I've got to get everything set up here. All right. Good morning, or afternoon. Good afternoon. It's great to be here. I am very honored and privileged to be invited to come share the word with you today. I'm just glad to be here and thank you for having me. Oh, thank you very much, sister. I'm going to get a little sip of water and then we'll get going. Our text today is going to be Luke chapter 12. We're going to start in verse 35 and go through verse 48. And while you're finding it, I want to open this up in a word of prayer. Father, we just thank You for this day and we thank You for This group of people that want to come together and worship You and celebrate and grow in grace and knowledge of Christ. And Lord, we just ask that You bless this time. We ask that You apply this Word to our hearts, Lord. Lord, help us to see if we're truly blessed. Help us to know You more through what we look at today in Your Word. Lord, we thank You for Your grace. In Jesus' name, Amen. Now I said, the title of this sermon is, Are You Blessed? And that's a question that I want you to ask yourself. Are you blessed? I'm going to open up with a passage of Scripture that's not in Luke. It's actually in Matthew 7, and I'm going to read it to you, and then we'll get to the text in Luke. Matthew 7, 21-23 says, Jesus speaking, He says, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? And in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. So there are many that Jesus is saying who profess Him as Lord, who profess to be Christians, who think that they're blessed. And they really aren't. And so I want you to kind of have that passage in mind as we go through this today. I said the title of this message is Are You Blessed? Well, another thing to think about is what does it mean to be blessed? Whenever people say, how are you doing? You know, when you greet people and they're talking to you and they say, how are you doing? I usually say, I'm blessed. Now, my charismatic friends will say, well, I'm blessed too. But they're not thinking the same thing I am when they say that. Or they might tell you, I'm blessed and highly favored. Well, they may be. But it's usually not what we think about. The true blessing is not what we typically think about. I'm going to read through our text and then we'll work back through it, starting in verse 35. Be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps lit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself up to serve and have them recline at the table and will come up and wait on them. Whether he comes in the second watch or even in the third and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect." Peter said, Lord, are you addressing this parable to us or to everyone else as well? And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and sensible steward whom his master will put in charge of his servants to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, my master will be a long time in coming and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will will receive many lashes. But the one who did not know it and committed deeds worthy of a flogging will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required. And to whom they entrusted much of him they will ask all the more." Now he starts out in verse 35 and he says, be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps lit. In the King James it says, have your loins girded. That's an expression for readiness. And it's referring to the clothing that they wore during this time that Jesus was ministering. They wore long robes. And to have your loins girded or be dressed in readiness means you had your robe pulled up around your waist and tied off. You've seen kids running around with their jacket tied around their waist by the sleeves. It's similar to that. They'd have their robe pulled up around their waist and they'd have it tied off. And the reason is because it's hard to run in a dress. And this is to be ready to move. It's to be ready to move quickly at a moment's notice to take off running. And that's what He's trying to convey. And He says, have your lamps lit. All times have your lamps lit. The lamps in the day that we're talking about, when Jesus is telling them this, they used olive oil. And the oil is what fueled the lamp. It's what would burn. Well, let me ask you a question. What fuels the lamp, the light, in a Christian? The Holy Spirit is the oil that keeps the Christian's lamp lit. And who has the Holy Spirit? The person who is truly born again. The person who has been regenerated is filled with the Holy Spirit. And they're looking to Christ. That's the person who has their lamp lit and is filled with the Spirit is the one who's looking to Christ as their all-sufficient everything. So that's what he's pointing to. Keep your lamps lit implies something. He doesn't say have your lamp lit. He says keep it lit. What does that imply? It implies not a one-time experience where you pray a prayer and you ask Jesus into your heart or you, well I repented and believed back then when I was in Bible school or at Falls Creek or whatever. Keep your lamps lit implies that daily Constantly, moment by moment, you are looking to Christ as your all-sufficient Savior. That's what the Holy Spirit guides you to do. He guides you to all truth, and He points to Christ, and He keeps you looking to Christ. If your lamp's lit, it's a constant process. It's not a one-time deal. In Isaiah 45, He says, look to Me. All you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. And that look