Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, the fact that we can gather one more time together in this world and worship you and learn about you. and be equipped to go out into our daily lives and be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ in all that we say and all that we do and all that we think. And we pray, Lord, as we study tonight. Of course, we keep our eyes focused on the King who is to come and what He taught in His greatest prophetic discourse. And in this hour, during the times of the Gentiles, we certainly do, I think, give a lot of thanks to you for this reprieve, for this time with Trump and those men and his administration and others who are surrounding him. And we lift them up to you, first of all, for his personal salvation. which is the most important thing. And to understand that He's not our Savior, but Jesus Christ is our Savior. And we don't want to put all of our hopes in just a mere human, but we realize that it's a great benefit over the alternative. And at least we know from His platform that there are principles there that do reflect from Your Word. And because of that, we are very, very thankful. And we know, Lord, that these things are passing away. But if there can be a delay for a season, And if we will take advantage of that delay by proclaiming the Word to others that they may hear the Gospel and be saved, then let us take advantage of every moment. As Paul says in Ephesians, buying up the time, realizing that there probably isn't a lot of time left in this era, and that things will culminate rather soon. And then, of course, we look forward to the great king and his benevolent rule as a dictator over the whole earth. And so in this time that we do have, help us to live for you and to recognize the signs of the times and the seriousness of the issues that are still ahead of us in this country. And pray diligently for the possible Supreme Court nominations that are coming, which have a big impact on our daily life. And to give thanks for such an alliance of the House and the Senate and the executive branch. Something unique that we haven't seen in a long time in this country, so we pray that we can Some breaks can be put on some of the things that are so terrible, they go contrary to your word. And we just ask all these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen. All right, so I was certainly elated. Even though I know that he's not, Trump is not, you know, the greatest, has a great character, and I know that many of us hoped that there would be someone of a higher character. and moral standards, absolute standards than he is. Still, this is better than the alternative. I know that you all see that from the Christian worldview. We have to realize at some point, after the primaries have passed, If we lived in the 10th century BC, after David and Bathsheba incident, how many of us would have voted for him? And yet he was considered by God ultimately to be a man after God's own heart. It's not endorsing the sin pattern, but the platform that David worked from was a biblical worldview. And he recovered and he walked by faith. and depended on God's grace. And so, yes, every president we've ever had has been a sinner, just like you and I. Some of them have been believers and others of them haven't. But we have to go with the responsibility to vote for the platform that is most in agreement with the Christian worldview. So for that, I think we should all be thankful. And we don't know what's coming, so again, I think we need to really be in diligent prayer for the future of our country. But no matter what happens, of course, we are totally secure in Christ. And Paul says in Colossians that all the riches of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ, and since we have Him, we have all the riches of wisdom and knowledge already. So we are to be wonderfully thankful for that. By the way, also on this note, there's of course still, and has been, probably since the war between the states, a great divide in our country. And we need to, and I will here in the next year or so, begin to try to really train us how to speak to those people. People made in God's image. It's not going to help to throw rocks. It's not going to help to just spout off our view and to beat them down. You and I have to learn as Christians how to speak to them and to win them. Paul says he came to persuade men. If we're not trying to persuade men but we're trying to beat them over the head with a club, that's not Christianity. So we have to learn how they think and we have to be able to speak to them with respect and honor as fellow image bearers of God. And we also need to become increasingly evangelistic. I find it funny that the church spends so much time arguing about what the gospel is rather than preaching it. I realize that the church has to work out the gospel, and Paul writes about that in Galatians. But we spend so much time there, and so little in practical just explaining to people the gospel. Because it's the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. We don't know what their response will be. So if Nebuchadnezzar could become a believer, and he seems that he did by the end of chapter 4 in Daniel, then my goodness, I think Obama is right there, you know, if God wants to get him. I think Trump. I think Hillary Clinton. It doesn't matter. Nobody is beyond God's reach. And so, don't ever give up on anybody, just do what he said and give the gospel to them. So we need to learn how to do that, and I'll be talking more about that this next year as well, to get us trained to