The sermon 'Two Servants Contrasted' by Jason Dohm explores the passage from Matthew 24:45-51, where Jesus contrasts two servants: one faithful and wise, devoted to his master's interests, and the other evil, who neglects his duties due to the belief that his master is delayed. The faithful servant, characterized by devotion, wisdom, and responsibility, is prepared for his master's return at any time, illustrating his single-minded dedication to his master's will. This servant's life exemplifies the Christian calling to serve others and care for fellow believers, reflecting the kingdom of heaven's values where authority is given for service and care, not for personal gain. In contrast, the evil servant's neglect and mistreatment of others display a heart distant from God, leading to his downfall and punishment. Dohm emphasizes that every believer is called to discharge their 'debt of love' towards others, highlighting that one's treatment of fellow servants reflects their true disposition towards God. The sermon concludes by urging listeners to follow Christ's example of servanthood and to remain vigilant, as the day of judgment is certain and unpredictable.

Please follow along with me with the sermon text this morning, Matthew 24, starting in verse 45 to the end of the chapter. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food and due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, my master is delaying in his coming, and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards.

The master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour that he is not aware of him, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Two servants contrasted. So what's happening in our text today, Jesus is painting a picture. He's drawing a contrast between two very, very different servants. When all is said and done, you will be found to be one or the other of these servants.

And so everyone should have a keen interest in what Jesus is teaching here. If you came thinking that this is a text for heads of households only or church leaders only, you are sadly mistaken. And in the end, every single one of us is going to have been found to be The wise and faithful servant or the wicked servant that Jesus puts before us in this text. Jesus has just turned the attention of his disciples to the end of the age, to the day and the hour when the heavens and the earth will pass away. And so he's focusing the attention of his disciples on the day of judgment, the day when all the wrongs will be made right, all accounts will be settled.

So he's turning our attention to the same day. And in last week's text, Jesus was saying that, just like in the days of Noah, when the flood came, many will be found in the ignorance of unbelief. In other words, it's not just an ignorance of not knowing facts, but it's a willful ignorance. It's an ignorance that comes upon those who refuse to believe the things that are before them like an ark, like a huge ship that's being built for a hundred years. And yet, people were living as if nothing would ever change and as if everything was okay.

And Jesus says in the last week's text, since there's going to be this great separation, two men in the field, one taken, one left, two women grinding at the mill, one taken, one left. Since there's going to be this mighty separation, this eternal separation, this final separation, He gives us two exhortations. Watch. Be ready. So that's where we ended last week with this great separation of the wheat and the tares that have been allowed to grow together all their lives long, looking so much like each other.

And yet, Jesus wants everyone to know it's not always going to be that way. There's going to be a day when the wheat are separated from the tares. And so he says, watch. Watch for that day because it's coming and be ready for that day. In our text this week, Jesus is further developing what it means to watch and what it means to be ready.

So We have to know to watch and know to be ready. But what does that mean? What does that look like? Well, Jesus paints a portrait this week of exactly what it looks like when a person watches, when a person makes themselves ready for this mighty day of separation. And so he's painted a picture of two people.

One is a disciple. One is someone who's been adopted and has been justified and has been sanctified and has learned obedience at the foot of a master. The other's a faker, a pretender, a hypocrite. That's where this passage is going to end with a servant being given their allotted their portion along with the hypocrites. A pretender, somebody who's worn a mask maybe for many, many decades.

Let's read 45 through 47. This is the first servant, the first picture Jesus paints. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season. Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods." Jesus begins with a question.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant? He's pointing back to what he just talked about. These two men in the field where one is taken and one is left, these two women who were grinding at the mill, one is taken, one is left, and he says, who then? Because of that, because some are going to be taken and some are going to be left behind, who then is a wise and faithful servant. And he proceeds to describe a wise and faithful servant.

So we're now left to guess, what does it mean to be a wise and faithful servant? Jesus then paints the picture of a wise and a faithful servant. Now the first thing that I want to notice about this servant is this isn't just an employee. This isn't just somebody who's drawing a paycheck. This is way more than just a boss-employee relationship.

