Verse 40 of Luke chapter 12,
the Lord Jesus says, be ye therefore ready also for the Son of Man
cometh at an hour when you think not. I know when the Lord's going
to come. He's going to come when nobody suspects him. We can be
sure of that. I remember there's a man that
has predicted his coming and they gave certain dates on two
different occasions. And I remember my reply on both
times is I know when he won't come. He won't come those days
that man predicted those dates. It's not going to happen. Now
the Lord is speaking of his second advent. And what a glorious thing
to think that the Lord Jesus The Lord of Glory is coming back
to this earth again. He came some 2,000 years ago. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. He came the first time, and He
came to be a sin-bearing substitute. He came to put away sin. He came to keep His Father's
law, and that's exactly what He did. And when he comes again,
the scripture says he'll come without sin. You see that sin
that he put away is no more. He'll come without sin unto salvation. Now, will I be ready? What would it take for me to
be ready when the Lord Jesus comes again? I have thought, this has gone
through my mind on many occasions, when I have been doing something
that I knew was wrong. And I thought, what if the Lord
came back? What if the Lord came back? And here I am in the middle
of committing some sin that I know is against Him. I've often thought that I would
like to be preaching when he comes back. I really would. I'd
like to be preaching the gospel, or I'd like to be praying, or
reading the Bible, or witnessing to someone, or perhaps When I
drop my check in the box back there, I'd like for him to be
coming when I'm being nice to someone and being thoughtful
and doing something for someone in a real nice Christian-like
way. I'd like for him to come when
I was conducting myself in a way that I think would be good. But
I would hate for him to come when I'm doing something evil
or committing some sin or mistreating somebody or even cursing them.
Now, here's my question. Would I be ready if I were doing
those good things? Or would I not be ready if I
were doing those bad things? And I don't in any way want to
encourage anyone to do any bad things. We ought to be doing
those good things. But what is it that would make me ready when
he returns? What is it that will make me
ready? Well, let's back back to verse
35. The Lord says, let your loins be girded about and your lights
burning. Now, when we read of loins being
girded about, how are you to eat the Passover? in haste with
your loins girded about. You weren't to wait to eat it.
You weren't to prepare yourself to eat it. You would eat it right
now. The time to believe on Christ is right now. It's not when you
learn more, when you're better, or anything like that. It's right
now. And their loins were girded about to let us know we're in
a traveling posture. This world that we're walking
through is not my home. It's a journey. It's a temporary
journey. And I'm not gonna make myself
to at home here because this world is not my home. I'm passing through. Let your
loins be girded about and your lights burning unlike the foolish
virgins. You remember the ten virgins,
five were wise, five were foolish, five had oil for their lamps,
five had no oil. When you looked at them from
the outside, they looked the same. And they all slumbered and slept,
but when the bridegroom returned, it was only those who had oil
in their lamps who were ready. They had the grace of God. They
looked the same. They all ten slumbered and slept. But when the bridegroom returned,
it was only those who had the oil in their lamps, the grace
of God, that was ready. And I think of this burning light. The Lord said, let your light
so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify
your Father. Not glorify you, but glorify
your Father which is in heaven. Now most folks with their supposed
good works Their light so shines in a way to glorify themselves. But oh, would to God that my
light would shine in such a way that men would glorify my Father,
which is in heaven. He's the only one who deserves
glory. So he says, let your lights,
your loins be girded about, your lights burning, and you yourselves
liken to men that wait for their Lord. When he will return from
the wedding, When he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto
him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom
the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching." Just waiting
for him. When we had Kiwi, the toy poodle,
the toy poodle, their nature is such that their main caregiver
That's who they really connect with. And I wasn't the main caregiver. Aubrey wasn't the main caregiver.
She was supposed to be, but she wasn't. It was her dog, but she
wasn't the one who took care of the dog. Lynn took care of
the dog. And you know, when Lynn was gone,
I would watch that dog sit there and stare at the door. Just stare
at the door, waiting for Lynn to return. waiting for that door
to open. And that dog's entire life was
tied up with just being with Lynn. That's all that dog cared
about. You know, when Lynn was sick
and when she'd lay in the bed, you know who'd be right there with
her the whole time? Kiwi. All Kiwi cared about, and this
is true, isn't it? Lynn's tearing up, I think. All
Kiwi cared about was being with Lynn. Now, These servants, all
they have, all they really care about, that doesn't mean they
don't fulfill their responsibilities, but all they care about is being
with their Lord, being in His presence. Everything's fine,
and I'm just waiting for Him. You remember the story of Mephibosheth? Turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter
9 for just a moment. Let me remind you briefly. We're
not going to look at this story much, but what happened afterwards.
