Father in heaven, what a blessed position we have been given and entrusted this morning, to sit at the feet of the Master. Father, of all the places we could be this morning, there's no better place than here. And help us to hear your word this morning, By hearing it, we mean that not only would we hear it with our ears, but that we would obey it deep within the recesses of our soul. Give us grace that you would not only command us to do what you will, but that you would will for us to do by your grace what you command. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, the last Sunday that we looked at Luke's gospel, we finished our time together with some very pointed and serious questions. What if your entire life here on earth was merely a test? When it's over, you will be able to go back and watch your whole life and see how well you did. What if God gave you, in this life, just what you needed of the basic necessities of life? And then every once in a while, He gave you a little more. A few more possessions. A handful more of giftedness. A little extra time. Just to see what you would do with it. He wanted to see what you were made of. Or better yet, He wanted you to see what was in your heart. Would you take those extras and spend them on yourself, or would you use them to serve and love others? This is a wonderful way of finding out what is in your heart. Where is your heart this morning? Well, there is where your treasure is found. Look at chapter 12, verse 32. Jesus says this, do not be afraid, little flock. And the idea here is that don't be afraid to expend your life fully for the kingdom of God, to give everything to Christ, to sacrifice all before Him. Don't be afraid. Why? For your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. sell your possessions, give to charity, make yourself money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So the question is, are you investing in merely eternal treasures, building your kingdom here on earth that will soon burn up and blow away? Remember in verse 21, the rich man, for this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life as to what you will eat, nor your body as to what you will put on. But instead, the man who was selfish, who was turned in on himself, Jesus says, so is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Are you investing in merely earthly treasures, a kingdom that you are building for yourself here on earth? Or are you investing in the eternal permanent treasures of the kingdom of God? Well, this Sunday, I want to add a new set of questions, just as pointed, but perhaps not as serious. And the question is this, what if life begins not simply when we are born into this world, but real life begins once you die? What if life after death is far more active than we previously thought? We sometimes imagine eternal life as going to heaven and living a Sunday-gathered-worshipping kind of life. Sitting on the clouds, playing on harps, and eternally lounging on our heavenly couch. But what if life after life on earth was much more active? It's the beginning of life. And all you were doing here on earth was in preparation for service in eternal life. We know that heaven itself is not our permanent dwelling. Heaven is just a mere touching point. We know that our pre-resurrection bodies are not the permanent bodies that we will dwell in. Paul says very clearly, for we know that if this earthly tent which is ours is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. And both John and Isaiah speak not of our eternal life as just merely dwelling as disembodied spirits in the heavens, but a new resurrection body in a new heavens and a new earth, with the new Jerusalem coming down and settling in upon the earth. John describes it this way, Then I saw a new heaven, A new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband." The glory. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is now with man, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them. And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death. There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain, for all the first things have passed away. In our passage this morning, Jesus describes this life that we live on earth as preparation of how we will serve on the new earth. And to the degree that we serve others here will determine our position of service in the future permanent life of the new heavens and new earth. Let me explain. The whole passage that we look at this morning is about what will Jesus find you, His disciples, doing when He returns. Look at verse 40. In verse 40, Jesus is preparing and He's summing up what He said those 40. He says, you too be ready for the Son of Man. And think, the Son of Man of Daniel 7. The Son of Man is coming. And you just stop there. Maranatha, Lord Jesus, come quickly. The Son of Man is on His way. He's coming. So be ready for that. Why? Because those who are faithful with the gifts He has provided you to this day, while the Master is currently away, will be given even greater responsibilities when He returns. This is kind of a different way of thinking about this. Look at verse 42. In verse 42, Jesus says, Who then is the faithful and wise steward? Now think about why he's wise. He's wise, the steward is wise, because he knows that he is serving at the pleasure of the master. And he's serving with expectation of what the master will say and think when he gets home. So he's wise because he's constantly thinking of the master coming. And when the master comes, he's