Ready for Action

this time we're going to go and dismiss our kids that are four and up uh you can head out to your classroom kids four and up head on to your classrooms I guess those for and Under shepher head off to your classroom and for the rest of us Luke chap 12 Luke chap 12 35-48 is where we are going to be this morning uh while you're turning there if you're familiar with the American military uh then you might have some knowledge or maybe have heard of the solders Creed the solders Creed it's a commitment of disciplines that are based on values that they have kind

of the shared values within the Creed there are a few statements that they make um that are similar to this we always place the mission first I will never quit I am disciplined and trained I always maintain my arms my equipment and myself I stand ready to deploy engage and destroy the enemy it's this type of creed uh that Jesus now turns to or turns his disciples attention to he's going to use kind of some similar language in our passage that we're going to be looking at today uh as he's talking with his disciples as he's still uh training them as he's still discipling them

and we've seen that I mean we've been walking with these disciples now for um what we've been seeing a three-year Journey between them and Jesus where he's teaching them what it means to be a follower of his what it means to be a part of his kingdom and what kind of mission that he is going to leave with them um as they they continue on in the ministry Endeavor and where we're kind of landing at as we continue walking through the Book of Luke is we are getting ever closer to that day in which Jesus is going to be arrested be tortured um be beaten

bruised used all for our sins and then murdered um and after him being murdered he's going to ascend and after he ascends he's he's he's gone from their midst all right he's not going to be cooking them breakfast anymore he's not going to be walking with them to the mountains side to pray anymore he's he's going to leave them now we know he's not ultimately going to leave them as as he sends the the spirit the Holy Spirit to be able to be with them the spirit of Christ to continue to help them and guide them um but but his physical presence is no longer

going to be with them and so Jesus is starting to kind of shift the perspective with them of teaching them hey this is this is what's going to happen all right don't get accustomed to me physically leading you here you're going to be on your own pretty soon and I'm going to start teaching you what you need to do and how you need to be ready when I'm gone all right because you're going to witness something that's pretty miraculous coming up where I die and then I come back to life and then you see me float to heaven like I Ascend back to Heaven it's

going to be wild but you're going to see it and you need to know what to do when that happens and so this passage in the form of two Parables that Jesus is teaching is kind of helping shift their perspective towards what to do when he's gone when he's gone Luke 1235 go ahead and stand with me uh we will read 35 through 48 starting at verse 35 stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning 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 blessed are those whose servants whom the master finds awake when he comes truly I say to you he will dress himself self for service and have them recline at table and he will come and serve them if he comes in the second watch or in the third and finds them awake blessed are those servants 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 you also must be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect Peter

said Lord are you telling us this Parable for us or for all and the Lord said who then is the fa fa ful and wise manager whom his master will set over his household to give them their portion of food at the proper time blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes truly I say to you he will set him over all his possessions but if that servant says to himself my master is delayed in coming and begins to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and get drunk the master of the servant will come

on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the Unfaithful and that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will will receive a severe beating but the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating everyone to whom much was given of him much will be required and from him to whom they entrusted much they will demand the more let's pray because we're going to need it with that one father thank you

so much for this word that you have given to us that you communicated to us for a specific a specific reason that has transcended time for the last 2,000 years that has been necessary for every disciple and follower of you to know this beautiful truth of how we are to stay dressed and ready for for Action ready for Ministry ready for you to ultimately return and find us participating in the ministry that you have called us to and so we thank you for this word that you have given to us and we thank you for this reminder that you give to us to to play

a part in this ministry of reconciliation that you have entrusted to us in this in between of your two advents we know that we are waiting for a day where you will return and you will gather all of your people and you will rule and reign with us for all eternity we know the day is coming at some point but we don't know when that is going to come and until you return we're called to Mission we're called to Ministry we're called to be productive and so I pray that this message your holy spirit will just continue to guide us and help us see our

part in that so that we can continue to just enjoy the joyful Ministry that you have given to us though it will not be easy it fills us up when we see others come to know you and we want to be dressed and ready for action and engaging that on a daily basis so that when you come back you find us working working we pray for that in Jesus name we pray amen you may be seated all right we have two parables in this passage and I want you to remember the idea of a parable is for Jesus to clarify a truth that is kind

of a mystery among the people and it's a truth that only those who have ears to hear eyes to see are able to understand and so he's teaching these parables in order for his disciples to be able to to have Clarity in regards to what it is that God has called them to um once he he sort of departs from them which will be coming up very soon and what you've seen in the past several weeks is sort of of how we Steward and manage the horizontal um kind of relationships that we have horizontal relationships with with men like don't fear them but rather fear