In Romans 1, 1, right at the beginning of Romans, as Paul is writing to these brothers, it says this, Paul, a bond servant, a doulos, doulos is the Greek word, a bond servant of Jesus Christ. That's this word. So the servant in Matthew 24, the wise and faithful servant, is the bond servant of Romans 1, verse 1, a doulos, a bond servant of Jesus Christ, as Paul introduces himself to the Romans in that letter. When you look in the lexicon that just explodes that word out to what it really means. Here's part of it.

Devoted to another, to the disregard of one's own interests. So it's that kind of devotion that is on the table with this master's servant, this due loss, devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests. In other words, if I'm your due loss, if I'm your bond servant or your servant. I just lay aside my own interests and I adopt your interests. I say forget about my own interests.

Those are now secondary or worse. All I care about is your interest because you're the master and I'm this bond servant, so I adopt your interests as my own. It's someone who's all in. They're all in for the interests of their master and nothing is withheld. What do we know about this do-loss?

Well we know three things from the text. We know that he's faithful. He can be dependent on. There's a track record between this master and this bond servant. And it's a good track record.

There's a history here. And the master has required things of this due loss and the requirements have been met. And there's been a pattern developed of faithfulness, of doing the will of the Master. And so, faithfulness is the first thing we know about this bond servant. By the way, the word Master here, Kyrios, is the exact same word as Jesus uses in verse 42.

Listen to verse 42. This is from last week's text. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord, your Kireos, is coming. So this is the same word. New King James renders it Lord in 42 and master in verse 45, but they're exactly the same Greek word.

Okay, so this, If we don't get anything else in the parable right, Jesus is the Master. It's the same word he used in verse 42, and the Master is the one who comes. And this is exactly what's being described, is the coming of the Son of Man, the coming of Jesus Christ. So we know that the servant is faithful. Number two, we know that the servant is wise.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant? So this is a bond servant, a doulos, who is more than just faithful, dependable, loyal. He's also wise. He knows the mind of the Master and he's able to apply so that he can do in the Master's absence what the Master would want done. This is the picture.

Not just faithful and loyal, which he is, but also understanding the mind of the Master and able to apply what his Master would want done. So that the Master doesn't have to be there for the Master's will to be done. This is the kind of bond servant we have here. Now you can see we can already begin to make application. This is what Jesus is doing in and through people who He calls and adopts.

He's training them and desires to bring them to a place that they'll do in His absence what He would desire to be done. And this is the kind of servant we have here. Number one, faithful number two, wise number three, he's been made responsible. He's been entrusted with things. Verse 45, made ruler over his household, or New American Standard, put in charge of or ESV, set over, given authority to do things in the household, entrusted with things, Stewardship.

In fact, there's a parallel text in Luke 12 where instead of servant, the word steward is used. And that fits so well with the passage. It's someone who's entrusted with a stewardship. Not an honorary title. Okay?

Not an honorary title. This is a worker bee. And not authority without responsibility. The authority is for the responsibility. So This isn't a person who has the luxury of sitting in the Lazy Boy having people bring him things.

He does have authority, but it's a derived authority. There's nothing inherent about his authority. It's not because he's a great guy, a smart guy, a super talented guy. It's because his master has work for him to do. That's why he's been given authority.

It's direct. All of his authority just flows from his master. He doesn't have any of his own authority. It's been given to his master and it's authority with a purpose. That the other members of the household would be given their food in due season.

That they would be cared for. So care for the fellow servants is the order of the day for this doulos, for this bond servant, for this servant. The master of this household has proactively provided for the other members of this household. And this is the kind of household it is. It's the kind of household where it's actually an honor to be entrusted with the care of others.

Okay, this is a beautiful household. You want to be in this household because the place of honor is the place of being entrusted with the care of others. Now notice, this is the part of the text that is talking about the faithful and wise servant. No delay mentioned here at all. Look, there's no delay.

Now we're going to get to the second half and we'll be talking about the evil-hearted servant And there will be a talk of delay. But here with the wise and faithful servant, there's not even a mention of delay. Why is that? Because with the faithful and wise servant, delay is irrelevant. If the Master comes back next hour, or next day, or next week, or next month, or next year, it doesn't matter.

