The Faithful and Wise Servant (Matthew 24:45-51)

Introduction to the Olivet Discourse and the Parable's Context

0:01 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday evening, January 13th, 2002, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now I invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 24. Most of you will know, I trust, that Matthew chapter 24, commonly called the Olivet Discourse, it contains our Lord's answer to the question of the disciples. Our Lord having told them that not one stone would be left upon another in the temple, they wanted to know when such things would come to pass and what would be the sign of His coming and of the end of the age. And the two great events of the destruction of Jerusalem and with it the temple and the coming of the Lord Jesus at the end of the age, are the great realities that dominate our Lord's discourse in what is commonly called the Olivet Discourse. Often the matters overlapping one shadow of the other, one the paradigm of the other, and often difficult to separate them.

1:23 And as he draws near to the end of that part of the discourse where he is using no parables, but rather speaking in straightforward language, that though it is difficult for us to understand precisely, as I've indicated, what things apply exclusively to the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and what things apply to the second coming. Nonetheless, our Lord is giving what we would call straightforward didactic teaching, and as that section draws to a close, He is exhorting them to watchfulness and to readiness.

2:02 And I pick up the reading, now at the last part of the chapter, beginning in verse 44. Therefore be ye also ready, for in an hour that you think not, the Son of Man cometh. Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his Lord has set over his household to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he comes, shall find so doing.

2:37 Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he has. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord tarries, and shall begin to beat his fellow servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expects not, and in an hour, when he knows not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. But let us once again ask God's help as we come to this very sobering portion of the word of God. Our Father, we have sung together of Christ alone as our righteousness, of your strength alone as our portion. And we thank you for those times when you make your servants very conscious, in a very literal sense, that even their strength of vocal powers must come from you, when we are reminded of the frailty of the human vessel. And so in faith we cast ourselves upon you for your grace,

4:00 and for the enabling power of your Spirit to quicken all of our faculties, that we may, in our study of this portion together, hear the very voice of Christ speaking to us. Hear us and answer us, we plead, in his worthy name. Amen. Now, as I indicated in trying to at least give the flow of thought before reading this portion of God's word, our Lord does enjoin the matter of readiness at the conclusion of the more formal didactic section of the Olivet Discourse in those words of verse 44.

4:44 And then he follows with three parables, each one of which focuses on a different dimension of readiness. And so we have the necessity and nature of readiness set before us in this parable of the two servants that I've read in your hearing. And then we have another aspect of readiness set before us in Matthew 25, 1 to 12, in the parable of the ten virgins. And then we have another dimension of readiness set before us in the parable of the talents, which we've already studied, verses 14 to 30.

5:23 And then our Lord drops all parabolic teaching and sets before us as the climactic element of his own teaching about his own return to the kingdom of heaven. And then we have this very solemn graphic description of the day of general resurrection and judgment in verses 31 to 46. And with that section in Matthew's gospel, our Lord's focused, concentrated teaching upon his second coming is concluded. So we have readiness illustrated in the parable of the two servants, in the parable of the ten virgins, readiness illustrated in the parable of the talents, then the climactic and dramatic stunning description of readiness in the light of the general resurrection and judgment which will occur at the second coming. And as I've reflected on this series of sermons, I came to the conviction that if my Lord deemed it necessary in order to follow his didactic instruction with these parables that emphasize the necessity of readiness, then it is the part of wisdom for me and for us together to follow the track of our Lord's great concern.

The Parable's Background and Commitment to Exegesis

6:50 He was not satisfied simply to say, be ye therefore ready for in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man comes. He then enforced the injunction to readiness with three parables. He must have deemed that his own disciples who heard the words from his own lips needed the added pressure to drive them to readiness, that pressure that comes from these three parables which, having considered one of them, God willing, will take up a second and then the third in a subsequent ministry. We look then tonight at verses forty-nine and forty-five to fifty-one, readiness for the return of Christ in terms of two contrasting servants. Now I'm aware that our Lord, in a totally different setting, in which he was referring to his second coming but not this setting of the Olivet Discourse, as we find it in Luke chapter twelve, used a similar parable, but it's more expanded. It has elements that this one does not. And so some of you who may be aware of that and wondering why does not Pastor Martin bring the light and the additional material of the Luke twelve passage into this, my answer is I'm committed to expound this parable as our Lord gave it in the setting

