Luke #54 The Second Coming

INTRODUCTION Luke 12:35-48.

Our Lord’s words this morning take us to the second coming.

Admittedly, there are those who think this passage pertains to the death burial and resurrection of Jesus.

But I really don’t see it that way.

The language is to precise and says otherwise.

There are two key verses in our text, that point to the second coming.

Luke 12:40 LSB

“You too, be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”

And the last half of verse 48, to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

To him who is given much, much is expected or required, which speaks of judgment.

And that really is the focal point of this passage, when the Son of Man returns, it is a time of judgment.

Most people do not realize this, but the Bible mentions the second coming, far more often that even His death, and certainly His birth.

In the realm of Messianic Prophecy, there are a variety of different kinds of prophesy that help us to know Jesus.

One kind is called direct prophecy, these are scriptures that directly describe the person and or work of Messiah.

There are 333, direct Messianic Prophecies according to some experts.

Of those 333, only 109 pertain to His first coming.

Those 109 were all fulfilled to the letter.

That means, that there are 224 that describe His second coming.

More than twice as many point to the second coming.

My point is this, the resurrection is to this point the greatest event in human history, but the second coming will far surpass even the resurrection.

The Second coming is what all of the scripture ultimately point to.

Even His death burial and resurrection, must be considered in light of the Second Coming.

The Second Coming of Jesus, it the event, where by the eternal second person of the Trinity, will come, conquer His enemies, and establish His earthly reign, which is merely a precursor to His eternal reign.

Folks, we are saved as a gift from the Father to the Son, that in the kingdom, there would be a people who would love honor and worship the King, forever.

THE SECOND COMING EVENT

Jesus makes three very pertinent truths known.

First, the second coming could be imminent.

Be ready it could happen at any time.

This is clear from the opening lines.

Be dressed in readiness.

To the disciples listening to this, a vivid picture would have come to mind.

The Lord instructed the Israelites to be ready to go and leave Egypt.

As they celebrated the Passover meal, they were to do so in this manner.

Exodus 12:11 LSB

‘Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Passover of Yahweh.

Celebrate the meal, but be dressed and ready to go at a moments notice.

Jesus is saying the same kind of thing.

His disciples, all of us really, are to be at all times for Him coming.

Keep your lamps lit.

This too reminds us of another parable Jesus told.

10 virgins and 10 lamps, but only 5 took oil.

The point was, 5 were prepared for the coming of the groom, and 5 were not.

The Biblical imagery describes Jesus as the Bridegroom and His church as the Bride.

In that culture, an engagement lasted over a year and was open ended.

During that time, the groom was preparing their home, when all was ready, He sent for his bride.

She was to be ready.

Likewise, we the church are to be ever ready and on the lookout for our Bridegroom Jesus Christ.

Lamps and oil provide light, so that He can be seen at His coming is.

It is really all about preparedness.

Next, be like men waiting to open the door for a returning groom.

Notice the language, so that they may immediately open the door.

All three of illustrations are meant to drive the same point home, the Son of Man’s return could be imminent.

It could happen at any time.

For over 19 centuries the church debated this.

And a general consensus was arrived at, there are certain events in scripture that had to be fulfilled before Jesus could return.

From a Jewish perspective, all but one had been fulfilled.

That lone prophecy that had to be fulfilled, has now been fulfilled, they are back in the land.

Now some in the church see it slightly different.

We believe that the rapture will precede the Tribulation, which will culminate with His second coming.

So what does this have for us?

Well folks, the everything is in place, the Rapture could happen at any time, so you better be ready.

The second coming is delayed.

Verse 38 speaks of the master coming in the second or third watch.

Watches were divided into 3 hour segments.

The first watch of the night is about 9 pm to midnight.

The second watch is midnight to 3 am

And the third watch is 3 am to 6am or morning.

The point is, as the men stand watch, don’t look for the master in the first watch.

His return will be delayed.

How long, we have no idea.

The only real criteria we have is related to the gospel.

Matthew 24:14 LSB

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

So many theologians have long taught that Christ cannot come until the gospel has been preached to the whole world.

But their is a tiny flaw in their thinking in my opinion.

Their position stresses that we must take the gospel to every nation before the end can come.

I don’t think so.

In fact, the Rapture could happen tonight in my opinion because, the second coming doesn’t occur until later, after thr Tribulation.

During the tribulation, the whole world will hear the gospel.

Revelation 14:6 LSB

Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who inhabit the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.

During the Tribulation, the everlasting gospel will be proclaimed, and all the nations will hear it.

So the delay is simply according to the plan of God.

In John 10, Jesus spoke of sheep of another fold.

Solid Biblical interpretation says the one fold is those believers of the Jewish nation.

The “another” fold is that of Gentiles.

So what Jesus was saying is that there are Gentiles, that though they do no know it yet, are His.

This is consistent with another statement Jesus makes, John 6:37-39

John 6:37–39 LSB

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. “Now this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

Jesus knows who are His, both from the past, the present and into the future.

Therefore it is safe to say, the end cannot come until Jesus has gathered all the elect unto Himself.

That explains the delay, those who belong to Christ must all be gathered to Christ, and then the end will come.

Third, the second coming will be a surprise.

One of the most surprising statements Jesus ever made is related to this truth.

Jesus said Matt 24:36

Matthew 24:36 LSB

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

Matthew 24 contains one of the best and more complete treatises on the second coming.

