WEBVTT 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:03.439 Turn to the Gospel of Matthew. 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:06.400 Hopefully you have a Bible. 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:09.599 If not, you can use the Pew Bible there in front of you. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:12.480 Matthew chapter 24. 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:17.679 That's the first book of our Christian New Testament. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:24.160 Matthew 24, that's page 880, if you're using the Pew Bible this morning. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:35.280 The text we'll consider begins in verse 32, and we'll finish the rest of this chapter. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:42.320 Matthew 24, verses 32 down through verse 51. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:44.719 This is what Holy Scripture says. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:49.359 Learn this lesson from the fig tree. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:56.000 As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:01.200 In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize that he is near at the door. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:07.840 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:13.359 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:22.079 Now concerning that day and hour, no one knows, neither the angels of heaven nor the sun, except the Father alone. 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:26.799 As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:36.079 For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the Ark. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:40.640 They didn't know until the flood came and swept them all away. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:44.000 This is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:48.000 Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and one left. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:53.359 Two women will be grinding grain with a handmill, one will be taken and one left. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:02:06.000 Therefore be alert, since you don't know what day your Lord is coming, but know this if the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:13.039 This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you did not expect. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:23.280 Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time? 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:28.800 Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:33.599 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:57.599 But if that wicked servant says in his heart, My master is delayed, and starts to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards, that servant's master will come on a day he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know, he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:14.800 Lord, we're again asking for the spirit, because without the spirit the flesh profits nothing, and we want the conviction and power that is not merely human, but that comes through the spirit as he speaks through his word. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:19.199 So grant us that now as we look at this text, we pray in Jesus' name. 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:20.080 Amen. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:30.240 I know that was a larger block of text that I read, it's the whole passage for this morning, but I want to begin by drawing your attention right away to verse number 45. 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:36.560 Who then is a faithful and wise servant? 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:44.719 You can hear Christ summarizing what he's saying by the call for faithful servants. 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:50.800 And look all the way down in the next chapter, chapter 25 to verse 21. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:55.919 Well done, good and faithful servant. 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:57.199 There it is again. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:00.719 Expectation of a faithful servant. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:06.560 And both of these figures are waiting, these faithful servants. 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:18.879 In the surrounding context of these chapters, Matthew 24 and 25, where Jesus gives this teaching from the Mount of Olives, he speaks frequently of his coming. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:19.920 He's coming. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:23.680 The text we read had a lot of language of the coming of Christ. 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:27.040 We don't know when he will come, so we have to be patient. 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:28.720 We don't know when he will come. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:30.240 We've got to be alert and active. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:36.560 We don't know when he will come, so we want to act as wise ones and not as unwise ones. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:44.639 So if we're drawing this together, the Son of Man is coming, he's looking for faithful servants in the meantime. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:51.920 We could summarize it this way Christ calls us to wait for him faithfully. 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:58.160 Christ calls us to wait for him faithfully. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:00.959 How do we demonstrate that? 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:04.240 We demonstrate that three ways. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:16.639 Number one, by being anchored in his word, number two, by being alert to his coming, and number three, by being active in his service. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:22.399 So first, we're to be faithfully waiting by being anchored in his word. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:23.680 Verse 35. 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:28.959 Christ says there, My words will never pass away. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:35.040 We have to be anchored in God's word because that's the thing that's permanent. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:38.480 That's the thing that won't pass away. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:47.360 Three different times in verses 34 and 35, something is said to pass away or to not pass away. 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:59.279 You see that first in verse 34, Jesus says, This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:05.120 So Jesus isn't saying that this generation will never, ever, ever, ever pass away. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:11.839 The implication is when these things take place, that generation will pass away. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:13.600 Well, what things? 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:17.839 There's a verbal clue for us right in this chapter. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:21.439 Where else do we hear the phrase these things? 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:28.720 Go all the way back up to when this whole section starts in verse number two of chapter 24. 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:35.839 His disciples are pointing out the significance of the temple complex. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:44.160 And Jesus says, Do you see all these things talking about the temple they've been discussing? 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:49.279 Then Jesus goes on to say, Not one stone will be left, it'll all be torn down. 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:56.000 The next place we find that expression is in verse number three. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:01.680 There the disciples ask, When will these things happen? 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:08.160 So Jesus has just said, the stone's not going to be left on top of another, it's going to be torn down. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:10.480 And the disciples say, When will these things happen? 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:12.879 When will the destruction of the temple happen? 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:20.879 And then they go on to ask an additional question to the disciples in verse number three question about the sign of his coming and the end of the age. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:27.839 So two times right at the outset of this discourse, these things refers to the temple and its destruction. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:36.319 So I take it that here in verse 34, Jesus is circling back to remind his disciples that these things will take place. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:43.600 The temple will pass away, and that stands in contrast with God's word that never passes away. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:47.439 Jeremiah 7, verse 4. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:56.639 Do not trust in deceitful words, chanting, This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:03.199 People in Jeremiah's day were appealing to the temple, but they weren't listening to God's words. 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:05.120 They weren't listening to what he said. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:16.160 Jeremiah had already prophesied in chapter three of a coming day when people will no longer say the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:20.319 And it will never enter their minds or be remembered. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:24.240 It will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:29.439 So, despite the Indiana Jones movies, that's not what Jeremiah says. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:39.600 Jeremiah says there's a coming day when this piece of furniture that was so central in the temple, it was the throne room of God, where people won't even ask about it. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:41.759 It's passing away. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:57.679 When we fast forward to the book of Revelation, Revelation 21, 22, John writes, I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:04.000 Temple passes away, and even generations pass away. 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:11.200 As for man, his days are like grass, he blooms like a flower of the field. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:15.039 When the wind passes over it, it vanishes. 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:17.600 Its place is no longer known. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:23.440 Psalm 90 ten, our lives last seventy years, or if we're strong, eighty years. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:26.240 Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:30.879 Indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away. 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:33.360 These things take place. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:35.200 That generation passes away. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:40.720 Future generations pass away, but God's word lasts forever. 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:53.840 Pastor Doug mentioned a couple of weeks ago that uh some people have tried to use verse 34 as kind of a calculator to determine the exact time frame of the Lord's return. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:10:03.039 So they'll say, well, Israel was reestablished in 1948, and a generation is 40 years, so Christ is coming back in 1988. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:06.399 And they were wrong. 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:09.919 And then some other people come along and say, Ah-uh, but wait, but wait. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:13.440 Psalm says a generation could be 70 years. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:17.440 So it's not 1988, it's 2018. 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:20.639 And they were wrong. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:32.639 And then some people, I was on a website this week, wasted 10 minutes of my precious life on this website, but lest you say, well, no one really thinks this, the people do. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:34.639 But wait, wait, wait, wait. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:39.120 The Psalm says 70 or 80 years. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:43.440 So see, it's not 2018, it's 2028. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:47.360 I would love for the Lord to return in 2028. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:51.120 We would all celebrate that, but we don't know. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:11:02.000 And when we treat scripture that way, it's not only that people are misinterpreting scripture, they're giving fodder to the scoffers who say, Where is the promise of his coming? 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:04.480 We don't want to do that. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:11.840 Even in verse 35, it's not only the temple, it's not only generations that come and go. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:17.519 Even it says in verse 35, heaven and earth will pass away. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:20.240 Second Peter. 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:23.360 Peter writes the same thing in chapter 3, verses 8 to 10. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:26.399 Dear friends, don't overlook this one fact. