Faithful Servant?

"His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’"

Matthew 25:21

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

Matthew 25:23

In the Parable of the Talents, two servants receive the same word of commendation from their Master. Words that every Christian hopes to hear from their Lord one day. "Well done, good and faithful servant!" What did they do to receive such an honor, and what must we do to receive the same?

First, it's important to note that when Jesus returns, there will be a settling of accounts. You will have to give an account of how you have used what He has entrusted to you. You will stand before Him and answer for how you served Him… and how you didn’t.

Second, hearing “Well done, good and faithful servant” isn’t just about believing. Being saved will get you into Heaven, but it won’t get you a “well done.” This commendation is reserved for the faithful... for those who work tirelessly to serve the master and grow His kingdom... for those who faithfully steward what He has entrusted to them.

Third, the two servants who received this commendation were equally faithful but not equally productive. One servant earned five talents for his master; the other earned only two. That's less than half of five. But both were equally faithful in that they doubled the amount they had been entrusted with. This proves that it isn’t about scale but faithfulness. You don’t have to compare yourself to or try to outdo other believers. You just have to be faithful with what God has entrusted to you. 

Lastly, these servants were not only commended but also rewarded with more responsibility and a higher position. The master says, “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.” Those who prove themselves faithful in the master’s absence will be entrusted with more when He returns. Though every believer will be saved, we will not all hold the same position in Heaven. There will be work to do in Heaven. There will be things to manage and to care for to the glory of God. And I understand this parable to teach that God, who does all things rightly, will divvy up responsibilities in the kingdom based on how we have proven ourselves here on earth. God rewards faithfulness! 

So, be careful to faithfully use what God has entrusted to you to grow His kingdom. Live in such a way that you will hear your Master say, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!"

Master of the House

Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”

Mark 13:33–37

Jesus gives us an analogy here for His second coming: that of a master of a house going on a long trip and leaving His servants to work and wait for his return.

The main point of this analogy is simple enough. Since his servants don’t know when their master might return, they must always keep watch to ensure they aren’t caught off guard or found sleeping when he arrives. We see this point illustrated most clearly in the keeper of the door. It’s his job to warn the house of the master’s approach and make sure a suitable welcome is ready when he arrives. So, he keeps watch at the door. It doesn’t matter if the master should come home in the middle of the night or the middle of the day, he must be watching and ready whenever he arrives.

There’s a second point here as well though. Jesus says in verse 34 that the master “puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task.” It isn’t enough to just watch for the master’s return; you also need to work. You need to faithfully do the task God has given you to do. You have to watch and work.

It reminds me of when I was in middle or high school and would stay home by myself during the summer. My mom would leave a list of jobs for me to do, and, of course, I would put them off until the end of the day. Then, suddenly I would look at the clock and realize that Mom was going to be home in 15 minutes. Then, I would run around like a crazy person trying to get an hour’s worth of work done in 15 minutes so my mom wouldn’t find me out.

I'm convinced that Jesus’ return is going to be like that for some Christians. The time for His coming is going to sneak up on them, and they will be embarrassed when their work is inspected. They will be embarrassed that they didn’t share the gospel with anyone, embarrassed that they didn’t use their spiritual gifts to serve the church, embarrassed that they laid up treasure on earth instead of in Heaven, embarrassed that they didn’t obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit to do those things God had specifically called them to do.

Do you know what your job is in the kingdom? Do you know what He has gifted you to do? What He has commanded you to do? If so, make sure you are working. Make sure you are watching. Make sure you are ready.

Purify Yourself

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

‌1 John 3:2–3

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This passage tells us two important things about the coming of Jesus. The first is that when He comes we shall be made like Him. What a glorious thought! That we Christians, those who have strived all our lives to be Christ-like (for that is what the word 'Christian' means) will one day achieve our goal and finally be like Him.

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The second thing we glean from this passage is found in verse three when it says that “all who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure.”