the lord our horizontal realities with material possessions and so it's just kind of looking at your life in general God has instructed us on how to manage it how to Steward it what he does now is he kind of pulls Us in the only way that you can really manage or Steward your horizontal reality is if you have a right vertical understanding of your relationship with God what God is doing is going to then indicate or instruct how you go about living your life and so he's saying everything that we've just looked at over the last several weeks only really comes to fruition if you

have a right understanding of your relationship with God your relationship with God so you will not be able to do those things like for example storing up Treasures in Heaven um as we talked about specifically last week you won't do that if you don't understand the relationship with God and how God is operating in your life because if you're not understanding what God is wanting for you or wanting from you then again all we're going to do is just look at horizontal and we're going to then start focusing in on ourselves rather than ultimately on what he wants for us and how he wants us

to then Steward that for others so this kind of pulls it in where he's like don't get bogged down and just is trying to figure out how to manage it first and foremost have a right reverent relationship with God and what he's called you to which will then help you rightly manage everything around you how you spend your time how you spend your resources how you actually store up treasures and then he provides for us in this kind of the the the reward of what it means to actually store up treasure the reward of actually stewarding your horizontal reality because of our vertical reality that

we have with him and so the way that he does this in these three Parables is he gives us three or these two Parables is he gives us three truths and these are the three truths that he's really drawing out there is a waiting for Jesus there is a watching for Jesus and then there is a working for Jesus those are the three things that he wants the disciples to understand and to do correctly in that waiting period of his second return and we're going to be coming up close to Advent very soon so the way that we kind of do our sermon series is

we will do a book of the Bible leading right up to Thanksgiving and then we enter into the Advent season which is the Sunday following Thanksgiving leading up to Christmas and we walk through Advent because Advent is a reminder of us that there was a time period in which the people of God were waiting for the Incarnation of God to come they were waiting for Jesus to arrive their Messiah now a lot of them obviously missed it and we'll talk a little bit about that but there was this waiting period for God to send a messiah that was the first Advent the people waiting for

the baby to be born the second Advent is what we're entering into right now it's what we are experiencing right now it's the era of the church where Jesus has already come and he's done the work that we needed him to do he's finished the work that he needed to do and then he ascended back to heaven then has commissioned us Us in the church era to do some work and while we're working for Jesus we're also waiting for his second coming so it's a second Advent so we're in that and we've been in it now for 2,000 years people have been trying to predict

the day they've been you know and at the end of the day if anyone ever tries to tell you like we figured it out we cracked the code on when Jesus is Second Coming will come if they've cracked the code they're just on crack all right like they they don't know cruely all right and people have been trying to figure out I remember there was a book 88 reasons why Jesus is going to come back in 1988 and that didn't happen all right like it just the more detailed people get the crazier they are all right no one knows when he's coming back but he

tells us clearly you can know what to do while you're waiting while you're waiting that's the point no one knows and so don't worry about that don't try to figure out when it's going to be no one will know so today's message is going to be what are we doing while we are waiting while we are waiting because I think there's sometimes I think it was I'm G to butcher it I think it was CS Lewis who said sometimes we can be so Heavenly minded that were of no earthly good um if it wasn't CS Lewis then I'll just adopt it as my own I

just said it um but but there's some truth to that there there are some people who can be so focused on that day of when we go to be in heaven and we just cannot wait for it I think that was um a lot of my parents' generation that was like every uh you know eight out of every 10 hymns was about heaven and it was like okay that's great it's going to be a beautiful day and we're all looking forward to it but we can't be so focused on that that we're not doing what he's called us to do here and that's where he

really wanted to pull his disciples into was you got work to do and you need to do it and so what was it so let's dive into it here starting verse 35 he says stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning 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 and at once when he comes and knocks blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes one way I like to Define waiting is productive patience just prod productive patience we are not to be standing

around just looking up into heaven asking where are you at Jesus like when are you coming uh we are to be productive while we wait so Jesus says stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning keep your lamps burning there is a uniform essentially to the Christian Life there's a uniform there's a way in which he wants us to dress ourselves that is allowing us to be ready for whatever Ministry Endeavor he has for us on any daily basis and so one of the ways that he talks about this is it's not a three-piece suit it's not um some fancy robe that's not when

when I say there's a uniform for the Christian Life don't think you're like priest you know with the full hat and the robe and all that stuff there there's nothing physically tangible about a uniform that he's talking about but rather it's a spiritual uniform that we refer to as the Armor of God and it's a visual that you kind of have of of a person who's ready for like military action and so this is the way it's described in Ephesians 610 through2 this is when he says stay dressed for Action this is what he's referencing when he talks about that Paul says finally be strong

in the Lord and then the strength of his might all right that has nothing to do with physically what you're wearing be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the cosmic Powers over this present Darkness against the spirit forces of evil in the Heavenly places I wish I had some time to just like dive into that because that's I if I'm these disciples and I'm hearing

