Senior Pastor, Robert Dennison, preached this message on December 7, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Audio Transcript
I invite you to take your Bibles and turn with us to Luke chapter 12 today. If you’re using the Pew Bible, it’s page nine, 25. We’re in Luke chapter 12, verses 35 through 40.
I begin reading in verse 35. Be ready for service and have your lamps lit. You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. Blessed will be those servants that master finds alert when he comes. Truly, I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them.
If he comes in the middle of the night or even near dawn and finds them alert, blessed are those servants. But know this. If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. So also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. May we pray?
Heavenly Father, we thank you that we live in anticipation of your son’s return, that he will make all things right, that he will make all things new, that the creation will be restored, Father, to perfection, that the evils of sin, its destruction, its deceptive nature will all be removed. And we will spend eternity with you, Father. May we look forward to that time and understand the importance of being ready for it. In your son’s name, we pray. Amen.
Scripture begins out, be ready for service when Jesus returns. We are not going into what we might call an eternal retirement where we just sit and do nothing for the rest of our lives. We are going to be serving the Lord. We’re going to be working. I know someone, a pastor, in fact, who described heaven as a recliner with a fridge full of Mountain Dew next to it.
That is not scriptural. And if your idea of heaven is to sit in a recliner and play Nintendo for the rest of your life, whatever it is, that’s not what heaven is about. That is not what God is saving us for.
Heaven is described as being a place where we will be servants, where we’re going to work for the best owner or manager that anyone can imagine. Our manager, the Lord Jesus Christ, is going to be someone who we actually enjoy going to work with every day, that you love being by his side and doing things with him. But not only are we going to be servants, but scripture refers to us as being part of the king’s family. We’re going to be royalty. So you think about the family in England, where there’s pageantry and Meetings and engagements and decision making.
But not only are we going to be servants and royalty, but Scripture refers to us as being the bride of Christ. We’re going to be in a growing relationship of love and devotion with Jesus Christ, spending time with him, getting to know him better and better, just as we do with our spouses here on earth. Fourthly, Scripture talks about that we’re going to be priests, leading in worship, offering sacrifices, teaching and helping others. Heaven is going to be a busy place. It’s good for people to work, and God has made us to be that way.
Let’s look at Revelation, chapter 20, verse 6, and we read this blessed and holy. Holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection, the second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. Here we have both the priestly duties that we’re going to fulfill and those of being part of the royal family. In 1 Corinthians 6, we read this in verses 2 or 3. Oh, or don’t you know that the saints will judge the world, and if the world is judged by you, you are unworthy to judge the trivial cases.
It’s a question mark there. But it goes on to say, don’t you know that we will judge angels? So part of our work in heaven one day, whatever it means here, we won’t go into it, is to be judging angels. We are going to be seated with Christ and helping him in the activities from day to day. Let’s go to Matthew 4:10, where we read.
Then Jesus told him, go away, Satan. For it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve only Him. The most wonderful part of heaven is going to be just worshiping the Lord, and part of worshiping him is serving him. In Revelation 22, we read that the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city and his servants will worship him. If you don’t enjoy coming to church and singing songs and hearing the Word and praising God, then I don’t know what your thoughts are going to be in heaven, because that is what heaven is about.
We are going there to continue to worship Him. What we do here on Sundays and what you do in devotion times, it’s just practice, okay? So that’s why I encourage all of you to always sing. You need to be practicing your voices because it’s one thing you’re going to continue to use in heaven one day. Heaven is a place where we worship God instead of worshiping ourselves, others, and things of this world.
Let’s go to Ephesians, chapter three, reading from verses 17 through 19. And we have to think in mind that we’re going to be the bride of Christ. And as husbands and wives are to serve each other throughout their marriage, and they’re growing in love and appreciation of one another, it’s going to be like that in heaven because we read here that the love of Christ, its length, its width, its height and its depth is beyond our understanding completely. And that’s why Paul said, I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love. And to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
I think we all gradually grow in our understanding of what love is. You remember loving your mom as a kid, and then you meet that special person, and all of a sudden, what happens to your understanding of love? It goes to a whole new dimension. And then you have that first child, and then you have your grandchildren and your understanding of love and just keeps growing and growing. And you realize there’s more of it out there.