But would you turn to 2 Samuel chapter 9? Now, if you're familiar with
this story, David and Jonathan made a covenant years before
this. Jonathan said, I know you're
going to be the king. And this is after David had vanquished
all of his enemies and he was in absolute control. As a matter
of fact, the scripture says the fear of David fell upon every
nation. At this time, he was the most powerful man in the
world. And he remembered that covenant
Jonathan had made with him. Jonathan said, I know that you're
going to be the king. God's going to make you the ruler
of the world. And when he does, I want you
to remember me and my descendants after I'm gone. And they struck
hands. They loved each other so greatly.
Now, Jonathan's been dead many years, and all of David's enemies
have been taken care of. And David said, is there any
that's left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? God the Father says, is there
any of the house of Adam that I can show kindness to for Christ's
sake. And there was at the house of
Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called
him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And
he said, Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not
yet any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness
of God unto him? Now, remember, the house of Saul
had been David's enemies. Saul wanted David dead. And Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet a son. which is lame on his feet. He's crippled. And if you know
the story, he was crippled through a fall. His nurse dropped him
and he became lame on both of his feet. He said he's not worth
anything. He's crippled. He can't work
for you. He can't do anything for you. As a matter of fact,
all he can be is carried. That's all he can be, is carried. Verse four, and the king said
unto him, where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he's in the house of Makar, the son of Amelior and
Lodabar. Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Makar, the son of Amelior from Lodabar,
now in Mephibosheth. That was his name, this son of
Jonathan, and his name means shameful thing. When Mephibosheth,
the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was coming to David,
he fell on his face and did reverence. He didn't know what was going
to happen. For all he knew, he was going to be put to death. He
was of the house of Saul. And David said, Mephibosheth.
And he said, Behold thy servant. And David said unto him, Fear
not. Evidently he was scared to death. For I will surely show
thee kindness. for Jonathan, thy father's sake,
and will restore thee all the land of Saul, thy father, and
thou shalt eat bread at my table nonstop. And he bowed himself
and said, what is thy servant that thou shouldst look upon
such a dead dog as I am? Down in verse 13, so Mephibosheth
dwelt in Jerusalem and he did eat continually at the king's
table and was lame on both of his feet. That didn't change,
but his feet were covered at the king's table. Now in chapter
15 of this same book, Absalom, the son of David, creates a revolt
and David is run out of town and Absalom takes the throne
during this time. Now look in chapter 16, David
is had to flee and Absalom takes the throne. And when David was
a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba, remember
him, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him with a couple of asses
saddled and upon them two hundred loaves of bread and a hundred
bunches of raisins and a hundred of summer fruits and a bottle
of wine. And the king said to Ziba, what meanest thou by these?
And Ziba said, the asses be for the king's household to ride
on and the bread and summer fruits for the young men to eat and
the wine that be such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.
Remember, they were fleeing Jerusalem. And Ziba comes out to meet him
to give him these goods. And the king said, And where
is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king,
Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem. This is talking about Mephibosheth.
For he said, Today shall the house of Israel restore the kingdom
of my father. Then said the king to Ziba, behold,
thine are all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said,
I humbly beseech thee that I might find grace in thy sight, my lord,
O king. Now, here after Mephibosheth
has been shown such mercy, he is not loyal to David. He says,
the king is coming to me. I'm of the house of Saul. God's
gonna get rid of David, and it's all coming to me." How ungrateful
he was. That's wrong as it can be. Now
look in 2 Samuel chapter 19. This is after Absalom has been
killed and David is going back to Jerusalem to get his rightful
throne back and we read beginning in verse 24 of 2 Samuel chapter
19. And Mephibosheth the son of Saul
came down to meet the king and had neither dressed his feet
nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes from the day the
king departed into the day he came again in peace. And it came
to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem, to meet the king,
that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with
me, Mephibosheth? Why did you stay back here with
Absalom? Why didn't you come with me and
show your allegiance to me? Why? Now look at his answer. And he answered, My lord, O king,
My servant deceived me, for thy servant said, I'll saddle me
an ass that I may ride there along and go to the king, because
thy servant is lame. And he has slandered thy servant
unto my lord the king. He told a lie. I wanted to be
with you and he kept me from it. But, my Lord the King is
as an angel of God. Do therefore what is good in
thine eyes. Now notice he doesn't say, I
love the way he says this. He doesn't say, here's what you
need to do. I was slandered, I was wronged. You restore everything
back to me and put me back in good standing with you. Obviously
this was wrong. No, he says, do what's ever good in thine
eyes. Now that's a bowing before Christ.
