Sermon #88 Luke
Sermons
Title: “Christ
will Gird Himself and Serve Us!”
Text: Luke 12:35-40
Subject: Waiting for the Savior
Date: Sunday Evening—
Tape # X-29a
Introduction:
“When He calls us home to
heaven,
At His table we’ll sit down.
Christ will gird Himself and
serve us
With sweet manna all
around!”
“Christ will gird Himself
and serve us”—Can that be true? Indeed it is! “Christ will gird himself and serve us!” That is the title
of my message. Just roll that thought around in your heart.—“Christ will gird
himself and serve us!” That is what he has promised in Luke 12:37.
The Lord Jesus has just told
us, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (v. 34). He
has been urging us to set our hearts upon eternity, to set our hearts upon
things above, to seek the
Proposition: In this passage, our great
Savior turns our hearts and minds heavenward by telling us what we may
rightfully expect in eternity, when our Father gives us his kingdom.
(Luke
12:35-40) "Let your loins be girded
about, and your lights burning; (36) 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. (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 to sit down to
meat, and will come forth and serve them. (38) And if he shall come in
the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed
are those servants. (39) And this know, that if the goodman of the house
had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have
suffered his house to be broken through. (40) Be ye therefore ready
also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."
These are needful,
instructive lessons. May God the Holy Spirit graciously inscribe them upon our
hearts.
I. Christ is our
Master, and we are his servants (vv. 35-36).
That is true of us all. Like it or not the Son of God is your Lord
and Master. Sooner or later you will bow to him and acknowledge him as such.
But he is your Lord and mine. And we are his servants. We may be loyal,
faithful, obedient servants, or rebellious servants; but we are his servants.
As such, it is our responsibility to serve him. In verses 35 and 36 he
admonishes us to serve him.
I am calling for you who are yet rebels to our Master to cease
from your rebellion and bow to Christ’s dominion. And I am calling for you who
are his, as I call for my own soul, to ever be dressed and ready for the
Master.
(Luke
12:35-36) "Let your loins be girded
about, and your lights burning; (36) 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."
The New International Version reads—"35Be
dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36like men
waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he
comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.
The Amplified Version gives this translation—35”Keep your
loins girded and your lamps burning, 36And be like men who are
waiting for their master to return home from the marriage feast, so that when
he returns from the wedding and comes and knocks, they may open to him
immediately.”
In these two verses our Lord tells us how we are to serve
him.
A. If we would serve the Lord, we must wear the dress of
his servants.—We must be dressed.
When our Lord says, “Let your loins be girded about,” the
words might be translated, “Be dressed and ready for service.” The only way we
can be dressed for God is to be dressed by God with the garments of salvation,
the righteousness of Christ imputed to us.—We must be dressed by God. Yet, we
must dress ourselves.—Only God can give us the righteousness of Christ. Yet, we
must put on Christ by faith.
(Ecclesiastes
9:8) "Let thy garments be always
white; and let thy head lack no ointment."
(Isaiah
52:1) "Awake, awake; put on thy
strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city:
for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the
unclean."
(Isaiah
61:10) "I will greatly rejoice in
the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a
bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with her jewels."
(Zechariah
3:1-5) "And he showed me Joshua the
high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his
right hand to resist him. (2) And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD
rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is
not this a brand plucked out of the fire? (3) Now Joshua was clothed
with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. (4) And he answered
and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy
garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity
to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. (5) And
I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon
his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood
by."
(Luke
16:22) "And it came to pass, that
the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich
man also died, and was buried."
B. As the servants of Christ, we are here called to a
state of constant readiness.
(Luke
12:35) "Let your loins be girded
about, and your lights burning;"
1. Our loins must be girded about. We are not left
to guess what this means. The Scriptures tell us plainly how our loins are to
be girded.
(Ephesians
6:14) "Stand therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness."
(1
Peter 1:13) "Wherefore gird up the
loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be
brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
All God’s people were the girdle of truth, finding strength in the
gospel, holding it fast unto the end. We gird up the loins of our minds with
grace, pure, free, sovereign grace, looking to Christ alone for all things. Our
Lord appears to be pointing us back to Exodus 12 and the first passover feast.
What a picture of faith that was.
(Exodus
12:11) "And thus shall ye eat it; with
your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand;
and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover."
2. Having
our loins girded with the gospel, our Master here tells us that we must
ever have our lights burning.
The word “lights” refers to portable lights, lights that
are carried in our hands. It refers to our profession of faith in Christ. Our
Lord’s instruction here is a condensed form of his instruction in the parable
of the ten virgins.
He is saying, make certain that you have in your lamp the oil of
life, the oil of grace, the Holy Spirit.—A profession of faith without the
possession of grace is as useless as a lamp without oil.
“The allusion is to persons waiting at a wedding in the night,
with torches and flambeaus in their hands.”—John Gill
The first thing, then, is this—Christ is our
Master, and we are his servants. We are responsible to be his
faithful servants. You and I who profess faith in him profess to be his servants.
Let us make certain that his righteousness and grace are ours. Here’s the
second thing I want you to see…
II. Though our MaSTER
HAS LEFT US HERE FOR A WHILE TO SERVE HIM, HE IS COMING AGAIN
(V. 36).
(Luke
12:36) "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."