8:18 of the Olivet Discourse, and that's my responsibility as a preacher and not to be a harmonizer who brings in the similar parable but spoken in a different setting with some different and expanded lines of emphasis given by our Lord. So I am not ignorant of the Luke twelve passage, I am not unaware that it's there, but I have deliberately chosen to ignore it as though it did not exist in seeking to discern the mind of Christ in this particular parable. Now the background would have been a familiar one to the disciples of Jesus. It's a setting in which a wealthy man with a number of responsible house slaves is about to make, apparently, a relatively long journey, and prior to leaving he takes two of his servants and he assigns them the task of overseeing the provision for a number of their fellow servants. In verse 45a, Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath set over his household to give them their food in due season? The word for household, oiketea, can be rendered household slaves or household of slaves.

9:44 So the disciples would have been familiar, as we saw in the parable of the talents and of the mina in Luke chapter 17, situations in which the Lord of the house, the master of the house, would, in the anticipation of a lengthy journey, assign various tasks to his servants. In the case of the talents and the mina, he actually puts money in their hands and gives them the command to trade with that money and that as his return they would give an account of what they had done with that stewardship. So here in this particular situation you have a similar framework. You have the master who is called the Lord several times in this passage. He is the one who has authority over the household and over the slaves and he does what he does in that particular setting. Now with that general background let's consider the two kinds of servants set before us in the parable and we'll do so under three categories and remember, never, never forget this parable was spoken in order to underscore the necessity and nature of being ready for the return of the Lord Jesus. Don't let your mind run off on rabbit trails wondering about this or that.

11:08 Stick to the track. It is an enforcement of verse 44. Therefore be ye also ready. The opening words tie it very closely to that injunction.

Identifying the Two Contrasting Servants: Character and Activity

11:20 Who then, that is who in the light of this injunction will be regarded as the faithful and wise servant. So as we look at the passage remember the setting, remember the burden of our Lord in giving the parable. So we look then at the two kinds of servants set before us in the parable. First of all, they are identified by descriptive words concerning their fundamental character.

11:52 They are identified by descriptive words concerning their fundamental character. Verse 45, one is called faithful and wise or sensible. Who then is the faithful and wise or sensible servant? One servant is called faithful.

12:18 He is trustworthy. When responsibility has been given to him he can be counted upon to discharge that responsibility. He is worthy of trust. He is a faithful but he is also called a wise or a sensible, a thoughtful servant.

12:41 One who frames his life by the reality of the circumstances of his life. He is not a fool who is seeking to live out his life in the never-never land of his own imaginations of reality. He is living out his life in the face of the stark realities of what life really is. He is called in the passage the faithful and the wise, the prudent, the sensible servant.

13:15 The other is called that evil servant. Notice how he is designated in verse 48. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, et cetera. This is the kakos servant.

13:35 He is the essentially evil servant. The opposite, the kakos servant is the opposite of the kalos servant, the good, the noble servant. He is base. He is morally perverse.

13:52 His fundamental character is that of an evil man. So we have set before us first of all the two servants by these descriptive words concerning their fundamental character. Don't forget that. Their fundamental character.

14:10 Readiness for the return of Christ has to do with fundamental character. Character that is either described as faithful and sensible or evil. But then notice secondly, they are described in terms of their activity while the master was absent from them and at the time of his return. They are described in terms of their activity while the master was absent from them and at the very time of his return.

14:49 You will notice that the activity of the faithful and wise servant is described in terms found in verse 46. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he comes shall find so doing. The task assigned to both servants was to care for their fellow servants particularly in the provision of their daily sustenance. Notice in verse 45.