building, he's serving with that in mind. And so in verse 42, he's wise, whom his master will put in charge of his servants to give them their rations at the proper time. Blessed is the slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Then notice this, truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. So the idea here is that when Jesus returns, it won't be a time of inactivity, it won't be a new life of passivity, but rather it will be a very active life in which now those who served well will then be in charge of the possessions that God puts him over. Now Jesus told another parable which coincides with the one that we read here in Luke. Turn back to Matthew chapter 25. We know this as the parable of talents. Beginning in verse 14, Jesus says, For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and trusted his possessions to them. The one he gave five talents to, to another two, and to another one, each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey. Immediately, the one who had received the five talents went and traded with him and gave five more talents. In the same manner, the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who had received one went away and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time, the master of the slaves came and settled the accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five talents serving, saying, Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I've gained five more. His master said, Well done, good and faithful slave. You are faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter in the joy of your master. And to the one who had received the two came up and said, Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I've gained two more. His master said, well done, good and faithful slave. You are faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter the joy of your master. And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, Master, I knew that you are a hard man. This is really key. I knew that you were a hard man. This is the opposite of a good man. I knew you were a hard man reaping where you did not sow, gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See you have what is yours. But his master answered and said to him, you wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I do not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore, take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he who has an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. And then throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness, into the place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Now, think through what Jesus is saying in this parable. Whenever we're teaching someone how to do a task, there usually are three stages involved. First, I show them how to do it and they watch me. Second, I hand them the tools and let them attempt and fumble through while I watch and occasionally advise them on their technique. And then finally, when I'm satisfied that they have learned to do it correctly, I go off and let them do it. What if Jesus' first Advent was His coming and showing us how to do it while we watched? And we watch currently by reading our Bibles. When we read about Him, we are learning how we are to live. While He is currently on His throne in heaven, He is watching our service here on earth, seeing us attempt and fumble through our service to one another while the Holy Spirit produces fruits of righteousness through us. But then when He returns, He evaluates our service during the training process here on earth to now let us truly get to work in the new heavens and the new earth. The future life in the new heavens and the new earth is when we really get to get started on our eternal service for our Lord. That is the picture Jesus is providing us with this morning. And the main purpose of the passage is to focus your attention as His disciples on taking seriously, actively, sincerely the work He has called you to do right now. It is in no way that our service to others now is unimportant or non-essential. It is only that there will be much more fruitful labor after this life which we are preparing for now in this life. Now, with that future orientation before us of a very busy and active eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth, let us turn to the beginning of our passage and see more carefully what Jesus is saying. You will notice right off the bat that the passage includes two beatitudes. In verse 37, Jesus says, Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert. when He comes, truly I say to you, that He will gird Himself to serve and have them recline at the table and He will come up and wait on them. Okay, and then we have the blessing of those who are faithful, who are faithfully laboring when He returns in verse 43. In verse 43, blessed is the slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, He will put Him in charge of all His possessions." So we have two Beatitudes. One is a blessing upon those who are ready, who are waiting with expectation. And two, a blessing on those who are faithful, not only during the duration of the Master's time being away, but when He comes, they're faithful. Now, the rest of the passage is built around these two blessings with three parables. The first two illustrating how Jesus' disciples are to be ready for his return, and the last one encouraging faithfulness in our service while he is away. Let's look at each parable. Now the first parable includes three graphic images of