Do what's ever good in whatever happens to me. Let's go on reading.
For all of my father's house were but dead men before my Lord
the King, yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did
eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet
to cry any more unto the King? And the king said unto him, Why
speakest thou any more of thy matters? I said, Thou and Ziba,
divide the land. Give him half of it, and you
can have half back. Now, what would you say if that happened?
It had all been his. And now, after Ziba's ripped
him off, David says, He can have half, and you can have half.
Now, I would have a tendency to say, Now, wait a minute. All
he did was wrong. He slandered me. He shouldn't
get anything. And I should get all of it back. Verse 30, and Mephibosheth said
unto the king, yea, let him have all of it. For as much as my
lord the king has come again in peace into his own house,
I'm content and I'm satisfied just to know that the king has
returned in peace. I don't need anything else. Take
it all. I don't care. His whole happiness,
his whole demeanor was found in the king returning in peace. Just like those servants waiting
for the return of their lord. As a matter of fact, while David
was gone, he didn't wash. He didn't trim his beard. He
didn't trim his toenails. That's what it means when he
didn't trim his feet. And he looked like a mess when he came
to the king, didn't he? But he was demonstrating all
I'm wanting is for the king to be glorified. Now let me ask
you a question. And I want to ask myself this question as well.
We read in the scriptures that every knee is going to bow to
Christ. and every tongue is going to
confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Is that enough to satisfy you?
Do you need anything else? Or is that enough? Let him take it all as long as
the king has returned. all my satisfaction is right
there. And I hope, I hope that's what
I really believe that no matter what the Lord does with me, even
if circumstances do not turn out the way I wanted them to
or thought they would, yet if the king returns in peace and
he's my peace with God, I am satisfied. And I'm simply awaiting
his return. Now that doesn't mean we're not
fulfilling our responsibilities. Of course we do. But we're simply
awaiting his return. And I believe David was testing
his allegiance to him and oh how he passed. Now let's go on
reading back in Luke chapter 12. Turn back there. I want to
be like Mephibosheth was, don't you? Just waiting for his return. Luke 12, verse 38. And if he shall come in the second
watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, just waiting,
blessed are those servants. Now here's somebody who's blessed
of God. Oh, how God has blessed that person who just waits. Just waits. Verse 39. And this know, that if the good
man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, He
would have watched and have not suffered his house to be broken
through. Be ye therefore ready also for
the Son of Man cometh at an hour when you think not. He said, be ready. How can I
be ready? And I touched on this earlier.
Which of us have not thought that we would like to be doing
something good when he returned? I sure would, and I know you
would too. I wouldn't want to be in the
middle of the commission of some sin when he returned. I'd like
to be preaching, or reading the Bible, or witnessing, or praying.
I'd want to be treating someone well. I sure wouldn't want him
to return when I'm mistreating someone, or acting harsh toward
someone, or even yelling at someone. Now here's my question. Would
doing something good or avoiding doing something evil, make us
ready. If that were the case, if me
doing something good made me ready, or me doing something
bad made me not ready, readiness would have something to do with
what I do. or with what I do not do. If that were the case, I would
have no peace. And I would just be scared about
when he was returned, kind of like a roll of the dice. What
if he gets me on a good time? What if he gets me on a bad time?
