LUKE 12:45-46 FAITHFUL STEWARDS EXPECT THE MASTERS RETURN2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 12:45-46 Faithful Stewards Expect The Masters Return

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013.

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Good morning. We're looking at part six of this series that we've been going through here in Luke chapter 12, the faithful and wise steward. And the previous ones are all online, are available at the sound booth. You can ask them. So if you need to get caught up and because we're jumping right in the middle here and really towards the end, we'll finish up the series next week.

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But we've been looking at this illustration that Jesus gave and really learning from it some important truths and essentials for us. This illustration that Jesus gave is that of a master who is going away. And because he's going away, he entrusts his servants with particular responsibilities and the instruction for how to fulfill their duties while he is gone. And then as Jesus goes on, he describes the master returning.

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And when the master returns, if he finds the servant being faithful in what he was called to do, then there is great reward for that servant. But as we see here in our portion today, if he returns and the servant has not been faithful in what he's been called to do, well, there's penalty or there's consequences for that unfaithfulness. And so this is the illustration that Jesus has been using that we've been studying for the past few weeks today.

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And this week, as we continue on considering this passage and considering what the Lord has for us, the title of the message this week is Faithful Stewards Expect the Master's Return.

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Faithful stewards expect the master's return. Now in this illustration, we've been realizing that when Jesus is talking about stewards, he's talking to you and I as believers in Jesus. You are a steward. And what does that mean? Well, we defined it and been talking about it as a servant entrusted with resources and instruction to accomplish the master's will.

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This is a description of you. It's your job description. You are his servant. He's entrusted you with many resources, but he's also given you his instruction that you might fulfill his will. And as the illustration that Jesus is using portrays, our master is returning again. And we will be giving an account. We will be held accountable for how faithful we were

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with those resources that he has entrusted to us. Now last week we talked about finishing well and how to finish well as stewards that we might be able to hear the phrase, well done, good and faithful servant when we enter into eternity with the Lord. And so we saw the importance of fulfilling the ministry that has been entrusted to us.

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But we ended the message with two points and I just touched on them very quickly and we'll continue to examine this idea this morning. But the points were to be caught in the act, that we want our objective to be that when the Lord returns, we're caught doing what we've been asked to do, that we are faithfully doing what he's called us to. And then the final point last week was to expect Jesus to return.

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And so this expectation is really what we're going to be focusing on this morning. And so there's three things I'd like to highlight for you about expecting the master's return. In the first one, we're going to look at Mark chapter 13. So would you turn there with me please? Mark chapter 13 and to see the first point which is expectation is commanded.

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expectation is commanded. Here in Mark chapter 13, Jesus is talking to his disciples about the events that will be going on in the end times. The things that will be unfolding and the things that they are to be looking for. And as he's talking about those things and specifically his return, he tells the disciples in Mark chapter 13 verse 35, he says, watch therefore and

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For you do not know when the master of the house is coming, in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning. Here as Jesus is talking about his return, he tells the disciples to watch. And why are they to watch? Well, he says, because you do not know when the master of the house is returning.

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The timing is uncertain. Now to be clear, the return of Jesus is guaranteed. That's a fact. It will happen. The only question about the return of Jesus is, when is it going to happen? And Jesus says, look, the master of the house could return in the evening. He could return at midnight. He could return at the crowing of the rooster or in the morning. He could return at any moment. So watch.

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Be watchful is what Jesus said. The word watch, it means to refrain from sleep. It's the idea of keeping yourself awake, keeping alert so that you are not caught off guard, that you are not surprised when the master returns or for you and I, for when Jesus returns. We see this going on in verse 36. He says, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

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So watch, be alert, so that when he returns, he doesn't find you asleep. Instead of being faithful and having the things fulfilled that he's called you to do, if he finds you sleeping, that's not a good thing. So again, the objective is to be caught in the act. That when he comes, you're not asleep, you're not oblivious, you're not surprised, but

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but that you've got your house in order and you've got your life in order and that you are faithfully doing what he has called you to do. As we saw in Luke 12, 43, Jesus said, blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. That is, blessed is that servant who is doing what he's supposed to be doing when the master returns.

