Be Ready - Part 1

Well, take your Bibles then, this morning, and open to the twelfth chapter of Luke.

! It's been a couple of weeks and we need to get back to it. It's one of those long chapters in the book. This thing's going to twist around. I might push it right off the stage. That would be something, wouldn't it?

Our text then is verses 35 to 48. 35 to 48, so I'm going to go ahead and read that now. And I'll go ahead and tell you here that we'll be taking a couple of Sundays to take a look at this text, this passage within Luke chapter 12.

So follow along as I read starting with verse 35. Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning. You yourselves be like men who wait for their master when he will return from a wedding.

When he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat and will come and serve them.

And if he should come in the second watch or come in the third watch and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his servant to be broken in, his house rather to be broken into.

Therefore, you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. And Peter said to him, Lord, do you speak this parable only to us or to all the people?

The Lord said, who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his master will make ruler over his household to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming and begins to beat the male and female servants to eat and drink and be drunk.

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

And that servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare himself or do according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know yet committed things deserving of stripes shall be beaten with few.

For everyone to whom much is given from him, much will be required. And to whom much has been committed of him, they will ask the more. Now, if you were my...

And I was talking to my Chinese students who were with me a couple of weeks ago as I taught that class. After reading this passage, and we would have all read it out loud.

That's how they do it there. After reading the passage out loud, I would then ask them a couple of questions. First, I would ask them, what is the subject? What is the subject in this passage?

And then I would ask them, what is the key verse in this passage? A key verse that would identify the subject. Now, you're not students of teaching, of preaching rather.

Although, I would hope that you are students of God's word. And so, let me ask the question, what is the subject in this passage? And if you were to say, the subject here is the second coming of Christ, then you would be correct.

That's the subject here. Jesus is clearly talking about his second coming, even though he had not left yet. He's talking about his second coming. And so, it is the key verse in this passage that helps identify for us the subject of this passage.

And so, what is the key verse in this passage of Scripture? The key verse appears almost smack dab in the middle of the passage. And by the way, I wouldn't use smack dab in China because my translator would look at me like a cow looking at a new gate.

You know, whatever that expression means. But it is. It's almost right in the middle of the passage. And it's verse 40. That's the key passage here in the verse.

And so, look at it again. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Now, that's the key passage in this entire text.

And so, now that you have learned a little something about how to prepare an expository sermon. And you have, by the way, a very key part, a point in how to prepare a sermon.

You find the subject and then identify the key verse or verses and then determine the main idea. And so, the main idea is pretty easy to see. Be ready for the second coming.

That's the main idea in this relatively large chapter or passage of Scripture. Be ready for the second coming of Christ. It's all right there in verse 40.

Be ready for the Son of Man is coming. That's the main idea. And so, everything else in this passage that I read a moment ago, everything that comes before verse 40 and everything that follows after verse 40 in this passage is connected in some way to the main idea that is given to us there in verse 40.

Everything else in the passage before and after either explains the main idea, supports the main idea, illustrates the main idea, expands upon the main idea, or one of those.

Be ready, Jesus said, because He is coming. He is coming again. That's the main idea. Now, that's what this passage is about.

And so, that's what this sermon is going to be about because I am going to preach what God has said in His Word. And we're going to take a couple of Sundays to see everything that Jesus has to say in this passage about being ready for the last period of the last sentence of the last paragraph in the world of book history.

And that is the second coming. The second coming of Christ. Now, this passage then, I think, divides itself quite neatly into two parts.

Or what we might call two emphases with verse 40 as the pivotal verse between these two parts. And so, verse 40, I would say, looks backward in the text to tell us what we must do now regarding the second coming.

And then, verse 40 also points us forward in the passage to tell us how what we do now or don't do now will have an effect on our future.

Our eternal future. Put it another way and to help us to remember it, we first see a present command in verses 34 to 40.

What you must do now. And then we see, second, a future consequence. Future consequence in verses 41 to 48. What God will do in the future depending upon what you do in this life.

What you do now regarding the second coming. So, a present command. A future consequence. And our focus this morning is going to be on the first half of the passage.

