The End of the Age  Pt.14     Mt.24:45-51    4-22-01

36"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 
      37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 
   38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39
 and they knew nothing 
about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at               
                                                                                                    the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.  42"Therefore KEEP WATCH, because 
you do not know on    what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house 
had known 
at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have KEPT WATCH and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, 		because the Son of Man 
will come 
  at an hour when you do not expect him. 45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant 
whose master finds him doing so when he comes. 47I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says 
to himself, `My master is a long time in coming,' 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of 
that servant will come on a day when 
he does not expect him and at an hour 
he does not know. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
25:1"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6"At midnight the cry rang out: `Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' 
7"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 
9"`No,' they replied, `there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' 10"But while they were 
on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom came. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 
11"Later the others also came. `Sir! Sir!' they said. `Open the door for us!' 
12"But he replied, `I tell you the truth, 
I don't know you.' 
13"Therefore KEEP WATCH, 
because you do not know the day or the hour. 
14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 19"
After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. `Master,' he said, `you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' 
21"His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 
22"The man with the two talents also came. `Master,' he said, `you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' 
23"His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 
24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. `Master,' he said, `I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' 
26"His master replied, `You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my 
money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I came I would have received it back with interest.

The End of the Age  Pt.14     Mt.24:45-51    4-22-01

44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he comes. 47I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says 
to himself, `My master is a long time in coming,' 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

Like the Days of Noah
It will be like the days of Noah in two ways:
#1 When the Lord returns, it will be life as usual for both believers and unbelievers.  

#2  those who are not ready will receive judgment.

42"Therefore KEEP WATCH, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
Lit. Keep awake.  

When discussing that day, Jesus never points to your past – always to the future.  The issue is not the genuiness of your conversion experience in the past, it is always your spiritual condition at the moment of His appearing that is decisive.

Important things will happen that will require thoughtful responses from us.  At the last day things will take place that will require that we be on our toes, alert, at the top of our game mentally.  

If you are confused about truth, in a fog about doctrine – not clear in your thinking about spiritual realities… you had better get that cleared up before the end times come.

Luke includes part of the sermon that the others left out, and it gives a great clue as to how to interpret this section.
Lk.21:34  "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

What will cause you to not be ready?  He doesn’t say lack of salvation.  He says dissipation, 
drunkenness and the anxieties of life

dissipation   hangover  The pathetic results of drunkenness (guy on the beach in Can Cun).  Suppose that guy were in that condition at some important moment (wedding, job presentation, speech).

Can you picture yourself like that spiritually – right at the moment of the climax of redemptive history – staggering around in a stupor?  

In the physical realm that happens through 

drunkenness   

the anxieties of life

This strikes me as an odd triad of dangers.  References to drunkenness can refer to literal chemical intoxication, or any kind of surrender of clear thinking.  

If we take it as the former, it must just serve as an example of the type of sins that are dangerous.  If we take it as the latter, the idea is probably to watch out for both gross sins and normal anxieties – and everything in between.  
I think that latter is probably most likely.  Watch out for anything that can weigh down your heart with unpreparedness – anything that can make your spiritually sluggish.

your hearts will be weighed down
These things bog down your mind – like a dream where you can’t run or read.  When the rubber meets the road in that last Day, a lot of serious things will happen, and those who are in a fog spiritually will not have the reactions they need.

Those things can close in on you unexpectedly like a trap.
If you are waiting to get your act together thinking you will be able to do it then, you are mistaken.  Once the whole process starts judgment will close in like a mouse trap. 

35 For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, be awake

and pray  Pray for perseverance.  If you believe some doctrine that makes you smug and proud and that makes you think perseverance will be automatic for you… repent of that false doctrine.

that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen,
Remember – escaping the troubles of the end times always means remaining faithful to the Lord as you suffer through them.

If you are to remain faithful through that time it will only happen by means of a literal act of God.

and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."
The term stand carries the idea of standing unharmed – a reference to the Judgment.

Mt.24:44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 

be ready  lit be becoming ready
Learning to live a life of hope is a process that takes some time.

How do you keep watch and prepare for that day when He will return and catch you at your normal routine?  By having a routine that glorifies Him.

How do we prepare for the end times?  Prepare yourself in such a way so that when the tribulation and persecution and suffering come, you will respond in such a way so that your day to day life in that time will be such that at whatever moment Christ returns, you will be ready.

Mk.13:33-37  Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 
35"Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to everyone: `Watch!'" 

And that’s done by putting on the breastplate and helmet – faith, love and hope.

STEWARDSHIP
This is Stewardship Sunday.  What do you normally think of when you hear that?  (Stewardship Sunday is when the pastor gets up and tells you that you should be giving more of your money to the church)

Where do these people get off co-opting an important, biblical concept like stewardship, and leading people to believe it is primarily about giving money to the church.  Giving money to the church is one tiny sliver of the pie.

