You will take your Bibles and
turn with me to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. In our last study we looked at some
of the many provisions God has given to us in Christ. And the
assurance we have in Him of all that God has. All those provisions
are secure in Him. All the treasures, everything
that the believer needs is secured in Christ, in Him. Already accepted,
already seated at the right hand of God. He's our surety. And
this week I want us to see the result of these things in an
active, effectual faith and attitude of grace. Someone asked me years ago what
the difference was between love and charity. They said, we see
these little plaques printed up from the Corinthians and it's
written in the scriptures he uses the word charity. But on
those little plaques it says love. And they wanted to know
were those two things interchangeable. And if not, what was the difference
between love and charity? I'll tell you the difference.
Charity is active love, and there's no other kind. No other kind. Love, even in God, is active. Active. He didn't love us and
set back and let us go to hell, did he? No, his love was active. But God, who loved us, all my
soul, is active. Charity suffereth,
the scripture said long. Sounds active to me. It's kind. Charity envieth not. Charity
vaunteth not itself, is not pupped up, does not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked. We want to talk about
love, and boy, it don't take but a drop to set us off, does
it? Active love don't. It's not easily provoked, and
it thinketh no evil. Oh, how prone I am. Thank evil
people. And the reason is because I know
what's in my own heart. And he goes on and on talking
about charity, this act of love. Now the subject of the verses
this morning is waiting on the Lord with expectation. Waiting. Waiting. Let's read
together verses 34 through 40. Luke chapter 12 verse 34. For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Wherever
it is, whatever you treasure, that's where your heart is. That's
what you think about, that's what you long for, that's what
you work for. Where's a man's treasure? That's
where his heart is. where his heart is. Let your
loins, he said, be girded about, and your lights burning, and
ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he
will return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh,
they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom
the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching Verily I say unto
you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to
meet, and will come forth and serve them. Think about that. And if he shall come in the second
watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are
those servants. And this know, that if the good
man of the house had known that what hour the thief would come,
he would have watched and not have suffered his house to be
broken through. Be ye therefore ready also, for
the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not." Regeneration, reconciliation,
and faith and repentance are real works. These are not just
religious terms. These are not just facts of some
constitution drawn up by religious men. These are real works. Godly works. They're real. They're not just words to be
bandied about. And God's people are set apart
from this world by divine work of grace in them. Grace is not
just a covering. It's not an insurance card or
policy and you take it and put it on a shelf. Well, if I ever
get in trouble, I got it right here. I grab it. No, that's not
what it is. Not what it is at all. It's a
new creation. God's people are set apart from
this world by a divine work of grace in their hearts and they're
not what they hope to be. And they're not what they used
to be. But they are what they are, the scripture said, by the
grace of God. Grace has made a difference in
them. So what are they? Well, he says
they are saints in light. Enlightened saints. They know
what this world don't know. You can tell this world in words
so clear. If you just read Ephesians chapter
1, You see how mad people get. All you're doing is reading the
Word of God. There are saints in light, enlightened
saints. Colossians 1.12, he said, giving
thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet, giving us
the ability to be partakers of the inheritance of saints in
light. Those who believe have been given What's the word I'm hunting for?
A token of that perfection that's going
to happen. And that token is the revelation. They're partakers of the inheritance
of saints and light. I'm an heir of eternal life.
I don't have it in its perfection in me now, but I will. I will. Inheritance of saints and light.
What light? Well, 2 Corinthians 4, 6 said,
God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's the light. That's the
light. Eternal life is to know God.
to know him intimately as a man knows his wife, a union, a oneness,
a joining of two together, and to know the inward workings of
the character of God. He's just and justified. All
those things that I never even thought through. A man would
get up with an eraser and erase all the marks that he said were
sin, that's how God saves sinners. Oh no. No, and if you knew God,
you'd know better than that. Sin has to be paid for. It has
to be paid for. We know something of the inward
workings of His character. He's just and justifier, righteous
yet merciful, long-suffering and kind. And God and man, now
hear me. God and man are nothing alike. Don't you ever sit and say, well,
I'm this way, so God is that. No. No, they're nothing alike. Nothing alike. I don't have anything
in common with God. Nothing. And men think that way, don't
they? Our Lord, listen to this, God said, you thought I was altogether
such a one as you are saying. Why did He say that? Because
that's how they acted, that's how they thought, that's how
they reasoned. There's no true sense of anything
in man, not justice or mercy or love or truth or righteousness
or grace. totally depraved. He must be
born again. He must be taught of God and
given the light of God. And this, he said, is the condemnation. Light has come into the world
and men love darkness rather than light. Because their deeds
are evil. Their deeds are evil. And believers are made willing.
They're not willing. I don't appeal to man's will.
He's not willing. He's willing to go to hell. He's
willing to swallow a lie. He's willing to believe anything.
Some of the most nonsensical things I've ever heard in my
life, he'll lay his whole soul on those things. He's not willing,
but he will be in the day of God's power. He'll be willing. They're taught of God, not directly
as the apostles were, but through the means that God has ordained.