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Well, here in verse 37, Jesus goes on to say, and what I say to you, I say to all, watch. And this is really the point that I want to begin with this morning, that expectation is commanded. Jesus is talking to his disciples, but he says, look, this message is not just for you 12. What I say to you, I say to all. And so this morning, you need to know that if you

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Or a follower of Jesus. If you believe in Jesus Christ. You're desiring to follow him. His command to you. Is that you would watch. That you would be alert. That you would not be asleep. Regarding his return. This expectation that we are considering this morning. Is that you would watch.

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is commanded. It's a command for you. It's not an option. It's not, you know, only for those who want to be missionaries or really serious about the Lord or real, you know, Christian leaders in the church or something. No, this is for every believer. His command to you is to watch, to expect his return. How do we do that? How do we watch and keep ourselves from sleeping and

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In regards to the Lord's return. I think it's really not that complicated actually. It's not real difficult for us to understand. I would suggest it's like watching for anything that you are expecting.

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You know, maybe you're a real big sports fan. Maybe you really like, you know, soccer or football or basketball or baseball or any of those things. And if you are following those things, then when the season is coming close, when it's about to start, your anticipation grows, your expectation grows, and you're looking for, you know, when's the first game? When does, you know...

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spring training start when does the preparation begin how are the matchups going to be and you are looking for you're on alert for anything that might indicate you know anything about the the sport that you're following

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Now me personally, I'm not really big on sports. And so for me, it's... I love tech stuff. And so I'm on alert for, hey, is there a new gadget coming out? New phone coming out? New tablet coming out? Some new device? Some new operating system? Some, you know... And so I...

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those headlines catch my eye and I'm expecting, I'm looking for, and I'm receiving different inputs of audio and video and watching and reading and just checking out what's coming up next. When's the next thing going to be announced?

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Or as I shared before, when I'm waiting for somebody to come over to the house, I know they're coming, I'm expecting them, I know what time they're going to be there, and so I'm standing there at the kitchen window waiting, expecting, because I'm just waiting for them to be there. I want to be, I want to know about it as soon as they arrive. It's the same thing as we talk about expecting the return of Jesus, that we're to be looking for.

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That headlines are to catch our attention. That we're to be focusing on and looking towards the return of Jesus. Being excited about it and that anticipation be growing that Jesus Christ could return at any time. And that is the command for us that we are to be watching, that we are to be expecting his return. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5,

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He says, look, you're not sons of darkness that this day should overtake you as a thief. You shouldn't be caught off guard. You should not be surprised when Jesus returns. He says, you're sons of the day. You're sons of light. So let's not sleep like others do, but let's watch. Let's watch. Let's be sober. Let's be alert and be ready and prepared for the Lord's return. Expectation is life.

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commanded and i want to encourage you this morning to make this a priority in your life that you would keep reminding yourself the importance of looking for the return of jesus that you would be reminding yourself to look up because your redemption draws near as jesus said in luke 21 28 and especially so as you see the signs of his return

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What are the signs of his return? What is this that should cause us especially to look up and pay attention? Well, that brings us to point number two. And we're just going to look a few verses earlier in Mark chapter 28. I'm sorry, Mark chapter 13, verse 28 through 31. And the point here is that expectation grows as signs increase. You're commanded to be expecting his return, but

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But that expectation is to grow as you see the signs, as you see the elements of indications that he's given us. As they are increasing, our anticipation, our expectation is also to increase. Check out verse 28. Here's what Jesus says. He says, Learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.

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Here Jesus says, learn from the fig tree. This is an important lesson from this tree.