know how to talk to people and explain to them the gospel simply, basically, and clearly. We are in Matthew 24. This is a verse-by-verse exposition of the book. Matthew 24 and 25 are popularly known as the Olivet Discourse. The reason is because of its location where it was given on Mount Olivet, but I think it's better titled the Discourse on Kingdom Coming because that's its subject matter. The circumstances in the world just prior to the arrival of a kingdom. In it, Jesus is answering the disciples' question in chapter 24 verse 3, which is, what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And in our exposition of chapter 24 verses 4 to 28, He answered by outlining the events of the tribulation, which are not the sign of His coming, but they are important events that lead up to the sign of His coming. And these events in verses 4 to 28 are extraordinary and they demand a response by those who live in this time. In verse 29, the sign of His coming seems to be the light of the Shekinah glory appearing in the sky, And at that time, then the Son of Man will appear. Verse 31, He'll gather the nation Israel, as predicted in Isaiah 27, 12 and 13, and other passages. And He will prepare to judge Jews and Gentiles for kingdom entrance. So the judgment of Jews is, let's just do it like this, is in 24, 42, or sorry, 40, that should be 45, 45 to 25, 30. There are three parables here. The first one may not be a parable, but let's just say three parables. The faithful slave, the ten virgins, and the talents. Those are all dealing with the judgment of the Jews when Jesus returns at the second coming. And then the judgment of the Gentiles is described in Matthew 25, 31 to 46 under the sheep goats. So these things are really important and they have to be treated with a lot of care as you work through this text, but this is basically an outline of where we're going. So last time in chapter 24 verses 32 to 51, or 41, excuse me, 32 to 41, Jesus took an excursus. This is an excursus. He's leaving the sequence of events that are descriptive of the tribulation, the time leading up to the second coming, in verses 30 there. And this is an excursus, and the reason he's taking an excursus here is to exhort the nation Israel, the generation of Israel that's living at that time of the tribulation, exhorting them to be prepared. In verse 32, he tells them this by way of the parable of the fig tree. So a parable, we've said before, it's a teaching device. It uses something well-known from life and true to life to teach something unknown, some spiritual truth. And the thing well-known in this parable is the growth cycle of the fig tree. When the branch of the fig tree becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer's near. That's the growth cycle. You know by the sprouting that summer's right around the corner. In the same way, when the nation Israel sees the events of the tribulation, they should know that His coming is near. And verse 33 states this explicitly, when you see all these things, that's the things of the tribulation that he described early in the chapter, know that he is near, he's right at the door. In verse 34, the generation that sees all these things is not going to pass away until they have all taken place, because all these things in chapter 24 occur in a very short time span that comes out of the 70th week of Daniel. In verse 35, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. In other words, the words of Jesus Christ here are more certain than the continuation of the present heavens and earth. However, in verse 36, what is not going to be known for certainty in that time, by that generation, is the exact timing of His coming. In fact, this cannot and never will be known by anyone, not even to the angels, who stand in the presence of the Father, nor even the Son, we're told here, who stands in, of course, the closest relation to the Father as the second person of the Trinity. And, of course, what this means here is not that Jesus doesn't know in His deity. In His deity, He knows everything. He's never gained or lost any knowledge. But in his incarnational humanity, the Father did reveal certain things to him throughout his earthly life. But this is not one of the subjects that the Father disclosed to him in his incarnational humanity. So this verse actually becomes an everlasting warning against date setting. And we covered some of that, which is foolishness. If anybody guesses the date, you might as well just ignore that. So even those who see the events of the tribulation live then. They are not going to be able to tell the exact moment of His coming. And that's why it's going to be so important for them to pay attention to the general signs of the tribulation, because these are a herald or a portent, a harbinger of His near arrival. In verse 37, this explains that His coming is going to be identical in some ways to the days of Noah. And we studied this, and it seems that the connection is that in the days of Noah, the people lived in extraordinary times. there was a man with his family building an ark on dry land. And yet the people continued, as we read here, to pursue their daily routines. They did not pay attention to this sign of the extraordinary times that preceded and worked its way out in the flood. And they continued in living just daily as if nothing is important until the very day we're told here that Noah entered the ark. So consequently when the flood came they were all swept away. They didn't understand until that moment and then it kind of got up close and personal. And the application at the