means look now. Look five minutes from now. Look tomorrow. Keep your lamp lit means a constant and ongoing looking to Christ. And then in verse 36, he says, Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Now, the picture here is a picture of a wealthy prince. And he's gone to collect his bride and his servants are anxiously waiting. And they're making preparations for his return. They're getting the house ready. And this prince is going to come back with his bride. Is that a familiar picture? This prince has gone to collect his bride. The imagery is used all the way through Scripture. It's used in the Old Testament and the New Testament. I'm going to read you some passages to help you see it. I'm going to go to Hosea first. Hosea 2. You don't have to turn there with me because I go pretty fast. Hosea 2, verses 16-20 if you want to read it later. It will come about in that day, declares the Lord, that you will call me Ishi. And will no longer call me Baali. Now I could just read that and you wouldn't know what it meant. But I'm going to tell you what it means. It will come about in that day, declares the Lord, that you will call me husband. That's what ishi means, literally translated. And you will no longer call me ba'ali, which means master. So, He's saying that you're going to be His bride. Instead of just His slave, you're also going to be His bride. And He says, for I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth so that they will be mentioned by their names no more. In that day, I will also make a covenant for them with the beast of the field, the birds of the sky, and the creeping things of the ground, and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and will make them lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice. in loving kindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord." So it starts in the Old Testament. And then I'm going to look at 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 2. And Paul is talking to the Corinthians. He says, For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. And then we can go to the end of the book. Go to Revelation 19. And I'm going to read verses 7-9. And it says, let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, to God, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then He said to me, Right, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He said to me, These are true words of God." So this picture, this imagery is all through Scripture. Well, what's it mean? Let me go back and read our original text here. In Luke 12. He says, Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. So let me show you what this picture is. Jesus is the master. He's the bridegroom. He's right now collecting His bride. And the servants are we who have already been collected. The overwhelming focus of our lives should be, this is what he's saying, it should be looking for and preparing for His coming. He's going to bring His bride and He's going to return. And we should be focused on that and preparing for His return, for the consummation of this marriage, for the fulfillment of His kingdom. That should be the focus of our lives. And that's what Jesus is telling them. In verse 37, he says, blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself to serve and have them recline at the table and will come up and wait on them. So the word translated alert or watching in this verse literally means to keep awake. And we hear a lot of talk these days about being woke. Well, this is not about being woke. This is about being truly awake. Those who are awake at the coming of the groom are the bride. And they're going to partake of the wedding supper of the Lamb, and it's going to be served to them by the bridegroom. Only Christians are truly awake in this world. Only Christians. In 1 John chapter 5 and verse 19 it says, We know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. John MacArthur commenting on this verse says, The whole world of unbelievers is asleep in the lap of Satan. The whole world is asleep in the lap of Satan. And they don't want to be woke up. They're eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage. And they're investing themselves in those thorns, the cares of this life, wealth, status, politics. They're investing themselves in temporary things in this world where moth and rust destroys and thieves break in and steal. The whole world. And they're asleep. Our message is for them to wake up. Wake up. Verse 38 says, Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. Well, as I said, true Christians are awake. And they will be awake. And they will be ready when Christ returns. This is not talking about physical waking and sleeping. This is metaphorical. It's not talking about being physically awake or being asleep. It's talking about being alive. Spiritually awake. Regenerated. Alive. For this reason it says, Awake sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. That's Ephesians 5, 14-16. What he's saying here is he's not coming when anyone expects. Christ is not gonna return when you expect him to. The Jews divided the night into three watches and the Romans divided it into four watches. Matthew and Mark both used the Roman system in their gospels. It's likely that Luke did also, even though he doesn't specifically tell us. So keeping in mind that the night in this picture is a metaphor, it's metaphorical, Jesus is coming in the second or the third watch. It means he's coming in the middle of the night when everybody's asleep, when nobody expects