What is it that makes one ready? Well, turn with me to Revelation
chapter 16. I want to look at a few scriptures that'll answer
that question. This is the Lord speaking in
verse 15. He says of Revelation chapter
16, verse 15, behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that
watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see
his shame. Now the garment of salvation
is Christ himself. His glorious righteousness. And the only thing that will
cover my shame and my nakedness is the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. And that one who is ready is
that one who is wearing his garments. At no time does he want to be
seen in any other light but the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be
found, Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before
God's throne. What is it that will make me
ready? The garments. The garment that covers my shame. Look in Revelation 19. Verse
7. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him. For the marriage of the Lamb
has come and his wife, what a name for the church, his wife. I love
it where it says the Lamb's wife. Speaking about the church, speaking
of everything, the Lamb's wife. And his wife hath made herself
ready. And to her was granted. A grant is something you don't
have to pay for. It's given to you freely. And to her was granted
that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white,
for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. Now, I've seen where
people have said this means the righteous deeds of the saints.
That fine linen, clean and white, this is the righteous deeds,
this is the good works the saints have performed when enabled by
grace. Now do you have any works that you would call fine linen,
clean and white? I'm talking about the best thing
you've ever done. Would it, past muster? Would it say, this is
fine, and this is clean, and this is white? No, the righteousness
of the saints that the bride, the wife makes herself ready
with is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And I love the
way this righteousness of Christ is called the righteousness of
the saints. This is what makes me ready.
I have the righteousness. of Jesus Christ as my personal
righteousness before God. And if you want to know the whole
story on me, all you've got to do is look at the life of Christ,
and that is my life before God. You ever get tired of that? Does
that ever get old? No, no. I want to hear that again. His righteousness is my personal
righteousness before God. And that's what makes me ready. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. Somebody may be thinking, well,
does that mean that it doesn't matter whether we're sinning
when he returns? Listen, I don't want to sin anymore.
I don't. I don't want to sin. But when
he returns, I guarantee you, as far as whatever I'm doing,
I'll be sinning. You just write that down. Whatever I'm doing,
I'll be sinning. Am I looking for an excuse? Well, I can go ahead and sin.
I don't need to worry about it because I have Christ's righteousness.
Of course not. I hate my sin. But I sure am glad I have Christ's
righteousness, aren't you? The very righteousness and merits
of Jesus Christ is my personal righteousness before God. I don't
use that as an excuse for sin. But like I said, I know this.
When he returns, apart from Christ, You will be sinning. It may be
something good you're doing. It may be something, I hope it's
not something bad you're doing or I'm doing. But when he returns,
the only way of safety is being in Christ. Having his righteousness
is all that will make you ready. That's all. Now look in 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. Paul says, would the God you
could bear with me a little in my folly and indeed bear with
me. For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I've
espoused you to one husband. This is the lamb's wife that
I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear
less by any means. As the serpent beguiled thee
through his subtlety, through his deceit, so your mind should
be corrupted from the simplicity that's in Christ. Simple as opposed to complex. I love this. Don't even have
two things to choose from. Simple. What would make me ready? Well, Paul put it this way in
Philippians chapter 3 verses 8 and 9. He said, O that I may
win Christ and be found. Now note the language. Be found. When God comes looking for me,
there's one way I want to be found, and it is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now that's what's going to make
me ready. When he comes with trumpet sound, oh may I then
in him be found, dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless
to stand before God's holy throne. That's what will make me ready.
Now, talking about the simplicity of Christ. Your religion is anything
but simple, isn't it? It's complex. all the different
choices you've got to make and all the different things in religion.
But I'm so thankful for the simplicity of Christ. I have a simple salvation. Christ Himself. He is my salvation. Simeon said, Lord, now let us
thou thy servant depart in peace. He was ready to die. He said,
mine eyes have seen thy salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
is my salvation. I have a simple righteousness.
He is. That's why David said, I made
mention of thy righteousness, even thine only. The only righteousness
there is, is the righteousness of Christ. There are no other
righteousnesses. There are no... His righteousness
imputed to me. His righteousness given to me
in the new birth. That new nature. But it's still His righteousness.
I have one righteousness. His. That's so simple. I don't
have to look to myself for a thing. It's wholly His. I have a simple
standing. Grace. The free grace of God. I have a simple ground of assurance. It's Christ that died. That's
it. What gives you assurance that
you're saved? It's Christ that died. He must be successful. I have a simple object of faith.
Christ only. And I have a simple desire. I've
got one desire. And you listen real carefully.