preparedness. First, in verse 35, we have the girding up of our loins or being dressed in readiness. In verse 35 we are told, be dressed in readiness or gird up your loins. Now those living in the ancient Near East customarily wore these long flowing robes which would impede quick and easy movements. So when they had to move quickly, when they had to get to work or they had to run a long distance, they would take their robes and they would bind them up around their loins and tuck them into a large belt around their waist so that they could then get to work. And the scriptures often use this language as a picture of being constantly at the ready when called to action. So that when we are called, there's nothing left for us to do to begin to act. We're ready to act when we're called. The second image is of a lit lamp. In verse 35 we are told we are to have our lamps burning. Now a modern idea here would be that we would have a turned on flashlight or that we would have all the lights in the house left on. Because you think about when the lights go off, it's usually a time for you to go to sleep, go in bed and go to sleep for the night. But Jesus says we instead need to have our lights turned on, awoken, awaken. We are to be ready for action. Now these two images come together in the third image. In the third image we have a picture of servants or slaves who have to be ready for their master's return. Look at verse 36. But like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. And then, to help understand, notice that in verse 38, he could come in the second watch or even the third, and those that find him at that moment are blessed. Now, these kinds of feasts, especially wedding feasts in the ancient world, could last anywhere from a few days to as long as a week. There would be no way for the servants of the master's house to know when the master would return. Not only might he return on any one of those days during the week, but at any hour, day or night. He might come as late as the second night watch, which is between nine and midnight, or even the third night watch, which is between midnight and 3 a.m. The point being that the master could come at any time and therefore the servants must stay awake and ready to unbolt the door when the master knocks so that he may come in. But what if the master has gone and after a couple of days the servants begin to think, the master's not coming home tonight, so we might as well turn out the lights and tuck in for the night. Well, you remember what happened in the Song of Solomon, how the bridegroom came at midnight to the chamber doors of his bride and knocked. But she was already washed up for the evening and tucked in for the night. She tells him that she's not coming to the door. Then suddenly, as she realizes what she's done, she jumps out of bed, she runs to the door only to find that her beloved has fled and he went away. She goes out in the night looking for him and she cannot find him and she's weeping and the watchmen find her and they beat her and rape her terribly. She cries out in her desperation, I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, to what will you tell him? For I am lovesick of Jesus' parables of the ten virgins, five wise and five foolish. You remember that the five foolish had no extra oil for their lamp. They didn't bring it along. And when their lamps went out, the oil ran out, they had to go and buy more oil. While they were gone, the bridegroom appeared. The wise virgins were prepared. They had extra oil with them and they were ready for when the bridegroom suddenly appeared. And the ending of the parable is most tragic. And while they were going away to make the purchase, the foolish virgins, the bridegroom came. And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, Lord, Lord, open up for us. But he answered, Truly I say to you, I do not know you. And so Jesus says at the end of that, Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. Now when Jesus comes to get you, isn't that an exciting phrase? When Jesus comes to get you, to receive you, will you be ready to receive Him? Or will you have retired into your chambers and fallen asleep in the arms of this world? Where are your eyes looking with expectation? What do you think about during the day? What drives your day? What moves you through the hours? Are you focused here on earth, building your kingdom, great and glorious? Or are your eyes fixed on Jesus, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father, awaiting Him with great expectation to suddenly stand up and come back to earth to bring you where He is so that you may be with Him, so that you may behold His glory? Beloved, let us fix our eyes on our Master. To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of the servants look to the hand of their Master, as the eyes of the maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God until He is gracious to us. The second parable is like the first, but with a shocking twist. In verse 39, Jesus tells of a thief that comes in the night, 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 accept. The suddenness of Jesus' return here is likened to a thief which comes in the night. If we had to be robbed, wouldn't it be a lot easier if the burglar would just simply text us and let us know when he was going to arrive? Then we could be sure to be up and ready to protect our possessions from being pillaged. Jesus shocks his audience as well by comparing his return to a thief. Jesus is coming like a thief. coming in the middle