That’s how it is in understanding God’s love. There is no end to how far it goes. And in eternity we’re going to be understanding that more and more. And as we love him more and more, we will appreciate him more and more. In any relationship that is healthy, there is always this desire to learn more and more and more about the person we love.
And as we learn more about them, we appreciate them more and we love them more. In an unhealthy relationship, instead of wanting to know the other person, we want to be known ourselves. And eventually all we appreciate is ourselves and we lose interest in the other person. That’s just the opposite of what’s going to happen in heaven. In growing and understanding God’s love and and appreciating him more.
It’s part of our service. Just as husbands and wives are to serve one another. We go back to our text now. Be ready for service. And it says, have your lamps lit.
It doesn’t say, be ready to light your lamps when Jesus Christ comes back. But in anticipation of his return, our lamps are supposed to be burning now. Scripture says it will. We should shine our lights. You are to shine your lights.
We don’t hide our light until Jesus returns. We are to keep them burning eternally as we wait. If we go to Matthew chapter five, we read this, you are the light of the world. There is no other true light in this world except for the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it comes through through us.
All other lights are insufficient. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. And no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lamp stand. And it gives light for all who are in the house. Jesus said, in the same way, you should let your light shine before others.
And the reason for this is so that in seeing your good works, they’re going to give glory to your Father in heaven. Our faith is not supposed to be a private thing that we hold to ourselves. It is supposed to be a very public thing that people know that we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew 28, 1920, Jesus narrowed it down to four things that we’re supposed to be doing in order to shine our light. He says, go.
That’s the first thing. We’re not supposed to stay hidden. We’re supposed to. As we go about our daily practice, as we travel, as we work, as we go anywhere, we’re supposed to be ready to do these other things. The first thing is to make disciples of all nations, of all peoples.
That means that you have to share the gospel with them and lead them to the place where they can decide to follow Christ or not. The third thing that Jesus said, not only are you supposed to go, not only to make disciples, but he emphasizes, we are to be baptizing people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And I’ll just say that baptism is a command in Scripture. It’s something that everyone needs to go through. And if you haven’t been baptized, don’t let someone tell you that is not important.
It doesn’t save you, but it is a command in Scripture. But it doesn’t just stop there, that we don’t just bring people to faith and baptize them, but we’re to continue to teach them, to disciple them, to show them how to grow in their faith so they can observe everything. I have commanded you. And Jesus promised that we don’t have to be afraid of doing this and feel ill equipped because he says, I am with you always to the end of the age. To help you in your going, to help you in your making disciples, to help you in your baptizing and to help you in your teaching.
While we anticipate the return of Jesus Christ, we should let our lights shine. Going back to our text today, we also are supposed to live in anticipation. I read in verse 36. You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. When Jesus returns, that’s not the end.
That’s just the beginning of the new life, the new creation, all of eternity. How many of you agree today that weddings are wonderful things? Does anybody agree with that? I mean, we appreciate the ceremony, we appreciate the celebration that’s afterwards, but people don’t come and get married and have cake and dance and leave, and that’s the end of it. The main purpose is not the wedding ceremony.
The main purpose is what the marriage that continues after that. And that’s what it’s saying here, that we’re supposed to be looking forward to Jesus returning for what’s going to happen after that. When Jesus returns, there is going to be a great wedding feast. The marriage of the church with Jesus will mark the beginning of a lasting covenant. Doing life together with him for eternity.
Don’t just live for your salvation experience. Don’t just live only for Jesus return. Live for the excitement of living with him throughout each eternity. In working with him, Jesus next tells us to contemplate the blessings of his return. In verse 37, we read, Blessed will be those servants the Master finds alert when he comes.
Truly, I tell you, he will get ready. He will have them recline at the table, and then he will come and serve them. And if he comes in the middle of the night or even near dawn and finds them alert, blessed are those servants. There will be reward for the servants of God once we place our faith in Jesus Christ. That’s the greatest reward for an eternal relationship with Him.
But he’s going to bless us according to our service, how well we serve him, how well we use the resources that he provides us with. Scripture not only tells us that we’re going to be rewarded, but Scripture tells us that there will be degrees of reward for the most faithful to the least. Several parables talk about those that are more faithful will be rewarded more, and those that are less faithful in what God has given them will be rewarded less. The way you live your life following scripture is important, and we need to look forward to that. And the third thing is that the greatest reward will be for those who have done the most with what they have.
