hear the word of the Lord from the gospel of Luke chapter 12. Gird up your loins and keep your lamps lit and be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will gird himself to serve and have them recline at the table and will come up and wait on them, whether he comes in the second watch or even in the third and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. Now Peter said, Lord, are you addressing this parable to us or to everyone else as well? And the Lord said, who then is the faithful and prudent steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, my master will be a long time in coming and begins to beat the male and female servants and to eat and to drink and get drunk. The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. And he will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will will receive many beatings. But the one who did not know it and committed deeds worthy of a beating will receive but a few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required. And to whom they entrusted much, of whom they will ask all the more. Here ends the reading of God's word. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you this morning for your word. We ask now, Lord, that you would give us ears to hear and eyes to see the wonderful things that are found in your word, we pray in Christ's name, amen. You can be seated. Well, I would imagine at some point in your life, you played the famous game of hide and go seek with your kids, or maybe you played it yourself or with your grandkids. I know hide and go seek was a highlight for my family, my kids, especially when I was the one who was hiding because they would all count and kind of walk through the house afraid as I prepared to jump scare them. But as you know, the game in that game, the person who is doing the seeking counts to, I don't know, 10 or 15 or whatever number you choose, and then says this phrase. Ready or not, here I come. And in some sense, Jesus is saying something similar in our text. Not in reference to this coming, this first one, as he is speaking to his disciples, but rather to his second coming. Jesus has already declared to his men in Luke chapter 9 verse 22. He said these words, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day. Jesus knows, as he's speaking and preparing his disciples, that his time with them and his time on earth is short. He needs to prepare them for his soon departure, and part of that is a way of motivating them concerning his return. They need to know how the story ends, that it doesn't end in death, defeat and it doesn't even even end in resurrection but rather he ascends and then at another time returns according to scripture if we were to look at it one of the major themes that you see is that human history will end in a final crescendo. It will end in a climactic conclusion. And there will be a consummation of all that God is doing through human history. We, as Christians, refer to this as redemptive history, as God has sent Christ on a mission to redeem the nations. And that is being accomplished presently. It's happening as we speak and will culminate and conclude with the return of Christ. Every detail as predicted in the scriptures will be fulfilled with absolute precision. Jesus, according to the scriptures, will return physically to earth, and he comes to judge the living and the dead. And so in a real sense, ready or not, Jesus is coming. That is what the scripture say, and he even says it in our text. Look at verse 40. The son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. There is a certain event, namely his return, at an uncertain time. In other words, we don't know. and a certain event at a certain time. And this is a chief or cardinal doctrine for Christians, standing alongside the deity of Christ and the virgin birth and his sinless humanity, his substitutionary death, his work as the high priest. These are all things that are cardinal. They're essential to the Christian faith and included in that. is this idea that Christ is coming again, that Christ is returning physically. Now, there are disagreements among Christians regarding the details and the meaning of the book of Revelation in terms of the tribulation and those judgments that we see in chapters 6 through 19. And there may be even a little bit of disagreement among believers about exactly when the millennium will be in Revelation 20. But all viewpoints And all Christians agree fundamentally on the Savior's return. The Son of Man is coming. And that is a repeated theme throughout the New Testament scriptures. That is an absolute fact. Every eye will see him. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Matthew actually adds In his gospel he adds this to this same idea of Christ's return. All the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And so Christ returns and it is an epic event. It is with great fanfare and he does so in total vindication. He wins. That is the picture that we get. That is what the scriptures say. All is made right and Christ accomplished. Christ brings about what he has accomplished on the cross. This is the clear testimony of the New Testament scriptures. The angels said it, if you remember, in the book of Acts, after Jesus appeared over 40 days to the disciples and to other witnesses, we read that he meets them one more time in an upper room, and he instructs them again, and then he ascends into heaven, and the angel that is there with them says this, this Jesus, Whom has been taken up from you into heaven will come in just the same way as you watched him go into heaven. And so this