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:31.039 With the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:39.120 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:42.480 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:45.360 Similar language to what we read here in Matthew. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:57.919 On that day, the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:05.120 God wants us to set our whole heart on his word to be anchored there. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:14.879 How many of you really thought there was ever a day when you might not see the World Trade Center standing in its place? 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:26.879 How many of you, and we love having the children with us, if you can remember when you were nine years old, to think of 70 or 80 years, that's basically like forever. 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:28.399 Like I'm never gonna die. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:37.840 And then as you get older, you realize, well, life actually just rushes out to sea like a sandcastle when the wind comes in. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:43.360 Even beautiful buildings, great buildings, crumble and fall. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:47.919 But Jesus upholds everything by the power of his word. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:58.399 And if it's his word that sustains the heavens and the earth, if it's his word that determines the end from the beginning, then we have to anchor our lives in his word. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:00.559 That's faithful waiting. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:06.480 And it's not just individually, we as a church want to be anchored in the word together. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:18.799 That's why when we come, we want to be having scripture guide what we sing about and what we listen to on the Lord's Day, and how we have it read, and how we have it infusing our prayers and hopefully our conversations. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:23.120 We want to be anchored in the word together as we wait for Him. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:26.320 It's His Word. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:32.879 It comes from Christ, the Son of Man, and it's meant to bring us back to Him. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:36.720 Revelation 21, 23. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:39.600 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:49.039 This new Jerusalem doesn't need the sun or the moon because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:52.240 So there will be a new heavens and the earth, new earth. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:14:04.639 After this heaven and earth passes away, there'll be a new creation, but even that created order is in remarkable ways changed and transformed as Christ encompasses everything. 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:08.960 So let the word bring you to Jesus the Son. 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:18.159 Second, we demonstrate that we are faithfully waiting when we're alert to his coming. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:19.679 Verse 42. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:22.960 Therefore, be alert. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:27.279 Or some of your versions might say, Watch or be ready. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:37.600 Since you don't know what day your Lord is coming, but know this if the homeowner had broken, had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:40.639 There it is again, and not let his house be broken into. 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:44.799 That is why you are also to be ready. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:51.759 So it's not just enough to have an idea that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:54.240 We want to be anticipating it. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.039 Not predicting the day or the hour. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:04.320 We don't know the times and seasons, but we can still be anticipating and alert and ready for his coming when he does come. 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:09.200 We're drawn back to this final coming of Christ there in verse 36. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:15.919 So before he talks about being alert and this parable of the owner that goes away and comes back, notice verse 36. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:20.080 Now concerning that day and hour. 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:27.519 Again, in this section, Christ has talked both about the destruction of the temple in the first century and about his final coming. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:31.919 And he gives us this clue that he's talking about the final coming. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:39.919 And then he goes on in verse 37 to not give us the exact day or the hour, but he does make a comparison for us. 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:43.919 He compares his second coming, his final coming, to the days of Noah. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:48.960 As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:53.279 That was the scripture reading for this morning that Mike helped us with. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:57.679 And there's something similar about his second coming from the days of Noah. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:15:59.440 What is that similarity? 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:04.000 The days of Noah were days of judgment. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:10.559 The people that weren't ready for the flood were swept away. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:13.679 Verse 38 highlights that. 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:26.159 Carrying on in life with no thought of the God of heaven who's overall. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:36.240 Until the day Noah boarded the ark, they didn't know until the flood came and swept them all away. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:39.679 They weren't alert to coming judgment. 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:46.639 If you're here and you're not alert to the coming of Christ, you're going to be swept away in judgment. 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:52.559 I say that with no ill will towards you, but to warn you based on what Jesus Himself says. 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:56.559 Do you personally know the one who's coming? 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:08.640 Not just are you a respecter of the idea of God in general, or you have some thoughts of Jesus, but have you turned from your own way and trusted in him alone? 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:10.799 Have you embraced him and received him? 