There are some people that God gives a little bit of money to, and there’s some people that God gives a lot of money to. There’s some people that God gives little to, no musical talent, and others that he gives Great musical talent. Some people are very organized and others just a little organized. God’s gifted all of us in different ways, and he doesn’t expect us to produce what someone else produces with their gifts, but he does expect us to produce with what he has given us. And it doesn’t have to be just with the total amount that God looks at it, but it’s the increase that we see with what we have.
So this is the trick question. You have to answer it. What’s worth more to God? A hundred dollars or $1,000?
What’s worth more to you? $100 or $1,000? That shouldn’t be a trick question.
But what we’re trying to say here is think back to the widow that gave her two mites at the temple. Not very much, probably wasn’t near worth a hundred dollars. And then somebody else was pouring in their thousands of dollars. Who did Jesus say gave more at that time? The lady did, because the percentage of what she gave was greater.
And that’s what God wants us to do with what we have to make sure that we’re giving him enough. But it isn’t always the way that humans look at it. We need to see it how God looks at it. First Corinthians 2. 9.
It is written, what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived. God has prepared these things for those who love him. In John, chapter 14, Jesus made a promise that God is preparing a place for us in his house. How many of y’ all ever built a house? Did it take you a year?
Did it take you two years or three years? I mean, hopefully you love your house if it took five years to build it. But God has been working on our house in heaven since Jesus left us. He’s the best architect in all the world. And what scripture tells us.
If we even try to imagine how wonderful heaven is going to be, there’s no way we can even conceive it. But we do need to contemplate the fact that God is doing this for us out of his gracious love for us. This unimaginable gift that he is going to provide.
Luke 12:39. Reread this, but know this. If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house be broken in. Point is, here, avoid surprise. I was prepared to do the sermon on the Sunday after the church got broken into.
That was not a good surprise. Now, hopefully on Christmas Day, you will have a good surprise. What Jesus is saying is, don’t be so surprised when I come. And he refers to this a homeowner. His house is being broken into.
It’s as if there’s if you’re not prepared and you’re not looking forward to it, maybe this surprise isn’t going to be so wonderful to you. Having your home, business or church broken into. It’s devastating. You feel defiled. You fear that it might happen again.
You’re angry at the person that did it. And maybe you’ve lost something that is irreplaceable. The loss can be devastating. We’re supposed to be living in anticipation of Jesus return. And the best comparison Jesus provides is that you will feel like someone whose house is robbed if you’re not looking forward to his coming, if you are not prepared for it.
And it’s a feeling that you don’t want to have. In verse 40, we read, you also be ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. We’re supposed to live life like Jesus. Return is imminent. And that word imminent means that before I finish a word, he could return.
It can happen at any moment. And just as the homeowner who knows a thief is coming is prepared, we’re supposed to be repaired for Jesus return. Imagine getting a phone call that goes like this. I’ll use Matt. Okay?
Hi Matt, it’s 3am in the morning. I don’t usually call you at this time, but I thought you’d like to know that two burglars are coming to your house somewhere between now and 6am what would Matt be doing? He’d be up out of bed. He’d be preparing. He would be looking for it in the same way we’re supposed to be looking to Jesus.
Return at any time. Be ready for Jesus to come back. In Matthew chapter 24, we read a passage that’s similar and related. Therefore, be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. But know this, if the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken in two.
This is why you are also to be ready, because this is the certain thing. The Son of man, who is Jesus Christ, is coming at an hour, and it’s going to happen when you don’t expect it. But we’re still supposed to be ready as much as we can. In Matthew 24, we go on to read, now, concerning that day and hour, no one knows neither the angels of heaven nor the Son, except the Father alone. And then Jesus refers to that day in the future, as in the days of Noah, as the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.
For in those days before the flood, they were eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage. And all the way up until the day Noah boarded the ark, they just kept doing the same old same old. They were enjoying life even though this huge monstrosity of a boat was being built and Noah was preaching. Even with all of that, they were not aware. It says in verse 39, they didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away.
And this is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be. Those that are prepared and waiting will be ready for it. But there will be many that even with church steeples in the gospel and radio and television, they’re still not prepared for his return.
Matthew 24:40 says, Then two men will be in the field, and one will be taken and one left. You have two guys here, they’ve been working together for years. Every day, whatever the job is, they’re side by side. And sudden one of them is going to be gone. The same way you have two women.
