READY OR NOT (1): I SHALL RETURN

(Luke 12:35-48)
July 26, 2015
Intro Years ago at a girls college, dates were only permitted on Saturday
night. A guy showed up on a Tuesday evening needing to see one of the girls
immediately: I want to surprise her. Im her brother. The woman at the
desk said, Oh, shell be surprised all right. But not as much as me. Im her
mother! I imagine the guy was the most surprised of all! No one likes the
unexpected! But its going to happen to a lot of people one day one day
when Jesus comes again. Most people dont get this. They don really believe
such a thing is possible. They are like the skeptics that Peter addresses in II
Pet 3:2-4: . . . remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the
commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this
first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following
their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, Where is the promise of his
coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as
they were from the beginning of creation. Imagine Jesus breaking through
the clouds with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God. Crazy idea!
Not to Jesus. Thats the subject He now introduces for the first time in Luke.
Verse 40 is key: You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an
hour you do not expect. This sounds urgent. Yet, there He stands right in
front of them. They must be thinking, Say what?! Be ready? You havent
even gone anywhere. How do we anticipate your coming?!
But, of course, Jesus is preparing them for the incredible things that are
about to unfold. He has already told them in Lu 9:22, The Son of Man must
suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and on the third day be raised. They didnt get it! When it
actually happened, they were taken totally by surprise. But in retrospect, the
pieces began to fit. Here, Jesus is giving them one more piece to fit in later.
He will go away but Hell be coming back, and so He urges that they be
ready.
Notice, Jesus says its the Son of Man who will be coming. They knew that
was His favorite title for Himself. It connected Him immediately to Dan 7:13)
I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came
one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented
before him. 14) And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that
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all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that
shall not be destroyed. The disciples must have wondered why Jesus is
talking about coming when He hasnt even gone. But they would have known
He was claiming to be Daniels Son of man who would be coming in the
clouds to set up an everlasting kingdom. It confirmed their fondest hopes.
They didnt understand how it would all play out the death for sin that
would have to come before the coming in glory. So, they would have been
puzzled, but not totally in the dark. And of course, later, it all made sense.
Naturally we now know the plan was always for 2 comings of Christ. The
first was His coming in humiliation to demonstrate Gods compassion, love,
and perfection. Further, in the words of Mark 10:45, For even the Son of
Man [note the title] came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many. Even Daniel didnt know the Son of man, before claiming
His kingdom, must die to pay the penalty for sin for all who would choose to
enter that kingdom. Thus, the first coming was one of humiliation and
suffering and compassion and death for sin. But that death was followed by
the resurrection and then the ascension back to the right hand of the Father.
And even as He ascended angels reported: Men of Galilee, why do you stand
looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will
come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven (Acts 1:11).
Now why does Jesus start talking 2nd Coming right in the middle of the
discourse to the disciples warning against greed and anxiety? Whats He
doing? Hes showing the 2nd Coming is the antidote to greed and anxiety. He
is showing His disciples, and us, there is more to this world than meets the
eye. It may seem that nothing is ever going to change and things will continue
forever as they always have, but that is no so. Jesus is coming again; when He
does drastic changes will occur. And the time to get ready is now.
You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not
expect. Hes coming again, Beloved. And this time it will be to judge and to
rule and to reign. So, even before He left, Jesus began to prepare His disciples
and us by saying, Be ready! Hes coming again so, Be ready! Thats the
message of 35-48. So how do we be ready?! In vv. 35-40 He urges that we
Wait Expectantly. And in vv. 41-48 He urges that we Work Earnestly. Both
waiting and working are part of being ready. First 4 parts to waiting:
I.