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:18.480 Don't think that somehow you're going to be able to accumulate enough good works to withstand his coming. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:29.119 That's like a child taking some Legos and building a little house and putting it up on the lifeguard stand in Long Beach and thinking, you know, when Hurricane Sandy comes through, that'll it'll hold up. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:30.240 It won't. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:33.680 It'll be swept away with God's judgment. 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:45.279 And when the Lord Jesus returns, if you don't know him, you won't be able in that day to point your finger at the Christians who made bad predictions about the future. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:47.359 You have to stand before God. 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:52.480 You won't be able to point your finger at those who are hypocrites, which this passage talks about. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:56.640 We'll get into that, but you have to stand before the Lord. 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:00.240 And death and final judgment really do come. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.759 It comes suddenly and irreversibly. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:09.599 Verses 40 to 41, let the listener understand for a moment here. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:17.599 But sometimes you might have heard these two verses and you haven't closely considered the context and the comparison Christ is making. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:24.799 So there's two men in the field, one's taken, one's left, there's two women grinding grain, one's taken, one's left. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:34.400 He's comparing it to Noah's day when people are going about their business and the flood comes and sweeps them away. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:43.519 So Jesus isn't saying, at least here in this passage, that all the Christians are going to mysteriously disappear for many years. 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:47.599 He's saying if you are not ready, you're going to be swept away in judgment. 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:49.440 That's the comparison here. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:55.039 No, I didn't. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:56.480 I did read the first book. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:00.160 Usually the books are better than the movies, and just as a general rule of thumb. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:07.599 But I have to remind you of something you already know, and I know you know this, but Tim Lahaye is not inspired by God, but Matthew is. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.079 So focus on what Matthew's saying here. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:13.599 If you want to talk to me about other passages of scripture after the service, that's fine. 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:17.119 But right here he's comparing it to this flood of judgment. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:21.920 Remember the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13? 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:28.160 Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so will be at the end of the age. 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:35.839 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sin and those guilty of lawlessness. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:40.160 They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:44.079 Then the righteous will shine like the sun and their father's kingdom. 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:47.440 Let anyone who has ears to hear listen. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.000 But there's a hopefulness. 00:19:54.319 --> 00:20:01.200 We're alert to his coming, and we can be alert with hope and expectation if we've received his salvation. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:04.720 And to do that, we've got to consider his first coming. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:13.920 His first coming was a coming to bring salvation, to be a substitute, to live a perfect life, to die the death that we deserved. 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:18.799 All this judgment that we're speaking about, Christ took it upon himself and his first coming. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:23.039 And for all those who turn and trust in him, there's freedom. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:31.279 There's not a looking forward to that last day with a cowering fear, but an excitement that our Lord will return and receive us to himself. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:34.960 He'll be marveled at on that day by all those who have believed in him. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:41.599 Hold on to him as the faithful servant. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:43.200 That's our hope right there. 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:51.440 We don't have to know exactly when he's coming to be excited about his coming. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:54.559 Human nature is not meant to know all things. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:21:08.559 Even the Son, and listen carefully, even the Son in his human nature, according to his human mind, apparently didn't know things that the Father knew. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:11.440 He grew in wisdom and stature according to his human nature. 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:13.200 Yes, he's he's divine. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:32.400 But to be alert to his coming is to expect it with anticipation and wonder, not to put every little last detail in place because we can't match up exactly all those little details, but we can be excited about it. 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:34.400 We can be prayerfully alert. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:40.720 Remember when Jesus is with the disciples and he's in the garden, he says, just watch with me and pray, be alert in prayer. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:45.839 And then he comes out and they're they're sleeping because they they lost that connection to him. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.519 We'll come, and I don't want to uh preach Kevin's sermon for him next week. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:54.880 I don't want to do that, but we'll come to this parable of the brides waiting for the groom to come. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:56.160 Are you ready? 00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:59.039 As a bride anticipates the groom. 