They're taught of God. And those who truly have received
Him and believed on His name, according to John 1 12, were
given power to become sons of God. They didn't just make a
decision and say, I want to be like God. Isn't that what preachers...
Am I way off in left field? I'm telling you, listen to the
average preacher and here's what he's going to tell you. Make
your decision for God. What kind of decision can a dead
man make? What kind of decision can a totally
depraved sinner do? One who has no sense of anything
in God. What kind of decision could he
make? You think he's going to make a spiritual decision? Not
unless he's taught of God. They've been given power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which
were born. They're born of God. They're born of God. That's saints in light. That's
who he's talking about. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I know him. I know Him. God taught me something about
Him. I know Him. I know whom I have believed, and
I'm persuaded that He's able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. I'll tell you, I think back on
the Jesus that was preached to me when I was a boy, I wouldn't
loan Him 50 cents to keep. They're persuaded that He which
hath begun a good work in you, believers are, if he's begun
a good work in you, he'll finish it. He'll maintain it. He'll
perfect it under the day of Jesus Christ. And our Lord here is
addressing believers and is telling them who have a good hope through
grace how to conduct themselves until he returns. That's what
he's talking about in Luke chapter 12. And first of all, he says,
let your loins be girded about and your lights burning. Now,
I worked construction work for years. And I wore jeans when
I didn't put on a suit to go to work. I wore jeans. I wore denim shirts. I wore work
clothes, heavy work pants. But after work, I'd put on a
pair of sweatpants and go sit down in my recliner, comfortable,
relaxing. And in these verses, here's what
he's telling them, put on your work pants, you're not here to
relax. He's left us here for a purpose,
for a reason. He goes off to the wedding and
here's the servants in the house. They don't go get the sweatpants
on, get in the recliner. They know their master, their
Lord's coming back and they're watching for him, they're prepared
for him. They're doing what He told them
to do until He returns. Well, what kind of work pants
do we put on? He says in the Scriptures, let
your loins be girt about with truth. Truth. You know the average person couldn't
tell you if you're quoting a whole Scripture or not. He's that ignorant
of the Word of God. Not only that, but what is truth?
Truth is a person. You're not going to learn anything
in the Scriptures until you learn truth as a person. Our Lord said, I am the truth.
Isn't that what He said? Ephesians 4.21, He said, If so
be you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth
is in Him. That's the only way you're going
to know the truth. And the Spirit, what's He called?
He's called the Spirit of Truth. Why? Because He testifies of
Christ. When He comes, He's not going
to speak of Himself. He's going to take of the things
of mine and show them unto you. He's the Spirit of Truth. When
He comes, He'll guide you into all truth. Where's He going to
take you? He's going to take you to Christ. He's going to take you to Christ. And we live in this world not
with a careless, haphazard attitude, but we gird up the loins of our
mind, Peter says, and be sober. I ain't talking about the absence
of alcohol. I'm talking about seriousness,
soberness, awareness. What's going on? Why am I here?
What am I doing? What's this life all about? Alert
to what's going on, sensible to the purpose of our being here. I wrote some new words to this
hymn, and I'm not going to sing them for you this morning, but
I will tell you what the verse says. This world is not my home.
If it's your home, you're in trouble. This world is not my
home. I'm just passing through. Abraham
didn't build a house. Everywhere he went, he lived
in a tent. He was a wealthy man. He was
a rich man. He could have built 20 houses.
Why didn't he? He was looking for a city that
has foundations whose builder and maker is God. This world
wasn't his home. And it's not ours. And very few, I've learned this
over the years, very few live that way. Very few. And then our Lord adds this.
And your light's burning. Your light's burning. Our house
is not dark and quiet, but it's fully lit. We're expecting company. A passerby might look and see
activity in there. He sees activity. Well, it ain't
all quiet and dark. Those whose treasure is Christ
and whose hope is laid up in heaven, they live a life of expectation. Brother Don used to say, we're
waiting on the tiptoes of faith. Looking out the window. Looking
out the window. He might come this morning. Wouldn't
that be something? Got all these plans, looking
for this, going to go here, going to... He'll fold this place up
in a heartbeat. We contributed nothing to our
salvation, and neither can we accomplish the perfection of
it. And what is needed and hoped for Only Christ can provide. Only Christ Himself can do. He
must come and raise us up from this world, whether in the grave
or in the world. He'll have to raise us up. And
our hope's in a person, not a doctrine. Our life is motivated by Him.