Assurance of His Coming

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You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming. Hes coming,
Beloved. Jesus Himself said so. Oh, the people who are going to be surprised.
We are convinced uniformitarians. We believe nothing can interrupt the flow
of nature and history. The longer the delay; the more we doubt. But Hes
going to surprise a lot of people. Redbook magazine surveyed several major
denominational seminaries. When asked, Do you believe in the 2nd Coming
of JC? 99% said No. 99%! Thats future pastors! No wonder the rest of
the population does not believe. But that is not going to stop Him, Beloved.
Jesus is coming again whether we believe it or not. Its been in Gods program
since before the beginning of time, and its going to happen. Its inevitable!
The scoffers in Peters day mocked because it had been 35 years. Imagine
what they would say today and its been 2,000 years! But Peter says they
forgot one thing. II Pet 3:8-9, But do not overlook this one fact, beloved,
that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but
is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should
reach repentance. Two thousand years is a long time to finite people; it is
nothing to and infinite God. The delay is a sign of His patience and desire that
every last person who has been chosen come to faith in Him. Its all on
schedule, and Hes coming again. He promised and His credibility is at stake.
About 27% of the Bible was predictive when written. Hundreds of these
prophecies concerned the 1st coming: that Hed be born in Bethlehem, be born
of a virgin, spend time in Egypt, be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of
silver, be crucified but no bones broken, that people would cast lots for his
garments, that he would be raised again and ascend to the Father. Written
hundreds of years in advance and fulfilled with lazer-like precision.
Other predictions remain to be fulfilled. Gods time-clock has been stopped
for now because of Israels rejection of their Messiah, but it will start again
one day leading the culmination of all things. The next event in Gods
timetable is the Rapture described in I Thess 4:13-18 when Christ will come
in the sky to take all believers out of the world prior to a great 7-year period of
tribulation a time that Daniel predicts, Jesus confirms and Revelation
describes in detail. At the end of that time, Israel finally, as a nation, accepts
Jesus as their Messiah when they look on him whom they have pierced,
(Zech 12:10) at His Second Coming to rule and reign for 1,000 years. After
that comes the final judgment, a new heaven and earth and eternity begins.
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Thats the program in a nutshell and the Rapture is the first event. What must
happen prior to that? Absolutely nothing! It could happen any time. It could
happen today. Paul describes it in I Thess 4:16-17, For the Lord himself will
descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel,
and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise
first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with
the Lord. This event will take the vast majority of the world by complete
surprise, but for those who are ready! Wow! What a day.
You say, You really believe that? That people are going to be here one
minute and the next? That seven years later Jesus is really going to return
and become King of the earth? Really? You believe that? Oh, I do! Look
again at Acts 1:11, This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will
come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. In the same way! Did
Jesus ascend bodily? Absolutely. Could be seen, touched, heard, and held. He
ate, drank, walked, and talked. Did everything we do and more. He was no
ghost! He was flesh and blood. And Hes coming again, just like He went.
All the OT prophecies. How were they fulfilled? Spiritually or literally and
physically? Very literal, werent they? Bethlehem meant literal Bethlehem.
Birth meant literal birth. Piercing meant literal crucifixion. Every one of them
was fulfilled literally. So why in the world, would we suddenly begin to
interpret Jesus 2nd coming differently? Hes coming, Beloved. And it will be
just as literal as was the first coming. You may not think so and the world at
large may not think so, but thats not going to stop Him. Jesus is coming
again, and youd better be ready or youre going to be left behind.
Early in WWII, the enemy was encroaching on US bases in the Philippines
and General Douglas MacArthur was ordered to leave his post there. Very
reluctantly, on March 12, 1942, he left for Australia where he arrived with a
short speech, I came through and I shall return. Shortly
after came the Bataan death march and for a time it didnt
look anyone was going to return. But after leading a brilliant
war in the Pacific, 2-1/2 years later on Oct 20, 1944,
MacArthur waded ashore under sniper fire and returned to
retake the Philippines. He reported, People of the
Philippines: I have returned. Just like one day soon Jesus
Christ is going to set foot once again on planet earth and
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report, People of earth; I have returned. MacArthurs

return was nothing compared to Jesus return. Be ready! Its
guaranteed by His Word.
II.