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He says,

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And we can tell when they're about to be there by, well, what's happening on the tree and when the buds begin to grow. There's indicators that help you to know what season is coming next. Of course, it's like fall. Everybody knows in fall that the leaves on the trees change color, they begin to fall.

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You know when you're in the midst of fall. As you see those indicators, you see those signs. You don't need a calendar to know. You don't have to know the exact date. But you can tell where you're at in the year by what's happening on the trees. That's what Jesus is saying. He says, learn this lesson from the fig tree. In the same way that you can tell what season you're in by the fig tree. He says, when you see these things happening. These indicators that he is giving to the disciples.

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He said, you can know that the return of Jesus is near. It's at the doors. When you see these certain things happening, you know the season is upon you. Now what things is he talking about?

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Well, I want to walk you through some of the seasons that are ahead for us that we can look forward to, that we understand from the scriptures are going to be taking place. And I'm going to start from the end and work backwards. So here's a timeline for us. And you are here at the bottom, right? That's where we are today. That's present time. We're headed forward to, we're looking forward to eternity. That's

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Our ultimate goal. That's the glorious ending which lasts forever. The eternal state where, well it tells us in Romans chapter 21 that there'll be a new heavens and a new earth and the Lord will wipe away all the tears from our eyes and there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, no more pain because the Lord says I make all things new. And so there's a glorious eternity that is in store for us and we're looking forward to that.

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But there's some things that are going to happen between now and eternity, according to what the Bible says. And there's seasons that we can look forward to or that we know are going to take place before eternity happens. Now, just before eternity is what we refer to as the millennium. You remember the disciples as they're walking with Jesus are constantly asking him, Lord, is it at this time that you're going to establish your kingdom?

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And Jesus would tell them, hey, don't worry about the timing. That's not for you to know. That's not important right now. But the question that they were asking, are you going to establish your kingdom right now? What they were asking is, are you going to begin the millennium? Is this when you will rule and reign here upon the earth?

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And that wasn't for that time when Jesus was walking with his disciples. It's yet to come. The kind of the final thousand years of earth's history will be when Jesus rules and reigns here upon the earth. We also learn from Revelation chapter 20 that the saints who are with him come back with him to rule and to reign with him.

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During that thousand year reign of Christ, we also know that Satan is bound and so he's not able to interfere with what's going on in the earth. And so it's going to be a glorious thousand years as the earth is renewed and Satan is bound and Jesus is physically, personally ruling and reigning upon the earth with his saints for a thousand years.

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Well, at the end of that thousand years, Satan is going to be released and he will lead one final rebellion against God. Of course, that rebellion will fail and then, well, that will usher in the great white throne judgment. It's the final judgment.

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Where the sea and Hades deliver up the dead who are in them. They all stand before God small and great. And the books are open. And the book of life is open. And anyone who's not found written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire. The permanent judgment of eternal torment. That's the great white throne judgment. And that judgment.

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is the last thing that happens, and then we enter into eternity. And so this season of the millennium is yet to come. It will immediately precede eternity. Well, before the millennium begins, there's another season that we can look at, and that is what we refer to as the tribulation season.

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Now you can tell from the diagram here that this is not exactly proportional because the tribulation is a seven year period. The millennium is a thousand year period. It's not meant to be proportional but to give you a sense of the seasons that are ahead. The tribulation begins with the Antichrist making a covenant with the nation of Israel. And we can see that very clearly in Daniel chapter 9 verse 27.

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A lot of times we kind of lump together the beginning of the tribulation with the rapture of the church. And they might be close together. We don't really know for sure. But what we know is the actual start of the tribulation is this covenant that is made with Israel by the Antichrist. And that begins this seven year period which is going to be full of tribulation.

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Jesus says in Mark 13 verse 19, if you're there, you can look at verse 19. It says, for in those days there will be tribulation such as not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time nor ever shall be. Now you can look back at history, some of the...

