35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Luke 12: 35-40 ESV
Luke 12: 35-48
Stay dressed for action - They wore tunics back then that often covered the legs down close to the ankles. This wasn't ideal for fighting or running, so they would pick up the bottom, pass it through their legs and then tie it off around the waist, like a big diaper, but now their movement was free. Throughout the Scriptures this carried the understanding of preparing and being prepared.
…45Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain began to fall. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. 46And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. 1 Kings 18: 45-46
…16She appraises a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard. 17She girds herself with strength and shows that her arms are strong. 18She sees that her gain is good, and her lamp is not extinguished at night.… Proverbs 31: 16-18
…4but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips. 5Righteousness will be the belt around His hips, and faithfulness the sash around His waist. 6The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them.… Isaiah 11: 4-6
…13Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.… Ephesians 6: 13-15
12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. 13Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.… 1 Peter 1: 12-14
Your lamps burning - A sign of vigilance. This should remind us of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25.
Like men who are waiting for their Master to come home from the wedding feast - Jesus tells the disciples at another time that He goes to prepare a place for them, and that He will come again.
…2In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”… John 14: 2-4
Be like men who are waiting (prosdechomai) for their master (kurios) - Men (and women) with a maranatha mindset. Men with "Vertical Vision". The men clearly refers to the servants of the master (mentioned in Lk 12:37-38). Waiting (present tense) speaks of our continual mindset. Ever ready. Ever expecting. Ever looking. He could return at anytime, but since ancient wedding feasts were often quite lengthy, the servants had to continually maintain an attitude of readiness to meet their master (lord) whenever he returns (cf Christ the Bridegroom coming to rapture His Bride the Church!). The clear application of this exhortation is that the believers as bondservants of their Lord (Master) Jesus Christ are to continually be in a state of readiness (why?) for He could return at any moment, not from the wedding feast, but to take us, His Bride, to the wedding and the feast that follows. O happy, happy day! O glorious day! Their master is kurios that is translated "Lord" in Lk 12:40, 41 where the context ("Son of Man") refers to Jesus.
Spurgeon - Brethren, whatever theory we hold about the future, may God grant that it may never prevent our looking for the coming of Christ as an event which may happen at any moment, (ED: imminent) and being on the watch for it as a matter the date of which we do not know! The practical essence of all Scriptural teaching upon that subject is just this, “Ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding.” (Luke 12 - Exposition)
Tannehill - Detachment from possessions (Lk 12:13–21) and from cares of daily life (Lk 12:22–34) is an important part of the readiness for the coming of the Son of Man which Jesus wishes to see in his disciples. (Abingdon New Testament Commentary: Luke) - Precept Austin
Blessed are those whom the Master finds awake when He comes - Those who are either too worried or caught up in the things of this life will not be prepared for eternal life.
He will come and serve them - Jesus taught the disciples on another occasion the glory of servitude by washing their feet, but even after He takes us to where He is, when we are caught up together with Him, it is still His great pleasure. I am trying to find words here, but it is difficult, for I would expect that we would be in no such position. It is in essence though the very heart of the gospel, and astounding, life, breath, food, materials, light, truth, love and salvation, have they not all been served to us? I am forever happy and stupefied to be the slave of such a Master.
…7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross. 9Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names,… Philippians 2: 7-9
If the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into - The contrast is clear, no one knows the hour or the day of the Lord's coming, but it is imminent, and we are commanded to be always ready. Given the context of the chapter, being ready is to "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness". The ones who do this are those who are born again, like the seed that fell in the good soil. Thieves don't announce the time of their arrival.
…2For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.… 1 Thessalonians 5: 2-4
9The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. 10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare. 11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness… 2 Peter 3: 9-11
For the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect - It couldn't be more imminent than that, and I think John McArthur lays it out the best I have seen, very succinct.
Now, when the Lord comes there are a number of things that will take place. This imminent reality of His return at an hour we do not know and do not expect launches a sequence of events that bring the universe and the world to the end of its current condition. Let me just give you a little bit of an overview of that.
When the Lord comes there will be the destruction of the universe. This universe, this time-space universe made up of atomic structure will be destroyed. It will literally melt with fervent heat. That is, there will be a universe-sized atomic disintegration. God will absolutely uncreate the universe and as we know it it goes out of existence. It is temporary, the planet is temporary, the solar system is temporary, the stellar heavens are temporary. Everything we know in the created universe is temporary. In its place, the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament says God will create a new heaven and a new earth characterized by infinite and eternal righteous perfection, a universe, a new heaven and a new earth, with no sin forever.