it. The second watch is 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. and the third watch is 12 a.m. to 3 a.m. Everybody's sleeping and we have to realize that this is not a hint as to when he's coming. It's not a hint so that we can speculate. It's just simply a statement, a fact, that the blessed, those people who are in Christ, will be living their lives in readiness. Not like the world, not asleep. We will be living our lives in readiness when He comes. But the whole world is not. So, when we look around and we see that, you know, people, if you think about it, I'm going to kind of go off my notes for a minute, but if you think about it, and you think about those who are always predicting, you know, the rapture is going to happen any moment, it's going to be the end of the world, etc., etc. They're all looking around at all the negative events going on in the world around us. You know, the governments, and the crime, and the pornography, and the wars, and all this stuff, and they say, well it must be coming back, look how bad it is. But what does Jesus say here? He says, that's not when I'm coming back. I'm not coming when you're looking. I'm coming when you're not. I would look more for His coming in a time of great peace and prosperity when everybody's asleep and nobody's expecting Him to come back. But the point is, the world doesn't expect it. We should always expect it. We should be looking for His imminent return. And that's what he says, that the blessed slave is going to be done. So let's look at verses 39 and 40. He said, but be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. And what Jesus just did is He just restated what He already said. He just did it a different way. And it's almost like he's saying this, in case you didn't get it, I'm going to explain it a different way so people can write lots of books about the end times predictions and make lots of money twisting my words. He could have said that. That's not what he said. I did. But what he said was, you're not going to expect it. If you knew exactly when somebody was going to break in your house, then you'd have the sheriff sitting there in the living room when they broke in, if you knew. And that's the point that Jesus is making. The truth is you don't know. You can't predict it. You can't predict when Christ is returning to consummate His kingdom, or when He's returning for you individually. You know, we focus a lot on the end and on Christ's return, but we don't really focus on the fact that whether He comes now. I mean, I heard Paul Washer say this in a sermon one time and I love it because it's the truth. He said, you know, people say Jesus is not coming back for a thousand years. Well, He may not. But you look around at this room within 10, 20, 30, 75 years, every single person in this room is probably going to meet Him. He's probably going to be standing before Him. When's He going to come for you personally, individually? That's going to happen. James chapter 4 makes it very, very clear. Verses 13-15, He says, Come now, You who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit, yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You're just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live. See, whether you live, whether you see another moment is subject to the Lord's will. If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that. You should look for His return. Both His return on the last day, but on His coming for you personally and immediately. The only sane thing to do if you don't know Him is to bow the knee to Him right now. Kiss the Son. lest he be angry and you perish in the way. That's the only sane thing to do in the fact that He is coming and you don't know when it's going to happen. Do you see the urgency of the statement that Jesus is making? He's saying, wake up! Wake up! You don't know when your time is coming. You don't know when I am coming and this is all going to be over with. Verse 41, Peter said, Lord, are you addressing this parable to us or to everyone else as well? Now you know every group has that one person. If you're in college, you know every class has that one person. even in high school. There's that one person that's going to ask the question that everybody thinks of the question, but they don't ask it because they don't want to get hung up on it, you know. But that one person is going to ask the question that everybody else thinks of. And the apostles had Peter. You read the Gospels, Peter's always asking the question that Jesus is putting it in his heart to ask so that he can answer it. And so he asked the question that's on everybody else's mind. And it's a legitimate question. Jesus had told the disciples before that it was given to them to understand the secrets of the kingdom, but not to the multitudes. When He would explain the parables to them, He said, you know, it's given to you to understand these things, but not to them. So Peter asked the question, is this just for us, what you're telling us here, or is it for everyone? Well, let's look at verses 42 and 43. And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and sensible steward whom his master will put in charge of his servants to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but Jesus hardly ever answers a question with a direct answer. Hardly ever. I believe there's a reason for this. I believe that we don't ask the right questions. So Jesus, when we ask the question, He turns around and asks the question that we should have asked, instead of the one that we did, and then He answers it. So here's my... I'm going to paraphrase how Jesus answered Peter. He says, Hey Peter, Who is that faithful servant that the master is going to put in charge of feeding his sheep? Of tending his flock? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds doing that when he comes. That guy is going to inherit the kingdom. That one who is doing what his master has assigned him to do. And you know, I just wonder if Peter remembered that later on. Let me read you something from John chapter 21. John 21, verses 15-17. Keep in mind that this is later on. This is after the crucifixion and the resurrection. And Jesus comes to the disciples when they're out fishing. And He fixes breakfast for them. So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, ten my lambs. If you don't know, you should, but if you don't, Peter had denied Christ three times when he was arrested. He had denied Him that he even knew Him. But now, here he is. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord. You know that I love you. He said to him, shepherd my sheep. He said to him a third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, tend my sheep. Now, I want to look at how he got there. Actually, we'll look at that later. Let's move on. That's one side of the coin. It's one side of the coin that that servant who is doing the will of his master is going to be blessed when he comes. But there's another side to the coin. That sign is going to be in verses 45 and 46. But if that slave says in his heart, my master will be gone a long time, he'll be a long time in coming, and he begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. Now, you've got a mental image there of somebody that's partying and getting drunk and beating the other slaves. You've got to not think about that literally. You've got to not think about someone actually getting drunk and beating up a bunch of slaves. And you can say, well, I'm not that guy. Well, you may not be that guy. But you may be the guy that's not faithful to do the will of God. not faithful to be obedient to Christ. And that's the same thing. Jesus is just using this as an illustration. It's an illustration He's using to get this point across to you. And this is a picture of someone who doesn't really believe that the Master's coming. That's why He's doing those things. And that's what Jesus is showing us. This person doesn't really believe He's coming. And the proof that this person's profession of faith, that this person doesn't believe, the proof that that's not true is what they're doing. And the proof that it's not true and that this person is an unbeliever is where they end up at the end of it. They end up assigned a place with the unbelievers because they didn't really believe and it shows in their life. It shows in what they do. If you have any doubt that Peter remembered this, that he remembered what Jesus had said here, listen to what Peter said about unbelievers in 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3 verses 3 and 4. He said, know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? They don't believe He's really coming. Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. So what's this parable teaching? I'm glad you asked. This parable, this whole section, is about perseverance. It's about perseverance of the saints. You know, in Baptist circles, this church is Reformed Baptist, but Southern Baptists have this doctrine called, once saved, always saved. My opinion is that is a terrible thing to call it. It's a terrible thing to call perseverance of the saints, once saved, always saved. Because it gives the false idea that if you've made a decision, if you've prayed a prayer, if you've asked Jesus into your heart, if you've been baptized, then you've got God locked into a contract. That's basically what it's teaching. You've got God locked into a contract and He has to let you into heaven no matter how worldly you are. no matter how you live your life. Well, that's just not true. It is not true according to the Word of God. Let me read something to you to show you who Jesus teaches that His true family are. I'm going to read it from Luke 8. In Luke 8, verses 19 through 21, It says, and his mother and brothers came to him, and they were unable to get to him because of the crowd. Jesus is teaching. And his mother and brothers come to see him, but they can't get to him because there's such a crowd. And it was reported to him, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wishing to see you. But he answered and said to them, my mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it. It couldn't be any more clear. Jesus is saying His true family are those who obey their master. Let's look at verses 47 and 48. And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will will receive many lashes. But the one who did not know it and committed deeds worthy of a flogging will receive but a few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required. And to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more." Now I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on verses 47 and 48 because of this. Both of these slaves are condemned. The one who receives many lashes is condemned. The one who receives a few is condemned. The difference between the two is just simply a warning. It's just a warning. The warning is, the more light that you have, the greater will be your condemnation. That's why Jesus told those scribes and Pharisees, you study the Scriptures and you claim to see, but you