He'll be found doing the same thing, the will of his Master. He'll be found faithfully, wisely discharging his duty, and caring for the other members of the household. So there's no need to talk about delay with this servant. You get that? With this doulos, this bond servant of Jesus Christ, there's no need to talk about a delay because it doesn't matter.

Timing is irrelevant because this servant will always be ready for his master to walk in the door and the Master's physical presence and watchful eyes completely unnecessary. So do you see what kind of servant we have here? The Master doesn't have to be around for this week or this month or this year. The servant knows what to do and whenever his master comes back he'll be found doing it and his master doesn't have to stand over him for the will of the master to be done. This is what it means to be a faithful servant and a wise servant.

It's as if the master was present every second. It's like the master was standing there. His will is so faithfully attended to that it's like the master standing there every second. Turning your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6.

The famous part of Ephesians chapter 6 is the first four verses where children are told to obey their parents in the Lord and fathers are told to bring up their children in the training and admonition of the Lord. We'll actually start in verse 5. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 5. Bond servants, same word, doulos. Bond servants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling and sincerity of heart as to Christ.

Not with eye service, as men pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ. As a doulos of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free." What Paul puts before us in Ephesians 6, starting in verse 5 is a bond servant, a doulos, whose life is coming out of his heart, is emanating from his heart, is flowing out of his heart. And so he's not one who does eye service. You get that eye service is when the master's in the room, you're on task.

And when the master's out of the room, you're free just to do whatever you feel like doing. That's eye service. That's man pleasing. Boss comes back in the room, oh, I'm busy. Pencil in hand, on task.

Boss leaves the room. That's eye service. That's man pleasing. So Paul points at the doulos, the bond servant, and he says don't be like that. Out of a heart for Christ, serve your master according to the flesh.

And The word heart is mentioned twice. It's mentioned here in verse 5, then it's mentioned at the end of verse 6. So it's about the heart. Jesus is always bringing things back to the heart, and Paul's just like him. Paul has learned at the feet of Jesus, and so he talks like Jesus.

He always brings it back to the heart of the matter, which is the heart of the matter. It's the heart. It's the heart. It's the heart. So Jesus doesn't say the word heart in Matthew 24, our text for today, but it's there.

It's lurking in the background. And Paul talks about it in Ephesians 6 when he talks to bond servants. And Paul concludes by saying, the good will come back to you. The good will come back to you. Whatever good you do, it will come back to you from the Lord.

Just like what we're studying in Matthew 24, when the master gets back, he blesses this faithful and wise servant. Is this workspace righteousness? In other words, if then, back to Matthew 25, If you are faithful and wise and you execute your duties and you're nice to your fellow servants, you're generally well behaved, then you'll be blessed in the end. Well, it might read that way the first time you read it, but no, Jesus is not teaching that in this text or in any text. There's something else here.

And it's that the conduct of this servant is a demonstration of what's in his heart. It's just putting on display what was already in the heart so that his disposition towards His Master is shown to the world. That's what you have here in Matthew 24. A servant whose disposition towards His Master works its way out in faithfulness and wisdom and His treatment of His fellow servants. You have a servant here who has a single-minded devotion to his master and so his life just looks like that.

His life looks like that. The hours of his day look like he has a single-minded devotion to his master. Like Paul says in Ephesians 6, something's emanating from his heart and just bubbling over into his life. So he's characterized by this. What happens?

The master comes home and he finds him so doing, he finds him so doing. He finds him giving the other members of the household their food in due season. And he blesses his due loss. He blesses his bond servant. He rewards his servant.

What is the blessing? More responsibility. This is the, hey, if you want in the kingdom of heaven, this is the kingdom of heaven. The blessing is more responsibility Because again, you have a servant who set aside his own interest for the interest of his master, So the delight of the servant's heart is to do more of his master's will. Okay?