15:23 Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath set over his household to give them their food in due season? Both servants had an assignment of so many house slaves and their assignment was to make sure that their daily provision of food was secured. And so the faithful and wise servant is the one who while the master is gone continually gives himself to the task assigned to him by the master namely giving food to his fellow servants. So that the day that his Lord returns though he doesn't know the Lord is returning that day when the Lord returns that servant is doing exactly what he was told to do and exactly what he had continued to do all the while the master was gone. He is the blessed servant the one whom his Lord when he comes shall find so doing. So doing what? Doing what he'd been told to do and what he had always been doing while the master was gone so he didn't need to change his patterns of activity.

16:37 When the master returns he finds him just as he had been when he was away. No embarrassment no radical alteration of the patterns of behavior he is doing on the day the Lord returns what he'd been doing all the while the Lord was gone. But then secondly the evil servant he is described in terms of his activity while the master is gone activities in which he is engaged at the point of the master's return. Look at the text.

17:11 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart my Lord tarries my Lord is delaying his coming my Lord is tearing my Lord is spending time taking his time delaying his return what does he do? Two things. After speaking certain perspectives in his own heart he then abuses these servants for whom he is supposed to be making provision and he indulges his carnal appetites. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart my Lord tarries my Lord spends time away I don't need to think in terms of my Lord's presence he's away he'll stay away I'm going to think and live and act as one who has no concern about the returning Lord. And what does he do? He shall begin to beat his fellow servants he is abusive to others and shall eat and drink with the drunken. He indulges his own carnal appetites then we read what happens.

Accountability and Reward at the Lord's Return

18:26 So that brings us thirdly then that both servants are called to account and rewarded at the return of their Lord. They are described in terms of their fundamental character in these contrasting terms faithful and wise that evil servant. They are described in terms of their activity while the master is gone and at the point of his return one doing what the master had said doing it while the master's gone at the point of the master's return he's still doing it. One reasons the master's away and he abuses his fellow servants indulges his carnal lusts now then they are called to account and rewarded at the return of their Lord. First of all the faithful and wise is rewarded with an increased stewardship at the return of his Lord. Verses 46 and 47 I'm sorry verse yes 46 and 7 Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he comes shall find so doing verily Jesus adds this asseveration Jesus only speaks truth but whenever he says verily or truly Amen he is saying what I say is of supreme importance underline it with your highlighter verily I say unto you that he that is the Lord

19:55 will set him this faithful and wise servant over all that he has. He has been doing what the master told him to do in his absence he is found doing it when his master returns Jesus said verily the master the Lord at his return will amply reward him and set him over all that he has he will cause this servant to enter in to a partnership of all that belongs to him and all that he administers in his particular realm of possession and authority but now what will he do with the evil servant the evil servant is rewarded with severe and irreversible punishment look at the sobering words of the Lord Jesus verse 50 the Lord of that servant that evil servant shall come in a day when the evil servant does not expect him and in an hour when he does not know and shall cut him asunder this is R rated language this is the language that was used to describe in Exodus 29 17 what you do when you cut the sacrifice when you dismembered the sacrifice

21:22 our gentle Lord Jesus says in this parable that the master who returns and finds the servant abusing his fellow servants indulging his carnal appetites not doing what the master had told him to do when he left him in charge of his servants he shall be dismembered he shall be cut asunder strong language what does it mean it can't mean literally because in the next part his portion is appointed with the hypocrites where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth now is our Lord using the graphic figure of speech we hear someone say man he ate him up and chewed him up and spit him out we don't mean that somebody literally chewed up someone but verbally they just took them apart slayed them could it be that the Lord is using it that way I don't know but the commentators are careful to point out that this would have been something that would have resonated with first century Palestinian Jews they knew something of what happened at the hands of certain cruel masters when their servants displeased them and they were not known to have had them literally slain

22:49 and dismembered in their very presence so what the Lord may be saying is that venting of the wrath of an angry master upon a recalcitrant disobedient servant has some parallel in what the returning Lord who are not ready for his return and then he uses language found again and again in the Gospel of Matthew and he shall appoint his portion with the hypocrites in that place where there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth the place of consummate agony and suffering the gnashing of the teeth of indescribable pain and frustration the weeping and the wailing of excruciating torment that strong figure for that awful place called hell and remember these words come on the heels of Jesus saying be therefore ready for in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man comes well I've sought responsibly according to my present life to open up the basic stuff of the parable it all rests down upon the contrast between the two servants the servants described in these contrasting terms