And that is a present command. And again, Jesus said in verse 40. This is key. Be ready. Be ready. And the verb be, albeit a very small verb.

It's packed with meaning. Gynomai in the Greek language. It is imperative in its mood. That means it's a command. It is second in its person.

That means you be ready. It is plural in its number. That means every one of you, all of you, be ready. And it's passive in its voice. Which means all of you ready yourselves.

Ready yourselves for the second coming. And so this command is for a personal action. We're to take personal action here. Jesus had gathered his disciples together.

You might remember way back there in verse 1 of this chapter. The great multitude was there. And there were so many. Tens of thousands perhaps. And they were all pressing forward to be able to hear what Jesus had to say.

So much so that they were tripping over one another. But you remember that Jesus pulled together all of his disciples. And I believe the crowd was still there. But he had his disciples together.

And he was speaking directly to them and teaching them. By the way, this is disciples with a little d. It means we're not just talking about the apostles.

We're talking about all of his disciples at the time. The word disciples means learner, basically. And so these were those who had been following Jesus around.

They had been sitting at his feet. They had been taking in all that he had been teaching. And they were genuinely interested in the truth that he was teaching. And yet some of them were believers perhaps.

Many of them, maybe even most of them, were believers and true followers of Christ at this point. But some were still unbelieving. Unbelieving though I think probably they were close.

Now we'll talk more about who Jesus was speaking to later or next Sunday as a matter of fact. Because that's what Peter wanted to know. If you remember in verse 41 he said, Lord, do you speak this parable to us only?

To us or to all the people? So we want to know who Jesus was speaking to. And we'll talk about that next week. And so Jesus has gathered his disciples, his learners around him for a time of teaching.

And he has taught them on a number of subjects that were quite important. We've studied those as we've been working our way through this chapter. And now after a couple of analogies, we could call them analogies, and a couple of parables here in the passage, Jesus issues a command.

He gives a clear command. Again, it's verse 40. Therefore, you also be ready. It's a command. The Son of Man is coming. And you don't know when it is.

All right, so now let's just take verse 40 and eventually look at those verses that come before verse 40 and see three things, three things for us to learn from this passage.

And I would say to you that there are three very obvious things. You don't have to look very deeply to see these three things. And here they are. A certain event with an uncertain timing that demands from us a for-certain response.

That's what we see in this passage. A certain event, what is that? The Son of Man is coming. An uncertain timing, what is that? An hour you will not expect, you do not expect.

And a for-certain response, what is that? Be ready. Be ready. Simple, right? And so let's just kind of expand upon these this morning and find out what Jesus says to us about being ready.

Being ready. First thing is a certain event. A certain event. And that event, of course, is the second coming. The coming of Jesus Christ a second time.

Jesus said in no uncertain terms, very matter-of-factly. He says, the Son of Man is coming. That's a statement of fact. And that is an absolute fact.

It is certain. Absolutely certain. Not just from other places in the Bible that we could go, but just from Jesus' plain statement of it. This is a certain fact.

The Son of Man is coming. You can count on that. You can take it to the bank. You can bet your life on it. This is a fact. But how do we know that Jesus is talking about Himself in this passage?

How do we know that? He did not say, I am coming. He said, the Son of Man is coming. Now, who is this Son of Man? Now, we know, don't we?

But let's just think a minute about those who were listening to Jesus when He first made this statement. What would they have understood that He meant? Well, clearly they would have understood that He meant the Messiah.

That He was talking about the Christ. The Messiah. And immediately when Jesus made that statement, that the Son of Man is coming, immediately their minds would have been taken back to the Bible, the Old Testament, which is all they had at that time.

It would have been taken back to the prophet Daniel. And specifically, Daniel chapter 7 and verse 13. Listen to it. I was watching in the night visions.

This is Daniel speaking. God had given Daniel, you know, a number of visions, very key visions about the future. And I would say even about our future still.

And so He says, I was watching in the night visions and behold, this is what I saw. One like the Son of Man. There's that term, Son of Man.