that for the first time I'm thinking okay like we just thought we were like at odds against people like what are you talking about here like there's all this just spiritual realm of these authorities and principalities and evil demonic stuff that's going on that we have to be like dressed for action and ready to to to to go into battle against and he's saying yes like you need to figure that out you need to deal with that and so we don't have time to go into it now um we can talk about that another time therefore take up the whole armor of God that you

may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm stand forward there there stand therefore having fastened on the belt of Truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and as shoes for your feet having put on the Readiness given by the gospel of peace in all circumstances take up the shield of Faith with which you can extinguish all the Flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of of Salvation And The Sword of the spirit which is the word of God praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end

keep alert with all perseverance making supplication for all the saints and also for me that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak there's nothing there that he is saying hey uh when you go into this ministry here's the type of clothing that you need here's the type of shoes that you need all of this has to do with the Spiritual Development and maturity of an individual he's like you need to be growing in maturing in the

Gospel of Jesus Christ in your iding relationship with him the only way that you will be quote unquote dressed for action of what you're going to experience in Christian Life in Christian Ministry is if you are abiding in Jesus if you are growing in his word if you are experiencing and participating and practicing the spiritual rhythms and disciplines that allow you to be on alert and ready for action in anything that you experience so whether that is an individual or person who debates you you're able to provide truth you're able to speak truth you're able to to dive into and not be shaken because you

have the feel the the Shield of faith that protects you like you're able because of the maturing that you're experiencing in the gospel to deal with anything that comes your way so it has nothing to do with like a physical dressing for action but rather growing in spiritual maturity discipleship ongoing growth ongoing discipleship that's how we stay dressed for Action now that's individual that's intentional maturity and that's why one of our kind of visions that we use with the church is that we want to practice intentional maturation like we want you to never think that we have graduated from the gospel we don't want you

to think that you learned or know enough about the Bible like you don't we will continually grow and mature in that for the rest of our lives and I am convinced that the the the deeper you dive into the word and the deeper you dive into understanding the truths of the Gospel actually reveals how much you don't know about the gospel it actually reveals how much more you need to learn and continue to grow in it because it is a deep end of the pool that has no base to it I mean you dive in and it just keeps going and it keeps going and

it keeps going and so we never should land at a place where we're like I've memorized enough scripture I know and understand enough scripture I've got the gospel locked in I know everything there is to know about the Holy Trinity the Father the Son the spirit I know everything there is to like no like if anything we've barely dipped our toe into it in all honesty and so he's telling us that dressed for Action dress yourself in this maturation and continue in it continue in it so that's for you individually in order to be ready that also then translates over into how others get to

experience your maturation keep your lamp burning so if you remember the idea that we looked at several weeks ago of lighting a lamp and placing it on a nightstand so that others would see we don't want to cover it up or hide it under a bed so what he's saying is you dressing yourself for Action is also you continuing to have others come into the family of God you are to be a light for others you are to be engaging the go gospel with others you are to help others in their maturation you are to be involved in participating in the discipleship of the church

and the evangelism of those outside the church which is still just under the the the umbrella of discipleship in all I mean and really go and make disciples of all Nations baptizing them in the name of the father Son and the Holy Spirit that whole mentality of go and make disciples includes evangelism and maturation of them and so we are just participating in that in keeping our lamp burning and that's why I think he uses that language of a lamp on a night nightstand is because before we know Jesus we are a lamp with no light we are a lamp that is not burning we

are just a hollow shell that is dead on the inside that's what we are as humans made in the image of God without the spirit of God Illuminating us lighting us up giving us life that's not only for here but for eternity and so when we get saved by faith in Jesus Christ the spirit of God that comes and dwells Among Us is the light that lights us up it lights us up so that we have life forever but also guides our path now shows us how to live and and the design of God for for male and female and the design of God for

life and how we Ste it all of the horizontal all of that comes from this spirit that is given to us that that that ignites our lamp now if it was meant to only be person and private then we would take it and hide it under a bed we don't want anybody to to to um come and extinguish our life right we would cover it up if it was meant to be personal and private we would go and lock it in a safe like we would want to we would want to take our treasure and hide it if it was just meant for us if

the gospel was only meant to go to somebody in order to get them into heaven and now your job is to protect it and not never lose it well then we would go into isolation after that if that was the case but it wasn't it is meant to go on the lampstand or the nightstand so that when others come in they are able to see Christ in you they are able to see Christ in you not only by how you are dressed ready for action and continuing to mature and grow in the gospel but also because of the Proclamation and Declaration of you sharing with