They’ve been spending time together most of their life. They’ve been grinding grain, they’re cooking meals together. And all of a sudden, one is going to be taken and one is left. It’s going to be sad that there will be those people that we work with day by day that we see on a weekly basis, and if we haven’t been shedding our light with them, we’re going to be gone, and they’re not going to have a chance to respond anymore. Now, certainly there will also be those that we work with that they have seen our light, they have heard the gospel, but they’re not going to be ready because they have rejected the message of Jesus Christ.
But the important thing is in living like Jesus, return is imminent. It’s important that you understand what the gospel is and so that you’re able to share the gospel. So you hear the gospel a lot here? Hopefully you say, boy, we hear that more than we need to. There is never enough sharing of the gospel.
That’s why you go to the next slide for us up here, we just try to get it down over and over the same way. There are many ways to share the gospel, but we want to make sure that all of you know what it is so that you can share it whenever you have the opportunity. So here we go again. Everything starts out with a creation, and everything about that creation was good. And because God made Everything good, nothing was made evil.
Here’s your test. What do we know about God’s character? God is what? He’s a good God. But he told Adam and Eve, you have a choice.
You can live according to the way I want you to live, or I’ll let you make your own decisions. He didn’t want to force a relationship upon them. And the serpent came and deceived Eve and Adam fell in with her. And they made the choice not to follow God’s ways, but to make their own decisions. And when they did that, we say that the choice was destructive because at that point sin entered the perfect world and Adam and Eve were ashamed.
They argued with one another, they blamed one another, they blamed God, they blamed the serpent. Everything changed in their relationship and it was all because they made a choice that God had warned them, please don’t do this. But the sad thing is that not only did it leave a us with a world filled with sin and disease and illness and murders and cruelty, but it left us with one condition that is the most significant thing about Adam and Eve’s choice. It’s a deadly condition. And it doesn’t just mean that they were going to die physically one day.
That deadly condition is that they were separated from God. Whereas they had walked in the garden with them day by day. Now that they were cast out of the garden, they didn’t have the relationship with God anymore. And unless something came along to fix that, they were going to be separated from God throughout eternity. They couldn’t do enough good deeds, they couldn’t say enough prayers, they couldn’t do enough push ups.
There wasn’t anything that they could do to, to cure their deadly condition. So God stepped in. The great physician said, I’m going to send my son Jesus Christ. He’s going to die on the cross. And if you believe in him what he’s done for you, then your deadly condition is cured and you can spend eternity with me.
We say that it’s gracious again, meaning there’s absolutely nothing we can do to be saved. And there’s nothing we can do to add to our salvation. What Jesus Christ has done for us is completely free and it’s completely sufficient. And because of that, when we accept him as our Savior, God promises a new creation inside of us that eventually will result in the new creation throughout the entire world. But it’s not enough just to know.
This Scripture tells us that we have to make a decision to place our faith in Jesus Christ, to believe in Him. We go to John 3, 1618. And it’s a very familiar passage. I’d like you to read it with me today and look at the part here that you have to believe. All right, read with me.
For God loved the world in this way. He gave his one and only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned because he has not believed. In the name of the one and only Satan, Son of God, there is no middle ground.
You either believe or you. You do not believe. You can’t say, well, I’m just not going to make a decision here. I don’t really care about heaven or hell. I’m just not making a decision.
That is your decision not to believe. God loves the world. Jesus is the only way and you must place your faith in him. This is all part about living like Jesus. Return is imminent.
That if you haven’t accepted him as your personal Savior, what He’s done for you on the cross, then you’re not ready for Jesus return. The worship team is going to be coming up and leading us in a song at this time. And we have a prayer team now that is going to be waiting at the back after every service. If you want to talk to somebody about what it means to place your faith in Jesus Christ, just walk to the back as we’re singing and they will speak to you. Or maybe there’s something going on in your life you just want someone to pray with you about or share some scripture.
They’re also available for that worship team if you will come and lead. May we all stand. Let me lead us in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you that we live in anticipation of something far more wonderful than anything that we can imagine. And in difficult times, in disease, in distress, and the distraction of this world, Father, we continually live with the hope of your return.
Our prayer is that everyone here today, Father, would prepare their hearts first by placing their faith in Jesus Christ. And secondly, that they would live day by day as every. If you are going to return at any moment, in your son’s name, we pray. Amen.