don't. And great is your condemnation. What does this practically mean for us? Well, if you've sat under preaching, if you've sat under the preaching of the Word of the Gospel for 20 years, For 30 years, if you sit under it all your life, 60, 70 years, and you never bow the knee to Christ, I don't care how moral or respected you are, your hell is going to be significantly hotter than if you'd never heard it at all. That's all he's saying. It's going to be hotter than the worst Muslim terrorist who never heard the gospel. Now the main point, like I said, is perseverance of the saints. That's the main point of this. And the key word in the passage that we've been studying is blessed. Jesus says three times in this passage that certain people are blessed. The word that's translated blessed means supremely blessed. It doesn't just mean favored a little bit. The people that are mentioned in this, three times Jesus says it in the Word that's used every time, means supremely, divinely favored and blessed. So, when we read something like this, our works righteousness mentality thinks these folks are blessed because they're faithful. That's what we think. You might have been thinking that I was preaching something like that with some of the things that I've said about them being obedient. Because that's what our flesh thinks. Our flesh thinks, hey, these guys are blessed, these slaves are blessed because they're faithful. Actually, the opposite is true. These servants are faithfully doing Jesus' will when He returns because they're blessed. It makes a world of difference. They're not blessed because they're faithful. They're faithful because they're blessed. Listen to Peter again. Teaching on this. 1 Peter 1. I think this text made an impression on Peter. 1 Peter 1 verses 3 through 9. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again. Who did this? God has done it. God has caused us to be born again because of His mercy to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven for you. There's the blessing. who are protected by the power of God. What keeps you? What maintains you? Why will you be found faithful when Christ returns? Well, it will be because you're blessed, because you're protected by the power of God through faith. You really believe that He's coming for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And though you've not seen Him, you love Him, And though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls." The outcome of your faith. What is the will of the Father? You know, we've been talking about obedience, obeying the will of God. What is the will of the Father? Well, it's the will of the Father that you believe in Him who He has sent. in His Son. And if you're found faithfully believing and looking to Christ when He returns, you're blessed. Peter understood this. He understood it personally and experientially. I mean, if you remember, the night before the crucifixion, Jesus told Peter, Satan has demanded or requested to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, and when you turn again, not if you turn again, when you turn again, strengthen your brethren. When? Peter was blessed. Why was he blessed? Because of the power of God. Why did Peter turn again and repent and strengthen his brethren and lead the church? Because he was blessed. He wasn't blessed because of what He did. He did it because He was blessed. Because God blessed Him. Because Jesus blessed Him. So who are the blessed? The blessed are those whom God has caused to be born again. And they are kept and they are protected by the power of God for salvation to be revealed in the last time. All of those who are truly blessed will be found faithful when Christ returns. So the question of the day is this, are you blessed? Are you truly blessed? In the sense of the word that Jesus is talking about here in this passage, are you blessed? I know that everybody here probably professes to be a believer. I know some of these kids don't yet, have not. made a profession in faith. But I want to read you something from 2 Corinthians 13, 5, even if you do profess to be a believer in Christ. This is perfectly legitimate for us to ask this question. In 2 Corinthians 13, 5, Paul asked the church, he says, test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail the test? Are you blessed? Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Do you long for Christ? Do you love His appearing? As Paul said in Thessalonians, are you looking for Him? Do you long to be with Him? Is your treasure laid up in heaven where neither moth and rust destroy or thieves break in and steal? Or are you asleep in the lap of Satan? That's the question. See, blessing doesn't mean what we think it does. It doesn't mean what the world says it does. Blessing means that you have been made awake. You have heard the Gospel. The Holy Spirit has applied it to your heart. And now you're awake and you're alert. and you're looking for the coming of your Master. Consider that today. Are you blessed? Let's pray. Father, we thank You for this day and we thank You for Your Word and the warnings and the admonitions and the edification and the strength and the tests. Lord, we ask that You apply this to our hearts today, that You stir us up to look to Christ even more Lord, that You stir us up to preach this Gospel to our family and our friends and the world around us that's asleep. They may claim to be woke, but they're not awake. And we need to preach Your Gospel to them. Lord, we thank You for every good thing. In Jesus' name, Amen.