end of verse 39 is that when the Son of Man comes, it's going to be exactly the same. People are going to be living in extraordinary times in the midst of tremendous judgments on the earth, and yet they're going to continue to pursue their daily routines. They're not going to pay attention to the importance of the times. They will continue this way even until the very day that the Son of Man returns to earth. And as a consequence, verses 40 and 41 gives examples of the judgment and the separation that will take place at His coming. In verse 40, there will be two men in one field. One will be taken, one will be left. The one taken is taken in judgment. The one left is left alive to enter the kingdom. In verse 41, two women are going to be grinding at the mill. One will be taken, one will be left. Again, the one is taken in judgment. The one left is left alive on the earth to enter the kingdom. So the entire context is a contrast between those who believed at the time of the flood and were left, after they went safely through the waters of the flood and the ark, left on the earth to repopulate it, versus those who did not believe and they were swept away in the flood. And the comparison is with those who in the future will believe before Christ's coming and be rescued and taken over into the kingdom to repopulate the earth versus those who will not and they'll be cast into hell. So if you understand that, really I've said everything that I'm going to say tonight. Yes? Okay, first of all, where we're talking about in chapter 24 verse 22, unless those days have been cut short, no life would have been saved. that the meaning of the term cut short here is really to suddenly terminate. If those days had not been suddenly terminated, no life would have been saved. So the period is set as a period of seven years, you know, 368 years and all that, but if it had not been suddenly terminated with the Second Coming, of course, in verse 30, then there wouldn't have been any life left, meaning that the destructive, the magnitude of the destruction of the judgments in that period would be so great that, well, nobody would be left. Now when we come to, what was the second aspect of your question? What it means, what the pictures of marrying and giving and marriage and all of that don't mean that there's no judgments going on. It just means that they're pursuing daily activities and not paying attention to the importance of what these judgments portend or are supposed to tip them off to. You live in extraordinary times and you need to get right with God. So they will just continue to avoid the things of God and getting right with God. But it doesn't mean they're going to be like, oh, it's just everyday life. That's not what you're supposed to get out of the concept of marrying and giving in marriage. It's just the idea that those things will be a priority still for them, trying to live the daily life. Whereas what they really need to be doing is paying attention to what's going on around them and what it portends, what it's supposed to be signifying. Does that make sense? Okay. I have these same types of questions. Okay, so, the big picture right here at this point that I want to show you is that the whole contrast here is between believers and unbelievers. Now, no one doubts the contrast in verses 37 to 39 is between believers and unbelievers. and verses 40 and 41. But strangely, many have begun to shift and think that suddenly, in the following exhortation, parables, and judgments, in chapter 24, verses 42 to 25-30, that it's become a contrast of faithful believers with unfaithful believers. This is introducing the church, and they do that in the rapture, because they say, this is what they say, their argument basically works like this. Jesus said, no one knows the day or the hour. But people living in that time are going to know the day and the hour because they'll calculate it based on when the Antichrist signs a treaty. Well, they'll just add up seven years and they'll know the very day. Well, if they miss that, well, they've got the abomination of desolation in the midpoint. So they're just three and a half years from that point. This is their argument. And then they say further that I'm going to lose my train of thought. I'm so tired. I don't know why. The cubs maybe. You understand. You feel my pain. So since the day of the second coming can be known in their estimation. This is all talking about the rapture and they begin to insert the church in here. But look, verse 42 explicitly says, you're not going to know. Be on the alert for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. And that's speaking about the generation that sees these things. They're not going to know. So it's a direct To say this is a direct rejection of that scripture. To say that people living in that time can know the exact day of the second coming. No, you can't. And the problem is also based on flawed reasoning. Let's say the Antichrist makes a treaty with Israel. Let me ask you a question. How many treaties do you know? I mean, there are treaties being signed every day between nations. How many do you know the exact time that it was signed? How many of you saw it? How many of you, nobody or very few people are going to know the exact time that this treaty is signed. Because it's going to be behind closed doors. And no one or very few people are going to know the exact time of the abomination of desolation because that's going to occur in the temple precincts. You can't just see in there. And even if someone did know the exact time, there are going to be so