But remember this: whatever time it is, between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. Back in the first century, they didn't have Netflix. Nobody's staying up to binge-watch anything. When the sun goes down, you go down. Amen? It's not electricity. I experienced this, by the way, when I went to go help with some church planning in Haiti several years ago when I was pastoring another church in Florida. And it was fascinating to me because all of Haiti is on the same electrical grid, and that grid is not sophisticated, if you will. They would shut all the power down except for essential places. So essentially, when the sun went down, Haiti went down. It was dark where we were. And guess what you did? You went to bed. That's what you did. Not anything else to do. You went to sleep. And then you got up really early. Got your body clock adjusted really quickly. So whatever watch that Jesus is talking about here, the expectation is this is the normal. time when people are asleep.

13:33They're asleep. These servants are blessed because they're up. They're awake. They haven't been lulled to sleep by their circumstances. They will not rest outside of their master's presence. The focused servant looks more like whom John describes in the first chapter of his first epistle when he says, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God abides forever. The focused servant is watchful and is ever abiding in the will of his master. He's not satisfied with all the world has to offer. She doesn't buy into the world's thirst for power and for prestige. He is generous with what he has because he knows his master is coming soon and that it belongs to him anyway. She can't be bought by the allure of earthly possessions because that's not enough for her.

15:01That's fading. She wants to give her time and her talent and her treasure to work that cannot be touched by rust and moth and fire. Focused servants give the best that they have to the three things here on earth that will last into eternity: the kingdom of Christ, the word of God, and the souls of men. And the focused servant will not give their best, their best to things that will not last. Let me ask you: what are you giving your best to?

15:50Are you giving your best to the accumulation of wealth that is here today and gone tomorrow? Are you giving your best to that hobby that's fun and we have a good time with, but ultimately will not last and will not have any impact outside of making you happy for a few moments here on earth? What are you giving your best to? Look at verses 39 and 40. But know this: that if the master of the house House had known at what hour the thief was coming. He would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. This is the second similitude, where Jesus speaks of the situation of a housekeeper who is surprised by the invasion of a burglar. This shows the other side of the expectation of Christ that he has for the awareness of his people. Verse 39, he says, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. The reason why the great hurricane of Galveston in 1900 was so utterly devastating was primarily because people had no real idea of what was coming.

17:31We don't have that excuse with the coming of Christ. No, we don't know the time or the day. But according to Jesus, that doesn't really matter. We know that he is coming. We know that his promises are true. We have to live our lives. We have to handle our possessions. We have to plan and think and move and work and act and speak like we really believe this. I hope you guys have enjoyed the Advent devotionals that New Life has provided. I know our family did.

18:22And during that, our Advent observance with our family, that first candle that's lit, if you remember, was what? Kids? It was the prophecy candle. Like, I don't remember that. That's a long time ago. It's before many toys, right? It's the prophecy candle. We read verses from the book of Isaiah where the prophet foretold of the Messiah's birth hundreds and hundreds of years before the Christ child actually came. Israel should have known, but they didn't. Why? John 1:11 says that he, Jesus, came to his own, and his own people, Israel, did not receive him. Why? They were focused on maintaining order, wealth, power, on overthrowing Roman oppression. They were focused on everything but the coming of the Messiah.

19:23We know he is coming. Jesus says his people must live. Like he's coming. We must be focused on the master's return. But not only that, we must be faithful with the master's possessions. Faithful with the master's possessions. Now we get to verse 41, and Peter asks a very honest and appropriate question. Peter said, Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for us all? See, sometimes Jesus spoke to large swaths of people. Think about the Sermon on the Mount. Think about how there were times in the gospel where Jesus had to get into a boat and preach to a throng of people that were on a side of a mountain.

20:19And sometimes Jesus spoke only to his disciples. Think about the high priestly prayer for his disciples, how they were gathered together, and Jesus was praying over them. Think about their time in the upper room before his betrayal and arrest. And then sometimes Jesus spoke in parables to purposely shame the Pharisees, only to explain the real meaning to his disciples later. We see this in the parable of the sower from Luke chapter 8 and Matthew chapter 13. So Peter comes by this question honestly because of what Jesus himself said four chapters earlier here in Luke.

21:01And he explains why he speaks in parables. When he said in Luke 8, 10, he said, to you, to the disciples, it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. But for others, they are in parables, speaking of the Pharisees and the scribes. Why? So that, and then he quotes Isaiah chapter 6, seeing that they may not see and hearing that they may not understand. Why does he do that? Because the Pharisees and the scribes, just like the leaders of apostate Israel from Isaiah chapter 6, were under judgment. They weren't following the word of God. They were reading and studying the word of God, but they weren't following the word of God, and they were leading their people astray.

21:50The leaders of Israel before Christ came and the leaders of Israel during this time, the Pharisees and scribes were both guilty of that judgment. So Peter wants to know if this teaching is for everyone. And Jesus answers with, well, you guessed it, a parable. All right? Amen. Look at verses 42 through 44. 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 that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

22:38Clearly, Jesus is directing this parable to those faithful servants and leaders of his people, his church, which is his most prized possession. He says, to give them their portion of food at the proper time. Jesus loves to bless faithfulness. No matter how much we've been given, our master loves to bless his people according to their faithfulness and what they've received. This faithful leader was given his portion. Now, it doesn't say how much or how little. It's just his portion. And it was given at the proper time.