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Crazy events that have happened as far as, you know, the weather, the earth, you know, just incredible earthquakes and disasters and floods. And you can look back at the history and you can think, wow, that's a lot of tribulation. Or you can think about all of the wars and all the devastation that has been brought upon the earth by humanity and by mankind.

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And that's a lot of devastation. That's a lot of tribulation. But what Jesus says about this particular seven-year period is that this period will be unlike anything the world has ever seen. It will be far worse than what the world has ever seen. The tribulation will be truly, truly great. Well, that seven-year period ends with something probably familiar to you, the Battle of Armageddon.

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It's when the nations that gather together there at the valley of Megiddo there in northern Israel.

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And as they gather together to battle one another, that's when Jesus returns, the second coming of Jesus. Those armies turn against Jesus to try to defeat him. He destroys them and that's when he sets up his kingdom and we usher in the millennium at that point, the thousand year reign of Christ. So this tribulation period is yet to come. It's a season that precedes the millennium, which precedes eternity. It's a season that is yet to come.

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Now, what happens before the tribulation? What season is before the tribulation? Well, this morning, what I want to make sure you understand is that the season before the tribulation is the present. It's right now. And it's during this season that we are living in that the rapture of the church will take place. The rapture of the church is that time when, well, Paul describes it in 1 Thessalonians 4.

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He says, And so Paul says the rapture of the church is when we get caught up. And that word for caught up is where we get the word rapture.

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Now this idea of being caught up is important to understand as we talk about the return of Jesus. Because the return of Jesus, you can kind of see it in two parts. You have the rapture of the church, but then you also have the second coming of Jesus. Now the second coming of Jesus is when he actually sets foot upon the earth. And then he establishes his kingdom.

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The rapture of the church is when Jesus returns, but he doesn't set foot upon the earth. Instead, he gets to the clouds and then we meet him there in the air. We meet him in the clouds. And so we are with him there in the clouds and then we are forever with the Lord, the apostle Paul says. And so there's the rapture of the church and that's different than the second coming of Jesus where he actually comes back, sets foot on the earth and sets up his kingdom for a thousand years.

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But as you look at this timeline, as you look at these prophetic events that are yet to take place, the key thing to understand here is, well, there's nothing in between where you are now and the rapture of the church. There's nothing prophetically that has to happen, that must take place before Jesus calls his church home.

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We know after the rapture, then there's the tribulation. And there's some specific things there. And the timing is very certain there. The timing is very certain in the millennium. In the tribulation period, as you're looking at those passages, it even counts out the days. It's to the day certain amounts of time. But the rapture of the church is not given a specific day, not given a specific time. It's kept a mystery on purpose.

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But what Jesus is explaining here in Mark chapter 13 is that as you see these signs, you know the next season is upon you. You know it's at the door. And as he's talking about that next season, the signs that are preceding it are the signs for that season. And so for us, we look at the signs that are coming of the tribulation period. The signs are there and there are a multitude of signs that we could consider.

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Well, what signs are we looking at? Well, here in Mark chapter 13, the disciples ask that very question in verse 4. They say, tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled? So you're talking about your return and the end time and all the destruction that's going to happen. And what are the signs? How can we know when these things are about to happen? Well, jumping to verse 7 says,

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Jesus responds and says, And so Jesus said, here's some signs to consider.

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Here's some indicators to know the next season is about to be upon you so that you can be prepared for it. And what are those signs? Well, he said there's going to be people who are proclaiming themselves to be the Lord. There's also going to be wars and rumors of wars. There's going to be earthquakes in various places. There's going to be famines and just generally there's going to be lots of troubles.

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And he says these are the beginnings of the sorrows. The real sorrows are yet to come. But these are the signs. These are the indicators. Now I want to just roll through some articles with you really quickly. Just a couple things I gathered together this week as I was preparing for this sermon.

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so that you can understand that a lot of these signs we can see happening right in front of our eyes. And so first here we have this article about what's going on in Syria.