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:05.920 You know, I've been To a number of weddings, and I have yet to be at a wedding where it's about to start. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:13.279 The groom's here, the bride's in the back somewhere, and someone comes out and says, Stop the music, hang on a second. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:15.519 The bride fell asleep. 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:16.880 She was in the back. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:18.720 Canon and D was taking too long. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:19.440 She got bored. 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:20.000 She fell asleep. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:21.039 We're trying to wake her up. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:22.079 Just hold on. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:23.359 Hasn't happened. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:26.160 Not one time yet in all the weddings I've been to. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:30.720 Because the bride is anticipating being united to the groom. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:31.759 She's alert. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:32.640 She's ready. 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:34.480 She's excited to be there. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:38.000 Don't sleep on Jesus. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:40.480 Be anchored in his word. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:43.440 Be alert to his coming. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:48.480 And then finally, this morning, be active in his service. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:50.079 Verse number 46. 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:59.920 Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:03.279 We have a trust from God. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:06.400 We've got a job to do. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:12.240 Waiting faithfully is active waiting. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:19.519 We need to be about the Lord's business all the while, yes, with an eye to the return of our Lord. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:22.640 Faithful waiting is active waiting. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:24.240 Be active in his service. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:29.440 It's not like when you're waiting in the dentist's office. 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:31.279 You know what I mean? 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:33.200 You know your name's going to get called. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:37.119 You know you've got an appointment, but what are you doing in the meantime? 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:41.039 Well, I haven't looked at golf digest since I was last here. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:42.960 Is Tiger Woods still playing? 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:44.319 Let me check this out. 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:51.200 You know something's happening, but it's not actually animating what you're doing for those 15 minutes while you're waiting. 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:53.359 So it's it's not waiting like that. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:58.720 This is more like you're an employee at Chick-fil-A and they get you in the morning and say, hey, everybody, listen up. 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:00.480 The owner's coming today. 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:04.480 How are you gonna wait if you know the owner's coming? 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:15.279 Uh hopefully, you correct me if I'm wrong, but hopefully, the the employees aren't gonna, someone's not gonna raise their hand and say, Well, owner coming or not, I need to double break today. 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:20.240 Uh Taylor Swift's new album just dropped, and I've got a lot of songs to listen to. 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:22.640 Uh, when the owner gets here, let me know. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.839 I'll come over and throw some waffle fries in the fryer, and it'll be fine. 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:27.119 Of course not. 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:33.200 You you want to be eager to have everything prepared, all the samples lined up, everything clean. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:38.640 You're waiting, but that's gonna inform how you serve while you're waiting. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:46.400 This passage describes in more detail unfaithful waiting. 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:56.640 So, verse 49 There's a servant who is entrusted with this charge from the master. 00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:01.039 It's a parable, and he starts to beat his fellow servants. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:02.480 It's a warning there. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:04.960 He eats and drinks with drunkards. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:08.400 So it's unfaithful waiting. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:13.839 It can be abusive tyrants like the character in this parable. 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:18.880 People aren't flourishing under their care, they're shriveling under their care. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:22.720 They just want to be in charge and control and let others know that. 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.359 That's not faithful waiting. 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:28.720 That's not active in the Lord's service. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:34.000 Or sometimes it's like being a drunk. 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:36.799 Oh, the master will come back when he comes back. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:40.240 In the meantime, let's eat and drink, because tomorrow we'll die. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:43.119 That's unfaithful waiting. 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:46.720 Jesus uses a word in verse 51. 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:49.359 It's a word he's used before in Matthew. 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:51.759 Uh it's a it's a scary word. 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:59.680 Not the word cut or pieces or weeping, those are frightening words. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:06.640 The lazy servants in this parable get assigned a place with the hypocrites. 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:09.200 It's a very interesting word. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:13.279 He's just been talking about someone who is a merciless drunk. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:16.480 That sounds like he's obviously a bad guy. 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:18.319 What's so hypocritical about that? 00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:20.160 There's nothing hidden about that. 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:26.160 But this servant is still presenting himself as part of the master's house. 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:28.880 Remember the Pharisees? 00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:37.759 That's been one of the main groups of people that Jesus is speaking to and warning in the section of Matthew leading up to where we are now. 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:47.119 The Pharisees very much saw themselves as servants in the Lord's house, but they were trampling over widows. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:59.200 They might not have been drunks in that sense, but they were so intoxicated with their own pride, they didn't see the coming judgment. 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:16.160 I would pray there would be no one here who you take the communion wine today, but you know you're planning to go home and have another drink and another drink and another drink, and you're presenting yourself as part of God's house, but it doesn't actually affect the way that you live. 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:31.359 I would I would pray there'd be no one here today who you would flatter some in the church to come across as as a healthy child of God, but then you would belittle the least of these as brothers. 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:39.519 Jesus is going to go on, even in the next chapter, to say, Whoever gives a cup of cold water to the least of these, you've done it to me. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:46.400 So what does it look like? 00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:54.559 Those are the the the negative side, unfaithful waiting, kind of activity that's not the right kind of active service. 00:27:54.960 --> 00:28:01.119 What does it look like to be active in the service of our Lord? 00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:03.759 That when he comes, we'd be doing his job. 00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:05.839 What does that what does that look like? 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:10.559 Well, let me make just one before I'll get there, but just one qualification before I do that. 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:18.480 I think some people could read these verses, verses 45 to 51, and they could mistakenly think this. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:25.599 They could think what this means is that I have to be really busy doing a lot of good things. 00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:33.039 And then if I do enough good things, when Jesus comes back, maybe he'll give me that promotion to heaven I've always wanted. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:36.160 That's not what Christ is saying here. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:43.519 These these loyal deeds, this active service, it reveals what's in your heart. 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:49.519 It doesn't create the outcome, but it does reveal what's actually there all along. 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:53.359 It reveals if you know the Savior, if you've trusted in him alone. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:55.440 So, so understand that. 00:28:56.799 --> 00:29:04.480 But now we do want to be active because if we know the Lord, if we love him, if we've embraced his son, we want to be doing all that he wants us to do. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:06.240 And that starts with the mindset. 00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:09.119 This kind of goes back to the last point. 00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:24.880 You've got to have this mindset of marveling at the Son, loving him, that that would so motivate your service that that changes the way you look, not just at this thing on Sunday or this thing on Tuesday, but the whole scope of your life and what you're living for. 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:32.559 Even the problem with the unfaithful servant in these verses, it begins with his attitude. 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:34.079 Verse 48. 00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:38.240 It didn't begin with a crossword to one of his fellow servants. 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:40.480 It didn't begin with one drink and then lead to more. 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:47.279 It began when in his own heart he said, Maybe my master is delayed. 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:57.599 When in our own hearts we start to doubt God's word, that's that's where we're gonna get thrown off track of his service. 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:00.480 So this is going back again to the last point. 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:17.119 If we're alert to his coming, if we're in love with our Savior, our bridegroom, then we have the right mindset to understand that whatever we do, whether we eat or drink or anything, we do it for his glory. 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:24.160 Being active in the Lord's service isn't just being busy. 00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:31.039 All the time you hear people say, I'm so busy, in and of itself, that doesn't tell us anything. 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:33.599 You could be busy about all kinds of things. 00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:41.039 Are you active in the busyness of loving God and cherishing Him and working for Him in all that you do? 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:49.359 So it doesn't mean being active in the Lord's service, doesn't mean you have to be on the paid staff of a church somewhere. 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:56.000 But it does mean there's something all-encompassing about the direction of your life. 00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:10.079 So if you're a businessman, it's it's not only, okay, I don't cheat people in business uh because I'm happen to be a Christian and we have certain, you know, bit of moral rules that we follow. 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:12.880 That's true, but it's more than that. 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:25.200 It's I've seen Jesus Christ, who's the perfection of all truth, who always spoke and dealt with everyone in integrity, and he's changed and captivated my heart, and I want to live with that same truth and integrity. 