idea of Christ's victorious, triumphant return is in scripture. Paul said, In 1 Thessalonians 4 16 that the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. There is this concept of return. The Apostle Peter speaks of it in his letters. His half-brother, Jesus' half-brother James, speaks of it in his letter. John, the Apostle, speaks of it not only in the Gospel, but in Revelation. And in fact, in the final chapter, Revelation 22, Jesus declares in that Revelation, Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to every man. according to his work. And so you have throughout the scriptures this concept of Christ's return. And in the Gospel of Luke that we've been looking at, Jesus has been teaching his disciples not only to not live for earthly treasures, but rather to live for eternal ones, to invest in eternity, to seek and continue to seek after his unshakable kingdom. In fact, in verse 33, he references our investment in the kingdom as investing in the unfailing treasure in heaven. You can't say that about any treasure you have on earth. Our homes can go up in smoke and in flames. We saw that, right? Our investments that we invest in monthly, year after year, could be gone in an instant. The stock market is not as certain as we would want it to be. And now in our text, Jesus shifts away from warning concerning hypocrisy and greed and worrying about your possessions. Now he gives them a strong exhortation concerning their attentiveness, their watchfulness, that they would be prepared and ready for this certain event and an unexpected time, right? They need to be ready for his return. And so Jesus gives in our text two imperatives that he provides along with a lot of imagery and a lot of illustration. But his instruction is given with laser sharp clarity. And so we want to examine those two imperatives this morning, those two commands that he gives that should be true not only of these 12, but of all of his disciples. All of us throughout history should live With this echo in our minds and our hearts, we're living for eternity, and we're living in a time that may include His return. His certain return, but at an unexpected time. And the first command we see in verses 35 to 40, and that is this command, that we need to be ready. We need to be ready. You likely noticed this in the reading. Or sorry, you probably didn't notice this in the reading. So I'll point it out to you, but these verses are actually arranged in what is called a chiasm, a chiasm. And you might think, what in the world is a chiasm? You should have been paying attention during English, and you would have learned. But basically, it's a repetition of ideas that are repeated in the reverse order. So in this slide, you kind of see, and I color-coordinated it for you so that you can see it a little bit more clearly. But basically, you have this repetition of ideas, but in a reverse order. And it kind of looks like one half of an X, which is our letter, right? But it's key in the Greek. And so that's where we get the idea of a chiasm. It's one half. of the letter X. So I want to examine it. Let's look first at that blue line. There are similar ideas that are stated in verses 35 and 40. Jesus wants these men ready. He wants them ready, and so he echoes similar thoughts and ideas in verses 35 and 40, almost like they're sandwiched together. Verse 35, he actually quotes from the Old Testament. He says, gird up your loins and keep your lamps lit. These images, both of them, kind of speak of this idea of readiness, of preparedness, right? That they would be attentive, alert. The first image speaks of clothing, right? Girding up your loins. That's not language we use today. And that's because, generally speaking, men don't wear dresses, right? Not usually. And so they had those long flowing garments, right? And if you were going to be active, if you were going to be moving, you needed to gird up those loins. You'd pull up that cloth and tuck it in to your waist. And that's kind of what happened in the ancient world so that you could move quickly, right? The image of a cloak tucked under one's belt or under one's waist is what is meant by girding up your loins. Right? So now you know if you ever get that jeopardy question, right? Now you know what girding up your loins means. But it'd be as similar for us to say, you know, rolling up our sleeves, right? Rolling up our sleeves, being prepared, ready to move. ready to act and you might be looking at a different translation it might have different words but if you're reading in the legacy you notice that it's that gird up your loins is in all caps and that's because it's a quotation from exodus chapter 12 it's Prior to the exodus from Egypt, that Passover meal, you'll remember, they were to take it, and they were to take it in a way where they were ready to move at a moment's notice. They had their bags packed. They were ready. They made their bread without leaven, because they didn't know if they would have time for it to rise, right? And so they needed to be ready at any moment. And so even the things that they ate were symbolic and meaningful in their preparation for this Passover. So Jesus, who is a better Israel and a better Moses, and he's leading a better Exodus, right? Tells his men, who also need and are going to be moving, right? Who are going to be exiled, if you will, and on the move, leaving one place to go to others. He's saying, hey, you need to gird up your loins. You need to be ready for my return. And then that second image is one of a burning lamp. Now we don't have burning lamps. I remember when I was in