them the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ like all that he has done for you and and and has worked out for you that we'll talk about here in a second but all of this is worked out in those two things of being dressed ready for action and keep your lamp burning Jesus is saying blessed are the followers of me who are doing those two things growing in the gospel and spreading the gospel that's important that's for everybody in this room and so we should audit Our Lives how are we like just ask our how are we growing in the gospel and how

are we spreading the gospel and then just start working that out ask those questions with your community group like how are you guys growing in the gospel outside of not only what's going on in Group what's going on in this room right now what's going on in your own personal lives and you're abiding in your relationship with Jesus how are you growing in the gospel at the same time ask that question because not only do we want to be about intentional maturation uh but we want to be about increasing saturation which is the lampstand idea it is us taking what we are growing in and

learning and spreading it spreading it so those are just kind of two questions that we can be asking to determine whether or not we are waiting for Jesus productively productive patience another thing that he talks about here is waiting is also also this idea of being on alert uh being watchful watchful for Jesus and he continues on I'm going to I'm going to go after verse 20 here or 37 truly I say to you he will dress himself for service this is his this is kind of Jesus saying what he will do when he comes and finds you watching and waiting productively truly I say

to you he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table and he will come and serve them now remember he just gave this analogy of a bridegroom coming home from the wedding Feast so he's actually giving them a bit of a picture of what it's going to look like when Jesus returns with the second coming so he's going to return he's going to gather all the Believers and he's going to um engage them similar to like the wedding Feast but what he's going to do is instead of us getting there and just serving Jesus one of the beautiful things that Jesus continues

to do because again the son came not to only be served but to serve is that in that day when he comes and he finds everybody working and waiting and watching and and doing what he has called us to do as faithful Believers towards him he comes and he serves us he serves us he doesn't have to but he chooses to he says he's going to dress himself for service and then he's going to basically reward us for the faithfulness of us waiting and watching correctly so that's what he means there if he comes in the second watch or in the third and finds them

awake blessed are those Services those servants those are those are just a different way of how the Romans kind of divided up the watches of the night they had four watches of the night and so he's saying those who uh in the second or third would typically be when you want to go to bed all right you want to be uh you're tired you're exhausted and he's saying life is going to be tough there are going to be moments in your life there going to be moments in your Christian walk there going to be moments in your developing of your faith and on and on

they're going to be difficult they're going to be hard they're going to be uh weary and he's saying blessed even that much more are those who in that season of weariness in that season of difficulty are continuing to be ready dressed for action and keeping their light or their lamp burning so just there's a kind of an extra blessing in that regards to there blessed are those servants 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 you also must be ready for the son of

man is coming at an hour you do not expect okay so again there's Jesus just nailing that one down all right he will come at an hour that nobody expects so just stop figuring it out but here Jesus is comparing his second return to a thief coming in the night if we knew the day and hour we would not leave the house is essentially what he's saying but we would be armed and ready this kind of reminded me December 7th which is coming up marks the anniversary of PE Harbor when Japan bombed the American Pacific Fleet if you ever watch the movie in the movie

Dan akroy plays Captain Harold Thurman who was a fictitional character it wasn't a real character in real life um whose job it was to have knowledge of where the Japanese Imperial fleet was at all times well he eventually like lost them um and didn't know quite where they were and was not able to actually give warning to um to to Pearl Harbor and and and by that time it was too late and so the big thing that and if you just Trace history and read more about this you'll kind of figure it out it wasn't that they were unable to defend themselves it was just

that they were not ready they were not ready that they had no idea that that morning they were going to be attacked kind of like a thief in the night and Jesus is just kind of drawing this in here and saying it's it's going to be like that like you are not going to have any idea there's not going to be like world events and things happening where you're like it's it's getting near all right like it's about to happen I mean everyone's all about that anyone that does a a study on Revelation they're like trying to connect the dots like well these like flying

locusts with these spinning thing those are helicopters we've now created helicopters and so it the end is near you got to remember like 2,000 years ago they're saying the end is near like they're saying it in scripture and it's not saying that they like were just wrong but just the end is near is just relative we have no idea all right Jesus knows or God knows when that is going to happen and so we don't have to worry about it but it's going to come in that way to Be watchful is to be on alert active and ready ready waiting and watching is productive patience

now Jesus will address the idea of productivity in the second Parable here we wait and we watch but we also work we work and here's what he says the Lord said who then is the faithful and wise manager whom his master will set over his household to give them their portion of food at the proper time blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when comes truly I say to you he will set him over all his possessions so you have Jesus as the master and you have managers that were put in place to kind of manage the household of God the

church if you will in order to ultimately feed them to feed them that's the picture Jesus is painting here and so remember Jesus is sharing this with these disciples with the 12 disciples who will become the first managers of the household of God the managers of the church uh the the the Temple of his spirit and their job will be to protect and provide for the church by feeding it God's word all right they are to feed them what they need in order to be dressed and ready for action and to keep their light their lamp burning and Jesus says blessed is the manager who