The delight of the servant's heart is to do more of his master's will. He's not looking forward to the day when he can set aside his master's agenda, his master's will and pick up his own agenda, he'd just rather have more of his master's agenda, more of his master's will to do, to bring glory and attention to his master and not to himself. Now in a couple of weeks we're going to be in Matthew 25 in the parable where Another servant is given resources and he's able to double the resources. Okay, so his master leaves him with resources in hand and he doubles it up. Here's what his master says when he comes home.

Well done, well done good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. This is the sense of what we have here also.

He's entering into the joy of his Lord. And he's been given more responsibility. He's made ruler over all the goods of the household. This is how it works in the Kingdom of Heaven. You're given a trust.

You say, I'm bigger than that trust. I'm better than that trust. Well, we'll see. We'll see. Okay?

Be faithful with that trust. And as we're discipled by the Lord, and taught, and grow in faithfulness, and attend to the things that have been put in our laps by our Master, And we prove faithful with those things. He always comes behind and gives more. This is how it works in His Kingdom. This is how our King rules His Kingdom.

He gives a trust. He entrusts things with the servant. And as he disciples them and brings them along, and they grow into faithfulness and wisdom, then he gives more. Puts more into their hands For His glory. For His glory.

Now let's apply this. Christian, Listen to what Paul writes in Romans 13 verse 8. Oh, no one anything except to love one another. For he who loves another has fulfilled the law. The people of God do have a debt.

Always have a debt. Never fully discharged, and that is to love one another. On day one of your walk of faith, you have a trust. You have a responsibility. You have a debt to discharge every day of your life, and it's to love one another.

So if you thought this had a very narrow, specific application and you wanted to know how I was going to come preach to myself as the leader of a church on the responsibilities of the head of a household, you got it wrong. Remember, our context is two in the field, one taken, one left. Two at the mill, one taken, one left. The application here is very broad. Every Christian on the first day of their walk of faith has been given a debt of love to discharge.

And you should be discharging your debt every single day. You towards that sister that God has placed in the same house. You towards your brethren. You towards your brethren. Me towards my brethren.

Every single day there's a debt to be paid to one another and it's a debt of love. And this fits into what we're talking about here. We're talking about care of others in the same household. In Genesis 4, Cain kills Abel. God comes and says, where is your brother?

What does Cain say? Am I my brother's keeper? In this household, yes, you're your brother's keeper. Yes, you are. You owe him a debt of love, and you better be discharging it every single day.

You are your brother's keeper. That's how this master has set up his household, is that the members of the household care for one another. Head of household. Heads of households. This wife that God has joined together with you as heirs together of the grace of life.

These children that God has put into your home, one of the ways God intends to care for them is by giving you authority that is derived, right? You don't have your own authority. It's not because you're the smartest, best, strongest. It's because he put you there to be at work on behalf of these other members of the household. That's what it means to be the head of a household.

Your authority is derived, God put you there, to care for them. And it's his care for them through you. And it's purposeful, It's derived and it's purposeful. It's so that they would have their food in due season at the proper time. They would have everything that they need.

They would be led to the greenest pastures. They would be brought to the stillest waters because that's how he shepherds and all you are in your home is an under-shepherd. Church leaders. In John 21, this is after the resurrection. Peter has denied Jesus three times.

And now Jesus comes and asks him a question three times. Do you love me? Peter says yes. Jesus says, feed my lambs. Jesus says, do you love me?

Peter says, yes. Jesus says, tend my sheep. Jesus says, do you love me? Peter says, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.

Jesus says, feed my sheep. Jesus in our text today is looking into the eyes of His disciples. And He's teaching them what it will mean for them to be apostles. It's to feed sheep, to care for sheep, to tend lambs. It's to give care.

It's not to be served, it's to serve. Friends, if we come out of this text and we miss the beauty of this kingdom, what a tragedy. We should look at how God has organized His household, designed His household for the care of the members of the household and have our breath taken away at the beauty of this kingdom. In this household, the places of highest honor are the places of giving the most care. It's how it works.

It's how the kingdom runs. It's how the household runs. You want to be great, you be the servant of all. Jesus has been saying this for chapter upon chapter now. If you want to be great and advance and be promoted, then get to serving the other members of the household.