Uganda, Africa on a missions trip, one of the things that shocked me is when I went to the gas station, you could actually get kerosene. You could get kerosene oil, and I'm like, what in the world? Why could you get kerosene? It's because they have their lamps lit, right? Literally, there's not electricity in a lot of places, and some still are using kerosene oil to light their lamps. And again, it's so that you can see. It's the concept that you need to be ready to move even when darkness sets in. Jesus calls His men to look for His return at any time. It could come day or night. All these images again speak of readiness, watchfulness, even a little bit of vigilance. Anybody who's parented a teenager, you know what vigilance and watchfulness is, right? Your young adult starts to venture out because you don't want to be over controlling, you don't want to be a helicopter parent, right? They start to venture out and kind of become their own person and do their own thing with some parental guidance, right? Like, hey, Don't speed, right? I know how fast you're going because of that app I have on my phone or, you know, my friend, right? You know where they're going. You give them a curfew maybe, right? And you keep your light on outside and your door unlocked, right? You're maybe, if you're like me, following them on Find Friends, right? Because you want to know where they are. You want to call them if they're not making good choices or if they're somewhere they're not supposed to be, right? Not that my kids did that, but it's just nice to know. And I think I share this. I still look at my adult kids who are out of the house. I'm still watching just because I care, right? But there is an eagerness that teenage parents have. There is a watchfulness. They're worried about their kids and their well-being and then making smart decisions. So that's the image and the picture of being ready to move, ready to act, always prepared. And this same idea then is mirrored again in verse 40. Look at it. We read it. Where it's a very explicit command. It's an imperative. You too be ready. Be ready. You need to be in a state. A state of being. That be is the command. Right? It's the imperative. Be what? Be ready. For the Son of Man is coming. at an hour that you do not expect. His return is certain. He will, but we don't know the day or the hour. Now, again, I know a lot of times people like to take that phrase at an hour that you do not expect it, and you become a bit of a newspaper theologian. You start looking at the newspaper as every event you know, is the potential return of Christ, right? And you start doing that, so you look, Israel's in a fight again. By the way, they're usually fighting for survival, right? That's the truth of their existence. They're surrounded literally by their enemies, and so they're always battling, but it's interesting, right? Or Syria, or Russia is invading, or hey, there's a red moon again, right? And we start becoming newspaper theologians, we call them. from the newspaper, right? Better to understand what Jesus is saying here. That title, Son of Man, is actually taken from Daniel chapter 7. He's not just creating this. He's saying, I am this guy. Why do you think the Jews wanted to pick up stones and kill him? They knew exactly what he was claiming to be. He's claiming to be the guy in Daniel 7. He's claiming to be that king. He's claiming to have that kind of dominion, that kind of rule. You know, the king of all kings and the one whose kingdom is global and cannot be stopped. And so when he says that, the Son of Man is coming. He's hearkening back to Daniel 7, that great prophetic passage where We're told that the Ancient of Days, who we know, is Yahweh, He's the Lord, He's Israel's God. And He gives dominion, right? He gives dominion to who? The Son of Man. That's where we see that language, that same title. being used. And by the way, if you reread the Gospel of Luke, you will see Jesus uses that title for himself over and over and over again. And a lot of times people say, oh, that's just pointing out his humanity. I mean, there's some truth to that. He's human. But I wouldn't use that title as proof of that. He is telling them, I am the one you've been waiting for. I am the Son of Man. I'm the one who was prophesied about in Daniel chapter 7. And if you know that passage, you know that the Ancient of Days gives to the Son of Man, and we read this in Daniel 7, verse 14, dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all the people's nations and men of every tongue might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not be taken away and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed." And isn't it interesting that when you fast forward to a vision of what I think is a future event, right, in Revelation, like Revelation 5, Revelation 7, isn't it interesting that some of the same language of the nations The lamb who was slain for every tribe, tongue, and nation. Jesus is saying, I'm this guy. This is who I am. You need to be ready for that. And Jesus illustrates this readiness. And that's where we move in from the blue line to the yellow line. Look at the chiasm. He gives a positive illustration and he gives a negative illustration concerning this readiness. The first one is an illustration, a house full of servants, right, which again is not how we have it structured here. But in the ancient world, it wasn't uncommon. In fact, it was very, very common. Most people had slaves, especially the ruling or the upper class, they had slaves. That was your main source of employment, right? A large portion, a large