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The great Christian thinker A.W. Tozer, likened this purification process to the preparation a bride undergoes for her wedding day. ‌Before her wedding a bride usually takes great care to prepare herself and her appearance for her husband. She has hair and makeup appointments scheduled from early in the morning until the time of the wedding. She has people there to help her with her hair and to help her get her dress on and to style her. She wants to look just right. ‌And Tozer asks, “should not the church of Jesus Christ be dressed worthy of her bridegroom, even as He is dressed? Pure—even as He is pure?” [A. W. Tozer, The Apostles’ Creed (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2023), 98–99.]

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This is why “all who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure.” Because we want to be found pleasing to our husband, pleasing to the Lord Jesus when He comes.

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So, let me ask. What are you currently purifying about your life? It’s a constant struggle to be holy. All of us are works in progress, and we should always be working on something. Otherwise we may not be making any progress. So, find something in your life right now to purify yourself from.

Awake and Clothed

“Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”

Revelation 16:15

Even with all the Bible reveals to us about Jesus' second coming, people will still be caught off guard. Jesus says He will come like a thief, so He warns us to make sure that we are ready

How do you make sure you’re ready for Jesus’ return? Well, according to this verse, part of being ready is staying awake. Be careful not to allow yourself to be lulled to “sleep” by the enemy or by our world. You must keep your eyes open if you are going to see the signs that Scripture tells us will signal the end. If you want to avoid being caught off guard by Jesus' coming, the first thing you must do is stay “awake.”

The second thing Jesus mentions is keeping your clothes with you. “In the ancient Near East, conquering armies often paraded prisoners of war naked to expose them to as much shame as possible”* Can you imagine? Wanting to hide so badly but being completely exposed with no way to cover or hide anything from anyone. It would be awful!

So, being properly clothed in case of an attack was important. It could help you fend off your attackers. (It's difficult to fight for your life in your pajamas.) It could help you outrun them. (It’s hard to run for your life without shoes on.) At the very least being properly clothed when you were captured ensured that you weren’t embarrassed until and if they stripped you naked to parade you.

 

For believers “keeping our clothes with us” probably refers to making sure we are clothed with righteousness. Jesus is warning you to be careful not to sully yourself with the sins of the world. You don't want to end up ashamed when Jesus returns. Because when he returns we will all be exposed for what we really are. He will see what you have been doing, and there will be nowhere to hide.

So, are you ready? Are you staying awake? Are your eyes open to what's going on in the world? And are you keeping your clothes with you? Are you clothed with righteous deeds or will you be embarrassed when Jesus returns? Take Jesus' advice: "stay awake and remain clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”

*John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Re 16:15.

Jesus: The Dividing Line

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Matthew 25:31-33

There will come a day when people are no longer separated along geopolitical lines, racial barriers, or income tiers; but rather by their response to Jesus. On that day every nation will be gathered before Him as He sits on His heavenly throne, and He will divide the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep being representative of those who placed their faith in Christ, the goats of those who rejected Him.

This is why your commitment to Christ must be primary. It must be your ultimate allegiance in life. It must be greater than your patriotism because Jesus won't judge you based on your national allegiance, but on your personal relationship to Him. It must be greater than your love for your family and even your own self-interest because Jesus said “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26).

Jesus must be your all in all, because He is what unites you to some and divides you from others. The Spirit of Christ unites all believers across every barrier and dividing line our evil world can create. Yet, Jesus told us that He would also bring division. He said, "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). So, you must understand that your allegiance to Christ will draw some nearer to you and some it will send running in the opposite direction. Christ will tell you to go to this person and to leave that one alone.

Therefore, it is imperative that we all make sure we are on the right side of this dividing line. How do we do that? In this passage, Jesus bases it on how we respond to the needs of other believers. When Jesus' brothers (i.e. believers) are hungry, thirsty, lacking shelter, in need of clothing, sick, or imprisoned; how do we respond? Do we meet their needs?

Now Jesus isn't espousing a works righteousness here but is showing that love for other believers is a proof of salvation. We see this in the earliest church in Acts 2. All those who repented and placed their faith in Christ, began selling off their possessions and giving to other believers as they had need (Acts 2:44-45). The Spirit of Christ so unites believers that love for one another is a sure sign of the family of faith.

So, are you on the right side of the dividing line? Have you placed your faith in Christ? Jesus was fond of saying that you will know a tree by its fruit (Luke 6:43-45), so what are you doing to meet the needs of other believers? If aren't doing anything, then what does that say about you?