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And there's great fighting. There's civil war happening in the midst of Syria. It's very unstable. There's these battles that are going on. Nobody is certain about what's going to happen. And so as a result, we also saw another article, 5,000 Syrian refugees are fleeing each day. And

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And it's becoming a real crisis because they're trying to figure out how to house, how to feed, how to take care of those who are fleeing from Syria as a result of the violence and the unrest that is going on there.

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But it's not the only nation that is experiencing that. We also see the same type of thing happening in Egypt currently. And there's these political wars that are going on, the rising and the fighting for power, and there's this uncertainty about what's going to happen. There's unrest there as they try to figure out who's going to rule, who's going to have power there in Egypt. Well, it's also happening amongst nations.

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The rest of the world as well as. Well. Things like the United States. Is dealing with the war on terror. And sending out drones. To try to deal with the terrorists. And so. Here you have another article with Pakistan. Uh. Trying to negotiate with the United States. To end the drone attacks. Because of the civilian casualties. That are going on. As they're taking out. Members of the Taliban. And so. There's these exchanges going on. There's this negotiating going on. You have Iran. Uh.

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threatening Israel and saying, hey, you're going to regret because Israel dealt some blows to Syria to prevent the exchange of weapons and things. And so Iran's threatening them and saying, hey, you can't be interfering. You can't be messing with that. You're going to regret it. Of course, we also know that Iran is in the process of and working hard to develop nuclear weapons and

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And of course they claimed that they had some, but nobody credible actually believes them. But they're still working hard, you know, doing everything that they can. And the world is opposing it and they're fighting back. And I'm sure you've heard a lot about that. And so you understand what's going on there as Iran is seeking nuclear weapons with the ultimate objective of wiping Israel off the face of the earth. That's their stated goal. That's what they desire to do.

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And so there's this great tension as Iran is attempting to have these nuclear weapons and this great question of what's the world going to do? What's the U.S. going to do? What's Israel going to do if they attain this nuclear power? Is this going to bring on the next world war? Well, you also have tensions between Russia and Israel. I'm sorry, Russia and Japan.

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There was this article about two Russian fighters invading Japanese airspace. And now there's tension between them because of this that took place. But then you also have on the other side, Japan and China having some issues over disputed waters and islands and, you know,

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being tracked on radar and all of that kind of thing. And there's this great tension. All of this is happening this week. This isn't, I didn't have to dig in, you know, to months and years ago. This is all just stuff from this week that's going on.

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Also this week, North Korea has been declaring that their nuclear test is imminent. They're going to be testing, once again, their ability to be able to fire and launch nuclear missiles. And along with that, there was this video released from somewhere in the midst of North Korea about this vision of, you know, what it would look like if North Korea attacked the U.S. with nuclear missiles. And so they put that video together to kind of imagine and think about what that might be.

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And so as a result, South Korea and the U.S., you know, they're beginning drills and they're preparing for a possible attack, that possible threat that is there. And we could go on and on.

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You get the picture, right? There's wars. There's rumors of wars. There's tensions. There's troubles all over the place. Now these are all threats to war. Most of them are not actual wars taking place except for what's happening within Syria and Egypt. But there's all this tension of what might happen and how they would react and would we preeminent strike. It gets pretty scary. It gets pretty confusing. But so far they're pretty much just rumors of wars. But there is one war that

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that we know for sure will happen. It's described for us in Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39, where it describes an invasion of Israel by an alliance of nations around Israel. Now, the green countries are countries that are specified in Ezekiel 38 and 39. They're standing off the sideline and objecting to the invasion. But the red and the orange are nations that gathered together, according to Ezekiel 38 and 39, to

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And have this invasion upon Israel. And so they get together and they invade Israel. Now Israel is right there in the middle. And it's very tiny. If you're not familiar, the nation of Israel is roughly the same size as the county of San Bernardino.