I've already quoted Oh, that I may win Christ and be found
in him. Who was ready when the bridegroom
returned? The one who had oil in their
lamp. The grace of the Holy Spirit. It looked the same from the outside,
but what the difference was, was something you couldn't see.
the grace of God. Now, turn to 2 Timothy chapter
4. What would make me ready for
his return? What would make me ready to die?
You know, readiness to die is the same thing as readiness for
his return. What would make me ready to die? Now look what the
apostle says in 2 Timothy chapter 4. He says in verse 6, for I
am now ready to be offered. And the time of my departure
is at hand. And I love the way He calls death
a departure. He doesn't say the time of my
death is at hand, but the time of my departure. I'm leaving
here and going into the very presence of Christ. He says,
I fought a good fight. I didn't quit. I finished my
course. I've kept the faith. I've not denied the faith. I've
kept it. Henceforth, there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love his appearing. Now, this is what
it takes to be ready for his return. I'm to love his appearing. And I can say with complete conviction
how I love His appearing as my surety before time began when
He took full responsibility for me. And how I love His appearing
the first time on earth when He kept God's law perfectly for
me and put away my sin. How I love His appearing as He
ascends back to glory How I love his appearing for me right now
as he represents me as my great high priest and intercessor.
And how I love his second return. Let me ask you, wouldn't you
be glad if he came back tonight? Now I realize if you're young, I
realize you think, well, I'd like to experience some of the
things of life. Maybe you haven't been married yet, you wouldn't
get married. I understand all that. I mean, I'd like for him
to wait till I experience, okay, I get it. But all that being
said, there might be other reasons you, I'd rather wait to see my
children say before he returns. I understand that too. I understand
that. I get all that. But he's going to return, when
he's going to return, and how we love the thought of him coming
in the clouds and every eye seeing him. and everybody's gonna know
who he is, and oh, the glory he'll have at his return. And
we love the thought of seeing him in his, seeing him as he
is. John says, beloved, it does not
yet now appear what we shall be, but when we know that when
he shall appear, we'll be like him. I won't be a sinner anymore. I'll see him as he is. We love his appearing. You know, we're preparing to
take the Lord's table. And Paul said, whenever you take
the Lord's table, whenever you do this, you do show forth the
Lord's death until he come, until he come. Now, what is my hope? when he comes. His death. His
death. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. That's my salvation. That's my
assurance. That's my readiness for his appearing. His death. Not anything I've
done, but what he's accomplished, what he has achieved. Two more
scriptures. Turn to 1 John chapter 2. Verse 28, And now, little children,
abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence
and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Now, how will
I have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming?
By abiding in him. Now, what's it mean to abide
in him? It means you don't want to be anywhere else. You stay
right here. You don't want to be outside
of Him in any way. You don't want the Lord God to
look at you as in any way but in Him to where all He sees is
Jesus Christ. Now, if I abide in Him, I'm going
to have confidence and I'm not going to be ashamed before Him.
That is coming. Look in 1 John chapter 4 verse
17. Herein is our love made perfect
that we may have boldness. That's strong language. Boldness. Can you imagine having boldness
on the day of judgment? When you're called to stand before
God and God judge you and you have boldness. Bring it on. I'm ready to be judged. How could
that be? Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because
as He is, so are we in this world. How holy is Christ? How fit is
Christ for the judgment of God? How righteous is Christ? How
lovely is Christ. How glorious is Christ. Now as he is, so are we in this
world right now. Now here is somebody who can
have boldness on the day of judgment. However Christ is, that is me. Behold, I come quickly. Even so, come Lord Jesus. I'm ready. I remember one time
when I was in college, I was working a steel mill. It was a summer job. And I remember
this guy I was working with, I'd work with him every day.
And he was so stressed out over the second coming of Christ.
He said, I just want to be ready. I just want to be ready. And
I tried to explain to them, even them, readiness as being in Christ.
It's not how good you are. It's how good he is. That's your
readiness. And I remember just feeling so
sorry for that guy because he didn't have any peace. And I
remember thinking, what a burden it would be to think your readiness
had something to do with your personal performance. That's
a burden I couldn't deal with. But thank God he is. our readiness. And as we observe the Lord's
table, we're saying He is our readiness, and we're showing
forth His death until He return. Let's pray together.