The Root of Sin: Putting Off the Lord's Return

24:18 their activities described and their ultimate reward described now then we come secondly what the parable teaches us concerning being ready for the Lord's return because that's why the parable was spoken to enforce the duty of being ready for the return of the Son of Man well I want you to note by way of a little aside that our Lord uses twice as much to describe what will happen to those who are not ready as he does for those who are ready look at the division of verses in your Bible and even forgetting the numbers just look at the the bulk of the words verses 45 to 47 describe the righteous the faithful the wise servant verses 48 to 47 verse 51 twice as much the Lord has to say about this evil this wicked servant who is not ready for his returning Lord and the Lord often does this and the reason he does it is he doesn't want you he doesn't want me to be found in that category all of these graphic expanded descriptions of his dealings with the wicked are a call that we would not be found

25:47 in that category at the return of the Lord Jesus now what does the parable teach us concerning being ready for the Lord's return well as I've wrestled with this and said Lord help me to get at the heart of the issue cut through all secondary issues I said to the men when we met to pray in the back I'd like about three more hours I feel like the thing is about two thirds ready it's about a seven month a baby in the womb and it would use another couple of months but several more hours but such as I have I give to you this night number one we learn from this passage with respect to being ready for the Lord's return that putting the Lord's unexpected return out of the thoughts of our hearts is the root of all kinds of sin in the life thereby ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus putting the Lord's unexpected return out of the thoughts of our hearts is the root of all kinds of sin in the life thereby ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus I believe that is the heart of what our Lord is teaching us with regard to that evil servant he says nothing

27:15 about the heart of the faithful he says nothing about the heart of the faithful he says nothing about the heart of the wise and the wise servant but he takes us into the chambers of the heart he lets us put a secret device upon this man's heart and we hear the language of his heart look at it in verse forty eight but if that evil servant shall say in his heart he's talking to himself in his heart and it is out of the heart that the issues proceed guard your heart above all that you guard for out of it are the issues of life the voices you allow to speak in your heart are the voices that determine the patterns of your life this man speaks in his heart saying my law is my law delays in other words his sudden unexpected coming at in the midst of my life is going to be a non- insistenceック to the way I live my law delay means

28:37 out of sight out of mind therefore he gets up that morning after he's talked that way to his heart and he sees his fellow service he does not hear in the chambers of his heart The Word of God Words of his Lord, feed my servants while I'm gone. I give you a stewardship to care for my servants. He puts that out of mind. And what does he do?

29:03 Look at the text. And he begins to beat his fellow servants. Now we're talking not about the language of the heart, but the actions of his hand. What he's doing with us is the fruit of the voices he listened to in his heart.

29:19 Jesus makes that connection. You can't miss it from the passage. He shall say in his heart, my Lord, my Lord, spending time away is coming. It's not a matter of relevance to what I am and what I do today.

29:35 He begins to beat his fellow servants. And then he begins to eat and drink with the drunken. He begins to indulge his carnal appetites. He seeks out those who use food and drink to excess.

29:51 Something he would not want to be doing with his Lord's goods. That are to be used to feed the servants. He is now heaping upon his own carnal appetites and passions. He begins to eat and drink with the drunken.

30:07 That's what this man does. What's his problem? He puts off the unexpected return of the Lord from the thoughts of his heart. And this becomes the root of all kinds of sin in his life.

30:22 That in turn renders him utterly undeserved. Unprepared for his Lord's return. But it doesn't cancel his Lord's appointed return. And so the text says the Lord of that servant shall come.

30:37 In a day when he expects not. In a day when he's still out of his heart. And out of his thoughts. And his life is regulated by this.

30:48 I have no accountability to him.

30:57 Feed your belly. Throw the wine down your throat. That's the root of the sins. You see the message?