does this work who is a doer of this work and so here's where you start to kind of get a shift in those who are doing the work and those who are not doing the work and that's why I think James 1: 22-2 continues to just drive this home where he says be doers of the word and not just hearers only deceiving yourselves there are so many people who live in Christian bubble who are hearing the word and are hearing the work that is to be done but are not engaged not engaged so they are watching and waiting but not productively being patient they are

whether it's slothful or just lazy or just non-engaging not wanting to do it fearful of It kind of worried about the horizontal like if I do it well then people are going to think I'm I'm crazy or a bigot or narrow-minded or whatever you want to fill in the blank there and so they just choose not to participate not to engage and Jesus here is saying that's wrong that's not good and and not only is it not good but it's actually more so just reveal feeling that there's a deeper issue here there's a deeper issue and that's what he's going to address here in a

moment though the language of Jesus can be perceived to be the responsibilities of those in church leadership some have used that argument well when we read this what we read is Jesus is the master and then he's put managers over the household of God to feed the flock to feed the the the members of the church so all the work then is only for the church leadership some have used that as as an argument to just kind of like receive and never engage well you got to remember we are all the priesthood of Believers we have all been given as as 2 Corinthians 5 says

the ministry of reconciliation we are all a member of the body of Christ and the eye cannot say to the hand that I don't need you or the hand cannot say to the foot you're no good you know it's cut you off like everyone plays a part in being dressed from ready for action as well as keeping your lamp burning everyone plays a part in the ministry and the spreading of this gospel so that when he comes back everyone is under this Banner of Servants of Jesus that he wants to find so doing the ministry and the work that he has given to them so

we're all under that that's your job um to work this out in your Christian Life and Ministry but that servant says to himself this go kind of goes on to the servant who's not engaging or doing the work that he should if that servant says to himself well my master is Del delayed in coming but I mean we just don't know when he's going to be here we have time we have time to kind of play a little bit all right we don't know he's delayed so let's just kind of do some things our own way my master is delayed in coming and begins to

beat the male and female servants well that doesn't sound like a good church that you would want to be a part of and to eat and drink and get drunk so maybe utilizing resources of the church for your own personal game the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the Unfaithful all right so we got to stop here for a moment on that one because that sounds like serial killer has just entered the scene Jesus is not a serial killer but

Jesus will deal justly he will deal um justly with those who are considered Unfaithful non-believing fake managers or false prophets the these are those who enter the church by position maybe even Proclamation But ultimately do not believe in Jesus do not have a relationship with Jesus do not trust in Jesus for the removal and forgiveness of their sins but rather for whatever reason have chosen Christianity to be their place of um profession to be their place of belonging community and yet just don't know Jesus they don't know Jesus they're not expecting Jesus they're not waiting for Jesus to actually return but rather are just using

using the means of Jesus and the community of Jesus for their own personal gain and it says he will cut them in pieces and put them with the Unfaithful and so what does that mean is he like literally dicing them up like like an onion no that's not what exactly it means there there are two phrases that are used in the Hebrew language for cutting someone in pieces that that would actually be practiced by um Hebrews as a as a means of torture now one of them actually is to cut into two um and so the the the Hebrew phrase for it is actually the

same one used here but because this person is not is then considered or assigned a position placed among the Unfaithful is kind of alluding to the fact that maybe this one isn't using that the cut and two but another phrase that they would also use using the same Hebrew word is um to essentially be like the 40 Lashes minus one so it's a deep scoring of an individual a deep torturing of an individual that Jesus experienced himself all right that Jesus experienced on his way to to the Cross experienced this type of torturing where it's just like a Thousand Cuts I mean just a thousand

lashes just a complete almost dismembering of a person but they're still together so it's very severe but yet they remain alive and so he's saying this is a type of consequence or a punishment for an Unfaithful person a non-believing person who uses the manage or the the the the church or the people of God for personal gain um and just personal pleasure and he's saying it's not good we don't want to be that person the remaining verses speak of these two these types of people as those who may know the truth and utilize it again for personal game but do not believe the truth for