of the night. The purpose of the analogy may only be to use a surprising jolting image to make it memorable that His disciples must be ready for His return any day of the week, day or night. Now the third parable is similar to the parable of the four soils. And it's helpful to keep this in mind. The third parable brings with it a new beatitude. You remember in the parable of the soils that there was only one good soil that had been prepared beforehand by the sower. And that soil was the one that the sower intended to receive the seed and grow into a fruitful harvest. The point being that the other soils were never intended to receive the seed and therefore to have part of the harvest. In the same way, there are four stewards in this parable, but only one of them is faithful and wise, and therefore will enjoy the blessings of the Master when He appears. Let's look at each one. The parable is divided from the rest with a question from Peter in verse 41. Peter asks if Jesus is telling these parables exclusively for us, meaning His disciples, or for all, for everyone, both the believer and the unbeliever alike? Now Jesus answers Peter's question with another parable. And it's clear that Jesus' answer to Peter is yes. Both. Especially when we remember the purpose of Jesus' use of parables. Jesus clearly includes the unbeliever as part of the parable. Look at verse 46. In verse 46, Jesus says, the master of that slave, the unfaithful slave, will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at the hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. So here, that unfaithful slave, it's assumed that he is an unbeliever. But you'll remember why Jesus speaks in parables in the first place. Jesus said in Luke 8 verse 10, quoting from Isaiah 6, and he said to you, to Jesus' disciples, it has been granted for you, to you, it's been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. But to the rest, it's told in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not hear. Parables allow Jesus to speak to a large group of people, which includes both the elect and the reprobate, while granting the hidden truth or the mystery of the kingdom only to His elect, those whom He has chosen. You remember at the end of one of the parables in Matthew 22, Jesus says, for many are called, they receive an external calling, but few among them are chosen. Jesus says elsewhere in Luke, at the very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit and said, I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent, and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight. When you ever think about God is when He hides truth, that's well-pleasing to Him. It pleases God to hide the truth from the reprobate and to reveal it to His elect. He says, yes father for this was well pleasing in your sight. All things have been handed over to me by my father and no one knows who the son is except the father and who the father is except the son. And get this, anyone to whom the son wills to reveal him. So a parable allows Jesus to speak to a large mass of people. He can tell a parable which will be the truth of the kingdom, but it will remain hidden for the reprobate. But for the elect, the Spirit of God unlocks the parable so that they can see. They can hear and understand what Jesus is saying. So to answer Peter's question, Jesus is speaking to both the believer and the unbeliever, the elect and the reprobate. But by using a parable, it is only the believer who through the work of the Holy Spirit will benefit from hearing and obeying what Jesus is saying. So think about this morning, as you're hearing the parable, God's Spirit is working on His lap. So that as you're hearing it, not only are you hearing it with your ears, but your intention as you're hearing it is to go and obey it. To go and live it. It's precious words to you. It's the words of life. And so you hear these words and you go, that's it. That's what I need to be doing. I need to be ready and be faithful to my Lord. Well, what is it that Jesus is saying? Well, look again at verse 42. In verse 42, Jesus describes the faithful and the wise servant. He says, Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants to give them their rations at their proper time? Now, the image here is of a master who, once again, has gone away for a time, and his servants do not know when he will return. While he is away, he leaves one of his servants as the steward over the rest of the servants. Stewards were managers of the household, chief of staff, Mr. Carson, for those in the know. Their responsibilities included the welfare of all the other servants, so that they would be cared for in all of their daily needs. The steward would make sure that all the needs, including the daily rationing of food, were taken care of as part of his duties. Now note, Jesus is emphasizing the loving care of his stewards toward his servants. A faithful and a wise steward is acting on behalf of his master. And the picture is that had the master been home, he would have made sure that his servants were loved and cared for. But since he is away, the wise and the faithful servant will treat the master's servants the way the master would have treated them while he was at home. Do you get that? The faithful and wise steward, he imitates his master in the way he cares for his master's servants. Now we can see more fully how the wise and faithful steward was required to treat the master's servants by seeing why the master punishes the unfaithful servant. Look at verse 45. He