The disciples asked Jesus specifically, when will You come and what will be the signs of Your coming?

So in verse 36 Jesus was speaking of His return, the second coming.

Not even the Son knows the day and hour.

That is problematic for us because Jesus is God, and God is omniscient, therefore Jesus is omniscient.

And indeed Jesus demonstrated His omniscience on many occasions in the Bible.

He read peoples thoughts and minds.

He saw what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree.

He told Peter what Peter would do later in the night.

And He was never wrong.

He proved His omniscience and His deity.

So how can He say I don’t know when the second coming will occur?

The answer lies in the incarnation.

Though Jesus was fully God in human form, 100% both man and God, we know that He emptied Himself.

This is the kenosis spoken of in Philippians 2.

What this means is that Jesus set aside certain privileges while He was incarnate that He possessed as God.

Throughout Jesus’ life, He did demonstrated omniscient, but when He did, it was because this was the Father’s will at that time.

Jesus was crystal clear, He came only to do what the Father willed.

Therefore, when Jesus demonstrated omniscience only when it was the will of the Father.

Thus our conclusion is, the Father did not want this made known, therefore in His incarnation, that information was part of the kenosis, His self emptying.

All of this to say, the second coming is going to be a surprise.

Jesus also compared it to the days of Noah.

People will be eating and drinking and giving in marriage and suddenly it will come.

In Matthew 24:27

Matthew 24:27 LSB

“For just as the lightning comes from the east and appears even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Two things about lightning, it is fast, and unpredictable.

Thunder you know is coming, you see the flash of lightning, and you know thunder will follow.

But lightning comes with no such warning.

Suddenly it appears, and with incredible speed.

The point is, the Coming of the Son of Man will be a surprise to the whole world.

It will be so fast, no warning will come.

Today in our world, if something happens half way around the world, we know it, but it takes a little bit of time

But when Christ comes, it will be with such speed, nobody anywhere shall be warned,

It will equally be surprising when they see Him coming on the clouds with power and great glory.

The last image the world has of Jesus, not counting believers, was of a badly beaten and defeated man, weak, feeble and dying.

Imagine their surprise, when they see Him coming, and folks, their will be no doubt this time, they will see Him in all His glory.

Zechariah 12:10 describes this from the Jewish perspective, they will look on Me who they pierced, and they will mourn for Him.

They will know immediately that Jesus is God, and that they killed Him.

What a surprise it will be.

Isaiah 53 hints at the surprise of the Jews.

Isaiah 53 is really a prophecy that records the testimony of the Jews after Zech 12:10 has taken place.

In the Isaiah 53 passage you see their surprise hinted at in phrases like, He had no stately form or majesty that we should be attracted to Him.

His appearance wasn’t anything special.

He was sorrowful, and we hid our faces from Him.

He wasn’t the kingly type, so now they are shocked that He is indeed their Messiah, the King.

Everything about the second coming will be s surprise to the world.

THE SECOND COMING REALITIES vs 42-48

These verses are pretty simple, His return is a time of judgement.

Blessed is the slave who his master finds doing good when He returns.

But cursed is the one who isn’t doing well who beats his fellow servants, and feeds his lusts with food and strong drink.

In these two verse we see two radically different judgments.

The second coming is a time of judgment.

Those who are not doing what the Savior wants, will be cut to pieces and assigned a place with unbelievers.

Folks, there is an eternal hell, and those who fail to love, honor and serve Christ will be cast into hell.

Hell is the assigned place of the unbeliever throughout all eternity.

Now I am not saying works will keep you out of hell.

I am saying that those who truly do believe, will love honor and serve Christ.

Those are signs of a genuine authentic Christian.

All others will be cast into hell.

There are a lot of folks who deny judgment and hell these days.

Read the text, can you honestly say, Jesus wont’ just and cast into hell?

If that is a persons conclusion, then why do they believe anything He says, because they obviously think His is a liar.

Hell is real, judgment is real, and that should motivate gospel conversations on our part.

The Second coming is a time of reward.

But for the believer, the judgment we face is different.

We need not fear judgment because it is merely a judgment for rewards.

In the military when a major event of conflict occurs, those in positions of command always evaluate the event for a variety of reasons.

One reason, is to determine was their an act of special courage or valor that warrants being recognized?

That is really how our judgment will go down.

And crowns will be handed out, like military medals.

But folks, don’t get to focused on those crowns.

Because even though we may be recognized and rewarded for our service, we shall throw them at the feet oof Jesus, because we know and understand, that every thing good we did, was due to Him, and He deserves the glory.

CONCLUSION

The second coming of Christ will be the greatest event in all of human history, bigger than His birth, and even His death.

I believe that because the Spirit inspired more verses about His second coming than any other topic or event.

Roughly 1 in every 5 verses touch on His second Coming.

The second coming is imminent, it could happen very very soon.

The second coming is delayed, until all who will be saved are saved, and only YHWH has that information.

The second coming will be a lightning fast surprise.

Last, the second coming will be a time of judgment, both good and bad.

One last thought on that, all judgments will be based upon what you were given, and what you did with it.

Whether it be knowledge, privilege, or opportunity, what did you do with it.

Unto those who recieved much, much will be required.

Today you have heard a lot of truth, what will you do with it?

Forget it, or will it inspire you to become even more involved in gospel ministry?