Coming with the clouds of heaven, He came to the Ancient of Days and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him, that is to this Son of Man, to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed. That's an amazing prophecy.

And it's clearly a messianic prophecy. Daniel knew exactly who he was talking about, who the vision was referring to. It was the Christ, the Messiah.

By the way, Messiah and Christ are the same person, okay? I had to explain that to my fellows there at my class in China. They wanted to know, is Messiah and Christ, same thing?

Yes, same thing. Messiah, Hebrew, Christ, Greek. Same person. And Daniel knew that this was the Messiah who would one day come and establish His kingdom. And the Jews who were there present that day when Jesus made this statement, they knew exactly what He was talking about as well.

They already knew that the Son of Man was a designation for the Messiah. And we need to go further. Jesus Himself had declared His Messiahship using that very same title, Son of Man.

In Mark 2, verse 10, you might remember the story of Jesus healing the paralyzed man. And He said to this man who was paralyzed, He said, Your sins are forgiven.

Arise, take up your bed and walk. Remember that? And now, of course, that part about your sins are forgiven was what caused the big stink with the Pharisees. And they got all over Him.

And so Jesus said this. He said, But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. He said to the paralytic, Arise, take up your bed, and go your way.

So the miracle proved the reality that the Son of Man has the power to forgive sins. Now, but what is He saying? He's saying, Clearly, I have the power to forgive sins.

Because why? I am the Son of Man. I am the Son of Man. I am the Messiah. In Mark 14 and verse 61, at Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin, before He eventually faced Pilate, you know, He was brought before the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of Israel.

And He stood before the Sanhedrin at this kind of mock trial where people lied about Him and so forth. And in that trial, in Mark 14, 61, the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, asked Him very point blank, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?

So He just came right out and asked Him, Are you the Messiah? And what did Jesus say? He said, I am. He said, I am. But then He went on. He said, And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power, that would be God the Father, the ancient of days, and coming with clouds of heaven.

Now that's almost a direct quote from Daniel chapter 7 and verse 13 that I read a moment ago. And so what is Jesus doing? It's very clear. He's making a direct connection with Daniel's vision of the Messiah.

He's saying, I am the Son of Man. And so instead of Jesus saying, I am coming, in the passage, which would have seemed a little bit silly to His disciples because Jesus was standing right there before them.

Instead of saying that, He said, in the future sense, the Son of Man is coming. But I'm the Son of Man. And so in effect, He's saying, I'm going to go very soon, but I am coming back again.

Later, Jesus would say to His disciples in John 14, 2 and 3, He said, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, what?

I will come again. It's a promise. I will come again and receive you to Myself. Now, I take that as an indication of the rapture. I will receive you to Myself that where I am, there you may be also.

A certain event. The second coming of Christ. And, by the way, this is a cardinal truth of the Bible. I mean, it's absolutely crucial. As important as the deity of Christ.

Don't relegate the doctrine of the second coming as some kind of lesser doctrine. It's as important as the deity of Christ. As important as the virgin birth of Christ.

As important as the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. It is as important as the substitutionary atonement of Christ on the cross. The second coming is as important as the bodily resurrection and bodily ascension of Christ.

The second coming of Christ is the culmination of all redemptive history. And you cannot take it out. Cannot remove it. Or it all falls apart.

And therefore, I would even say that it is, in a sense, the most important doctrine in the Christian faith. And the second coming, by the way, encompasses several events that will bring about the end of human history.

It will bring human history and the history of the world to its close. And there are several events that are involved in what is called the second coming. Jesus will, first of all, come for His righteous ones.

For His church. Jesus will then reward the righteous at His judgment seat. The judgment seat of Christ. Jesus will then serve His righteous ones.

The church. His bride. At the marriage supper of the Lamb. Jesus will then establish His millennial kingdom on this planet. Jesus will then punish and judge the wicked at His great white throne.

And Jesus will then be exalted in all glory as King of kings and Lord of lords. All of that is going to take place in many other things. And we'll talk a little bit more about next week.