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:29.279 I want people to see his glory reflected in the way that I live. 00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:46.720 It's I want to work and earn money because in a world that's so greedy and stingy, if I don't work hard and just give generously, how will people know about the generosity of God who has provided salvation through Jesus Christ, who's given us life and breath and everything else? 00:31:46.960 --> 00:32:02.000 You know, I want to give money to the Keras School Project over in Indonesia because I'm not so consumed with just my bigger house or my possessions, but I want peoples and nations to have gospel platforms on which to build that others might come to know the Lord. 00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:04.640 You see how all-encompassing that is? 00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:13.440 If you're a mom, it is more than I've got to make lunch today for the kids. 00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:15.359 I know God wants me to do that. 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:22.799 Yes, but you're making food for image bearers who bear the glory of God. 00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:35.920 And you want your life to be part of what shapes them to know the greatness of God and to be image bearers that are arrows in the hand of the king that go out into the world in the future, who knows doing what? 00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:40.480 But there's an eternal purpose that animates everything you're doing. 00:32:42.160 --> 00:32:47.279 Plant that apple tree for the glory of God, as Doug said a couple of weeks ago. 00:32:48.400 --> 00:32:56.880 If we review where we've just been in Matthew 24, going back to last week, the week before that, there's repeated tribulation. 00:32:57.759 --> 00:33:02.240 There's repeated calls to endurance. 00:33:03.599 --> 00:33:15.920 One of the chief ways that we're active in the service of the Lord, doing what he wants us to do, is by enduring amidst suffering without complaining. 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:25.680 When we are persecuted for the sake of Christ and we endure it happily, that shines the spotlight back on the coming king, the master. 00:33:25.839 --> 00:33:29.599 That people would look at us and say, Why do they bear up under suffering so well? 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:31.119 Because we have a hope. 00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:34.400 We have a Lord that's changed us and we know he's coming back. 00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:42.000 We want the gospel of the kingdom to be proclaimed among all nations. 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:48.480 We don't want peoples and tribes to mourn when the Son of Man returns. 00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:53.519 We want people from every tribe to rejoice because they know him. 00:33:55.359 --> 00:34:03.759 So it's it's all of our life being built around the Son of Man and his significance for us. 00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:09.360 Be someone who waits faithfully. 00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:10.880 And I praise God. 00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:14.400 So many of you model that so well for me. 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:16.800 I think of the older saints in our church. 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:30.880 I'm so thankful for your example of faithful endurance, faithful belief, of taking each step of life and seeing it as an opportunity to serve the coming king and to make his glory known everywhere. 00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:31.679 Thank you. 00:34:31.840 --> 00:34:33.920 Please keep enduring. 00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:37.760 Let's turn over to 1 Peter. 00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:41.440 We'll we'll conclude here, but I want you to look at 1 Peter. 00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:46.880 Christ calls us to wait faithfully. 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:55.840 We do that by being first anchored in his word, second, alert to his coming, and third, active in his service. 00:34:56.159 --> 00:35:05.039 But I want you to see the way Peter, it's almost as though he's taking these words of Jesus and applying them to the people that he's writing to. 00:35:05.280 --> 00:35:07.039 1 Peter chapter 4. 00:35:13.519 --> 00:35:15.119 The end of all things is near. 00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:16.079 This is verse 7. 00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:16.320 Sorry. 00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:18.320 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 7. 00:35:18.639 --> 00:35:20.800 The end of all things is near. 00:35:21.840 --> 00:35:23.519 Isn't that what Christ says? 00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:26.079 Have you stopped to think about eternity? 00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:31.199 How it it it's it's so soon to be here, our our lives and everything just rush away. 00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:36.400 The end of all things is near, therefore be alert. 00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:38.639 There's another connection point. 00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:41.760 Be alert and sober-minded for prayer. 00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:45.519 Now he's going to tell us some of the things that that looks like. 00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:50.719 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. 00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:53.760 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 00:35:54.239 --> 00:36:00.239 Just as each one has received a gift, we'll come to the parable of the talents in the next chapter. 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:07.599 As each has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the very grace of God. 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:12.159 If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God's words. 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:16.320 If anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides. 00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:30.239 And here's that grand overarching purpose, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything, to him be the glory and the power forever and ever. 00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:37.840 Can we say from our hearts, may God be glorified in everything forever and ever? 00:36:38.239 --> 00:36:39.280 May it be so. 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:40.639 Let's pray. 00:36:42.159 --> 00:36:48.320 Lord, oh how we're longing for this to take shape, to take a root in our hearts. 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:51.920 And we need you to root this in us. 00:36:53.199 --> 00:37:05.760