many cosmic disturbances, wars and famines and earthquakes and chaos that just as in the past when people have experienced famines and earthquakes and difficult times and war, they lose track of time. And that same type of thing is going to happen then. But all this evidence you see is being rejected by the stroke of a pen, and this weak reasoning, and they introduce suddenly the church and the rapture, since it is a day that's unknown. I mean, the rapture is a day that's unknown. I agree with that. It's just not the subject of this passage. The second coming is. And when you introduce it, what happens is it ends up leading to a great problem that I'm going to bring up. And that's interpreting these parables as if they refer to the church and the judgment seat of Christ. And some of them are coming out and saying that what's happening in verse 51 there is penal judgment on believers because they were unfaithful in their life. And this is very dangerous. And it violates the entire context. So I'm stressing that the context out of which all these exhortations is coming and all these parables and things is an analogy between the flood and the second coming. And the contrast is clearly between believers and unbelievers. I mean, you don't think about the flood like, well, the faithful believers got on and the unfaithful believers died in the flood. And you don't think that way because you're smart. You can read. And so it's going to be the same at the second coming. When Jesus comes back there's going to be believers and unbelievers on the earth. Believers are going to be left alive to repopulate the earth. Unbelievers are going to be taken in judgment. So all that follows is contrast between believers and unbelievers. And in particular, The context, as I've got here on this slide, is dealing with the nation Israel, and how when Christ returns, there's going to be a believing remnant of Israel, and there's going to be a non-remnant. and how a judgment and a separation will be necessary so that only the remnant of believers enters the kingdom. Okay, verse 42, the exhortation is to the nation Israel in the tribulation time. It's the generation that sees these things from verse 34. Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. Now that bothers people because you say, well, your Lord, you're saying it's the nation Israel's Lord. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. He's also the father of Israel? He's the wife of Israel. All these figures are used throughout the Old Testament for believers and unbelievers alike of the nation Israel because he made a covenant with them. The word Lord is kurios in the Greek, and kurios is the equivalent of the Hebrew Yahweh. So it's a title of God often. not always but often. And here it is. Your God is coming. Israel's God is coming for you. So despite the fact that many in that time, in the nation Israel, are non-believers, He's still the God of Israel, because He made a covenant with that nation. In Matthew 5.48, He's the Father of Israel. So this is all around. So what is being said is to the nation Israel in that time, and they should do what? They should be on the alert. Okay, why? Well, because they don't know the day which their God is coming, which of course is Messiah, Christ. So again, in general, the time period can be known. because of the extraordinary events of the tribulation, but the specific day and hour cannot be known. That's why they must be on the alert. The word alert is grei gureo. Grei gureo. And this word means to be watchful. Watchful for what? Well, for the significance of the extraordinary events which will characterize that time and signify that their God, the Messiah, is coming to them. In verse 43, Jesus uses an illustration to show that no one can know the exact hour. He says, But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would have not allowed his house to be broken into. That is, he would have been watchful. Jesus seems to be saying that if the homeowner knew the exact time during the night that a thief was coming, obviously he's just not going to allow his home to be broken into. But the problem with the second coming is that it can happen any time. And the exact time will not be known in that time. So to be prepared, they'll have to be watchful for the events that precede the coming." The things he's described in chapter 24. So the command is to be constantly watchful. in those times. So they recognize the events of the tribulation are extraordinary and that will have an effect. All this points to the nation Israel. Okay, verse 44. Here's some additional advice. This is not the same advice. It's why I call tonight, be alert and be ready, because these are two separate things. And you notice it, because verse 44 says, for this reason you also must be ready. It says also. There's something additional here. for the Son of Man is coming in an hour when you do not think He will." So note the word also. You also must be ready. This is something additional, verse 42. Verse 42, be alert, Gregorio. And that means be watchful so that when the events of the tribulation begin to unfold, you know it's a herald of His coming. Just as the fig tree taught, When you see the tender shoots, then you know His coming is near. It's the same pattern. But here, they must also be ready. This is a different Greek word than alert in verse 42. This word is etoimos. It's actually a fairly common word in the Greek. Etoimos. And it means be prepared. So what do you think it's referring to? Be prepared with what? Salvation. Salvation. So not only should they be alert