Astonishment of His Coming

40

You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do
not expect. History is strewn with the wreckage of those who thought they
knew the hour. The Thessalonians were among the first. Some quit their jobs
to wait and Paul told them to get back to work. Several church fathers,
including Irenaeus predicted AD 500. Nice round number. Didnt work out.
Same thing happened in AD 1000. William Miller famously led a group of 7th
Day Adventists out to a hillside in NY to meet the Lord on Oct 22, 1844. Hed
figured it all out from Scripture. He was positively bewildered when nothing
happened. Charles Taze Russell and his JW society have posited various dates
beginning with 1876. They conveniently moved the date several times after
succeeding failures, finally settling on 1914 as the date of Christs invisible
return to get them off the hook. The famed radio preacher Herbert W.
Armstrong of the WW Church of God set dates in 1935, 1943, 1972 and 1975.
He got cautious after that, claiming only that the Lord would come in his
lifetime. He died in 1986. Harold Camping, president of the Family Radio
Christian Network first predicted 9/6/94, then May 21, 2011 and then Oct 21,
2011, then gave up the predicting business. TV pastor Jack Van Impe has
presented moving targets, the latest having passed without incident in 2012.
This is only a fraction of the dates that have set for Christs coming or the end
of the world. Do you sense a trend, Beloved? Many of these were out and out
charlatans. Others were well-intentioned, but seriously misguided and
misguiding others, usually misusing Scripture as the basis for false
predictions. It turns out, Jesus was right and men are wrong. My conclusion
is that the only dates Christ will likely not come is the date some alleged
Bible scholar assures us He will! I promise you, there will be astonishment at
His coming because He is coming at an hour you do not expect. We need
to get over predicting His next move and get on with living for Him.
You think you know when Jesus is coming again? Paul, who had been to
heaven, Paul didnt know. I Thess 5:1-2, Now concerning the times and the
seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you
yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in
the night. When is He coming, Paul? I dont know! Paul didnt know.
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Neither did Peter. II Pet 3:10, But the day of the Lord will come like a thief,
and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will
be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it
will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of
people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness. When is He
coming, Peter. I dont know, so get on with living holy lives! Paul didnt
know. Peter didnt know. And listen to this: Jesus didnt know either. Not
while on earth. Mt 24:35-36, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words
will not pass away. 36 But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not
even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. Paul didnt
know. Peter didnt know. Angels didnt now. Jesus didnt know. I assure you,
you dont know, and no one you know knows! Jesus says later from heaven to
the church in Sardis in Rev 3:3, Remember, then, what you received and
heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief,
and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Im coming,
but it will be as a thief. Unpredictable. So you worry about repentance. Ill
worry about the timing. Later He says in Rev 16:15, Behold, I am coming
like a thief! Bible prophecy is a great thing to study, but it has one aim to
encourage holy living! It was not and is not intended for us to set dates.
Robert Murray MCheyne, the great Scottish preacher who died at 29 used to
ask pastors, Do you think the Lord is coming tonight? When the pastors
responded, No, MCheyne would quote our text indicating, If you dont
expect it, then look out. Thats when it could happen. Heres what we do
know. Were almost 750,000 days closer to Christs return than when He said
those words. So what was Jesus point in making this statement for the Son
of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect? The answer is found in the
first part of the verse, You also must be ready. If we dont know when Hes
coming whats implied? We must be ready at all times. Be ready all the time!
Thats Jesus message. Dont be astonished like the rest of the world. Be ready
all the time! By having sins confessed, by living a holy life, by holding
things loosely. By anticipating that it could be today. Always ready!
Conc -- Chuck Swindoll worked in a machine shop before he became a pastor
with a guy named George. George swept up shavings and kept the place clean,
often singing Christian hymns as he did so. Late one Friday afternoon when
everyone was weary Chuck looked at George and said, George, are you
ready to go? George replied, Yes. But he was dirty from head to toe. Chuck
said, Look at you man. Youre not ready. You need to go clean up. But
George said, No Im ready. And just as the whistle blew, he unzipped and
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removed his coveralls to reveal the clean, neat clothes underneath. He said,
You see. I stay ready all the time so I dont have to get ready. Im always
ready to go just like Im always ready for Jesus. Are you ready for
Jesus? Hes coming soon. Lets pray.