says, but if that slave says in his heart, my master will be a long time in coming, and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and get drunk, You see, the first of the unfaithful servants says to himself, my master is delayed in his coming. He's not coming anytime soon. And so because of that, he becomes careless. by changing his behavior and his demeanor towards the master's servants. While the master is around, the steward cares for the rest of the servants. But once the cat is away, the mice begin to play, and he begins to beat both the male and the female servants, and throw wild parties, wasting his master's provisions on himself. Now the idea of self-indulgence here, that he's feasting and he's drinking until he's drunk, the idea is that the master left a ration of food and wine for his servants, and the self-indulgence is that he's taking what was left for all the servants and using them for himself. So you go back to the previous passage of the man who grows this incredible harvest. And what does he decide to do? Well, I'll throw a party and I'll feed all the poor of the land. Well, I'll give it all away so that others can have food. Instead he says, no, I'll knock all my barns down, build larger ones, and I'll amass my kingdom here on earth. I'll glut myself in this world. I'll live in the delicacies of this world. I'll drink my fill of this world. This is where my heart is. That's what the foolish steward says. I will take what the master has given me and I will serve myself. Now here's the key. In other words, He abuses His position. And think about why He's in the position He's in. He's in the position He's in because He's been entrusted to it by the Master. Think about it. Fathers, why are you fathers of these children? Why has God put you as a father of the house? Why has He put you as the husband of your wife? Because He has given you as a steward, He's entrusting you with this leadership so that you will act as the master if He were here. If you are a manager in your job, if you're a leader in this community and you're leading other people, there's other people beneath you, why has God raised you up and put you in that position? To give you those leadership positions and those skills so that you can love and serve others the way Jesus would love and serve them had he been here. This steward was entrusted by the master to use the provisions that the master left him to serve the rest of the people, the servants, as if the master himself had been there. And what does he do? He becomes the king of his own castle. What terrible language when you hear a man say that. sits back in his recliner and says, I'm the king of my castle. What a fool. Because that very night, God will come and require his soul of him. And because of the way he's thought about life, he's lost everything. More clearly, he takes what God has given to him to become a god over his subjects, over his little miniature kingdom. He's clearly laying up treasures here on earth for himself while he's bankrupt towards God. He has become the fool by becoming the opposite of what Jesus commands. Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy, where thieves do not break in or steal for where your treasure is. There your heart will be also. Like the parable of the talents we read earlier, he has taken what God has provided him. Think about that. I mean, what is it that you have that wasn't given to you by God? You know, this morning when the session meets in prayer for you, we meet every morning, every Sunday morning, we meet to pray for you. And when we did this morning, we read through John 1, and there's that passage in there that Jesus is the light which enlightens every man, that He is the source of life. And you think about that. Why is it that I have breath to breathe today? Did you create that air? Did you create those lungs, those blood vessels that the cells are being fed with oxygen by the movement of blood through your veins? Are you the one that created the diaphragm so that your lungs could be able to take in air to inhale and exhale? He's the source of that. He gave you that breath. What are you going to do with it? All the possessions that you have, everything that you work for, He gave you the strength to work for it, to have the wisdom to store it up. What are you going to do with those possessions? What are those possessions for? Where are those going? What is your life and what you possess for? Like the parable of the talents that we read earlier, God granted, He provided these gifts, and He didn't give them so that we would waste them on ourselves, building our kingdom. And you think about it, every time that we struggle in our relationships, when you struggle with your wife or your husband, why is it? It's because you're busy building your kingdom and some reason they got in the way of it. That's why you get angry at your spouse. You get angry at them because you had an intention of what you wanted your life to look like at this moment, and this person got in the way. Why is it that you get so angry with your kids? Because you were told, this is what my kids should be like. This is the way they should act. And you're told by everybody in society, when everybody else has kids that live the way they do, but yet they'll look at you and they'll put this standard above you and you'll think that's the way they're supposed to be. And then all of a sudden you get your kids. You get the kids God's decided to give you. And by the way, those aren't your kids. They're just