Our hope and desire is to be with Him. And so we patiently
wait on Him and look for His return. In Hebrews 9.28, Paul writes
this, So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and
unto them that look for him. Who's that? That's all his elect. Unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin. No sin on him. He's already paid for sin. When
he appears the next time, it's going to be without sin. There's
a whole other reason for His coming. He's going to gather
His elect and He's going to burn this creation to cinders. Without sin unto salvation. In 1 Thessalonians 1, and in evidence of their election,
Paul said, you turn to God from your idols to serve the living
and true God. and to wait for His Son from
heaven. We wait on Him. On Him. We wait for His Son from heaven,
whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us
from the wrath to come. Bet your lights be burning. Christ
is our light, isn't He? Lights of expectation and lights
of joy and hope. And then listen to this, Luke
12 verse 36. And ye yourselves, like unto
men that wait for their Lord. Who's your Lord? Are you your own Lord? Who's your Lord? We wait for
our Lord, that's what he says here. Ye yourselves, like unto
men that wait for their Lord when he will return from the
wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to
him immediately." Now God has a people who love him and they
serve him and they care more about him than they do about
themselves. They worked hard, built a house, might be the dream
house, who knows? But I tell you, if it gets between
them and the Lord, it's gone. It's gone. They care more about
Him than they do for themselves. They know what He's done and
where He is and why they're still in this world. And we ought to
be as those who wait for their Lord. What is our Lord? He's Lord of
the dead and the living. He's spiritually dead out here. He's their Lord. They're not
doing anything that he's not giving them permission to do.
Nothing. What did he tell Pilate? Pilate said, if you knew who
I was, you'd talk to me. He said, you had no power over
me at all, except my father gave it to you. He's Lord. And he's Lord of the dead and
the living. And we serve the Lord. What kind of Lord is He? He's the blessed and only potentate
King of kings and Lord of lords. God has a purpose in creation,
in time, and in His providence. And if I'm reading the Scriptures
correctly, we're labors together with God. As a bride labors together with
her husband, so his people labor together with him of one mind,
one purpose, one goal. And then the scripture says,
and when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. What is he talking about? Ain't
going to be no knocking when he comes a second time. He said it's going to be a fraction
of a second in a twinkling of an eye. Ain't gonna be no knocking. Man, so what's he talking about?
I read everything I could get my hands on this, and none of
them really had anything that satisfied me, but I'll tell you
what I believe he's talking about. Death. When he comes and knocks,
are you waiting for him? You watching for him? You hoping
to see him? Is that where your hope is? Is that where your treasure is?
Then when he knocks, you hoping. Isn't that what he's talking
about? Oh, my soul. And you will, if that's where
your treasure is, if that's where you long to be. And he knocks
and he says, come with me. You ready. You ready. Isn't that what he's talking
about in that verse? That's exactly what he's talking about. His servants are his servants. They've been called and taught
to serve. They're bond servants. They're
free to go. But they said, we will not go. I love my master. I ain't going. And so he's standing by the door,
bores his ear through with it. No, he's a bond servant. They'd be ready and waiting.
How? With expectation. You know, one
of the ten things Henry said for us to do when we was preparing
a message, number ten, the last thing, he said, expect men to
believe. Huh? Do we expect him to? We don't expect him to. He could
appear any second. Is that how we look for him?
We always look way down the road somewhere. We shouldn't do that. Wait for him with expectation. He knocks on that door and says,
come with me to the judgment. Are we going there to be judged? If we are, we're in Him. Are we not? I'll tell you what the Lord will
say to the believer, every one of them. Those who have strong
faith, unshakable faith, and those who have faith as a grain
of mustard seed, in that day, God's going to look at them and
say, well done. Well done? Me? Well done. How good of faith was that? Why? Because everything I hope for
is in Him. That's why. Who's going to come and get you
in that day? Is He going to send angels to
get you? No. He's going to come Himself. That's
what the scripture says. He'll call you up to Himself.
And then our Lord makes a remarkable statement, verse 37. Blessed are those servants whom
the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say unto
you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meet,
and he'll come forth and serve them himself. What was the first Lord's table?
Who served that table? The Lord did. He girded himself
about. He took the bread and he broke
it and gave it to them. He poured the wine and gave it
to them. He served them. He even girded himself about
and washed their feet. Oh, my soul. I don't even pretend to be able
to enter into this. This goes way past anything.
that I could possibly say. The Lord Himself girding Himself
about saying, sit here, I'm going to feed you some meat. Real meat. You're going to see me as I am.
You're going to know as you're known. Just to be in glory would be
something Just to be in the midst of His saints, be a divine work,
but to be seated and served by Him in glory is beyond my comprehension. Yet this is the whole story of
our salvation. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. He served
us the whole time. He served us from all eternity.
And if he shall come in the second watch, verse 38, Luke chapter
12, or come in the third watch and find them, so blessed are
those servants. And this not, if the good man
of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would
have watched, would have suffered his house, he'd never suffered
his house to be broken through if he'd known the thief was coming.
Now we know he's coming, don't we? But we don't know when, so
we'll watch, we'll watch. Be you therefore ready also,
for the Son of Man cometh in an hour when you think not. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians,
for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. He won't even know when he's
there. unexpected and without notice. For when he shall say, when they shall say, who's there? Government, religion, wise men
of the world, when they shall say peace and safety, then suddenly
destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with
child, and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. You
are all children of light, and the children of the day were
not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be safe.