percentage Rome's population were slaves. That's who they were and so they would know about that. They had that concept, a house full of servants and a master who tells them and this master in this illustration in verse 36 goes to a wedding feast and in the ancient world wedding feasts were a little bit different. They usually took a while, right? They could last for days or even as long as a week as they were celebrating the new bride and new groom. And so these servants are waiting and notice that they're ready to open the door. They're ready to serve the master when he returns at whenever that might be. These servants didn't use this time to be lethargic and lazy. They didn't plop down on the couch and binge watch Gilmore Girls or The Office, right? They were ready. They were prepared to do what they needed to do. They were busy about their master's business, their master's property. They lived to serve him. and serve his will. They had a posture, notice of attentiveness and eagerness. And when the master comes, he doesn't need to knock three or four times because why? They're there at the door ready. And so Jesus, in essence, is saying, be like these guys, right? Then in verse 39, he mirrors that same idea, but this time with a negative illustration. In verse 39, and this time the head of the house, so you had kind of a hierarchy among slaves. You had one who kind of managed all the others, right? The head of the house who would have been more vigilant had he known his house was going to be broken into. Sorry, verse 39 is actually talking about, is talking about the homeowner who, hey, if I would have known, right, ring doorbell, if I would have had that, I would have known this guy was trying to get in my house and I wouldn't have gone to bed or I wouldn't have left my house unlocked or whatever it might be. He wouldn't have turned off the lights and gone to bed. This is a great passage for those who endlessly like to set dates as to the return of Christ. He's going to come when you're not expecting it. That's the point. You don't know. And so again, the need for readiness and vigilance. He's coming His coming will be like a thief. You notice how Jesus uses that image? Have you heard that image anywhere else in the New Testament? Paul uses it. Paul takes that same imagery that Jesus uses of a thief coming in and breaking in, and he says in 1 Thessalonians 5 too, for you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. Peter also in 2 Peter 3.10 says, but the day of the Lord will come like a thief. Peter takes that lesson that he learned from Jesus right here and uses it when he writes a letter. to other churches. Jesus tells the dying church of Sardis in Revelation 3, remember he's addressing various churches and he tells them, wake up and strengthen the things that remain which were about to die for I have not found your deeds complete in my sight. So remember what you have received and heard and keep it and repent therefore if you do not wake up I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come to you." So again, this concept of readiness. I love what the 16th century reformer, John Calvin, said about this passage. He says this, quote, the tendency of these words, therefore, is that the warning of Christ should arouse us. For though the last judgment be delayed for a long time, it hangs over us every hour. And therefore, when there is ground for alarm and when danger is near it is, it is unreasonable that we should be sluggish. And so again, this idea of being not lazy but ready, dressed for action, lamps lit at the door. That's the image. Jesus then offers a beatitude, if you will. Notice in verse 37, the very first part, and then also In verse 38, that's the green line. He gives, there's a blessing to this readiness. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find awake. And then he says in verse 38, whether he comes in the second watch or even the third and finds them so blessed are those slaves. He's motivating them. He's motivating, he's incentivizing their readiness, their watchfulness. Don't let the world lull you to sleep. Don't let the world give you such ease that you fail to remember your king is returning. He's coming. And so my mission and my aim ought to be like those servants, those slaves, which isn't it interesting? How does Paul refer to himself? More often referring to himself as an apostle, he refers to himself as a doulos, a slave, a servant, a slave of Christ. I live for Christ. I am ready for Christ. I live for that heavenly treasure that cannot fail. I live for that kingdom that cannot be shaken and whose kingdom is forever and everlasting. And yet Jesus is telling these men, the temptation is going to be great. You're going to be looking at the old watch going, when are you coming? You said soon. Your soon is very different than my idea soon. What is happening? And by the way, Peter even addresses that, that there'll be some who mock God and scoff at God. He's not coming back. He's been saying this forever. He won't return. And so there's going to be a temptation for us to be lulled to sleep, for us to just kind of blend right into society and culture and life and all of the humdrum of what this life in the United States is like, paying the bills, going to work, doing all of these things, not even giving thought or consideration. The King is coming. The King is coming. It's been 2,000 years, and this text is still true. And so Jesus is encouraging these men, blessed are those who persevere, blessed are those who stay ready, who don't lose hope. You want further motivation to be ready and be