entrusted to you for a short while while you raise them as Jesus would raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord until you give them back to Him. And you get angry with your children because they are not the kids. They're not acting the way you thought you expected your kingdom to run. Beloved, how would you like to get to the end of your life and realize that you wasted everything? You wasted all the gifts He gave you on yourself. See, this is not what all of life is here. This is preparation for a much greater active life to come. And if this is just a test, What are you going to do with what God has given you? Don't you realize that there is coming a day in which you will be held account for why and how you used what He gave you? And so when the Master does return, He finds the steward that is unfaithful. with all that has been entrusted to his care, what do you think he's going to do? Verse 46 gives some of the most graphic and troubling language in any of the parables of what Jesus will do to this. In verse 46, it says, the master of the slave will come on a day when he does not expect him, and an hour that he does not know. Isn't that interesting that when Jesus returns for the second advent, it'll be just like the first advent? Because no one knew the hour or the time when Jesus was going to be born into this world. Everyone was shocked when the angel suddenly appeared in the night time and announced that unto you a Savior has been born. No one knew that it was going to be that day and hour. And just like that, the second Advent will be just as a moment that no one expects. You'll be getting up and going to work just like you do tomorrow. You'll be going in all of your business, and then suddenly Christ will return. So He comes when it's not expected, and when He finds the slave, He says He will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the unbeliever. When the master suddenly appears when he's not expected, he will cut or slice the slave in two and the master will put him with the rest of the unfaithful, the unbeliever. Because the unfaithful, worthless slave who only thought of himself and ignored the privileges that the master entrusted him proved to be no better than the unfaithful, the unbeliever. The Master will place him among unbelievers because that's what he is. He's proven it by the way he's lived his life. John says, they went out from us, but they were not really of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out so that it would be shown that they were all not of us. Doesn't that make you think for a moment that there are some here this morning who are among us, but may go out from us because they were not really of us? Could that be you? Jesus describes why the servant receives such a terrible punishment from the hand of his master in verse 47. And that slave, here's the key, who knew his master's will. Doesn't that shock you when in Romans 1.18 through verse 20 it says that it's not as if God hasn't been known by the world, that the world knows God. They know a lot about God and they refuse to worship Him. You see, the steward here, the servant, and everyone, every human being is a steward of God. Every human being is a servant of God because we were created, what? In the image of God. And by being created, we have all been given and granted a stewardship of what God has given to us. And the steward who knows his master, knows his God, knows what is required of him, and chooses not to do it. Notice that the problem here is not a lack of knowledge of the steward, but an unwillingness to seek the master's kingdom and the master's righteousness instead of his own. It is a refusal. It is a moral bent of his nature to submit to a lord other than himself. He alone wants to be king. The unfaithful steward did not trust his master. He did not believe in his master's good nature. So he thought that if his master won't care for him, if God's not a good God, then he will use what belongs to the master and care for himself and be the king of his own kingdom while his master is away. He will be the king of his own domain. If God's not good, and I can't trust Him. Remember the man given the one talent? He says he knew that he was mean. He knew that he was not good. And so he was afraid of him, those who look at God that way. That God is a mean God. He's stingy. He will not give to us. Instead, I will take what He's given me, the life that He has given me, the breath, the talents, the gifts, all of my possessions, and I will use them for myself. Because if I don't look out for me, who will? It's a fear that God is not good. But because he knew what the Master required of him and he chose not to do it, he will receive the far more severe punishment. One thinks of the Pharisees who knew what God required of them, but refused to follow His word because they sought to serve themselves rather than God. And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me, Jesus says. But you, speaking to the Pharisees, you have neither heard His voice at any time or seen His form. You do not have His Word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent." Beloved, the image Jesus gives here of the unfaithful steward is not simply a Pharisee problem. It is a you and me problem. We are the unfaithful stewards who constantly take what is entrusted to us by God, and we use it for ourselves, for our own pleasure in this world. Oh, how we feel the eyes of God's disgrace! His shame upon us when we read that last principle in verse 48, when He says, from