Before that happens, however, there will be a final judgment of the ungodly on this earth and in this universe environment. However, this judgment will be a judgment in which sinners will not survive. It is called The Great White Throne Judgment and it is detailed for us in the 20th chapter of the book of Revelation. And it just precedes the destruction of the universe and the creation of the new heaven and the new earth. So the final event of the coming of Christ is to create a new universe. Just prior to that is the judgment of all the ungodly who, by the way, will come before God and be given bodies, resurrection bodies. The ungodly are now in a place of torment, separated from God. They will be brought before a tribunal. They will be given bodies fit for the Lake of Fire where they will be sent forever. The godly, already enjoying the presence of God, will then be ushered into the new heaven and the new earth as their final home. Prior to the Great White Throne, before that, there will be a 1,000- year millennial kingdom in which the Lord Jesus Christ reigns from Jerusalem on this earth in this universe. So finally there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
Before that there will be a Great White Throne Judgment at which all the ungodly will be sentenced to the Lake of Fire. All the godly go into the new heaven and the new earth, all those who belong to God. Prior to that, is the 1,000-year kingdom of Christ where He reigns on earth; described very clearly in the first part of Revelation chapter 20. And in that kingdom, the world will be changed. Paradise will be regained. It will be a worldwide Eden. The desert will blossom like a rose. The creation will be altered dramatically. Its final form before it goes out of existence, it will still be touched by sin, it will still be impacted by sin but it will be Eden recreated. Lion will lie down with a lamb, children can play with poisonous snakes because there will no longer be poison that kills. Life will be so long that it says in the Bible if you die at 100 years, you die a baby. Peace will dominate the earth. Christ will rule with a rod of iron. We will rule with Him in His glorious kingdom. He will rule in Jerusalem because it's the kingdom that was promised to Israel. Israel will go into that kingdom a saved remnant of Israel to receive the promises that God made to them. That's the 1,000-year kingdom.
Prior to that, or before that kingdom, Christ comes in judgment. And this is what we commonly call the Second Coming specifically although it really encompasses a lot more. This is His coming in judgment, Revelation 19, as He rides a white horse, blood spattered, comes and destroys the ungodly at the final moment of the battle of Armageddon. He also destroys the ungodly worldwide and only those who have come to faith in Him go into that kingdom in their physical form. They have children. They live a long time. Children are multiplied during that 1,000 years. The whole earth is populated with the offspring of believers who have gone into the kingdom, but not all of those offspring will believe in the Messiah, even though He's here physically, literally, visibly in Jerusalem ruling. There will be many rejecting Him. They will have a rebellion at the end of the 1,000 years which the Lord Himself will then end. And they will be brought, along with all the other ungodly, to the Great White Throne and sentenced to the Lake of Fire.
So the final is the new heaven and the new earth, preceded by the Great White Throne, preceded by the 1,000-year kingdom. The 1,000-year kingdom is launched and inaugurated when Christ comes in judgment to end the battle of Armageddon, to destroy the ungodly all over the world. Before that there is a period the Bible calls a time of tribulation. It is laid out for us as the seventieth week of Daniel, a seven-year period. Half of it is three and a half years. Half of it is 1,260 days. Half of it is forty-two months, the Scriptures say. It's a seven-year period. It's a seven-year period of devastating divine judgment. It's a seven-year period of divine wrath leading up to the return of Christ, which is the full-blown Day of the Lord promised both in the Old and the New Testament. During that period of tribulation, God's judgment will fall on the earth. And it's described in the book of Revelation as a series of seals that are opened. And every time a seal is opened, another judgment comes, and another seal and another judgment. There are seven seals and out of the seventh seal come seven trumpets and each of them is a judgment. And out of the seventh trumpet comes seven bowls and each of them is a judgment. So you have, first of all, the seals being opened and then the seventh seal and the speed of the judgments is faster and then the seventh trumpet and the speed of the vial or bowl judgments is even faster still. And all that judgment unfolds in those seven years.
