A Faithful And Wise Servant

Matthew 24:45-51 KJV Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? [46] Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. [47] Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. [48] But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; [49] And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; [50] The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, [51] And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I. INTRODUCTION—THE SETTING OF THE PASSAGE

-The Scripture that I read comes from what it commonly referred to as the Olivet Discourse. It is the last words the Lord would leave to His disciples before the Crucifixion. There is much that the Lord deals with in Matthew 24-25 but the prevailing theme that pours out of it is that we must be ready for the coming of the Lord.

-Here we find the disciples gathering around the Lord to hear about the end of the age. The whole context of the Lord’s words here indicates to us that there will be a separation that will take place.

A. Comparing the First and Last Sermon

1. The Sermon on the Mount

-The last sermon of the Lord mirrors the first one that He delivered some 3 ½ years earlier from that day when He preached the Sermon on the Mount.

-The Sermon on the Mount is one that never dies. It lives forever. One finds that there are forty-two different principles that establish the church of God and a saint’s character in Matthew 5-7.

• 5:13—Good Salt compared to Bad Salt

• 5:14-15—Light opposed to Darkness.

• 5:17—Destruction of the Law and the Fulfillment of the Law.

• 5:19—Commandment breakers and Commandment bearers.

• 5:23-24—Forgiveness compared with Un-forgiveness.

• 5:28-30—The man that lust controls versus the man who mortifies the body of sin.

• 5:31-32—Marriage opposite of divorce.

• 5:38-39—The old eye for an eye, tooth for tooth versus turning the other cheek.

• 5:41—Going the necessary one mile compared to the extraordinary second mile.

• 5:45—Evil and Good; Just and Unjust.

• 6:3—The works of the right hand and the works of the left hand.

• 6:5—The prayer of the hypocrite compared to that of the reverent.

• 6:5; 6:18—Secret service provides open rewards.

• 6:22-23—The righteous eye that lets in light versus the evil eye that lets in darkness.

• 6:24—Two masters: God and money.

• 7:3-5—Splinters in eyes compared to logs in eyes.

• 7:6—Pearls in hog-pens versus pearls in jewel cases.

• 7:9—Bread versus stones.

• 7:10—Fish opposing serpents.

• 7:13-14—Strait and wide gates, broad and narrow ways, destruction and life, and many compared to few.

• 7:15—Sheep’s clothing containing ravening wolves.

• 7:17-19—Good trees/good fruit versus Bad trees/bad fruit.

• 7:24-29—Wise men founded on the Rock compared to Foolish men founded on the sand.

-It was a masterpiece of a sermon that was full of paradoxes, choices, comparisons, and differences. It was spoken from a hillside, but spoken into history, and finally spoken into eternity.

2. The Olivet Discourse

-In the same manner that His ministry was begun, He ended on the same note. Again, He makes reference to comparisons and differences.

• 24:6—Wars on earth compared to peace in the heart.

• 24:8—The beginning of the End.

• 24:12—Iniquity compared with Love.

• 24:13—Quitters or Endurers?

• 24:17—Those on the housetop have a choice: stay there or get down.

• 24:18—Those in the field have a choice: Stay in the field or return home (In both cases, returning is always a detriment to the soul.).

• 24:23-24—The choice to follow a false christ.

• 24:35—Things such as heaven and earth will pass away differing with His Word which will stand forever.

• 24:37—The days of Noah compared with the days of the returning Lord.

• 24:40—Two in the field—One taken and one left.

• 24:41—Two at the grindstone—One taken and one left.

• 24:43—The good man and the thief.

• 24:45-51—The faithful and wise servant versus the evil servant.

• 25:2—Wise virgins compared to foolish virgins.

• 25:3-4—Oil in the lamp versus oil gone out of the lamp.

• 25:9—Sellers and buyers.

• 25:10—Open doors and closed doors.

• 25:15-18—Invested talents versus wasted talents.

• 25:23—Good and faithful servants versus wicked and slothful servants.

• 25:29—Abundance or poverty.

• 25:32—Sheep separated from goats.

• 25:46—Everlasting life compared to eternal punishment.

B. Faithful and Wise Servants vs. Evil Servants