LESSON 20 – WHILE WE’RE WAITING – BE READY!
WHILE WE’RE WAITING – BE READY!
Our Lord has told his disciples many times throughout Matthew, “Watch!” “Keep ready at all times”. Now Jesus gives his disciples three parables, each of which is a description to make it perfectly clear, an illustration of the word, “Watch!” The first is the parable of the household which tells us that watching means a mutual concern and ministry of the Word to one another. The second parable is the parable of the ten maidens which means a dependence on deeper things than human resources, and the third parable is the parable of the talents where he teaches that watching means a deliberate investment of life. If we don’t understand these parables, we will not watch in the way he expects, and we will be deceived. Following is the parable of the household:
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.” (Matthew 24:45-47)
This parable is addressed to his disciples & those who will follow in their steps in the ministry of feeding, shepherding in the church of Jesus Christ. This would include any who have a minister of teaching such as priest, pastors or any who have the gifts of teaching the scripture. Therefore, the task of any teacher is to unfold the message of the bible. The bible, which is beautifully adapted to this purpose gives everyone the spiritual nourishment. There is milk for the beginner, bread for the more advanced, and meat to challenge and feed the mature. The bible is God’s tool that provides the task of producing adjusted, mature, whole persons. Timothy makes this claim in Timothy 3:16.17: “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Please be careful and understand that the bible itself is the food for believers. It is not the book, but the Lord that the book reveals that is our food. Do not concentrate on the word alone, without the spirit, as it is the spirit that causes the words of the living Christ to emerge. We cannot know the fullness of his being without the revelation of the word. We cannot ignore the bible and grow in Christ. Realize that we can grow in the knowledge of scripture and never feed upon a risen Lord. This is worth repeating. Realize that we can grow in the knowledge of scripture and never feed upon a risen Lord.
Can you imagine the servant’s joy when his lord returns and finds him faithfully performing the task that he was assigned. What a magnificent feeling to know he did his work well in the eyes of the only one who counts. Here is what the Lord says to such a man: “Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions,” Jesus also said, “You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much” (Matthew 25:21). Peter sums this all up in his letter to the Ephesians with one phrase, “the unsearchable riches of Christ”. One thing appears crystal clear. The commitment and labor required to fulfill the ministry of teaching that the Lord has left for us to do will not be worthy to be compared with what shall belong to a “faithful and wise servant” when the Lord returns.
But what about the unfaithful servant. Jesus gives is the negative consequences: “But if that wicked servant says to himself, , ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” (Matthew 24:46-51)
This servant is different, as the Lord Jesus has been delayed far beyond what men expected. The apostles expected Jesus to come in the first century, but he didn’t come. Many centuries have gone by, and the effect of that long delay has been what the Lord here predicts. Many of his servants have given up hope of his return. The Lord says the servant begins to beat his fellow servants, mistreat them, criticize and continually complain, neglect his ministry, and indulge his appetite to the fullest. This is what happens when the expectation of the Lord’s return is abandoned. This causes little motivation to the ministry of feeding the household, and it is neglected. When the Word is not taught the people become spiritually weak and this manifests itself in quarreling, injustices, and excesses of all kinds, in which the servant that is responsible for the feeding also joins.
It appears obvious that Christ’s return is more important as a doctrine of the church than may first appear. It is an indicator of the degree to which the Lord’s present indwelling life is being experienced. There is little concern to walk in the strength of his life if there is little desire for his appearance. When the hope of the Lord’s return crumbles, then the experience of his life has largely ceased, if it existed at all.
Although the servant has given up on the Lord’s return, that doesn’t prevent the Lord from returning. He will appear at an hour that the servant doesn’t know and when he is least expected. He has been faithless to his assignment, and therefore he will be punished and put where he belongs, with the hypocrites. The Lord says that this man has never been a true servant at all, and his destiny is to be put where men will weep and gnash their teeth.
The Lord describes that place as “outer darkness”, a place of frustration and defiance. It is not a pretty picture, but it is Jesus Christ himself who describes it to us.
It is very clear that this parable regarding the failing to feed the household of God is very serious to our Lord. This is a very significant problem in the church today. Instead of a body, ministering to one another in love and concern, it’s become an organization operating various programs. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians he wrote, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). But it seems like today’s Christians want to keep private and not share their burdens, and do not want to listen to another’s problems because they “don’t want to get involved.”
This sweeping ignorance of the church’s true nature is directly traceable to a lack of systematic Bible teaching. Many passages in the New Testament detail the true nature of the church. Its unique power, deriving from the presence of an indwelling Lord is set before us repeatedly. But what does the average Christian know of this? Hardly anything! The degree of the illiteracy of the bible in the churches of America is unbelievable. The evidence is everywhere, and the knowledge and belief of our Lord’s living presence is close to zero. Jesus says the cause for this is faithless and wicked servants who have never assumed or have given up the task of feeding the household at the proper time. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 3:17: “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are.” So, we shouldn’t be surprised that Jesus said when the master of the house returns, he will confront the faithless servant and will punish him with the hypocrites.
Both examples, that of the faithful servant and the faithless servant, Jesus will simply disclose what men have been all the time. Paul says, “The work of each will come to light, for the day will disclose it” (1 Corinthians 3:13). The importance of this is that what we are proved to be on that Day, we must continue to be forever! What we have been in the secret places of the heart through life will now be displayed as our true self through eternity.
The marvelous thing that the Lord emphasizes to us is that the present time is a very precious commodity. It is given to us to repent and redeem, but who is sufficient to lick the terrible enemy within the flesh? Why do we try, but can never seem to get it done? We struggle to correct the tendencies of the flesh ourselves, but we can’t do it. The only answer is the cross and the resurrection of Jesus. This is all that has ever been able to deal with the flesh in man’s life: The cross which puts it to death. Only the wisdom of the Word, only honest acknowledgement of what is going on in your life will suffice. Bring it to God, tell him the whole thing, and trust him to have put your flesh to death on the cross. Rely upon his resurrection to live by from there on, upon his power and grace to lead you through. It is his knowledge of this tendency of the flesh that has led our Lord to include in the Lord’s Prayer a little phrase that I pray every day, and I hope you will too: “Lead us not into temptation”.
Lead me from this evil thing within me that I cannot escape by myself. Deliver me from evil by the resurrection power and the redeeming work of Jesus.
Many times, throughout Scripture God tells us to “Watch”. But always remember, HE is always watching us, determining what kind of servant we are. The message of the cross is that the Holy Spirit is in us. We are the church, and we are capable at the very least to spread the Word and feed the household.
Until next time, may peace, joy and love be with you always.