vigilant? Look at the bullseye of this chiasm. And that's usually what a chiasm does. It's pointing you to that center point, right? That very center point. And what is that in that red line? Truly I say to you, that he, the master, will gird himself to serve and have them recline at the table and he will come up and wait on them. This is amazing. Jesus is so pleased with those who wait for him that he will serve them at a great banquet table. Again, this is at the end of days. This is what you would call an eschatological, which is a huge word for end times, an eschatological blessing. You will be blessed ultimately. The servants, that's you, will be served. Served by the king. The master will serve his people. And what do you have in Revelation? A banquet, a wedding feast for the bride? Listen, these same ideas and these same images are woven throughout scripture. This banquet of blessing. It's an amazing image. And you know, Jesus actually gives them an earthly illustration of this in John 13. Do you remember what Jesus did? Jesus, by the way, echoed in Mark 10, 45, and numerous places, the Son of Man did not come to be served. But to what? Serve. He became a servant. That's what Philippians 2 tells us. Christ became a servant. He came so that he might serve. And he even models this. Remember, he takes the posture of a servant. He washes their feet in John 13. There is blessing in following him, even in an ultimate sense, because he will bless them in the end. You can't help but notice in the text the tender language and care that God has for his people, not only the father, but the son. In verse four of chapter 12, Jesus refers to these men as my friends. This is relational. In verse seven, he tells them, as they're worried about their possessions and what they're going to do, he says, you are more valuable than many sparrows. He says the same thing in verse 24, how much more valuable are you than the birds? If God cares for them, how much more you his people? In verse 30, he says, your father knows that you need these things. Jesus's image of the father is one of concern and care. Verse 32, he references them as a little flock and then he says, for your father is pleased to give you the kingdom. This is not a reluctant God. Isn't reluctant, he wants to give, he's pleased to give, he's eager to give and to bless. Jesus has said some really difficult and challenging things to these men. And he seems to, to anchor them, he seems to soften them by the care and the concern and the relational impact that God has. I mean, it's tough when you hear, deny yourself and pick up your cross and follow me. Those are tough words. Or when he says in this text, deny me before men and I will deny you. Those are tough words. When he says watch out for every form of greed. When he says you better stay awake and be ready no matter how long I tarry. Those are tough words. But he couches them all. He softens them all in this language of care and relationship and love and blessing. Serve me now. Be vigilant now and I will serve you in return. There is blessing and obedience to God. You may not like what he says, but there is blessing to obedience to God. There is reward in this. There is reward in being ready. Second, the second command we see in verses 41 to 48, and that is to be faithful. Be ready, be faithful. And we see be faithful in verses 41 to 48. The teaching you'll notice is broken up by a question in verse 41. Peter, who's often the spokesperson and who often is known for having a foot-shaped mouth, says this, Lord, are you addressing this parable to us or to everyone else as well? You'll notice that Jesus doesn't directly answer, but he does provide an answer, and we'll get there. Instead, he responds to Peter's question with a question of his own. Verse 47, notice it. He says, who then is the faithful and prudent steward? In these illustrations that I'm giving you, who is the faithful and prudent steward whom his master will put in charge of his servants to give them their rations at the proper time? And then he sets out in a parable of sorts or other illustrations about two different choices a slave could make while his master is away. In that parable about the late night wedding, the servants were praised for their watchfulness, their readiness. Here, the servant is being praised for their faithfulness. Their faithfulness to act upon who they are. They are servants, they are slaves, and they've been faithful to that task. They've been faithful to that action. Verse 43, blessed is the slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. So the master returns from being away. He finds one of his faithful slaves has been a good steward of the master's house. And in this case, he's stepped up and made sure that the other slaves have received their portions, their rations, their food. This is relatively simple stewardship. He had a responsibility. He had a task. He had some kind of head of household responsibility. This seems to highlight, I think, Peter's responsibility. He does seem to have a leadership role in the church. Blessed is the man who provides for and who takes care of the other servants. He says, verse 44, truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all the master will put that servant in charge of all of his possessions. In other words, that faithful slave is going to be rewarded. He's going to be he's going to be promoted for his wise stewardship. An earthly example of this would be Joseph in Genesis, right? His promotion, he seemed to always move up the ranks. God was always blessing Joseph. And he, of course, was raised