Your entire Christian life is an issue of stewardship from beginning to end.
45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he comes. 47I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, `My master is a long time in coming,' 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 
Instead of telling a parable about a wise & faithful servant, Jesus asks who is the wise, faithful servant?  The point is for the reader to examine himself.

whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?
So what is the answer to Jesus’ Question?  First we have to answer a simpler question – who is the servant?  

The servant is the guy who has been given a responsibility to carry out on behalf of the master while He is away – a responsibility that has to do with serving the other servants.

Of the many duties ancient slaves had, it’s interesting that he just mentions one (feeding).  It could be that Jesus wants leaders in the Church to take special note of this.  Those who are over God’s household have primarily the duty of feeding the other servants.  

But I don’t think we should restrict this to leaders.  It refers to anyone who has been given a responsibility and that’s everyone.

The word household gives it a warm feel.  Your ministry is a household that you are to oversee.  Every one of you is in charge of something.  Each one of you has been set over some area that God expects you to oversee.
 
In a corporation everyone has a job.  In the church, everyone has a household they are over.

While it’s not the most glamorous job, nor the most difficult job, this particular responsibility Jesus mentions (serving food) is about as relentless a job as there is.  Ask any homemaker.  Meal times come around constantly.  

Some of you, that’s literally part of your responsibility – to prepare food for your families.  Next time you are tempted to think of that as some menial drudgery, remember that is what Jesus chose as an illustration of the entire Christian life.

46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he comes. 

This is literally a beatitude: Blessed is the servant…
Whenever you see a beatitude in the Bible, the meaning is “This kind of person is fortunate, because of what is in the second part of the beatitude.” 

This is asking so little.  You might expect a beatitude pronounced on those who go above and beyond.   (Blessed is the man who does an extraordinary job”)  But all that is required to receive this blessing is to just simply be doing what you were told to do.

It’s really not the most strenuous, difficult job in the world.  Serving food.  Does this strike you as an especially gracious master?  “Servant, I want you to give food to the household while I’m gone…Hey, I’m back, and look at you – you’re giving food to the household!  Wow!”

47 I tell you the truth, 
This is supposed to be the second part of the beatitude.  Beatitudes follow a formula: “Blessed is the man who X because of Y.”  But Jesus interrupts the beatitude to throw in this term.  This is very emphatic.

he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 
This is not the same position he already had.  The terms “servant” and “steward” (Lk.) both communicated subordination.  This term describes authority.  Also, the former is temporary, the latter permanent (Marshall)

The servant who is “caught” doing what he was told to do is fortunate, because he will be given the highest authority. 

“But I don’t even like having authority over people.”

2 things: First, this does not say you will have authority over people.  If we stick with the parable, the idea is having authority over the master’s goods.

If you are a faithful steward here, in heaven you will have the job of dispensing God’s grace and gifts.  (I do that with Scripture now, and I can hardly imagine anything more thrilling – but it will be far more).

Second, remember this is just one illustration.  In heaven you will be given more of that work that you were created to be fulfilled by.  (Some of you have no idea what fulfillment is like – just pleasure.  Fulfillment is far better).

Jesus in introducing another aspect to readiness.  What does it mean to be ready for the moment of Christ’s return?  Does it mean sitting on top of your roof staring into the sky thinking about the rapture?

No.  Readiness means being involved in what you were told to do at the moment of the unexpected return.  

I’m always amazed when I hear about people who think they have the date of the Second Coming figured out, and who go up on some mountain or gather together in some house to wait for it.  Our focus in waiting for Christ’s return is not the sky, it’s the table.

If your mom says, “I’m going to the store – clean your room.”  A half-hour later when you hear the car pulling into the driveway sooner than you expected, what do you do?  Do you run to the front door so when she returns she finds you standing there waiting?  Or do you run in to your room and get busy so when she returns she finds you at work?

This is the last beatitude in Mt.  You might have expected “Blessed is the man who is on his knees in prayer at the second coming” or “Blessed is the man who is reading his Bible.”  Instead it was Blessed is the man who is carrying out his calling.

A Negro Spiritual (Imagine slaves working in the fields putting all their hope in the Second Coming, singing this: 
"There's a king and a captain high, 
 And he's coming by and by, 
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes. 
You can hear his legions charging in the regions of the sky, 
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes. 
There's a man they thrust aside, 
Who was tortured till he died, 
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes. 
He was hated and rejected, 
He was scorned and crucified, 
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes. 
When he comes! When he comes! 
He'll be crowned by saints and angels when he comes. 
They'll be shouting out Hosanna! to the man that men denied, 
And I'll kneel among my cotton when he comes."