Under this term, second coming. In fact, to deny the literal, now listen carefully, to deny the literal fulfillment of the second coming of Christ is, I believe, to be in danger of violating the warning, strong warning, given at the close of the book of Revelation.

Where Revelation 22, 19 says that if anyone takes away from the word of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away His part from the book of life.

That's pretty serious. Take away from His part in the holy city. That would be heaven. And from the things which are written in this book. That's pretty serious.

So, you see, a certain event. Jesus is coming again. And He is coming in all glory and all power. And He is coming to rule.

And He is coming to judge. A certain event. The Son of Man is coming. Second, an uncertain timing.

This is the part that we don't like. We don't know when. It's an uncertain timing. So, a certain event.

The second coming. The Son of Man is coming. An uncertain timing. An hour you do not expect. That is, Jesus is saying, I'm coming.

I'm coming, but you don't know when. You don't know when. And honestly, that is the one thing everybody seems to want to know. And so many people are spending a lot of their thoughts and resources and research and so forth.

Trying to discover when Jesus will be coming. But Jesus said, it's an hour you do not expect. You don't know. Even Jesus' own disciples wanted to know.

I mean, from the very beginning. In Acts 1-6. Even before Jesus had left. He hadn't even left yet. And the disciples asked the when question. They asked, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?

That's the when question. And Jesus responded in a very matter-of-fact way. In fact, I would even say curt way. He said, it is not for you to know times or seasons or ages.

Which the Father has put in his own authority. That is, the when question, Jesus says, is none of your business. So, don't ask me anymore. It's none of your business.

Jesus said in Mark 13-32. But of that day and hour, no one knows. Now, I can't be any clearer than that. So, why ask?

Why search? Why seek for it? No one knows, he said. Not even the angels in heaven. We're talking about the angels whose duty is to serve God at his throne.

The angels who are in and out of the very throne of God. They don't even know. And not only that. But Jesus says, nor the Son. That is, I don't even know.

Now, that part's a little difficult for us to understand. How could Jesus, being God the Son, omniscient, how could he not know? Well, the only explanation is that Jesus, in his incarnation, he imposed upon himself a limitation to his omniscience.

And so he could say, I do not know. Jesus said, only the Father knows. So, give it up. Okay? Okay? Now, here's what I know.

Do you want to know what I know? Here's what I know. Are you listening? I don't know when he's coming. And neither does anybody else. No one else knows.

And when someone comes up with a date, I know it's not going to be that day. That's what I know. But I tell you, I also know this. His coming is closer today than it was yesterday.

And the day before, and the week before, and the month before, and the year before, and the decade before, and the millennium before. It's closer now than it's ever been.

Does that mean I know it's going to be today or tomorrow? No, I don't know. And you don't either. No one knows.

No one knows. Each day brings us closer to the end of history. That last period in the book of world history. Each day brings us closer to it.

And the grand finale of God's redemptive purposes. We're closer every day. Now, as I've already said, the second coming entails several events.

Bible lists a number of events. Describes a number of events. All of them coming under the category of the second coming. Now, here I'm speaking from the perspective of the premillennial view of last things.

All right? That's my position of eschatology. Some call it the futurist view. And I'm okay with that. I don't really like the dispensational view.

That's what some call it because there's a lot about dispensationalism. I absolutely disagree with it. But this is the futurist view. That is, it means that what we see is future.

A future fulfillment of the end times prophecies that we find in Scripture. That is, they've not yet occurred. And it involves also a literal reading and interpretation of Scripture.

That's the approach to Scripture. A literal interpretation. A plain literal. That is, those passages in the Bible that are plainly meant to be literal. And also, I would add, what we would call figurative or symbolic literal.

That means they may use figurative or symbolic language. But those passages have a literal fulfillment that is in the future. As opposed to other views, various views like amillennial and postmillennial views.

Like the preterists. Perhaps you've heard of those. If you've been in my studies on Wednesday night, you've heard about this. Preterists just meaning Latin, meaning past. Past. Or the historicists would be another way to put it.