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That's how size ratio, it's about the same square mileage. And so it gives you kind of a sense of the size of the nation of Israel. But Russia, Turkey, Iran, Libya, Ethiopia, according to Ezekiel 38 and 39, are going to join forces to invade the nation of Israel. This is a war that we know is going to happen. It's going to take place.

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The question about this battle, this invasion is when does it take place? And so looking at our timeline once again, I've added in the invasion of Israel. There's a lot of discussion about when Ezekiel 38 and 39 takes place.

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Some suggest that it happens before the rapture of the church. Some suggest that it happens after the rapture of the church, before the tribulation period. Some suggest that it happens during the tribulation. Some suggest that it happens at the end of the tribulation, that it's the same thing as the battle of Armageddon. That's a lot of discussion. That's a lot of speculation, right? But here's the point.

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Once again, we see there's nothing that has to take place. You and I, we could see the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38 and 39. We could watch it unfold. In fact, what's interesting about that is those alliances that Ezekiel is talking about, they didn't exist a few years ago. But now we see those nations aligning together. We see Russia and Turkey and Iran working together. We see that unfolding before us. And so it could happen.

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But again, the point is, it doesn't have to happen. There's not one thing that we could say, well, when this happens, then we know the rapture is right after that. No, the next thing really on the prophetic calendar, the prophetic timeline, is the rapture of the church. That's what's next. That's what we're looking for. Maybe some other prophecies might be fulfilled, but there's nothing else that must take place. And so we see the wars and rumors of wars and the alliances and things

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We can see those signs. The next season is close.

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It's coming upon us. Another indicator that Jesus gave, not only with this nations rising against nations, but he said there's going to be earthquakes in various places. And I don't know if this caught your attention, but it caught my attention this week. The amount of earthquakes that went on this week in the region around Australia is pretty staggering. I don't know if you've been listening to that, but they're around the Santa Cruz Islands, the Solomon Islands, etc.

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This past, over the past seven days, earthquakes have just been going like crazy. Now, of course, earthquakes happen all the time. If you look at, you know, the various levels of, you know, two and up and everything. I mean, they're just happening all over the world constantly. But this is just a look at earthquakes that have been over a 6.0 magnitude.

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In this region. So in the Santa Cruz Islands. Which is there kind of in the middle. There off the coast of Australia. You can see a little bunch of red little dots. And in that region. There's been 12 earthquakes above 6.0 this week alone. In the last 7 days. 12 earthquakes in the last 7 days. Of this magnitude. That's pretty interesting. That's pretty significant. It's unusual. But.

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We also saw, of course, a couple of days ago, a 6.9 earthquake in Colombia. Last week, we saw another 6.9 in Japan. And then, of course, you can look back over the past couple of years and see, you know, the huge earthquakes that have happened, the tsunamis that have resulted. It's interesting. Jesus said, one of the indicators will be wars and rumors of wars. We see that. One of the indicators will be earthquakes. We see that.

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Now again, looking here at Mark 13 verse 28, Jesus says, Learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branches already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near at the doors. What's the point? The point again is expectation grows as signs increase. Now I'm not saying that the Lord is coming back today for sure.

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I'm saying it's possible that he can. He could come back in a thousand years. Because we don't know the day or the hour. We don't know the time. He's designed it that way on purpose. He's left it a mystery by design so that, well, we would be always expecting his return. But what he said was, look, when you see these signs, you're to increase your expectation. You're to look up knowing that your redemption draws near.

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As you see these indicators, as you see these signs, your expectation is to grow. You're commanded to be expecting his return, but that expectation needs to match the season that you're in, the season that is about to come as you see the signs indicating what is next. And well, that brings us to the final point this morning, and that is expectation keeps you faithful. Would you turn back to Luke chapter 12 with me?

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Luke chapter 12 and we'll look again at verse 45 and 46. Expectation keeps you faithful. Look at what Jesus says in Luke 12 verse 45. But if that servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming and begins to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and be drunk.