to the significance of the events of the tribulation, but the events of the tribulation should stimulate them to be prepared. And of course the way to be prepared for His coming is to have believed in Him. So the text is teaching the necessity of the nation of Israel being watchful in those times, so that when they see the false Christ, the false prophets, the wars and the rumors of wars, the kingdom rising in its kingdom, the abomination of desolation, they're being hated by all nations. and so forth, they should recognize this indicates the nearness of Christ's coming, and they should respond by believing in Him. Otherwise, when He comes, guess what? They'll be swept away in judgment, just like those who lived in the days of Noah. And again, the context is a contrast between believers and unbelievers at the time of Christ's Second Coming, and in particular here, Jewish believers and unbelievers. He'll deal with Gentiles later in chapter 25. Now in verses 45 to 51, we have the first of the three parables that deal with Israel's judgment when he comes. It took me all day Monday to figure these six verses out, because as much as I looked, there's no detailed exegesis I could find in the literature, literally. Just general explanations, and so I had to pump out all the details myself, and this takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of time. So it's been very exhausting, but it's been very rewarding. What is most concerning about what people do with these verses, 45 to 51, is what I talked about earlier. These are some people who are under the title of free grace. And again, they bring the church in here, the rapture, they make verse 51, the judgment seat of Christ. And that view, again, that's based on two false ideas. One, that people in that time will be able to know the exact time of the second coming. Because of that, they say, well, the second coming is not imminent, but the rapture is, so this must be the rapture. And from there, they just talk about the church. It's a contrast between faithful church believers and unfaithful church believers. That has so many problems. And then you have to explain what's happening in verse 51 to an unfaithful believer. Because what is described in verse 51 is penal punishment. But Jesus Christ bore our penal punishment on the cross, once for all. And second, they say, look at this, if you look at verse 45, you see there's one master, and there's both men, verse 45 and 48, they're both slaves. Since they're both slaves of the same master, they must both be believers. This is their reasoning. This is how they explain that everybody here is a believer. I'm going to show you this is absolute nonsense. Absolute nonsense and very destructive. They miss the entire point. It results in some very bad theology. Again, all you really need to do is just read what it says and not let your theology tell you what it should say. So let's just read it, verse 45. Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food 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 evil slave says in his heart, My master is not coming for a long time, and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Okay, so let's just think, what is this scene? What's the picture that's being described? Okay, there's a master, the master's leaving on a journey, right? During his absence, he appoints some of his slaves to be in charge of other of his slaves. The slaves who are in charge of the others have the responsibility to discharge in his absence. They need to feed the other slaves at the proper time. When the master returns, he's going to judge the slaves he put in charge. Am I missing anything? And of course, then he'll reward or not and penalize. So let's identify the players. Easily, who is the master? You'll probably get it right. Don't be afraid. Jesus, okay? That's easy. Jesus is going away on a journey, right? Because the nation has rejected him, but he's going to come back in the future. Who are the slaves? This is harder, of course. The slaves are the whole nation Israel. Just in general the slaves are the nation Israel, his people. Who are the slaves put in charge of the rest of the slaves? Okay, now this is the leadership of Israel. This is the leadership. Just like in the first century they had the leadership, the Pharisees, the scribes and so forth, so in the future they have the leadership. What is the responsibility that the leadership are given to discharge? This was hard. But notice the time. It's about timing. Recognize the proper time so that they lead the people of Israel in being spiritually prepared to meet Jesus when he comes. That was their responsibility in the first century too. They didn't do that. And who is the faithful and sensible slave? Well, he's a leader of the nation Israel who recognizes the events of the tribulation as a herald of the second coming, and he leads the people of Israel in getting spiritually prepared. He cares for the people. And what does he receive when Jesus returns? Well, he's going to be greatly rewarded, right? Blessed is he, and he'll be given great possession. Then who is the evil slave? Again, he's a leader of Israel. But he doesn't recognize the events of the tribulation as signaling the nearness of Christ's coming, and so he mistreats the people of Israel. What does he receive when Jesus returns? Well, he's not going to be permitted to enter the kingdom, but he's going to be cut in pieces and assigned a place with the hypocrites, which are who in the book of Matthew, by the way? without exception, the Pharisees. And