That’s the idea.  The slaves didn’t have a choice as to whether they would be carrying out their work with the cotton, but I hope you have that same perspective on your task.

I certainly hope you don’t think ministry is optional for the Christian.

Very often people think of heaven in terms of rest.  There is one sense in which that is true (Heb.4), but most often heaven is depicted not as a state of eternal rest but of eternal responsibility.  

Mt.19:28 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Mt.20:26 whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

Mt.25:21 Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 

Lk.16:10-12 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? 

Lk.22:29-30 I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Lk.19:17 `Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. `Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.' 

There is a good ambition.  How many of you are ambitious?  Do you ever daydream about reaching the top of whatever it is you do?

It’s natural for someone in management to have ambitions about being the big boss.
It’s natural for someone with his own business to have ambitions of making big money.
It’s normal for a person with some skill to dream about being the best at that skill.
It’s even normal for a pastor to daydream about having a huge church.

Ambition is not a bad thing, but it must be directed toward worthwhile things.  Try to channel your ambition toward the Kingdom.  Jesus clearly wants us to seek greatness in the kingdom.

Brunner: “The promise of great advancement and of eternal promotion lies within our grasp – in present duties.  If we will give ourselves creatively to whatever little household is given us now, Jesus promises we will later be given an almost universal responsibility – “the Lord will place that servant over all his possessions.”

48 But suppose that servant is wicked
Instead of introducing a second servant, it’s the same guy.  This same servant could go either way.  This keeps us from having the attitude, “I’m not in that category that of wicked servants.”

and says to himself, `My master is a long time in coming,' 

to himself Lit “in his heart.”  This isn’t the kind of thing people usually admit – even to themselves.  It is a sense of non-urgency that is deep down inside a person.  If you ask him, “Should we be ready?”  He would be the first to say, “Of course!”

But you can tell by the way he treats people and by the way he indulges in the pleasures of this world, and by the lack of urgency regarding his calling, that he has no real expectation of a sudden return.

Why would he say that?  Evidently, it has been a while already.  Jesus is beginning to be more clear about the reality of a long delay before His return.  

Three demons apprentices were speaking with the Devil.  
#1 said “I’ll tell them there is no God.”
“It won’t work – they know better.”
#2 “I’ll tell them there is no hell.”
“It won’t work – they know better.”
#3 “I’ll tell them there is no hurry.”
“Go.  You will gain souls by the thousand.”

8% believe 1999 would bring us closer to the end.  That means 92% think there will be no end.  

How could the disciples not have anticipated the resurrection after He told them directly so many times?  
The same way many of us are not ready for the second coming even after He spoke of that far more than the resurrection.

We think we have time to get our act together, and so we put off taking action today.
What makes you think you will be willing to do then what you are not willing to do now?  Maybe you are procrastinating because there is something you don’t want to give up – maybe a relationship.  So you are saying, “I don’t love Christ enough to give up this thing to follow Him, but in the future I will be willing to suffer persecution and torture and death for Him, and I’m willing to stake my eternal destiny on it.”

Man, in his sin and guilt, tends to invent doctrines that push God far away – far enough away to reduce the heat from His holiness to a bearable level for the person living in sin.  Brunner: “A distant Lord is no longer Lord.”

It is possible to believe the truth, but to make it so distant that it has no effect on you.  In Ezekiel 12 the people believed the prophecies of the coming judgment, but they did not repent, and the reason is in v.27
Ez.12:27  the house of Israel is saying, `The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.' 

The lower the level of hope in your heart, the more chaos you will see in your personal relationships, and the more relaxed you will be morally.

49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.
From the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, which came out of the Second Vatican Council:
“[The Church} further teaches that a hope related tot he end of time does not diminish the importance of intervening duties…”

Some have said that you can be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good.  That is not true.  The more heavenly minded you are, the more earthly good you are.  

A hope for the second coming does not cause people to be lax in their approach to their earthly responsibilities.  – in fact, just the opposite

“…but rather undergirds the acquittal of them with fresh incentives.  But contrast, when a divine substructure and the hope of life eternal are wanting, man’s dignity is more grievously lacerated as current events often attest.  The riddles of life and death, of guilt and of grief go unsolved, with the frequent result that men succumb to despair.”
The thing that causes people to be no earthly good is when they become so earthly minded that they lose the hope of the Second Coming.  That hope is the tether line that keeps us moving.  

If you picture a water-skier, our hope is like that rope.  When you let go of the rope, you just go off in random directions for a short time, and then sink.

Once this guy succeeds in dismissing the fact that he needs to be constantly ready, he just sinks into what even the world would regard as a wasted life.

Ended here.