Life goes on.

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Matthew 24:37-39

Do you know what the vast majority of people did on the day after 9/11? They got out of bed and went to work. Do you know what most did the day after Hurricane Katrina or the 2007 Tsunami or even Pearl Harbor? You're right. Unless it personally affected them, they got up and went about their business. 

Life goes on. Oftentimes, relentlessly so. 

People sometimes use this fact to try to give us hope in the face of tragedy. Hope that one day we'll get over our loss. But when your life has been touched personally by loss, the fact that everyone else goes on as if nothing happened can seem rather cruel. Your life feels like it's over, but everyone else barely seems to notice. 

Yet this unforgivable, unrelenting forward march of time and life is just what Scripture says will happen. right up until the very end. People will continue on with life as usual just as they do after every tragedy and loss. Even as God sends signs and warnings that the time is near, people will pay no attention. The vast majority will overlook the signs of Jesus' coming and keep on eating, drinking, and getting married like the world will keep on as it is forever.  

Yes, life will go on...until it doesn't. 

We know of course, that there will come a day when life as we know it stops. Jesus will return. The dead will be raised. We all will be judged. 

So what would Jesus have us do? How do we avoid missing the signs? In verse 42 Jesus tells us to "keep watch." Watch for Christ's return. Anticipate it. Look forward to it. In verse 44 Jesus counsels us to "be ready." Prepare yourself to meet your Maker. Get right with God today before it's too late! Lastly in verse 46 Jesus urges us to live in obedience to God's commands. Once you are right with God, live every day before Him like it might be your last. Be careful to fulfill all your duties to the Lord so you might hope to be rewarded in the afterlife not punished.

The Cares of this World

Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.

Luke 21:34

My grandfather had a great rule of thumb. He would tell me that if something wasn't going to make a difference in my life one year from now; then it wasn't worth worrying about. The truth is that most of us spend an exorbitant amount of time worrying about things that we won't even remember a year from now. Think about all the time you have wasted worrying over things that never amounted to anything! But Jesus reminds us that worry can cost us more than wasted time. If we aren't careful the cares of this life can distract us from the ultimate importance of eternal matters. 

In today's passage Jesus warns us about three things that can weigh our hearts down and cause us to be caught off guard on the day of His return: drunkenness, carousing, and the anxieties of life. It is easy to see how drunkenness could distract us as well as carousing. What comes as a surprise to me is the inclusion of the anxieties of life. We don't normally consider worry to be as dangerous as a drinking problem. I can imagine all manner of Christian friends rushing in to confront a fellow believer over drunkenness, but it's hard to imagine them rushing in to confront a believer about being weighed down by the cares of the world.

But the truth is that all three of these things come from the same root. They all grow out of a heart that is too focused on this world and not nearly focused enough on the next. When a believer gives in to his desires for the things of this world it causes him to either run headlong after these things (as is the case with drunkenness) or to worry over these things incessantly (as is the case with anxiety). Either such a believer's focus has been moved off of eternity and onto the things of this world. He has given this world more weight than it deserves. And the weightier this world seems to us, the more ethereal and abstract heaven appears. Conversely, the more heavily heaven weighs in our thoughts, the more the things of this world are exposed for the hollow shell that they really are.

Jesus' advice shows that my grandfather's rule actually doesn't go quite far enough. We must be careful not to be weighed down by the worries of this life at all. Jesus doesn't ask "Will it matter in a year?" but "Will it matter in eternity?" If not, then don't worry about it. All of us have to live in the reality of this world and sometimes that means doing things like paying bills and washing the car, but we must keep these things in their proper place. We cannot let them begin to push eternity out of our hearts and minds. We must not let the mundane and the meaningless so overwhelm us that we lose sight of our great hope in Christ's return. We dare not become experts in managing the temporary and forget to prepare for the eternal.

For further reading...

• Luke 8:1-15 (esp. vs 14)- The cares of this world can choke your growth in Christ.
• 1 Peter 5:7- Interestingly, this verses uses the same word for anxiety and tells the believer what she should do with her anxiety: cast it on the Lord.