in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So in general then, what is this passage basically about? Basically it's about the judgment of the leadership of the nation Israel. The leadership of the nation Israel will be responsible to recognize when Jesus is near by looking at the events of the tribulation. and they'll be responsible to prepare the people of Israel for his arrival. The first time that Jesus came in the first century, did the leaders recognize? No. In fact, it says that in Luke 19, verse 44. You did not recognize the time of your visitation. That is the responsibility of the leadership of the nation of Israel. The second time, there will be leaders who do recognize it. And by the way, that's the pattern, right? Israel never gets it right the first time. Remember Joseph? His brothers didn't recognize him the first time, but they did the second time. Moses, he came to rescue him. The people didn't recognize him as the leader. But he did, 40 years later, the second time. Over and over. Israel gets two opportunities, and they usually get it right the second time around. So the second time around, those two leaders who do recognize the time and lead the people toward faith in Jesus as the Messiah are going to enter the kingdom with great reward. Those leaders who do not are not going to enter the kingdom at all. It's actually really quite easy. It relates to what has come before in verse 42, their need to be watchful in that day. And the things in verse 44, the need also to be ready or prepared, which is to be ready with salvation. And the leadership will be responsible and held accountable and judged when Christ returns. In verse 45 Jesus says, Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time. Master, we said, is Jesus. He's going away on a journey. In His absence, He puts some of the slaves in charge over others. They're the leadership of Israel who are in charge. Who then is the faithful and sensible slave? Okay, the adjective faithful is from pistas, and it means reliable, dependable. So, who then is the dependable slave? And the other adjective is sensible, which is phronimos. Phronimos, and this is a word, that means wise. And you're going to see this word a lot in chapter 25, especially in the Ten Virgins, because these are going to elaborate on this parable. Wise, so dependable or reliable, and wise slaves. In Matthew 7, 24, the wise man is the one who hears Jesus' words and acts on them. He doesn't just hear the words, he acts on them. So the faithful and sensible slave, or wise slave, is a leader of Israel during the tribulation who is reliable and wise because he not only hears the words of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse, but he also acts on them and sets forth to prepare the nation Israel for his soon return. This did not happen again at the first advent, but it will happen at the second advent. Israel will get it the second time around. So as a result, in verse 46, blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. That is, blessed is the one who's preparing the nation Israel for Jesus' return. The word blessed, mecharios. Mecharios is the word used at the beginning of each of the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. The word means fortunate. So all who enter the kingdom are fortunate. Remember what Jesus said about John? There's no one born of women greater than John, but then he turned around and he said what? He who is least in the kingdom is greater than John. So the concept of it is somebody who's fortunate. And everyone who's in the kingdom, of course, is fortunate. But this leader of Israel here is especially fortunate because he recognized the events of the tribulation were a herald to Christ's coming, and he prepared the fellow Israelites by telling them to put their faith in him. Verse 47 describes the fortune he will have for this faithful and wise discharging of his responsibility. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. So when Jesus comes he's going to reward this faithful leader with great responsibility in the kingdom. And of course the principle is well known, he who is faithful with a little He will be given much responsibility. So the leadership of Israel during the Tribulation are given the great responsibility of recognizing the events of the Tribulation as heralding the Second Coming. The only proper response for them is to prepare the rest of the nation in Israel for His coming by pointing them to faith in Him. And if they discharge this responsibility well, they'll be given even greater responsibility in the Kingdom to come. However, by contrast, verse 48 But if that evil slave says in his heart, my master is not coming for a long time, and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour which he does not know. So the evil slave, again, he's among the leadership of Israel, but he's the polar opposite of a leader of Israel who's faithful and wise. The reason he's called evil is because he doesn't fulfill his responsibility, which is to recognize the events of the tribulation as heralding the near coming of Christ. So he's like not a good watchman on the wall, we might say. And this is seen by the fact that he says, my master's not coming for a long time. So the extraordinary events of the tribulation are occurring around him, but he doesn't recognize their significance. Just like someone who lived in the days of Noah, who saw the building of the ark, a portent of things to come, but did not realize its significance. And before he could understand, he was swept away in judgment. So they too will be swept away in judgment. So