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The master of that servant will come on a day when he's not looking for him, and at an hour when he's not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. So here Jesus is talking about when the master returns and he finds the servant, the steward, that has been unfaithful. But what's interesting about this and relevant for us this morning is that he gives us the heart, the root of this unfaithfulness thing

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That is found in this servant. What is the root? What is the real issue that's going on? He says the servant says in his heart. My master is delaying his coming. Jesus says there's an issue. When the servant says. And my master is not coming back today. My master is delaying his coming. He's not going to be back anytime soon. Jesus says there's an issue with that. Because the result is then. Well he begins to beat his fellow servants.

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He begins to mistreat people around him. He also begins to indulge himself. Jesus says to eat and drink and be drunk. He's focusing on himself, serving himself. And so when the master returns, he's not prepared. He's not ready. He's not expecting the master's return. In Matthew chapter 24, we have Jesus giving the same illustration of the master and the steward.

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And in verse 48 of Matthew 24, he says, He points out there that it's the evil servant. It's a wicked servant who says, my master is delaying his coming. That putting off the return of Jesus is an indication of wickedness. It's not a good indication. It's an indication that things are not right. Right?

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And it's a challenge for you and I to consider this morning, to examine our hearts and say, what is the expectation that we have in our hearts? If Jesus returned today, would you be surprised? Would you have things that were left undone? Things that you knew God had called you to do, but you'd just been putting off because, well, you figured you had more time. The master is delaying his coming. Conversations that you've been putting off because you figured,

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The master is delaying his coming. I've got more time. Another day would be better. Things that he's put upon your heart and called you to do, but you haven't done. Would you be caught off guard this morning if the Lord returned? Would it be a surprise? Would you be shocked? Or would you be expecting it? I like what John Corson says about this. He says, the result of saying the Lord can't come today will be a twofold tendency. Brutality and carnality.

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He said, how would we treat one another if we truly believed that Jesus would return in the next 24 hours? I only lash out at people or beat up on people if I forget that Jesus could very well come today. If we forget that he could come today. If our hearts say he's delaying his coming. He's not coming today. The point here is that it affects our behavior and it affects the way that we live.

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It affects our faithfulness as stewards so that we begin to live unfaithfully because our hearts are declaring that he is delaying his coming. James Vernon McGee says it this way, skepticism about the Lord's coming again produces the mishandling of authority and laziness in one's conduct.

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We are to live in expectancy of His return. Our lives should be lived as if the Lord is going to appear in the next moment. And we will have to give an account of ourselves to Him. God has designed it in such a way that the time of His return is a mystery. So that we have this constant expectation. And that's not just because He likes the attention, He likes the drama. The reason why the Lord designed it this way was because it's what's good for us.

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That when we don't know the time and so we are expecting his return, we're looking forward to his return, knowing it could happen at any moment, the result of that is a faithfulness in our lives. A faithfulness as the servants and stewards he's called us to be. And so he's designed it this way to help us be faithful, to help us press on, to help us fulfill what he's called us to do.

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But when we refuse that and we say, no, he's probably not coming today. It probably won't happen tomorrow. It's not something I need to worry about or be thinking about too much because he's delaying his coming. Well, that also affects the way that we live. And a lot of times we get it backwards. We spent the last couple of days here at the church talking about marriage in the Art of Marriage Conference. Had a great time together.

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As we talked about the roles of husbands and wives and how to fulfill our roles, how to be faithful in our roles and serve and minister to one another. The expectation of Jesus' return has a big part to play in that. If you are not fulfilling your role as a husband or as a wife, Dave and Jackie would take you aside and they'd say, look, here's some things you need to work on in your marriage. That's good and that's appropriate. But I would suggest there's also more going on in the heart.

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That it's not just because you don't have good communication skills, but your heart is declaring, my master's delaying is coming. Now you also need the skills and the tools, and those are important, those are necessary. But the root, the heart, begins with, what is your expectation of the Lord's return? And if you're thinking, my master's delaying is coming, you're not going to be faithful as a spouse. You're not going to be faithful in what God has called you to do, in the role He's called you to fulfill.