Eternal treasure verse 47 that servant who knew do his master's will again not necessarily understanding or believing in Jesus but know the truth of Jesus know the ministry of Jesus kind of can like play the part but not actually believe who know the Master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will will receive a severe beating just a punishment but the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating that's kind of like saying there there there might be some who come into the church and think they're a part of it but still don't

believe Jesus but don't know that what they're doing is wrong um well they're they're still deserving of a punishment they're still deserving of a place in Hell essentially is what he's getting at here but what he's kind of drawing on is and and and this is I I'm talking about this because it's going to shift in our reward when we get to heaven what he's drawing on is for those who are considered the Unfaithful the non-believing they will be judged by their works in the severity of what they experience in hell what they experience in their Eternal damnation and their Eternal punishment and torture and

so forth and so he's giving a warning here in regards to kind of that grouping of people that category in the same way for those who are found watchful waiting receiving the blessing of the Lord that are doing the work of Jesus who are working for him in the same way those who are found doing that are going to receive blessing for it you will be blessed for what you do here now here's the big idea Jesus saved you whether that was 20 years ago or 20 days ago he saved you and you're secure there's nothing you can do to make him unsave you there's

nothing that you can do uh to to to lose your salvation all right what Jesus did and declares finished you cannot undo you cannot like that would mean you're greater than Jesus impossible he saved you we do not work for heaven as a reward Jesus's work the good news the gospel is him placing Us in heaven as a citizen he did all of that work for us so Heaven is a is a reality based on the work of Jesus alone now what we receive in heaven is all dependent upon this are we dressed and ready for action are we keeping our lampstand burning what we

do with that so when you hear language in scripture that talks about like in that day we will all be judged for our works and and and then judged accordly for our works there will be a judgment for believers our judgment has nothing to do with whether or not we get into heaven or go to hell that's not our judgment on that day for believers our judgment on that day for believers is going to be based on what did you do with Jesus while you were waiting for him did he find you dressed and ready for action and keeping your lamp sand burning how many

people saw your lamp burning and came to know Jesus because of that you growing in the maturity and you're about in relationship with Jesus like how did that go like there's going to be a judgment for those things and then we will be blessed accordingly this is why it goes back to looking at last week don't store up for yourself reward on he or on Earth but store up for yourself treasures and rewards In Heaven There is then a a a an amount in which we can receive based on what we do here so he's essentially saying how you invest your time you're dressed ready

for action and you're keeping your lampstand burning how you invest that in Steward the horizontal does play out in the vertical in what you receive when you get to heaven so let's just look at it this way when Jesus saved you and declared that you are righteous because of himself it automatically gives you gets you in so everyone in that camp is in heaven what we then quote unquote like send or store up for ourselves there to be able to enjoy and receive as a reward is all going to be based on the works that we engage in as Believers of him as Believers of

him and so there is and it's not to say that that's like selfish by any means it's not selfish he wants to give it to us based on the work that we do for him it's it's it's the way that he has set it up so it's not saying like well I want you know I want to make sure that my eternity is like just awesome so I'm going to do everything like I want the biggest mansion I want the nicest cars I want the ability to teleport like I want all of that stuff so I'm just going to continue working in order no it's

he is saying to us hey I want to just lavish you with just rewards and like he is the one telling us this is at your disposal do some work for me the there is a bit of a conditional component here in what we do that is conditioned upon whether or not we receive in Heaven Again going back so that you do not hear me incorrectly I am not saying that whether you work or don't work is determining whether or not you end up in heaven that work is Jesus's work and at the cross he said that work is finished we cannot do anything to

get ourselves there that's all Jesus what you get when you are there is all dependent upon you it's all dependent upon this this working and relationship that we have with him so that he essentially is saying when he comes back and he finds us and he brings us to himself those workers those servants who he finds so doing the dress ready for action and the keeping the lampstand burning he is going to bless he's going to pour out a blessing and so in that regard we want you to work your tails off for a reward in heaven that God is already saying I want to

give this to you I want to give this to you now will we like know the difference when we get there I don't know like if I get there and I'm like you know didn't like Jesus bought me saved me forgave me and so I got a ticket I'm in and then I get there and I'm like this Shack is amazing like we will probably have that mentality because there's not going to be any negativity in heaven like there's not going to be any complaining in heaven like we might get there and be like man this three-bedroom two bath you know in the middle of

like um this is awesome like we're going to look at it and be like this is awesome because we're in heaven right we're in heaven it's awesome at the same time and I and I'm just using in the langu I don't know if we're going to have Shacks or Mansions or what a lot of it's just imagery um but you could get there and you have a mansion because of the work that you did you might get there and you might think like you know what I would really love to drive a 1984 Chevy Scottdale with a four-speed on the floor like that's just what

I want to drive on the street of gold and and he might be like yeah that's what that's what I got lined up for you but but if you don't do some good Ministry work all right it's going to be like a little Chevy a Veo you're not going to know the difference but that's what you're going to drive if you don't do some Ministry work like this is just the reality of what God is telling us is that what you receive in heaven is kind of based on the conditions of what you do in the ministry here how you stay dressed ready for action

and how you um keep your lampstand burning kind of an analogy to make maybe help you understand this is everyone we've got three boys they are in my family they are my children there is nothing that they can do ever to not be my children they are under our care they are under our love they are in our household all right they don't have to do anything like when they entered into life there was nothing that they had to do in order to have the room in our household to have a bed in our house household like we we provide that for them just like