31:08 The Lord Jesus across the centuries speaks in the livingness of his presence and word in this place tonight. And says, therefore, be you also ready. For in such an hour that you think not the Son of Man is coming. And you children, young people, listen to me.

31:27 If you allow sin to speak in the chambers of your heart. Yes. The Lord is not coming tomorrow. He's not coming the next day.

31:39 He's not coming a week from now. The Lord's coming may be a truth. But it's out there beyond me. It's not anything that should affect the way I think and the way I live here and now.

31:54 That becomes the root of all kinds of sin in the life. And when you're enmeshed in a pattern of a sinful life. Yes. You are ill-prepared for the return of the righteous Lord.

32:10 Now that very simple principle to me stands on the surface of the text. And it speaks worlds to every single one of us in this place. This is not a passage that is going to point us to the cross of Christ. And to the foundational readiness that is found only when in faith we lay hold of Christ.

32:35 And His righteousness. That's a truth that has its vital place in any comprehensive doctrine of readiness for Christ's return. I believe that truth with all my heart. I believe I'd be ready to die for it.

32:50 But that's not the emphasis our Lord is giving. And that's not the one I'm going to give because He didn't give it here. He's on His way to die. He is now there looking over Jerusalem.

33:02 The very place that He said kills the prophets. And stones those who come to her. He knows that in Jerusalem He shall be handed over to the Gentiles. And spat upon and scourged and killed.

33:15 And the third day He'll rise again from the dead. You don't need to teach Jesus what needs to be done for sinners to be ready in the ultimate sense. They need to be forgiven and justified and cleansed in His own blood. Don't teach us those basic truths.

33:32 He knows them better than you do and better than I do. But it's Jesus who's telling you. You and me. If you put off the reality of the Lord's unexpected return.

33:44 And say in your heart that truth should not be regulative of life and of action. That will be the mother of all kinds of sin. And render you unprepared for the coming of the Lord Jesus. That's the wicked evil servant.

34:04 That's what he did. He said in his heart. My Lord. The Lord tarries.

34:09 And that language. Burst. The wickedness. The horizontal level to others.

34:16 And the crass carnal self-indulgent of his appetites and passions with respect to himself. The clear implication is. That had he been living in the knowledge. My Lord may come today.

34:30 Would I want to be found today beating up on his servants that he told me. I was to give food. In due season who entrusted me with his stuff that I might take my own necessary portion but not be a glutton and a drunkard with it would I want to be sitting at the table burping and belching from having stuffed my gut glassy eyed and drunk with having abused my master's wine and have him come and find me in the table in that state. Never.

35:07 But it was putting off that the master was coming. That he could throw the gut until he was gluttonous and throw his wine in his throat until he was drunk. And he sought out his own. You notice that little touch with the drunken.

35:28 Not only does misery love company. Sins loves company. That's why some of you right here in Trinity Church you seek out your own fellow sinners when the service is over. You seek out the guys.

35:40 And the gals that make light of spiritual realities who have no concern for the return of Christ you seek out your kind and your kind are not those that are concerned to talk about how can I so live in the light of the Lord's return that at his return I'll be found the faithful and the wise servant that is the negative picture. Of that evil certain putting the Lord's unexpected return out of the thoughts of our hearts is the root of all kinds of sin in the life that render us unprepared for the coming of the master. But then the flip side of that is this and this is how I've tried to capture it living with the fact of the Lord's unexpected return in our hearts is a powerful motive.

The Motive for Duty: Living in Light of the Lord's Return

36:43 To the performance of duty and the avoidance of sin living with the fact of the Lord's unexpected return in our hearts is a powerful motive to the performance of duty and the avoidance of sin see the assumed attitude who then verse 45 is the faithful and wise servant whom his Lord is set over his house. Also to give them their food in due season blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he comes she'll find so doing what makes this man wise trustworthy we can understand with very little mental energy but why does the Lord designate him as wise as prudent because he's determined to live in the light of reality the reality is when the Lord left the Lord did not tell them when he would return.