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We talked about the resources entrusted to you as a steward and one of them was spiritual gifts. You've been given spiritual gifts as a believer in Jesus. And he's called you to exercise and use those gifts to benefit the body of Christ, to serve one another. Your obedience in doing that, your faithfulness in using the gifts, it's not just a matter of understanding what your gift is or knowing how to use the gift or knowing how and where to get involved. Those are all important things.

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But if you're not fulfilling the gift and using the gift that God has given to you, the root of the matter, the heart of the matter, comes back to this expectation. If you say, my master is delaying his coming, you're not going to be faithful to use the gifts that God has given to you. We could carry this on to the various aspects of your life. Pretty much everything about you, which makes you who you are, is part of what God has given to you as resources for

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He's called you to be a good steward and to use your talents, to use your gifts, to use your finances, to use your time, to use your energy to accomplish what he has set before you. And your faithfulness in that will depend upon your expectation. And when you are expecting his return, you will be faithful in those areas of your life. When you're saying, my master is delaying his coming, then you're going to be unfaithful.

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The Apostle John in 1 John chapter 3 said it this way. He said, Beloved, we are the children of God. And it's not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. So he says, look, you're a child of God. You've got a glorious eternity ahead of you. Great promises. You don't yet see all of those promises fulfilled. You get little glimpses of those promises. But the reality of those promises are fulfilled in eternity.

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And so when he's revealed, then you'll know the fullness of what God has for you. And so that's a glorious future. But John goes on to say in 1 John 3, 3, he says, everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. So he says, look, if this is your hope, that eternal state, that eternal time with him, if that's where your hope is, the result will be purification. Again, it's the same kind of thing. We sometimes get it backwards. If you're

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Continuing on in sin, you could look at that and say, well, I got to work really hard to try to deal with this sin. And there's an element of truth to that. There's appropriate behaviors to change and actions to take. But I would suggest, as the Apostle John does, if your hope is where it belongs, then it's going to begin that purification process in the heart where it really needs to start. You see, the behaviors, the unfaithfulness that we walk in, it's a symptom. It's a symptom.

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Of a heart that is not looking for the return of Jesus. A heart that is not expecting him. So expectation is commanded. And it needs to grow. As we see these signs increasing. Our expectation needs to increase. Because it's what keeps us faithful. It's what helps us to stay on the right track. And to fulfill the call that he has given to us as stewards. Well the worship team is going to come up and close us in a song.

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As they do, I would ask you to consider 1 Peter 1, verse 13. There Peter tells us, Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Here Peter says, get ready, be prepared, be alert, and rest your hope fully on the grace that you will receive when Jesus is revealed.

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What is he saying? Same thing I've been saying all morning. Where does your hope need to be? What is your expectation? What are you looking for? If you're going to be ready, then you're going to be setting your hope fully on what Jesus has in store for you in eternity. And if your hope is fully there, you'll be ready. If your hope is fully set on the grace that is to be brought to you, it's easy to get our hope set on things of this life. I'm hoping for

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That wonderful person to complete my life. I'm looking for, hoping for that job, that career, that financial reward or whatever. I'm hoping for that. And your hope's not fully on the Lord Jesus Christ. Not that we can't enjoy life or look forward to things in life. But Peter says, here's where your hope belongs. On Jesus. The fullness that he has for you when he is revealed, when he returns.

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Is that what you're expecting? Is that what you're looking for? Is that where your hope is? This morning as we close in this song, I would ask you to allow God to challenge your heart. Have you seen some issues of expectation in your heart this morning? Then ask God to help you. Ask Him to help you look up. Ask Him to continue to remind you to look up. That you would have your expectation where it belongs. That you would walk faithfully as His steward. Let's worship the Lord together.

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We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.