50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. 
He was dead wrong.  He thought he had time, but he didn’t.  In fact, v.49 says he only began to beat his fellow servants 

He didn’t even get to carry through with it very long.  Right when he gets started the master returns.

Think of what it would be like to be one of the other servants.  You didn’t even do anything wrong, and you are being beaten, and you have absolutely no recourse.  And the master stays away a long time.  

It’s hard for us to relate to, because we never receive beats – unjust or just.  And we don’t witness many either.  This is extremely evil behavior.  Luke adds that he even beats the women.

Jesus is painting a picture of a horrible individual.  That’s how God sees an unfaithful steward.  The way we look at a tyrant who beats innocent women – to the degree that we have anger over someone like that, so God has that kind of response toward an unfaithful steward.

and to eat and drink with drunkards

This is a serious sin.  In the past, many Christians have become somewhat legalistic about drinking, dancing, etc.  But there has been an overreaction by many Christians who think it’s fine – even virtuous to be involved with that lifestyle.  

It doesn’t say he gets drunk – just that he drinks with the drunkards.
“Didn’t Jesus do that?”  The Bible doesn’t say He drank with them.  He was around some who were repentant.  

It’s not wrong to go to a place where people are drinking if you are going to share the Gospel with them and call them to repentance.  But if you go there under that pretense, and really you just enjoy that lifestyle, that is serious sin.  
Ps 1:1-2 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

51 He will cut him to pieces 
Live dismemberment was a form of execution used mostly for slaves.  Adam Clarke describes an ancient execution where they would cut off “first the feet, then the hands, next the legs, then the arms, and lastly the head.”

It was used when they didn’t something so bad that it deserved not only execution, but a brutal, painful execution. 

Have you ever seen a movie with a villain who was so evil that in the end when he dies, he dies a sudden, unexpected death before he even knows what’s happening – and you are disappointed because he didn’t get what he deserved?

This is hard for us to take, because we live in a culture that regards any severe punishment at all to be cruel and unusual and barbaric – even a whipping or caning (which is really fairly mild in comparison with what some people deserve).  Don’t let our cultural tradition trip you up in understanding that God is a God of real justice.  And just because our country has totally abandoned the concept, don’t think that somehow God is subject to that.

Lk.12:47-48  "That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. 

The popular conception of Judgment Day is that the sinner hangs his head and has to trudge off toward hell.  A more accurate picture would be to imagine a beating or a whipping, and only then the person is violently cast into the lake of fire.

Isa.63 says when the Lord comes in judgment He will have blood splattered all over His clothes.  The wrath of God is real anger – the most real anger there is.  It’s far more severe than any rage you have been in or seen.  

Now Jesus goes outside the bounds of the parable:
and assign him a place with the hypocrites, (Lk. unbelievers or unfaithful)

How’s that for a stewardship Sunday message: “If you are a poor steward, you are going to hell.”  That’s exactly what Jesus said.

But don’t just think of money when you hear the word “stewardship.”  The question of stewardship is not how much money do you put in the offering – it is this: Are you living your life under the illusion that it belongs to you, or do you acknowledge that it belongs to God, and live accordingly?

hypocrites - ch.23  The unfaithful have the same fate as the religious phonies – the hottest hell.  He won’t just go to hell, he will go to the same place as the hypocrites.

It seems to me the Pharisees of ch.23 must be in mind here.  The point is that the unfaithful servant will be thrown into hell, and a great example of an unfaithful, wicked servant is those Pharisees – who were supposed to be feeding the people but who instead were beating them up with legalism – loading heavy burdens on their backs that they were not even able to bear.

where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
Of the 248 stories in Mt., 60 refer to final judgment.  Every one of Jesus’ sermons in Mt. ends on a note of judgment.  (The lady who came last week would really think Jesus’ sermons were more critical than encouraging.)

I wonder if Jesus would pass any preaching class in a major seminary.  I can just see the critique sheets: “Too negative.  You will never reach the Gen X with that kind of negative approach.  Try some humor.”

Our modern trend of discarding any serious references to judgment and wrath all in the interest of highlighting grace really serves the purpose of dis-gracing grace.

This phrase always refers to eternal hell.

weeping wailing – screaming out in sorrow, pain, anguish, regret and agony.

and gnashing of teeth. 
anger

The reason unbelievers are damned to hell is because they were poor stewards.  God has given every human being a responsibility, and every human being resources.  Those who ignore that responsibility and use their resources for themselves – as if they owned their own life, they are the ones who go to hell.

Who does this warning apply to?  Believers?  The disciples asked the exact question in Lk.12:41, and Jesus answered by saying, “Who is the wise and faithful servant…?”  In other words, the warning applies to anyone who wants to be a wise and faithful servant.