37:44 So he is determined to frame his life by that reality at any time my master may return I regard my master is worthy to be obeyed he has given me this task I will demonstrate that I am faithful and prudent I am wise why because I'm going to live in the light of reality and the reality is that the master who's left me with this task is going to return and going to bring me to life. To an account for the task and deal with me accordingly and in the light of that I will be a wise man I will not live as a fool out of touch with that reality I'll live my life in the light of it so in a very real sense he lived as though the master never left he lived as though the master never left he lived his life as though the master had never left what would please the master if the master were there in the next room coming in to inspect the tables.

38:46 See how well they were spread and furnished how well the servants were being fed he lived his life as though the master had never left and he's called the faithful and the wise servant he is the one with the master's return is designated as the blessed servant the one who is given a reward far beyond the measure of the task that he had accomplished his whole heart's attitude. It is I will do nothing that I would not want to be doing where my master to come to the door I will do everything I would want to be found doing where my master to come through the door so he knew he had no radical alteration of things to drop if he heard the master coming or things to take up if he knew the master were coming. His.

39:47 Commitment to his duty and avoidance of sin was rooted in living out his days as though the master had never left I want to park there for a little bit because I do believe with all my heart that one of the reasons our Lord enforces this duty of readiness with such a parable is that he knows that among the many motives and there are many. Beware of anyone that brings you one simple central motive by which the whole Christian life is tied together it just ain't so. There is a complex a multiplicity a whole spectrum of motives that we need and at any given time in any given set of circumstances one motive will be more dominant in the influence of the spirit of God upon our hearts to keep us in the way of truth and in the way of righteousness and holiness.

Practical Application: Daily Duties and Sin Avoidance

40:44 But this is one of them living in the light of the unexpected return of the Lord Jesus thinking in these terms if he were to come and find me avoiding this duty how would I feel when I want him to come finding me doing what he had told me to do blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he comes shall find so. Now begin to apply. This to the nitty gritty of day by day I mentioned the incident this morning of a short night of sleep and the stewardship of ministering the word and the determination that I would not become a professional cleric and that if I can't stand before you people coming from my own closet having dealings with God and a fresh touch of God upon my own soul at least having the moral courage to say to my fellow elders get somebody else to lead and preach. I'm in a hard. Probably dead backslidden state and I don't want to harden my heart by giving the impression that I'm in a warm spiritual frame.

41:55 No it helps. Lord Jesus. If you were to return would I want to be found still in the bed. When I know I ought to be on my knees or do I want to be the blessed man who when you come you shall find me what.

42:12 So do it. So do we. What my particular scope of duty is. According to the scriptures.

42:19 Lord Jesus. I want to be found. It's a return. That's why I don't think of this business of retirement.

42:29 As long as God gives me the mental and spiritual and physical strength to preach the word of God. That's what he's called me to do. And I want to be doing what I'm supposed to do. Should my Lord return.

42:41 Just that. Just that simple. It ain't complicated. And come.

42:47 Quarter to six. Ten to six. And supper's over. I know what my duty is.

42:54 It's to turn the bell off on the phone. Put on the answering service. Throw the towel over the phone. As a reminder the bell is off.

43:02 Get the devotional materials. Go up now into the bedroom. Not the living room. Pull out the rolled chair from my wife's work room.

43:10 Sit by the bed. And lead my family. In devotions and in prayer. Do you think after all these years.

43:19 I just float to those. No. There is an antipathy in my remaining sin. That could that I would.

43:27 There's something in me that says don't do it. There is an in sin to those sacred duties. But when I say to myself Lord Jesus. If you should come in the night.

43:44 I want you to find me. I want you to find me so doing. That's what you told me to do. To be the priest in my home.

43:51 That's part of my job description. Not to feed my fellow servants. But to feed my wife. To nurture her.

43:58 And to cherish her. Not only physically. But spiritually. And emotionally.

44:05 And when it comes time for prayer meetings. Many a Wednesday. I'm as tired as you are. And everything in me.

44:12 Thinks of reasons why I could. Be excused. And then I say but wait a minute. Should the Lord come.