everyone who has given much, much will be required, and to whom they have entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. Beloved, we can never match the grace God has shown to us through the gift of His Son's life for our worthless offerings. What is it that I contribute to my salvation? What is it that I contribute to the mercy of God? A big pile of my stinking sin. That's what I've contributed. I've made the cross necessary. I've made Christ have to come into this world and die for someone like me. Worthless. How could He do this? How could I ever repay Him? There's no way. There's no way that I could live a life of gratitude and thanksgiving to God to match equally what He has given for me. But I would like you to think a little bit more deeply about these two blessings for a reason. I want you to let what Jesus promises you here, to fill your soul with deep joy, satiating your heart with His eternal love, to move you to live the rest of your life, day by day, hour by hour, ready for Jesus to come, Maranatha, come Lord Jesus, to get you and take you home. Throughout Scripture, God often describes His people as servants, as slaves. And when we often think of the life of a servant or slave, we often pity them because they are left out of the Master's feasting with His friends. In other words, as a slave, I'm standing to the side, and I'm watching and waiting on others while they're enjoying themselves. I'm waiting at command. I'm at my point. And I'm waiting for the master to give me orders of what to do. But everybody else gets to feast while I stand off to the side. And sometimes we pity the servant because they don't get to join in the feasting. But not the servants of this master. Look again at verse 37. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert. when He comes. Truly I say to you that He will gird Himself like a slave and have them recline at the table and He will come up and wait on them. Jesus is describing the marriage feast of the Lamb. Remember at the very end of the Lord's Supper when He says, I will not drink this cup again until I drink it new with you? Remember what was His posture? Jesus was the host and He was serving the disciples the cup of wine and the broken bread. He was the slave who came not to be served but to serve. and give his life as a ransom. Think about this. Jesus was coming as your slave to die for you the next day. And what is he thinking of? as He's preparing me. You think that if there was ever a moment for Jesus to become selfish, to think about Himself, for one moment to say, well, if no one else is going to care for me, if I've got to go to that cross that the Father's making me go to, and no one's going to defend me, no one's coming with me, surely this moment, everyone else has got to serve me. But at that moment, Jesus, serves His disciples. Jesus is describing the marriage feast of the Lamb where He is the divine host serving you at the divine table. John describes this blessing. Then I heard something, this is Revelation 19, then I heard something like a voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters, like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns! Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. She was given clothes of fine linen, bright and clean. For the fine linen is the righteousness given to the saints. Then He said to me, Right, John, right. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He said to me, these are the true words of God. When Jesus suddenly appears, He brings the feast with Him. When Jesus, our Master, appears at the door, when He comes knocking at the door, He comes bringing the feast, the party, with Him. But not only does He provide a whole smorgasbord of delectables for His servants to enjoy, but He girds Himself with the posture of a servant and He serves you at His table. Once again, He comes not to be served, but to serve and give His life for you. You will remember the first time he took this posture. John 13 describes, Now before the feast of Passover, Jesus, knowing that the hour had come that he would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, laid aside His garments, taking a towel, He girded Himself, and He knelt down, and He washed the feet of His disciples. Do you get this? There's much more to come. There's a whole other life where Jesus will continue the posture of a servant. Does this surprise you? Jesus' character will never change. He will always be the same. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That's the kind of King He is. He's a King who will in the future, when He comes in glory, gird Himself like a servant, and He will sit before you, and He will feed, and He will comfort, and He will minister to you, His children. I think the very one who it says that He will wipe away every tear is Jesus. It's the finger of our Lord who in love reaches out to you and He wipes the tears. And He says, it's okay, you're home. You've gone through something so tragic and you finally get home. and your mom or your dad wraps their arms around you, and they say, it's okay, you're home now. Jesus will condescend as the King. He'll wipe the tears from your eyes. Jesus loves you. And it's the nature of divine love to give you, to provide for you, to serve you who are the objects of divine love. That will never change. Jesus' character will never change even when we arrive before Him in heaven. It is just that in heaven you will lose all those distractions that prevent you from truly drinking deeply in the well of His