to be the head of Potiphar's house and then also to be eventually the second in command in Egypt. The basic idea is that a faithful servanthood, faithfulness to the task and the fact that there is a reward that comes with that kind of faithfulness. He simply does his job. He's faithful to do whatever task the master gives him to do. And he carries it out. And the master notices and the master rewards. Spurgeon said of this passage, he says, May the Lord keep you waiting, working, watching that when he comes, you may have the blessedness of entering upon some larger, higher, nobler service than you could accomplish now for which you are preparing by the lowlier and more arduous service of this world. In other words, Scripture is clear about this, and I think we lose sight of this. We kind of think, well, heaven is the reward, and it's just heaven, and it's just all equal because we all get there. And there's some truth to that. I mean, in the sense that we're going to go to heaven because of Christ and our connection to Christ. But there's more going on there. There is reward. There is blessing in serving Him now. There's reward to look forward to in His everlasting And so Jesus is motivating again his men for faithfulness. Be faithful, because you never know when the master may return. And be faithful no matter what the task. Do you remember what Paul says to those who are slaves? He says, you're not just you're not working for your master, your earthly master. You're working for the Lord. Your eyesight should be upon him. I'm serving him no matter what I'm doing. If I'm the trash guy or if I'm if I clean restrooms or whatever the task I'm doing, I'm doing it under the Lord. Service to him, thoughtfulness of him, whatever we're we're doing, we're ready and faithful to the Lord. This is the calling of every disciple of Jesus. Every one of us is called to a faithful stewardship of our master's will. We've all been given things by God to steward. Things that we need to manage. Some have been given a great sum, others not much. But still, it's an issue of stewardship. You're on this earth, your life, with its measured out time, right? Scripture tells us our time is determined by God. It's been given to you by Him. Steward it. Steward your time. Don't waste your life. Don't waste your time here on earth. Time is short. Who are we going to live for? The kingdom of this world? The American dream? Or are we going to live for the king? The kingdom that cannot be shaken, the kingdom that is eternal. You've been given natural abilities, each of us, right? They vary, they're different. Some of you have a very friendly personality, some of you not so much, right? You're not as friendly and that's just the way you are, right? It's not because you're being rude, that's just who you are. Some of you have this overabundant love for fill-in-the-blank. You love children, or you love the needy, or you have these natural abilities, these natural proclivities that you just have. That's part of your uniqueness as an image-bearer of God. Maybe you're artistic, or you're athletic, or you're musical. Be a good steward. Don't waste those God-given abilities. Use them. Steward them well. You've been given a certain amount of financial resource, right? Again, I know some of you are like, not much, right? But you steward it well. You do the best that you can honoring the Lord with what you have, whether you have much or little. Now, we did several messages on that, so I don't need to rehearse that. But it's just a matter of being stewards. We've been given these things by the Lord, our jobs, our health, our well-being. And so we are to manage them and do that faithfully. This is a helpful lesson for us to learn. We're all stewards. We don't have to actually own anything, right? Everything we have is given by the Lord. That's clear in scripture. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. Even if you are here this morning and you are a rejecter of God, you look at his word, you look at what he says, and you do a stiff arm, you are still owned by God. And Jesus says very clearly, you will give an account, right? You don't have to believe it. It doesn't matter. It's not dependent on your belief. It's true. Right? Everything belongs to him. He is the owner of it all. And so we have to ask ourselves about our lives. Are we using all of these things, our resources, our natural abilities, our time? What about our financial resources, our careers? To what end? To what end? Are we living them for the here and now? If that's you, I'd encourage you to read Ecclesiastes because Solomon has some great wisdom for you. It doesn't end well. You die and someone else gets your stuff. That's how it works. It's not a good way to pursue life. Again, careers, money, those aren't bad pursuits, but are you approaching them as sole owner? Soul benefactor? Or are you approaching them as a steward? Steward of what God has given. We're not the masters of the house in this text. God is. God is the master of. the house. Whatever things we own are really simply on loan from Him. And so faithfulness in what we've been given, faithfulness in following after Christ, faithfulness in following after the Master's will. We want to be found faithful. We want to hear on that last day, well done, my good and faithful, what? Servant. Now, sadly, not every servant is faithful in doing the master's will. Now, this is especially true when the master is absent, right? And you know this, anyone who's worked. You know, when the manager isn't looking, what are the employees doing? They're goofing off, right? They're