44:20 What would I want him to find me doing. Gathering with God's people to pray. Now you carry that out into every area. You got a child that's showing a pattern of cheekiness.

44:38 Cockiness. And you know you ought to sit down with that child. Go to the heart of it. Deal with the heart where necessary.

44:44 Set up a framework of how they're going to be disciplined. And it's a pain in the neck to do it. But you know it's your duty. You want Jesus to come and find you reading the paper.

44:54 Or even reading your Bible. When you ought to be reading the Bible. When you ought to be disciplining your child. You want Jesus to come and find you not doing.

45:01 What you're supposed to do as a father. As a mother. Do you. What you're supposed to do.

45:12 Well if not then do it.

45:15 That's readiness for his return. According to Jesus. That's readiness for his return. Who then is the faithful and wise servant.

45:26 Whom his Lord has set over his household. To give them food in their due season. Who is the faithful and the wise servant. Well he's the one.

45:35 Whom when his Lord comes finds so doing. Doing what God's called him. To carry that through to every area of duty. You young college students.

45:47 Mom and dad plunking out money. Or some benefactor to the college or the state. Plunking out money. So that you can get quote a college education.

45:56 What are you supposed to be doing? Not supposed to be sitting there. At your computer. With instant emails.

46:02 Spending hours chatting with your buddies. You to be bending as I did as a student. And still do at times in my study. Sit there and slap my face till my cheeks are red.

46:26 To come and find you chit chatting on your instant email.

46:31 A way to get prepared for your life's work.

46:39 Christian man or woman. And say I'm going to do. By the grace of God. What I want to be found doing.

46:47 Should Jesus come. You kids. When mom gives you a directive. It's reasonable.

46:53 It's right. Son. Take out the garbage. What's your duty?

46:57 You take it out in a way. That honors your authority and shows you counted a privilege to have garbage that's being thrown out and not picked over to be eaten like many kids in the third world.

47:12 You want Jesus to come and find you?

47:18 You want Jesus to come and find you like that?

47:21 Then don't do that. Live in the way you want to be found doing your duty. Should Jesus come? Now the other side is true.

Practical Application: Avoiding Sin and Self-Deception

47:31 Avoid the sins. You would not want to be found doing your duty. Where Jesus to come.

47:39 You want Jesus to come and find you compromising your eyes and your heart. By letting images come in over that TV screen that you know. You would turn off if even one of your pastors walked in the room. Let alone if Jesus breaks in in power and glory in the clouds of heaven.

47:59 Some of you kids. You quick push the clicker when just mom comes in the room. Who's mom? She's not.

48:07 You judge. You won't answer to her. But when Jesus comes.

48:14 The sins you indulge. The magazines you look at. The dabbling you do and internet stuff you never should be into. You go ahead and make your own list.

48:27 You see coming to grips with this truth. Living like that faithful and wise servant did. He was living in the reality that his Lord could come at any time. And therefore he lived as though his Lord had never left.

48:41 He lived with a passion to please his Lord. To do what his Lord had told him. Fulfill the duties his Lord commanded. Avoid the sins implicit in the Lord's directions to him.

48:55 Not all that complicated is it? We love to make it so complicated. Oh I just don't know the will of God in this. 99, 44, 100% of our problem is not that we don't know the will of God.

49:10 We know it all too well. But we've got an indisposition in our flesh to do it. And we need to sit ourselves down and say oh Lord Jesus you have said I'm to be ready for in such an hour as I think not you'll come. Lord Jesus help me to live this day that I will be found in the way of every duty I'd want to be doing if you were to come.

49:35 And avoiding every sin I'd want to be found avoiding were you to come. But they're complicated. They're complicated. Let me put it this way.

49:46 If you jump with embarrassment and with a sense of uh oh I'm going to get it. If mom comes in the room and finds you watching something on the TV you know you shouldn't and you scurry around for the remote or you give some flimsy excuse well I was out to the bathroom mom and you cover your sin with a lie. If you do that with just mom what would you do? Jesus came found you in that.