Jesus provided for us entry into the family of God so there's nothing that they can do to remove that familial like they're in they can't lose it they can't do anything to gain it it's theirs they will always bear the last name gift with that said absolutely there are some conditions in our household and and we tell them all the time whatever you want to experience in this household is completely based up to you if you want to enjoy privileges well then you're going to have to act accordingly you're going to have to ready yourself accordingly you're going to have to do things a certain

way in order to receive these Privileges and if you don't there's going to be some consequences and God uses this language with us and I think that's one of the primary reasons why he uses familial language with us as father and us as children of his sons and daughters of his is because he also disciplines so when we're not like if Jesus got us into the family already and we're in the family guess what you're not going to be cut to Pieces you're not going to end up in that Unfaithful category but for those in the faithful category who are dressed ready for action and

keeping the lampstand burning there are going to be times that our lampstand might start to look like it's flickering a little bit might need a little bit more tuning might need a little bit more fuel kind of added to it like there going to be moments where the Lord has to discipline us for our good and for our reward essentially like he's saying I want to Lavish you with reward in heaven you're kind of off right now and so I want to kind of get you back I I want to not off in a Salvation standpoint but just in a you're not waiting and you're

not watching you're not being productively patient right now you're not um increasing in your maturation or intentionally increasing your maturation you're not also spreading the gospel you're not doing those things right now and so there's going to be some consequences for that because you are my children and I want more for you I want to bless you with more and so let's discipline so there are going to be moments where he disciplines Those whom he loves I mean this is Hebrews 12 language the whole chapter of Hebrews 12 if you just read through it discipline is mentioned multiple times throughout that passage he disciplines those

whom he loves why because he wants more for us and sometimes we just get caught up in our own in our own way in our own way and so this is just the idea of what he's kind of pulling in to sum it all up the work of Jesus has saved you okay it's given you the citizenship in heaven the work is finished and complete for those who believe in Jesus by believing in Jesus he becomes our master Jesus is our master and is going to return on a day in the future that we don't expect he's told us that I'm going to come back

I'm going to come back to get you I am not leaving you I'm going to come back and that day is going to be glorious while he's away he's given us work to do and tells us always to be ready for action and let our light shine be doers of the word spread the gospel expand the church and if we do that we actually are storing up for ourselves reward and Treasures in Heaven that he has promised to us to give us it's like end of the year bonuses if you want to put it that way except it's end ofy lifetime bonuses that you get

to enjoy in heaven for eternity that's what he's talking about here when it comes to the ministry of reconciliation so for the believer your work enhances your blessing or your inheritance you receive in heaven for the unbeliever your work enhances your suffering or your condemnation that you receive in hell those are just the truths of this so to Echo what Jesus taught us in the past couple of weeks get after storing up for yourself Treasures in Heaven like if you were going to receive a new car that Jesus bought for you there's nothing that you do for that he just I I bought you a

car and I want to give it to you awesome but he says I'm going to give you this car at the same time I want you to do some work in order to determine how many bells and whistles come with it like that's what we're getting at here he's bought us heaven and it's saying it comes with bells and whistles so stay dressed ready for action and and again it the one who really gets this is the one who's actually not necessarily consumed with just the reward it's the the one who so loves the fact that Jesus got us into heaven to begin with like

that's if I could just kind of tied up with a bow on the end of it it's it's getting Jesus is the greatest treasure and the greatest reward that we will experience for all eternity this stuff is just the icing on the cake it's all it is is the icing on the cake and so what's ultimately going to fuel the lamp and keep it burning is that abiding relationship with Jesus that's dressed ready for action that's what's going to drive all of this and so it's this servant who keeps their mind centered around that that he says in the end is just man I'm going

to just continue to just lavish upon that that's just beautiful I mean it just says you cannot outgive God you cannot like he is the Great greatest Gift Giver of all time and so in that he's just inviting us inviting us to play a part in the ministry until he returns so treasure Jesus as your greatest treasure that it leads to you being ready every single day every single day you don't know when he's going to return he could return at the end of the statement he didn't he could return at the end of this service that could happen and so maybe a way to

think about it just at all times is when you enter into a conversation or you're having a conversation with someone who doesn't believe in Jesus the best way to say it from a ready standpoint from a productive patient standpoint is this might be the last conversation I have and the last chance for that person to hear the gospel that's possible that's waiting rightly it's not saying my master is delayed no my master might come at the end of this sentence the end of this conversation the end of this day I don't know he's going to come like a thief in the night and so this