instead of leading the people to recognize the time of Messiah is near, instead the text says he begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards. No doubt the fellow slaves are his fellow Israelites. In chapter 24 verse 10 it predicted that in that time Jews will be divided amongst themselves and they will betray one another. They'll betray him and turn him over to Antichrist. But also it goes so far as to say that they'll eat and drink with drunkards. That is to say that they will cope with the difficulties of the tribulation by turning to strategies that unbelievers use to cope with difficulties, that is, gorge on food and drink. So obviously their allegiance is not to the Master, but their allegiance is to Antichrist and the false prophet in the last days. Because of that, verse 50 says, he's not alert to Messiah's coming. So the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him, and in an hour which he does not know. So the evil slave didn't realize the events pointed to his soon coming. They didn't expect him. He wasn't paying attention. Just like the people in the days of Noah did not pay attention to his preaching, they didn't pay attention to his building the ark, and consequently they're swept away. So here this leader is going to be caught off guard, he's going to be swept away and taken to judgment. As consequence, verse 51 says, the Lord Jesus will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The phrase, assign him a place with hypocrites, refers to being assigned to hell, because, as we said before, all the references to hypocrites throughout the whole Gospel of Matthew always referred to unbelieving Pharisees and scribes. They're not going to be in the kingdom. Clearly, these leaders of Israel in that time are unbelievers. And these leaders in the future time are also going to be excluded from the kingdom because they're hypocrites like the Pharisees too. The word cut him in pieces refers to dismemberment of a condemned person or criminal. Clearly they're condemned, why? Because they haven't believed. They're unbelievers. The expression, in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, refers to them being assigned to a location. It's a place where there is extreme suffering due to torment. And this place can be no other than hell. However, this is what I'm saying earlier. There's a whole view in the Free Grace Camp that seems to be picking up steam. It's very concerning to me. They say, this isn't describing judgment of unbelievers in hell. This is describing a judgment of unfaithful Christians. It's something that we may expect at the judgment seat of Christ if we don't live a faithful enough Christian life. And I find this to be a horrible and atrocious dealing with the text that creates anxiety in Christians and it turns the joy of meeting their Savior into a living hell. I mean, why would you want to meet Christ if you think you might be cut into pieces by Him and cast into a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth? So again, this word cut in pieces refers to dismemberment of a condemned person. This is just a metaphor for being punished by Christ with the utmost severity. But still, it's so concerning that they think that a believer could stand condemned before Christ. How could a believer be in Christ's presence and be condemned? And to be punished by Christ with what they call the utmost severity. How could that be? Well, it can't be. That's penal judgment, and Christ already bore all the penal judgment on the cross on our behalf. So this is a severe and distressing error, and I'm reading that they treat it rather cavalierly. Now the expression, in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, how do they explain this? I mean, it means to be assigned to a location, a place. It says place twice here. It means to be assigned to a location where there's extreme suffering due to torment. But they changed this to mean that believers that don't live a faithful enough life are going to experience profound regret over their life because they didn't capitalize on the opportunities God gave them. And consequently, in the kingdom, they're going to be cast into outer darkness. And they say that means they'll be in the kingdom, but they won't get to go to the wedding feast. And again, this is terrible. I mean, this is very distressing for me to watch because I know some of these people. In the first place, this is a major problem I have seen. And that is to distinguish the wedding feast from the kingdom itself as a whole. And to treat the wedding feast like it's a little banquet that happens at the beginning of the kingdom and not just the whole kingdom. They have to have that in their view. It's called a linchpin. Because if you pull that out from their view and you make the whole wedding feast the kingdom, then this means believers aren't going to be in the kingdom. Altogether. So they've got to have it as a separate little event at the beginning. But here's the problem with that. What's a wedding feast? What does that conjure up in your mind? A bad day? No, it's a time of joy, celebration, and eating. And those things all go together, don't they? Joy, celebration, and you've got to have food in there. Eating. Well, the whole kingdom is a period of joy, celebration, and eating. You know, enjoyment of life. The wedding feast imagery is an imagery of the entire kingdom, not of a part of it. You're not going to go into the kingdom and go to a special dinner. No, if you're in the kingdom, the entire thing is the wedding feast. That means it's just imagery. The