That's how this household runs. That's how this kingdom operates. And it starts with the head of the household, Jesus Christ, who lays down his life for sinners. This is not a nebulous, unclear concept. Jesus has walked it out through the course of his lifetime.

He laid aside the glories of heaven. He took upon himself the form of a servant, and he bled and died for the sins of the members of his household. And our calling is to walk in his footsteps and to be like him and to follow him. It's a taking up of a cross and a following him. It's a finding your life in losing it.

Let's read the second portion of the text, verses back in Matthew 25 beginning in verse 48. But if that evil servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he was not looking for him, and at an hour he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This servant says something in his heart that directs his conduct in a way that costs himself everything. That's what we have here.

We have a servant ruined by what he nurtures in his heart. He nurtures a statement in his heart. And he's willing to entertain it and listen to it and fan that flame. What does he say in his heart? My Master is delaying His coming.

It's not today, it's not tomorrow. It's not this month or this year. I have plenty of time. He is not even aware of what I'm doing. And there will be time to make up the difference before he comes home.

With the faithful and wise servant, physical presence didn't matter a hill of beans. It didn't matter at all. It was completely irrelevant whether the Master was physically present or not with the evil servant or the wicked servant, depending on which translation you're reading. The physical presence of the master is required for the master's will to be done. And so, because the master is not physically present, the servant, the doulas, the bond servant, begins to drift, begins to drift.

This is, look at verse 49, and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards. As with all slippery slopes, the slide begins very gradually. So I'm going to say some things that aren't directly in the text, but we know both from Scripture and by experience that this is how it happens. For instance, consider Ecclesiastes 8 verse 11. I should make a note of that so you can go down and look at it later.

Ecclesiastes 8 verse 11. Solomon writes this, Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily. Therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." So something evil happens and there's not swift judgment and retribution for it. So the natural man says, aha, I just got away with it. When nothing could be further from the truth.

But that's what the servant is. He begins. He begins. He tests the waters. He puts his toe, He puts his toe into that river.

No lightning bolt. This is what's happening here. No lightning bolt, so he assumes that his master has not seen and that he's gotten away with it. He's drawn the wrong conclusion, okay? He started, he dipped his toe into that river and because nothing happened that day or the next or that week or the next, he drew the conclusion that nobody saw and that there will never be an account for it.

And that's not true. That's a wrong conclusion that will ruin your soul. This is a soul-ruining statement to nurse in your heart. And so one of the things I want to say today is banish this thought from your heart. My Master is delaying His coming.

This thought nurtured in The heart of this servant cost him everything. He forfeits everything because he entertains this thought. He comforts himself with his thought and he never should have. And it ruins him. And the servant's disposition towards his master begins to be displayed in his treatment of his fellow servants.

So again, back to the heart. There's something going on in the heart that is working its way out in the treatments of the other members of the household. And It's just showing up. It's just bubbling out as the contents of the heart always bubble out. Sooner or later they always bubble out.

What's there? You can put up a good show for a while, but never forever. It always will bubble out. That's why Jesus said, out of the heart come adulteries, murders, malice, envy. Do you remember that text?

It all starts in the heart. Listen to 1 John 4, verses 20 and 21. If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him that he who loves God must love his brother.

Must love his brother. And so we have these things unbreakably connected. Love for God and love for brother. So unbreakably connected that if you say I love God, but you don't love your brother, you're a liar. It can't possibly be true.

That's what John is teaching in 1 John 4 verses 20 and 21. If you say you love God but you're not loving your brother, it can't possibly be true. You're a liar. You have to be a liar because these things are unbreakably connected. So it matters a lot how you treat the other members of the household.

Not because it will earn you merit with the Master, but because it's a display of what's already in your heart. We're not talking about piling up points to be favored by the Master, okay? But we're talking about it being a demonstration of what's in your heart. And your heart is what your master will be looking at. Consider Revelation 19 verse 10.