everlasting love for you. But the same is true of you. As you follow Jesus in serving others in love as He served you, you will find a very smooth and natural transition in the life to come where He will entrust you to even greater service in the Kingdom of God. I don't know what that service is going to look like. But all I know is that Jesus says that when He comes back and He takes us home, and He puts us in a new heavens and a new earth, that's when life really gets going. What if life is just a test? The trial for where you will serve when life really begins. What you do in this life will determine how and where you will serve in the new heavens and the new earth. Beloved, your master is calling you today to be ready when he comes. And may he find you faithful and wisely serving others in love as he loved you. Imitate your Savior. Love others as he would love them if he were here. For Jesus promised you his bride. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will dine with him and he with me. He who overcomes, I will grant him to sit down with me on my throne as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, help us to take seriously what life is. We have spent far too long wasting our life on ourselves, thinking about ourselves, focusing on our own needs, building our own kingdoms. But Father, You've graced us this morning by, before we ended our life, You gave us another chance. You've spoken the words of life to us this morning. You've reminded us. You've removed the veil. You've allowed us to see. Father, sometimes I think about how we so often struggle with humbling ourselves. We just don't want to be a servant. We fight against the idea that we would serve someone else. We struggle with serving our spouse. We struggle with serving our children, with serving our parents. We struggle with the idea of humbling ourselves and having a broken and contrite spirit. We fight against that. But Jesus, you taught us. that he who is great in the kingdom of God is least of all here on earth. The one who wants to be great in the kingdom of God must be a servant, a slave of all. Father, teach us to imitate our Master. Not so that we can merit anything. He has done the work that is necessary. But out of love and gratitude and thanksgiving, filling our heart, let us spend every moment that we have left living and willing to die to serve our neighbor and love them as Jesus has loved us. For by this, the world will know that we belong to our Master. For it's in Jesus' name we ask, Amen. In just a moment we'll sing the hymn, what do we call it? We call it the National Hymn. I don't know, it's the National Hymn of the OPC, of the Church. And because it defines our shock that God would show us so much grace. We just can't understand why He would love us this much. As we think about all that He's given us, all the way to the end, He loved us. Beloved, that's what life is. Go out and love that way. Love to the very end your neighbor. Show them Christ. Imitate your Master. And by doing so, you will be ready. When He comes to let go of the tools of service, that's all they are. Let them go. And go with Him. Hold on to the things loose with you. That's not what life is. It's not my stuff. to love and serve. That's what life is. That's what Jesus came to give abundantly. As we come to the table, we are reminded of His service to us. He comes to us and serves us by opening Himself up saying, here's my body, do with it what you wish. He said, sure, thank you. And he nailed it to the tree. And he did it because that's what our sin is. And that's what He's loved us. So as we come to the table this morning, we are reminded of what our Savior gave us. Because that's what we need. and also so that we would have a life of unity. While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and after a blessing, He broke it. He gave it to the disciples and He said, take, eat. This is My body. And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them saying, drink from it. All of it. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on, until I drink of newness in my Father's Kingdom." Father in Heaven, Jesus gave everything. And there was a reason why He did it all alone, because no one else was worthy to do what He did. Father, what we now do, it's not because we somehow are worthy. Not because somehow our works of service become meritorious. There's nothing that we can offer to the perfect salvation. But having received it, And our hearts filled with so much joy. Father, we now want to live a different life. A life according to your commands. A life in which we are ready and faithful. In loving service. Loving as Jesus loved us. Help us now. Help us now as we take and eat the body and the blood of Christ, that we would do so knowing that our strength is not in us, but from Him. You provide us the grace and the mercy, so that You are at work in us, both to will and do what You command. You have predestined our good works that we should walk in them. And now, O Lord, by Your Spirit, help us to walk in them, so that at any moment, When Christ returns, Maranatha, come Lord Jesus, that we will be ready. And He will find us faithfully serving, loving, as You command. By Your strength, by Your grace, and for Your glory, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. Our Lord Jesus, on that night in which He was betrayed, He took the bread. And he blessed it. And after he blessed it, he took it and he broke it. And he said, take, eat, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. you