The Posture that Prepares Us

 “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 servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 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” (Luke 12:35-40).

Jesus promised He will return one day. He also promised that His return would come… “At an hour you do not expect”. Diligent disciples should live every day as if Jesus Christ is returning today. We need to be prepared for the coming of Christ into the circumstances and situations of everyday life… “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). We need to be prepared for His return to gather us to Himself and initiate His millennial reign at any moment… “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Today we see how in one sentence Jesus taught His disciples how to be ready for His return and along with them we learn the posture that prepares us.

We are prepared for the return of Christ when we put on the armor of God. Jesus urged His disciples to… “Stay dressed for action”. The Spirit moved Paul to teach disciples how to dress in His epistle to the Ephesians… “Finally, 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 spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:10-12). When we are dressed for battle we are more sensitive to the presence of Christ in the spiritual war that is being waged around us every day. When we stay dressed for action we are anticipating and prepared for Christ’s return and will share in His ultimate triumph over all the spiritual forces of our enemies… “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful” (Revelation 17:14).

We are prepared for the return of Christ when we put on the Spirit of Christ. Jesus taught His disciples to “Keep your lamps burning”. With another parable He urged disciples to keep lamps filled with oil… “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps” (Matthew 25:3-4). Jesus likened the oil that was fuel for lamps to the Holy Spirit that is fuel for the victorious Christian life… “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4).

We are prepared for the return of Christ when we put on the hope of Heaven. Jesus taught the disciples to… “Be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast”. We cannot see the presence and work of Christ each day if we are consumed with people and circumstances in this natural world. Because we have been crucified and raised with Christ we should be looking above and beyond the challenges and trials of everyday life… “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). Looking forward to our sure, certain blessed hope empowers us to live in holiness today… “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,  training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13).

As we grow up into Christ, we experience increasing holiness and victory as we maintain…

The Posture that Prepares Us.