And both of which who basically hold that some or all of the prophecies concerning end times have already taken place. It's already done. It's already been done. In fact, they were fulfilled within the first century after the birth of Christ.

And that's their view, okay? It might be your view. But I don't agree with you. I believe in a premillennial view. A futurist view of end times prophecies.

I don't want to get, you know, way out into the tall weeds of eschatological views this morning. But suffice it to say this. The second coming of Christ begins with one monumental event called, we call the rapture.

The rapture. The church being caught up out of this world. The rapture of the church. The bride of Christ. And so here, here's the point.

There is no sign that precedes that. No sign for that. No sign for the rapture of the church. It's secret. It's mysterious. We're just looking for it to happen.

And it could happen any day. Any moment. That's what's meant behind the word imminent. You've probably heard the term or the phrase imminent return of Christ.

That means at any moment. Any moment. Nothing has to happen first. No prophecy to reveal its timing whatsoever.

No apocalyptic event that must take place that would precede the rapture of the church. It is at any moment.

And every Bible author who wrote of that day wrote of it in terms of imminency. At any moment. Paul. James.

Peter. John. John and his revelation. They all wrote about Christ's coming. And they all believed that it could happen at any moment.

Any moment. Even in their lifetime. That's why you get that from some of what they wrote. Because there's no sign for it. There's no precursor to it. There is no prophecy that must be fulfilled before the rapture of the church.

That is the beginning of the second coming of Christ. They all believed it could happen in their lifetime. Even Jesus. In our passage this morning. He included no sense of timing.

In this command. I mean there was nothing here in terms of future. Nothing here in terms of fear. I mean near. It's just kind of open. He just said with no qualification whatsoever concerning time.

That the Son of Man is coming. That's all there is. The Son of Man is coming and you don't know when. You don't have a clue when. Right now. Yes.

I know. It has been now over 2,000 years since he said that. Right. That's a long time. And it hasn't happened yet.

So what about that? Well I want you to take your Bibles and turn to a passage out of 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 3.

I want to read several verses here. 2 Peter chapter 3. This describes people who have lived since Jesus came the first time.

And there are people like this today. Verse 3. Knowing this first. That scoffers will come in the last days.

Now obviously Peter thought he was in the last days. We're still in the last days. Last days just seems the means the last age.

These last days. And they'll come. Walking according to their own lusts. As they're not followers of Christ. And saying where is the promise of his coming?

For since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willfully forget. That by the word of God the heavens were of old.

And the earth standing out of water and in the water. By which the world that then existed perished. Being flooded with water. Talking about several cataclysmic events that took place.

But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word. Are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

That's a future event. Actually it will come at the very close of what we're calling the second coming. But beloved do not forget this one thing.

That with the Lord one day is as a thousand years. A thousand years as one day. There have been some who've looked at that passage and tried to say. Well here here's a little clue as to when Jesus will be coming again.

You know. Two thousand years maybe. That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about God. It doesn't work according to time. Our timing. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise.

He made his promise. He's going to send Jesus again. And all these other things are going to take place. He's not forgotten about that. He's not slack in that. As some count slackness.

But is long suffering toward us. This is a statement of the grace and mercy of God. Not willing that any should perish. But that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come.

As a thief in the night. We'll just stop right there. There's more to be read there. But the point I want to make is. Yeah it's been two thousand years.

And so maybe we're wrong about it. Maybe we misunderstood what Jesus said. Some have even ventured to say. Well he meant something different.

And he's already come. And that's already done. Oh no. Just the fact that it's been two thousand years. Make any difference. One day is a thousand years to God.

A thousand years is one day. God doesn't operate within the. The context or realm of time. He operates outside of time.

Time is for us. And one day that'll even end. And so yeah. He. It's been a while. But he's coming. It's a certain event.

Uncertain timing. I heard a fanciful story about Satan. Satan who you know. Who had brought together his chief demons.

For kind of a strategy meeting you know. And Satan said. Well how goes it down there on earth. And one of the demons stood. And he said. Well not all that well actually.

He said. I keep telling them that there is no God. But it seems that these human beings. They just naturally believe that there is a God. Then another demon. He said. Well my strategy has been to tell them.