wedding feast is an imagery of the joy of that time and the celebration that we'll have with Christ. So you can't say, well certain believers aren't going to get to go to this feast because you've created an idea that's not even in the Bible. And then, you know, it's very distressing that they would come up with a view, they're called free grace, they call themselves free grace, but then in the midst of this, does this sound like a very gracious view? In verse 51, believers being cut into pieces and being placed in a place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth, you have profound regret because you don't get to go into the wedding feast. Does that sound like grace? So this is very distressing to me. Everyone who knows how to read, really, should be able to see that Jesus Christ is not going to cut believers in pieces and assign them a place with the hypocritical Pharisees where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's really unforgivable. It's not even Bible study. In the context, again, what have we said from the beginning, starting with the flood, the contrast is between believers and who? unbelievers. The believers in the days of Noah were left on earth to repopulate the earth, and the unbelievers were swept away in judgment. So it will be, he said, in the coming of the Son of Man. There will be believers and unbelievers. The believers will be left on the earth to enter the kingdom. The unbelievers will be swept away in judgment. They'll be excluded from the kingdom. This should be very clear. But apparently it's not, and it's very concerning, and I don't want you to get caught up in these views, because this literature is becoming more and more prevalent, and if you read that, it can cause a lot of anxiety. Am I living the Christian life good enough? Is he going to cut me in pieces? Is he going to penally punish me, strip me down, and whip me? Because this is the kind of stuff that they're talking about, that's going to happen to you. and you should not buy into these lies. As convincing as the arguments sometimes sound. Alright, so in summary, verse 42, the application of the comparison here between the flood and the second coming is that in the future tribulation the nation Israel should be on the alert. This means watchful during that time so they recognize the events as harbingers of his coming. They missed it the first time. Verse 43 shows that being alert is critical to not being caught unaware and robbed. In verse 44, since no one can know the exact moment of His coming, in addition to being alert, they also must be ready. This means prepared with salvation, since only those who are saved will enjoy kingdom entrance. In verses 45 to 51, the first of the nation Israel to be judged are always the leadership. Who's always judged first, the people or those who lead the people? So it makes sense that this is the leadership. The following verses will deal with others in the nation, and then Gentiles. To the Jew first, and then to the Gentile. Salvation to the Jew first, to the Gentile, but also judgment to the Jew first, then Gentile. It follows the exact pattern that we know from other passages. So verses 45, the faithful and sensible slave represents a Jewish leader who recognizes the signs of his coming and acts on them by preparing the nation Israel, pointing them to the necessity of faith in Christ. In verse 46, when Jesus returns, that leader of Israel will be fortunate. In verse 47, he will be rewarded in the kingdom with great responsibility of Christ's possessions. In verse 48, however, the evil slave represents Jewish leaders in that time who do not recognize the signs of his coming and don't prepare the nation of Israel by pointing them to faith in Christ. As such, they will side with the unbelievers in that time. In verse 50, when the Son of Man comes in His kingdom, they will be caught off guard, condemned, and assigned to a place in hell with the hypocritical Pharisees of the first century, where they will all suffer eternal torment. So that's a summary, and of course, the important thing to realize is As far as application is concerned, sure, the rapture can happen, let's say, at any time, and we should always be ready for that. Prepared with what? Well, prepared with salvation, of course. And also living in light of it, always. But these things really deal with the future tribulation and those things of that time, and the things that they'll be seeing that are unique signs of very extraordinary times comparable to the period before the flood. Let's close with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, once again we give thanks for the times in which we do live. We pray that our lives are a light unto the world, that we're going out, we're learning your Word, and we're sharing these things with other people, praying for them and hoping that they may come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. And we pray for understanding of these passages. Some of the stuff in the end times, of course, is very difficult to unravel. There are so many pieces to the puzzle So we pray for your illumination by the Spirit of God to understand these things and to put them together in a framework of reference so that we can have a good idea of the things that are to come. And we give thanks for the salvation we have in Christ. Every spiritual blessing that we have is in Him, and we are seated in Him in the heavenlies. And we give you thanks and help us to appropriate these by faith every day so that we can enjoy our salvation. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.