might be the last time I have an opportunity to share the good news with this individual that I'm talking to right now at the same time you might be the last person that they have the opportunity to hear the gospel come from like that's being dressed ready for action and spreading the gospel and letting the lamp stand so that when others enter into your life they may see Jesus they may see Jesus and we get so many rewards for living life that way like this is an an invitation for you to just receive joy joy and so we got to start shifting our mindset that

evangelism or engaging Ministry of reconciliation that it's this fearful thing like that's just the schemes of the devil that's the schemes of the principalities of the world like that that is if you and if you want to know more about their schemes get the book by CS Lewis screw tape letters he does a phenomenal job diving into what would be the strategy of the enemy to make us not wait productively how can we distract the Believers how can we keep them from sharing the gospel how can we how can we get them to help us drag more people to hell that's kind of the idea

of the book and it robs us of joy and reward and blessing and treasuring Jesus in this lifetime while we're waiting for him I guess what we're trying to tell you is our founding fathers when they wrote their stuff that's so accurate um when they wrote everything they said like we we want the pursuit of happiness so like they're like entering it into this new way of life that was going to be America like they said we want it to be the greatest thing they've ever experienced like which is a good thought like we want like we want the and that kind of then wrapped

itself up into what we call the American dream now like your ability to do anything and receive anything and build anything and and so forth and what God is saying is I'm going to Trump that I'm going to Trump that by providing for you the greatest life that you can ever experience it might not necessarily look like what they're determining as the American dream but nobody will be able to tell you that they lived a better life than you when you get to the end because as Paul goes on to say if you want to track the Apostle Paul talking about the good life the

good life I mean this man is imprisoned he's beaten he stoned multiple times he he he he did not live the Jerusalem dream but yet he says man my cup is full like my joy is complete because of the spread of the Gospel so in his mindset what is living the greatest possible life to live in this waiting is simply growing in the relationship of knowing Jesus and spreading that to see others enter into that same relationship to him there's nothing greater than those two things knowing Jesus and helping others follow him that's what he's after and I just want us like that would be

I would not be a good manager of God's household if I did not say the best thing for you is to treasure Jesus and help others followers him that's what we want for you and when you don't hopefully he'll discipline you like that's what he says he will do so we'll pray for that that that it's going to hurt but it's good for you and so we want to pull you in to continue growing in him abiding in him and then being effective in how we share him with others so let's do it like he's invited us to it so let's do it it's not

going to be legalistic don't worry about that he's invited us and we play the part and we be good stewards and good servants to Jesus so that when he comes back he finds us so doing it none of it's going to earn your salvation or lose your salvation just participate in your salvation by knowing and treasuring Jesus and helping others come to follow him be thankful for the work of Jesus and then get to work for Jesus let's pray father we thank you so much so much you are so good to us through your son Jesus you provided everything that we need everything that we

need to be in relationship with you to be considered a son and daughter of you Jesus did that and it is a beautiful thing that there is nothing that we have to do that's why it is Grace it is a gift a free gift it's a free gift for salvation after the fact that gift comes with some service you've employed us in your ministry Jesus came to seek and to save the lost you sent us to do the same to seek out those who are lost tell them about Jesus so that he can save them that's what you've called us to do and just at

the beginning of the armor of God declares we pray that you strengthen us for this task it all comes from your strength it all comes from your ability so I pray pray for our people in this room that you would increase our strength increase our understanding of you increase our joy in you so that it leads to us being equipped to go and spread the good news so that our lamp will shine for others to see that's my prayer and I pray that you answer it it's in your beautiful name we prayer amen as you go ahead and stand brings us to our time of

communion and as I mentioned a lot of this is kind of working for Jesus but we got to first remember that Jesus did work for us and the work that he did for us is that he came and he lived the perfect life that you and I could not live he died the death that you and I deserve kind of cut into pieces like he did that so that you don't have to experience that so he died for us and because the W of God towards us was satisfied in his wrath being poured out on Jesus God satisfied with that three days later Jesus is

able to come back to life he comes back to life he gives that mission to the disciples and then he ascends off into heaven and we are waiting for him to come back as we are waiting for him God through Jesus gives us this practice of the Lord's Supper as as a means of remembering his sacrifice for us but in a means of remembering it it is a spiritual meal that sustains us that fuels us that empowers us to continue on in faithful Ministry so if that lamp is starting to kind of Flicker and dim a little bit because we're we're struggling he brings us

back to remember what I did for you remember the work that I did when you remember the work that I did and you work ship me because of it this is what we worship this is what we rest in and it empowers us and so if you believe that Jesus has done this for you then we want to invite you to come up get the elements come back to your seats and we will partake in Remembering Jesus together and being filled up spiritually by his work alone so I invite you to come and grab the elements