That Jesus is a fake. And that the gospel is a lie. But that doesn't seem to be working very well either. And so then finally. One other demon stood up. And he's. And very sheepishly.

Almost fearfully. He said. Well. I have seemed to come across something. That is working quite well. Though it may seem radical to you. Satan. He said.

I tell them first of all. That there is a God. Satan raised one eyebrow. They said. Then I tell them. That.

Jesus is real. Satan. Both eyebrows raised. And his face is starting to turn a little bit red. And then this demon said.

Then I tell them. That the gospel is true. And by then Satan is getting really red in the face. And starting to get very angry.

And he. And the demon said. But hear me out. He said. I then tell them. That they have plenty of time. They have plenty of time.

But what did Jesus say? Jesus said. The son of man is coming. He's coming. At an hour. You do not expect.

A certain event. An uncertain timing. Third and finally. A for certain response.

A for certain response. This is what it all comes down to. Here. In the passage. I mean this is what. What Jesus is saying. And this is his main point.

The point he wants us all to get. He says. Be ready. Be ready. And it's a command. Be ready. And so it's quite interesting.

That Jesus. Uses the certainty. Of his coming. And the uncertainty. Of its timing. To be a great.

Motivation. To be ready. To be ready. And then he tells us. What it means to be ready. And we'll talk. Even more about this next week.

He uses two analogies. Here in the verses that lead up to verse 40. He uses two. What we would call analogies. Or figures of speech. A form of figure of speech.

And two parables. Albeit very short parables. So two analogies. Two parables. To help us understand what it means to be ready. Now the temptation of course.

When every time you get a figure of speech. Or especially a parable. Is to read too much into it. And make every element of the parable. Mean something. Be attached to something. And so we need to resist that.

But ultimately. They all. All four of these figures of speech. They all say exactly the same thing. Be ready. Be ready.

And yet. I think that we can identify variations. In each one's emphasis. Analogy one. Verse 35.

Let your waist be girded. And that's how it's translated in the New King James. King James I believe uses the word loins.

And some other different variations. In fact other versions. Are more interpretive. But the literal language is. Let your waist be girded. And what does that mean?

Well you know everyone in those days. Wore robes. Right? They didn't have Levi's. And pants. And such. And they wore robes. And they would have a belt of course. Around the waist.

Or sash. That would hold that robe in. And that was the attire of the day. And in order then. To move quickly. If you needed to move quickly.

Or even run. If the occasion called for it. Then you would take the robe. And pull it up. So it was at least above the knees. And you would tuck the excess of the robe.

Inside your belt or sash. Right? So. Then that would free up your legs. For greater mobility. And you might be in battle. Or you might just need to get somewhere in a hurry.

Or whatever. Whatever. And so. You would gird up. Your loins. And that's the expression that we get from the King James. Gird up. Your waist.

The waist be girded. And so this expression then. Is found throughout scripture. Because I guess all throughout Bible times. Old and New Testament. They wore robes. Okay.

So it was a. A very easy to identify expression. And they knew exactly what it meant. And so it means. As some versions translated. Be always dressed.

For action. That's the idea. Alright. So there's just a little. Short little analogy. And Jesus is talking about readiness. And so he's describing what readiness means.

And so then readiness means. I think. Don't be passive about your faith. That's the idea. Don't be passive. Or indifferent. Indifferent.

Or lax. Or lazy. In your faith. Remember what Peter said. In 1 Peter 1.13. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind.

That's the same expression. Same idea. Gird up the loins of your mind. That is. Be. Be active. Be proactive. Ready for battle. Ready for action.

And he goes on to say. Be sober. That means just be serious in your faith. And rest your hope. Fully. That is your full confidence.

Upon the grace. That is to be brought to you. When? At the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's reference to the second coming. So Peter in a sense is talking about the same thing.

So readiness means. Don't be passive about your faith. Indifferent. Lazy. Lax. In your faith. Always be dressed for action when it comes to your faith.