Revelation 19 verse 10. This angel has been relating all these magnificent mysteries to the Apostle John on the island of Patmos and we get to Revelation chapter 19 verse 10 and this is what we see and I John Fell at his feet to worship him so John falls down at the foot of this angel that's been revealing these mysteries But he the angel said to me See that you do not do that. I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren, who have the testimony of Jesus." Now here's John, and in exalted angels, angels are better than us in every way. Only they can't be redeemed. So we got that one advantage on them.

We can be redeemed. But they are our superiors, okay? They're exalted. They dwell in the presence of God. But when John bows down to this angel, this angel says, No, I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus.

The angels consider, in spite of their superiority, the angels consider that they're just fellow servants. And of our brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. At the most fundamental level, we are brethren and fellow servants. We can never be anything else. Now, Does that mean that God doesn't give authority, derived authority, for a purpose to some?

Yes, it's for the care of His people. But at the most fundamental level, all we will ever be, all we will ever attain to, is to be fellow servants of one another and to be of our brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Same with the angels. So this servant has displayed his disposition towards his master and how he treats his fellow household members. And this servant has displayed his disposition towards his master in his personal conduct and in his associations, he begins to get drunk with the drunkards.

He begins to put on display what's already been in his heart that he doesn't care about the things that his master despises. This would not be acceptable conduct to his master, but his master is not around and he doesn't care. And he puts it on display because he begins to get drunk with the drunkards. And the people that are distasteful to his master, he's happy to be around. The people who have the same disposition towards his master that he has, he's close.

They're thick as thieves, literally. Because your personal conduct will always be driven by what's in your heart. Your heart is always going to bleed over into your personal conduct and so are your associations in time. Now what happens? Verse 50, the master returns the servant surprised.

This never could have happened to the faithful and wise servant, never. The faithful and wise servant no matter what day he comes is always going to say, you're here. Great. Because he was looking for him. He's probably surprised that he didn't come sooner.

But he's delighted and he's not surprised. But the evil servant will always be surprised. The faithful and wise servant will never be surprised no matter when his master comes. The evil servant will always be surprised no matter when his master comes. Because he thought his master was delayed and he nurtured that thought in his heart and it ruined him.

And He's appointed his portion with the hypocrites. Why? Because he's a hypocrite. He's given his portion. He's paid his wages.

Because all the time he was wearing a mask. He's like an actor. He's been playing a part and not very well recently, this one, but he's a hypocrite. He's two-faced and now he's exposed for what he is and given what he deserves. Which is hell.

He's cut in two, he's destroyed, and he's sent where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. So it's an eternal destruction. It's everlasting punishment. And the only thing that's left for him through eternity is regret and anguish. Weeping.

Every day weeping. And grinding, gritting teeth because of the anguish and the regret. And there will never be anything else for this servant but regret and anguish. Now let's apply this to the unrepentant. Everyone's in the parable.

Okay, I opened with this statement. When all is said and done, you will be found to be one or the other. So you don't have to volunteer. You have been volunteered. So the unrepentant has been given something by God, hasn't he?

Has been given a trust by God, has been given a life by God. In Romans 1 Paul says that the guilt of the unrepentant is that he would not acknowledge God as God and he wouldn't be thankful. And so even the person who rages against God and says, I didn't ask for any of this. Who cares? The universe was not made by you, through you, or for you.

It was made by Jesus Christ, through Jesus Christ, and for Jesus Christ, that in all the things, He may have the preeminence. You don't have to volunteer. By virtue of being given a life, you've been volunteered. And you'll be brought to account. And the day is coming.

I just want to say that with such clarity, because Jesus says it with such clarity. The day is coming, and you don't know when it is, and the unrepentant will always be surprised. So presume upon God at your own risk of your own destruction. Hey, either Jesus is coming to you with the blast of a trumpet in the clouds, or you're going to Him. And your life ends before He comes back.

In either case, you have no idea when that is. You have no way to know when that is. You have no way to know if this is the day when either He's coming to you or you're going to Him. It is a fool's errand to presume upon God that you have tomorrow to repent. To the professing Christian, it is not works based righteousness, But over time, over time, your disposition towards your master will be on display.