50:17 That's how we're to live. That's how we're to live. And when our Lord gives this very simple parable on the heels of his injunction to be ready for in such an hour as we think not the son of man comes. I believe this is the heart of what our Lord is laying before us and I pray God that each of us will take it home with us.

The Profound Impact of Simple Questions

50:39 I pray that my life will be more than ever regulated by these very simple realities Lord Jesus would I want to be found not doing this were you to come Lord Jesus would I want to be found doing this were you to come simple questions simple questions but they can have a profound impact on the way we carry out the specifics of our lives and the moment you find any voice in your heart saying oh well the issue of the Lord's coming is not relevant to what you do. Remember that puts you in a very very undesirable category that's where it all started with the wicked the evil servant he begins to say in his heart the Lord is tarrying the Lord spending time away his presence is irrelevant on what I do today and with my own appetites his presence is not irrelevant to what you do to those around you and with your own appetites so to them.

52:01 And to yourself that should he come this day should he come tomorrow he will cheerfully identify you as one of those faithful and wise servants who are designated as blessed and who receive that exponential reward of grace they enter in to share in all that he has. I deliberately refused to jump over into the epistles and try to read them back into this parable but there's one that I could not resist if you are sons then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ all that he has he keeps in trust for us he that overcomes the kingdom he shall sit down with me in my own from all even as I overcame and have sat down with my father in his own. Kids why in the world do you want to spend your life groveling in the cesspools of this world when the

53:23 glory of a perfected world will be yours and then go to the junk heap of eternity called hell is that what you want. The water of heaven. I am Dr. of life now and in eternity the shared universe of our inheritance in union with him may god help us may we in our exhorting one another learn judicious gracious ways now don't you go out and become the lord's chief high executioner and make a pest to yourself but judiciously and wisely find little ways that we can in the language of hebrews 10 provoke one another to love and to good works in these matters check up on one another john mary harry pete has the lord's return and living in the light of it made any practical difference in any area of your life this week well yeah share with me where it was that may be of help to me you share and then they say well tell me is it helped you yes well tell me this is what it means to provoke unto love and to good work exhorting encouraging one another day by day

Prayer for Wisdom, Repentance, and Salvation

54:48 while it's called today lest any of we any of us be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin may god write this wonderful portion upon our hearts may it bear much fruit until that coming day and if we hear him say well done good and faithful and wise servant then whatever difficulties have come in the way of denying ourselves standing against the tide and the flow of the society around us will be amply rewarded with one look of his smile and one word of his approbation let's pray our father we are so thankful for the wisdom of our lord jesus his knowledge of the human heart we thank you that he is gone to our hearts by his own word and we confess with shame that we so often speak hearts lies we listen to the lies that our own remaining sin would speak to our hearts those who are not your children they listen to the lies of the devil and frame their lives by

56:06 the lie we plead with you our father that we would exchange this folly for the wisdom of embracing the words of our lord jesus we pray that you would so work in us that if there are any of your children sitting here tonight who would be embarrassed to have you come because of issues that have not been made right between husbands and wives and siblings and children and parents and parents and children oh lord we pray that these matters will be dealt with in the closet in the secret place with you and where necessary openly with one another and we pray that you would make us a company of those whom you have designated the wise and the faithful servants who at your return are found so doing who are found engaged doing what you've commanded us to do avoiding what you've told us to avoid and all of this in the strength and power of your Holy Spirit we acknowledge our Father we are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as from ourselves but we thank you that there is a plenitude of grace in our Lord Jesus and that you have united us to him and that by the Spirit we can overcome and make progress and we pray that that will be our

57:33 experience in the days to come have mercy upon those who are utterly and thoroughly unprepared for the coming of the Lord Jesus uncleansed unforgiven still under wrath oh God we pray give them no rest no peace until they flee to Christ and find in him the full pardon of all their sins and can pillow their heads in the knowledge that should he come while they sleep they would be brought home with joy into his presence and not banished forever to the place of weeping and wailing and the gnashing of teeth to this end seal your word to our hearts and receive our thanks for this day in your courts we ask in Jesus name amen