23:23It doesn't say if it was the most convenient time for that servant. It was the proper time according to the master. Proper amount, proper time. According to who? According to the master. We've all been given gifts. We've all been given wealth. We've all been given possessions. We've all been given all sorts of things. And God has deemed what is appropriate and when is appropriate to give these things. This servant was faithful. Faithful with what the master had given him. And when the master came back, this faithful servant was ready to be accountable to his master. But there's a warning here. Look at verses 45 and following. But if that master says to him, 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, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him into 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 from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. Notice the proportional responsibility and the proportional punishment. The first that in that servant denotes the servant who was the leader. He's accountable for what he's done and for what he's done with what he's been given. And as leaders, that is a lot.

25:34Think about who it was in Christ's earthly ministry that Jesus had the most scorn for: scribes and Pharisees. In all of Matthew 23, this whole chapter, 39 verses in Matthew 23, Jesus spends that entire text, 39 verses, cursing these two most important leadership positions in Israel. Why? Well, look at the text in Matthew 23. Look at the first three verses. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, the scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. That right there tells you why they incur such scrutiny. They have been given more than anybody's been given. What have they been given? They sit in Moses' seat. Moses was given the very law of God. He was given the scriptures.

26:35The focus in the Old Testament is not on people. The focus in Exodus is not on Moses. The focus in Exodus is on the delivery of the word of God to his people. They didn't need Moses to come back. They had the word. Amen. The Pharisees and the scribes sat at Moses' seat. They had unparalleled, unfettered access to the word. They were in a position that no other person in all of Israel was in. They could go to the temple and roll out the scroll and sit and read and study and meditate on God's Word like none other of God's people could do.

27:33They had to show up and listen to the teaching of the Pharisees and the scribes and the reading of the word. But they didn't have access to the scriptures like the Pharisees and scribes did. They sat at Moses' seat. But look at there in Matthew 23. He says, so do and observe whatever they tell you. Why? Because they have access to the scriptures. And what is important to Jesus is that God's word goes forth to his people. Amen?

28:11He says, listen to them, but not the works they do. For they preach, but they do not practice. Their orthodoxy may be good, but their orthopraxy is terrible. The scribes and Pharisees, they were gifted with the greatest asset that a servant of God could have. They had the scriptures, they had literally unparalleled access to God's word. And what did they do with it? They twisted its meaning to abuse and manipulate God's people for the sake of their own power. Seven times in Matthew 23, 39 verses, seven times Jesus pronounces a woe to you, curse. Listen, when the second person of the Godhead is giving a curse, it's a big deal. He does it seven times in 39 verses. He says, woe to you. No other person or group of people get that kind of deserved treatment from our Savior. Why? Because they had been given so much and were so unfaithful to the God who had given it to them.

29:38What about us? Will we be spared this kind of judgment? Of course not. Think about James 3. Listen to the words of the brother of Jesus. He says, Not many of you should become teachers, my brother. For you know that we who teach, he includes himself in that, will be judged. With greater strictness. Now, why bring that up? Why bring up teachers? There's no New Testament office of teacher, right? That's right. He doesn't really qualify the noun teachers with any real specificity. There isn't a specific office in the New Testament church called teacher, like there is for elder or for deacon. But here's the deal, guys: we're always teaching. And the word of God has been given to all of us, if you know Christ as your Lord and Savior. Remember that the great commission of Matthew 28 is a command by Jesus to all who would follow the apostles' teachings. And what are the apostles' teachings? The New Testament. So who all should follow the apostles' teaching? Those that are in the New Testament church, us, all Christians.

31:03And what is that teaching? That we should, what is that mission? That we should go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. We are always teaching. If you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ this morning, you are always teaching. You don't have to have a class at 11 o'clock on Sundays. You don't have to stand up here in the pulpit. You don't have to have some Bible study with people around you. You are always, always teaching. You are teaching with your words and you are teaching with your life. And we are accountable for what we teach. All of us are.

32:06All of us are. Whenever we teach, we are responsible for the best use of that time. Whatever we teach, we are responsible for the orthodoxy of that content. We possess, as Christians, all sorts of gifts from the Lord. We possess wealth here in the West. Guys, if you live in the United States, you're amongst the top, top, top, top percent of the wealthiest people in the world. Do you know that? I know it doesn't feel like that all the time. And in our context, it doesn't necessarily feel like that all the time. But it's the truth. We have been given so much.

33:00What are we doing with what we've been given? And most importantly, what are we doing with the two most important, eternal things we've been given? The Word of God and the souls of men. We will be judged by how we handle these things. Remember, we are always teaching. Church, God desires that we focus on the Master's return because our understanding of that second advent will ultimately affect how we live today. And He desires that we be faithful with what He has entrusted to us, namely His Word and His people, but also our possessions, with our finances, our time, our relationships. We can be faithful with these precious gifts, Church, knowing, resting in the fact that Jesus is the most faithful with what the Father has entrusted to Him. Let me leave you with this in John 10.

34:17Listen to the words of Jesus and what He's been entrusted with. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. Jesus is faithful with what the Father has given him. If you are in Christ, you can be faithful with what God has given you.

35:05So may we trust God by being focused on our Master's return and faithful with our Master's possessions. Let's pray. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.