So you can nurture hypocrisy and play the part, but over time, your disposition towards your Master will be on display. And you'll be exposed for what you are if you're not in the faith. What is your life saying, professing Christian? You're wise to ask yourself that question. Not what is my mouth saying.

Your gums can flap, okay, but your life is saying something too. What is it saying? Is it saying that you have a disposition of devotion towards this Master? Or is it betraying something else? Repent.

The Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent. You'll never be completely free of sin. You'll never be living a life totally without sin. But there's a pattern of your life.

And Jesus has broken the power of sin. So if you look at your life and sin has dominion and you're serving it like a slave, you should ask yourself. You should ask yourself. There's no power to be free of sin. There's no power to have a pattern of life that is Godward.

That spells trouble. Heads of households, have you ever seen a patriarch like the evil servant? Have you ever seen a patriarch like that? Now, in my vocabulary, some vocabularies, Patriarch is a cuss word, not my vocabulary. And I think it's fantastic.

I think understood biblically, it's a blessing to a family, a wife, children, a church, a community, a nation. But man, if you get a patriarch like this, it blasphemes the Gospel. Okay, because what you have here is a head who's nothing like Christ. Nothing like Christ. Christ came and laid down his life and he washes with the water of the Word and he cherishes and he nourishes.

And That's a picture of the Gospel. Your family is to reflect that, heads of households. To the extent that your family reflects this evil servant who says, I've got time. I'll attend to it later. You're blaspheming the Gospel.

Shame on you. Application, church leaders. In 1 Peter 5, Peter exhorts fellow elders. So Peter's an elder and he wants to have a word with his fellow elders in other churches. And He exhorts them to shepherd.

So many of the things we've been talking about. Feed, nurture, shepherd, these sheep that are among you. And then he says this, when the chief shepherd appears, You're not my sheep. You'll never be my sheep. There's a chief shepherd.

And I'm just here because he cares for his people and so I need to grow in caring for, and in feeding, and in protecting, because God wants his people to be fat and soul. Fat and soul. So well fed and protected and cared for. A few concluding remarks. Two questions and a statement.

First question, have you been toying with the slippery slope? In a group this size, someone is. Someone is just beginning and they've put their toe into that river. And there hasn't been a lightning bolt, and they've drawn the wrong conclusion. So slippery slopes always start that way, and momentum develops alarmingly fast.

And then you're at the bottom of the slope and it's slippery and you don't know how to get back up again. I'm warning you because this text is warning you about a servant who nurtured a thought that his master was delayed. And so he just began, he just began, he just altered the trajectory a little and it ruined him. Somebody in here is probably thinking, yeah I've been playing, I've been playing with this and I have drawn the wrong conclusion. Oh stop today before it ruins your soul.

Second question. What is your disposition towards your fellow servants? Have you discharged your debt of love? Oh, no one anything except love. And you do owe that.

And we should be discharging that more and more and more. May God give our church an abundance of discharging our debt of love to one another so that we are fat of soul. Because your disposition towards your fellow servants says so much about your disposition towards your Lord, your Master. They're not separate categories at all. They're unbreakably connected.

Finally, Finally, turn to John 13. John 13. We'll close with this. In John 13, beginning in verse 12, Jesus has just washed the feet of His disciples. And then in John 13 beginning in verse 12, he explains it.

He explains what he's just done. John 13, verse 12. So, when he had washed their feet, taken his garments and sat down again, he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord and you say and you say well For so I am If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you.

Most assuredly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." We've not been left with a vague nebulous concept of what Jesus is talking about when he speaks of giving the fellow members of the households their food in due season. Jesus came and did it. He's the author and perfecter of our faith. And He's given us a pattern and He wants us to walk in that pattern.

This is what it means to become Christ-like, to serve as He served. When He returns, or if we go to Him one by one, May our lives have been characterized by that. May He find us doing that if He returns. Let's pray. Father, I thank You for this text and I thank you for your kingdom and the beauty of it.

Cause us to cherish your household. God, I pray that you would more and more and more make us fellow servants, brethren, who are always discharging the debt of love for one another. May it be so in Jesus' name, Amen.