messing around. That's true in the classroom. If you're a teacher, those kids, they need something to do and structure because if not, They're going to play around, right? That's just how it is. It's human nature. When the cat's away, the mouse will play, right? And they do. And this is where Jesus goes. Look at verse 45. He deals with this unfaithful servant. And he says this, but if that slave says in his heart, my master will be a long time in coming and begins to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect it. expect an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces, man, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. By the way, that is the answer that Peter was looking for, right? Jesus is talking to everyone. There are faithful servants in this text, and then there are unfaithful servants. Or another way to look at it, because he uses that language, he says he will assign to the unfaithful a place with what? Unbelievers. There are faithful believers. I'm not saying you are always faithful, right? You're not always. And then there are unfaithful servants. The unfaithful servants are, in essence, unbelievers. And so Jesus is talking to everyone. These disciples who are following Jesus, who have left everything, and he's talking to everyone else. So if you're a follower of Christ here this morning, he's talking to you. And if you're not, he's talking to you. Right? He's talking to us all. And He will come with a reward to the faithful. Right? Not because they're always faithful or because they're always perfect. They're trusting in Christ. They're serving Him and following after Him, albeit imperfectly. And then He will come to punish the unfaithful. And Jesus here is describing gross negligence. This slave is thinking he has all the time in the world. He can mess around. So rather than nourishing the other slaves, he abuses them. Rather than keeping his sacred trust, his sacred stewardship, he squanders it. Instead of providing and feeding the other slaves, what is he taking upon himself? He's enjoying all the pleasures. He's living. for the pleasure of his own fleshly lusts, not according to the master. And that, in essence, isn't that what an unbeliever is and does? They look at what Christ is calling them to. Again, they're sinners. They recognize it. They've repented of their sin. They've asked God to forgive them, and he is assisting them. They're not perfect. They sometimes do things, but their heart is to now please the Lord. Their heart is to walk with him. They are submitted to his lordship, what he says they want to do. That's not what the unbeliever does. That's not what the unfaithful does. He does whatever he wants. He may have heard of the master's will or the master's way or what Jesus wants me to do with my life, but they give it a stiff arm. They reject it. And so while the master is away, he lives his life as if there are no consequences. He lives his life as a nihilist, right? Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. And that's it. I become tree fertilizer. And if you're buried here, you don't even become that, because they put a cement thing over you. So you don't even become that. And I think many people treat God in the same kind of way, right? In his coming, oh, yeah, whatever. Maybe. They take advantage of the time that God is giving them to repent. In fact, that's exactly what Peter says. You guys are mocking God. Ah, your scriptures, yeah, they say all this and then nothing happens, right? You're scoffing God's grace. God is giving you time, friend. He's giving you time to repent. His desire is for you to come to repentance and believe in his son. It is His grace. You mock the God who gives you grace right now. But friend, Jesus doesn't stop there. God is not mocked. God is not mocked. There is a day coming, and when Christ returns, he comes to reward the faithful and to judge the unfaithful. Notice, this is swift and strong. The servant is indifferent and unconcerned about the master's return, but when he does return, what does he do? He cuts him in pieces. That's shocking language, right? That's just like, whoa, what is happening here? This is reminiscent of the Amalekite King Agag in 1 Samuel, right? When Samuel cuts him into pieces. I don't think it's literal. It's not that he's literally going to cut you into pieces, because that'd be weird to cut you into pieces and then assign you somewhere, right? You're not anywhere. You're gone. You're cut to pieces. It's just a kind of a shocking image of talking about judgment. It's grisly and shocking and disturbing and jolting and that's on purpose. The idea is you don't want to be this guy. You don't want to be the one when Jesus returns and he doesn't say well done my good and faithful servant. He says depart from me I never knew you. That's Matthew 7. That is startling. You are cut to pieces and you are assigned a place with the unbelievers because that's what you are. I mean, ultimately, this is another way of Jesus referencing hell. Again, I didn't choose this passage, friends. This just happens to be the one we're on. I didn't think, oh, good, a bunch of people I don't know. Let's talk about hell. Promise next verses next week, right? I mean, that's how we roll here. We're just going through it. Maybe this is God's goodness to you, right? It's his grace yet again. Jesus uses very unpleasant and uncomfortable vocabulary to describe hell, describe his judgment. This is one of them, cut into pieces in a sign, a place. for the unbeliever. He uses other language throughout the scriptures as well. Weeping and gnawing of