Now all of that is part of the Lord's coming. He comes in judgment. He comes to destroy the wicked. He comes to set up His kingdom. He comes to stop the rebellion that's occurred in His kingdom. He comes to face sinners at the Great White Throne. And, of course, then He enters into the creation of the new heaven and the new earth where all the righteous will dwell forever and He casts the wicked into the Lake of Fire. Before that, however, before the tribulation, there is one other event. There's a trigger event that sets this all in motion and it is the catching away of the church, the redeemed church, the snatching away of believers in Jesus Christ from all over the world. We call it the rapture and we...we say the word "rapture" and we think of listening to music and saying, "I was enraptured by the music." Well what you mean by that metaphorically is, I was lifted up; I was caught away. And that's what the word essentially is conveying. The church will be snatched away and then comes the tribulation and all that horrific judgment on the earth. And by the way, while that's going on, Israel will at that time recognize their Messiah, repent, and believe and then be brought into their kingdom. The Tribulation occurs in which the world is judged and Israel comes to faith. Then Christ comes, sets up His kingdom, stops the rebellion at the end of the kingdom, brings sinners to the Great White Throne and then comes the eternal state of the new heaven and the new earth and the eternal Lake of Fire for the ungodly and Satan and his angels. But the event that triggers it all is the snatching away of the church. That's the signless event. All these passages that say, "In an hour you don't know...In an hour you don't expect...Be ready...Be ready...Be ready...Be ready," indicate that there are no signs for that. That's why we believe that this signless event has to happen before any of the other things because once the first seal is opened, we know what's coming: the second seal, then the third, then the fourth. Once the first horse or the white horse comes, then we know what's coming next. Once the third seal, we know it's the fourth. Once the fourth, it's the fifth. Then we know the Day of the Lord is going to explode, the abomination of desolations, the temple is going to be desecrated and then all hell is going to break loose all over this planet. Hell is going to belch out demons that are set loose on the earth. God's going to pour down judgment. The sky is going to roll up. The stars are going to fall. The earth is going to be changed. The waters of the earth are going to be turned bitter. A third of the population is going to die. A fourth of the population that remains is going to die. There's going to be a massive holocaust. And we know the sequence: seven seals, out of the seventh seal seven trumpets, out of the seventh trumpet seven bowls. We can follow the pattern. We know then that Armageddon is going to start and the army of the east is going to come and the great work of Satan to gather the armies of the world to fight against Christ and he comes and all of that is laid out. Then comes the kingdom. The kingdom goes for 1,000 years. The rebellion is quelled, etc.
So once you get into the tribulation, there's a sequence of events that are laid out very clearly in the Scripture. But there is one event that we do not know when it's going to happen. There are no signs, there are no precursors to it and it is this event of the snatching away of the church that is the trigger event that starts everything. And every generation of believers since Jesus first promised this have lived in the light of this and we don't know when it's going to happen. And that's what our Lord is talking about in verse 40. "You too be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." You have no idea when this begins. You need to be ready. The first event in His coming is when He comes for His saints.; and then seven years later, with them to set up His kingdom. The first one we call the snatching away or the rapture.
Let me show you three passages of Scripture that lay this out. John 14, John 14:1 through 3 and I'll make a couple of comments about it. Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled." I'm going to tell you some news that should quiet you and calm you and comfort you. I'm going to give you some good news, OK? The good news is this, "In My Father's house are many dwelling places,” many rooms, talking about heaven, “and if it were not so, I would have told you." I'm telling you the absolute truth, I am going to leave. Jesus is telling them He's leaving. “I'm going to go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself that where I am, there you may be also.”
Jesus is saying I want to comfort you. I want to take away the anxiety and the trouble of your heart. I'm going away but I'm coming back and I'm coming back to gather you and take you to the place I'm preparing for you.
Now turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and we'll build on that a little bit. First Corinthians chapter 15 verse 51, here is a further description of this event, a further description of this same event. Verse 51, 1 Corinthians 15, "Behold, I tell you a mystery," not an Agatha Christie mystery, not something that's complicated and hard to figure out. Mystery in the Bible means something hidden now revealed. It's another way of saying, "Behold, I'm going to tell you something you've never known, I'm going to tell you something that's never before been revealed. I'm going to tell you something God has kept hidden until now, and here it is. We're not all going to die." Wow! We're not all going to die? No, we're not all going to die. “Sleep” meaning “death,” we're not all going to sleep, we're not all going to die, but we all are going to be changed. This is something brand new. We're not all going to die but we're all going to be changed. Some of us aren't going to die, but we're going to be transformed? Yes. Verse 52, "In a moment,” in a nanosecond, “at the last trump the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable.” All the believers who have died... In a nanosecond, God is going to blow a trumpet and all the dead believers are going to be raised imperishable. You say, "Well aren't they already in heaven?" Sure they're spirits are in heaven but their bodies are still in the grave. And at that moment, God is going to bring bodies to join their spirits. All the saints who have died in the past are waiting their resurrection bodies, the body like Christ's own resurrection body as Philippians 3:20 and 21 says. So at that moment, in that nanosecond, out of nowhere, the Lord comes to take us and the first thing that happens is the believers' bodies, obviously new bodies, the others would have been disintegrated, come up and join their redeemed spirits and we, verse 52, the ones that are still alive, are transformed instantly from earthly to heavenly. It's as if we have our own resurrection then. And the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality. And verse 54 says...the end of the verse, "Death is swallowed up in victory." So Paul is saying we're waiting for this event when the Lord comes to take His own to the place He's prepared. And in order to live in heaven in the place He's prepared, we're going to have to be suited for heaven and so the Lord's going to come and transform us. First of all, the spirits of just men made perfect, the glorified saints who now are in heaven in their spirits are going to receive bodies, and then we who are still alive are just going to be transformed on the way up. And we all become imperishable, we all become immortal. - John Macarthur
…15By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. 17After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.… 1 Thessalonians 4: 15-17
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