Analogy two. Let your lamps burn. Be burning. Your lamps burning. And what's that? Again it's an analogy.

And the idea is. Readiness means this. Don't be ignorant of the truth. Don't be ignorant of the truth. Lamps provide light. And quite often in scripture.

A lamp is a metaphor for the knowledge of God's word. Psalm 119.105. Your word is a lamp.

A lamp to my feet and light to my path. So I think the idea in regard to readiness. Is readiness. Is to.

First of all. Not be passive in your faith. And secondly. Not to be ignorant of the truth. The truth of God's word. And then we have two parables. Two short parables.

Parable one. Verse 36. And you yourselves be like men. Or servants who wait for their master. When he will return from the wedding. That when he comes and knocks. They may open to him immediately.

And it's a parable. A parable of a very common. True to life. Type of occurrence. A wedding. And weddings in those days.

Were usually lengthy events. Not just you know one day. They might last for a week. Or weeks. And they didn't really operate. By any set timetable. I mean. There wasn't a set time.

When it started. The celebration. And there was no set time. When it would end. And so the faithful servant. Then would have to always be ready. Be on the alert. For the return.

Of his master. Because they had no timetable. For when he would return. But they had to greet him at the door. They had to be ready for him. And so. What is the idea here? Well readiness means.

Don't get distracted. By life. Life happens. Doesn't it? Every day.

But. Do not let life. Distract you. From your focus. On Christ. That's the idea. That's what it means. Be ready. He's coming.

You don't know when. You don't know when. And verse. Thirty-eight says. And if he should come. In the second watch. Or come in the third watch. I believe he's talking about.

The Jewish. Kind of. Reckoning of time. They had three watches in the night. The Romans had four. But in the Jewish reckoning. The second and third watch.

That would put it in the middle of the night. Two a.m. maybe. Three a.m. Somewhere in that time frame. I mean my goodness. Be ready then too. And so the idea is.

And here's the question. We ought to ask ourselves. Will his coming. Find you so. Distracted by the things of this life. That you're not ready for him. Be ready.

He said. And then there is also a blessing attached to this. In verse thirty-seven. Blessed are those servants. Whom the master. When he comes. Will find watching. That is they're ready.

Assuredly. Says. I say to you. That he will gird himself. The master will gird himself. Put on an apron. Servant's apron. And have them sit down to eat. And will come and serve them.

And I think that's an allusion to the marriage supper of the Lamb. I mean when he gathers up his church. And we will be brought into the marriage feast of the Lamb. Who's going to serve us? Jesus is.

That's a picture of that. A blessing for those who are ready. Who are ready at his coming. Parable number two. Verse thirty-nine. But know this. That if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come.

He would have watched. And not allowed the house to be broken into. So there's another parable. Very short parable. And at least three other places in scripture. In fact I've already read one of them.

Out of second Peter. You know the scripture likens the second coming to a thief in the night. The idea here is this. This readiness means.

Don't be surprised by his coming. Don't be surprised. Don't be caught off guard. At his coming. And I think it begs this question.

When he comes. What will he find you doing? Where will he find you? What will you be doing?

Will you be embarrassed and shamed at his coming? Because he finds you surprised. And in a place and doing something that is dishonoring to him.

Be ready. A certain event. A certain event. The son of man is coming. You got it straight from Jesus himself. He's coming.

An uncertain timing. At an hour that you do not expect. You don't know when he's coming. But that does not mean you cannot be ready. You can be.

And must be. A for certain response. Therefore. You yourselves. Be. Also. Be. Ready. Don't be passive.

Indifferent in your faith. Don't. Don't. Don't. Be. Ignorant of the truth of God's word. There's no reason for us to be. Don't be.

Distracted. By the things of life. And life happens all the time. Sometimes. Very tough things. Don't be distracted by them.

That you take your focus. Off of Christ. He's coming. And don't be surprised. Don't be.

Caught off guard. Caught in some compromising position. That is coming. All of it comes down. To this one question.

Doesn't it? Are you ready? Are you ready? Jesus is coming.

You don't know when. You must be ready now. Are you ready?