teeth, outer darkness, unquenchable fire, eternal fire. This is unpleasant. I don't care if you take it literally or figuratively. It's terrible either way. It's no good. You don't want to go there. And this is the Jesus that that branding unit that you see the commercials of, he gets us. They never bring up this stuff. He's hugging everybody and giving high fives to everybody. Jesus talked more of hell than he did heaven. It's a warning. It's a warning. It's not because he's a killjoy. It's a warning, right? And let's think about this for a minute. Let's remember context. Let's remember what Peter says. Who are you talking to here, Lord? And I think he's talking to everybody, but who is in there who probably needs to hear this? There's a disciple who will walk with Jesus for three years. They will see things that we would love to see, right? These healings and these miracles. He will see all these things and he will abandon Christ. He will betray him. You better believe Jesus is saying this for Judas. This is a warning. In the kindness of the master, he is warning his men, this is how it ends for you. This is how it ends for the unfaithful servant. It's how it ends for the unbeliever. This servant thought he could live however he wanted. He doesn't care for his master. He rejects the master's will. And so in turn, the master gives him what he wants. He rejects him, and he turns him over. I never knew you. It's very reminiscent of Matthew chapter seven. This serves as a warning to anyone in close proximity to Jesus. I probably fear those ones the most, right? You've heard it, man. You've heard it over and over and over again. You were like me, Christian school, Christian parents, Christian this, Christian that, Christian music. You had it, it's just a drumbeat in your mind and your heart. I worry for you the most. Because what Jesus says next means there's greater judgment for you than there is for the person who never heard. Who never heard. You had parents who instructed you in the ways of the Lord, you heard and heard and heard, and in the end you've rejected. And Jesus is simply saying, the Son of Man is coming. He is coming. And he comes in judgment. Don't delay. And so, friend, if that's you, and I don't know everyone here, so if that's you, I would admonish you with what scripture does, and that is, turn from your sin, right? Your path leads to destruction. That's what the Bible says. And run to Jesus. Don't walk. Sprint. Run to him and you will find mercy, friend. You will. There is mercy from God in the person of Jesus Christ. Turn to him. Turn away from living for yourself, living according to your own man-made law, and turn to God and live for him. Serve the King. Because, friend, listen. I don't want to be a spoiler alert, but I do, because your knee's going to bow anyway. That's what the Bible says. Jesus seems to indicate there are differing levels of judgment and punishment for unfaithful servants. And the nagging question then is, can you as a Christian be an unfaithful servant? And I would say the answer is yes, you can. But that's not what he's talking about here. He's talking about just as there are rewards for the faithful servant and they vary, there is also rewards in the negative sense for the unfaithful. So in verses 45 and 46, you've got the servant in closest proximity to the master, to the truth. He knows and not only does nothing, but he indulges in all kinds of wickedness and in the end is cut into pieces. Then verse 47, you have the servants who know the master's will. They don't get ready and they don't act accordingly. And what do they do? They receive many beatings. That's less than, that's the idea, that's less than cut in pieces, right? Then there's the guy in verse 48, who does not know the master's will, still does things where he deserves a beat down, and yet his punishment is characterized as few, right? You see that word there? So less than the servant before, or the servant before. So there are these degrees of punishments based on your unfaithfulness. And the linchpin is what you know. And that's what makes it so concerning. You know, I remember as a high school Bible teacher, kids always ask, what about people who never heard the gospel? Well, scripture is very clear. There's no excuse, right? General Revelation tells you there is a God. Your own conscience bears witness that you've sinned against him. So you already know a good portion of the gospel, right? And so there is a sense in which condemnation. But there does seem to be the closer proximity. Hebrews says the same thing. Those with closer proximity, they hear, they hear, they hear. They'll be rewarded in the end. So this is a stern warning. It is for all of us who have heard. You've been given much light. You have been brought up in the church. You've heard your parents plea. You sat under the word. Don't reject it. Believe it. Follow Christ. Jesus says there's a stricter judgment coming, there's a day of reckoning. Because he even says in verse 48, for everyone who has been given much, much will be required. And to whom they entrusted much of him, they will ask all the more. And by God's providence, and you may not see it that way, you have heard as well this morning. So maybe you've never heard, but you did today. which means the message is the same, and it's the message for all of us, and that is to forsake your sin, run, and run to Christ. Embrace him as your Lord and Savior. Bow your knee to his will. Follow him. Jesus says you won't regret that, and he will never fail to meet you with his mercy. So run to the merciful God in the person