We are servants in waiting. The Lord Jesus, as the great
Bridegroom of his Church, has gone out to glory to prepare a place for his
Bride, to make ready all things for the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Soon, he will return from the wedding (from those final preparations for the
nuptial feast, to take his Bride unto himself.
He calls for us as his servants to be in a state of constant
expectation, looking for our Master’s glorious appearing, and doing everything
with an eye to that great day when he shall come knocking at the door.—When the
Son of God comes knocking, let us ever be ready to open the door immediately.
·
Knocking in Visitations of Grace by His Word and by His
Spirit.
·
Knocking in The Hour of Death by His Providence.
·
Knocking in His Glorious Second Advent by the Trump of God.
When Christ has, by the preaching of the Gospel, and the power of
his grace, espoused all his elect unto himself, he will descend from heaven,
and take his Bride to himself. We shall then be called to the Marriage Supper
of the Lamb, and enter with him into the nuptial chamber, and be forever with
him. He will bring us into his banqueting house and hang the banner of his love
over us!
III. Be sure you get this, third, fact. Get it. Remember it. Don’t
forget it. And laugh at any pretence by any man that contradicts it.—No one knows, or can know, when the Master
shall return (vv. 38-40).
(Luke
12:38-40) "And if he shall come in
the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed
are those servants. (39) And this know, that if the goodman of the house
had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have
suffered his house to be broken through. (40) Be ye therefore ready
also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."
·
Christ is coming (Rev. 1:7).
·
He will appear as a thief in the night, at a time when no
one expects him.
·
Therefore, we are to be constantly watching for him,
serving him on the tiptoe of faith.
(1
Thessalonians 4:13-18) "But I would
not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that
ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (14) For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him. (15) For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep. (16) For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we which are
alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (18) Wherefore
comfort one another with these words."
(1
Corinthians 15:51-58) "Behold, I
show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
(52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality. (54) So when this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up
in victory. (55) O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is
thy victory? (56) The sting of death is sin; and the strength
of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (58) Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."
IV. Now, look at verse 37, and hang onto your seat. This is our
Master’s promise to every sinner washed in his blood, robed in the garments of
salvation, waiting on and watching for him—“Christ will gird himself and serve us!”
“When He calls us home to
heaven,
At His table we’ll sit down.
Christ will gird Himself and
serve us
With sweet manna all
around!”
(Luke
12:37) "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 to sit down to meat, and will
come forth and serve them."
NIV—37”It
will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.
I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at
the table and will come and wait on them.”
AMP—37”Blessed
(happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are those servants whom the master finds
awake and alert and watching when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will gird
himself and have them recline at table and will come and serve them!”
I am sure that I don’t understand all that I know about what is
here revealed by our Master; but I’ll just tell you what I know and trust God
the Holy Spirit to give us understanding concerning it.
A. I know this—Believers are men and women who are waiting
on, serving, and looking for Christ our Master, our Lord and King, to return.
(Titus
2:11-14) "For the grace of God that
bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, (12) Teaching us that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly, in this present world; (13) Looking for that blessed hope, and
the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (14) Who
gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
B. I know this, too—When the Lord Jesus comes again, we
shall be blessed, happy, joyful, delighted beyond imagination, so gloriously
and fully blessed that we shall forever be the envy of all the world that now
despises us.
(Romans
8:18) "For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed in us."
(1
Corinthians 2:9) "But as it is
written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart
of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
(Ephesians
2:7) "That in the ages to come he
might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us
through Christ Jesus."
(1
John 3:1-2) "Behold, what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (2) Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as
he is."
C. And I know this—The Lord Jesus Christ, our Master, our
King, our Savior, our God will cause us to recline, rest, and sit down at his
table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and will serve us in all the greatness of
his glory.
What a statement! What an astounding prospect! What a mystery! I
have read of examples in history in which a Master highly honored his servants,
giving them great gifts in appreciation for their service, even adopting them
as their children. But I have found no parallel to this in history. Never was
there a Master who served his servants! But our Master here declares that he
shall serve us in Glory Land!—He will serve us without measure or limitation,
delighting for us to have and enjoy all that he has, all that he enjoys, and
all that he is! There is no degree of honor, glory, happiness, and bliss that
the Lord Jesus Christ will withhold fro us in eternity.—“Christ shall gird
himself and serve us!”
·
He always has served us—As Our Covenant Surety!
·
He served us while he was on the earth—As Our Divine
Substitute!
(Luke
22:27) "For whether is greater,
he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at
meat? but I am among you as he that serveth."
(John
13:4-5) "He riseth from supper, and
laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. (5) After
that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and
to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded."
·
He is serving us now—As Our Advocate, King, and High
Priest!
·
He shall serve us forever!
(Luke
22:18) "For I say unto you, I will
not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come."
(Isaiah
25:6) "And in this mountain shall
the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines
on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well
refined."
(Revelation
7:17) "For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains
of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
Christ is that Servant who refuses to go out free, who refuses to
quit serving!
(1
Corinthians 15:24-28) "Then cometh
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
(25) For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
(26) The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (27)
For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are
put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all
things under him. (28) And when all things shall be subdued unto him,
then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under
him, that God may be all in all."
Then, and only then, will we begin to “comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and know the love of
Christ that passeth knowledge, and be filled with all the fulness of God!”
Amen.