Who Then is a Faithful & Wise Servant?

Introduction

Jesus raises a question in the book of Matthew in chapter 24 at verse 45. He says, Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season. In answer to the disciples’ question, we know that the chapter and verse divisians were not in the original manuscripts, but so that we can be on the same page and that we can, of course, understand the context. I want you to go back to the very beginning of the book of Matthew, chapter 24, and look at the disciples’ question in verse 3. As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the Bible says, the disciples came to him privately saying, Tell us when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age.

I want you to notice the questions here now. And what Matthew chapter 24 does is it answers these questions. And let me say this that theologians, commentaries, gospel preachers don’t all agree on Matthew chapter 24. Matter of fact, it’s been said that this is one of the most difficult chapters in the New Testament. But yet, in spite of that, the message is clear. Because Jesus is speaking about judgment. Specifically, the judgment that would come and did come upon the nation of Israel. Because historians tell us that Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70. But it speaks about the certainty of God’s judgment. It speaks about the fact that not only is it certain, it’s going to be unannounced. And people are going to be going about their business doing normal things.

And the fact of the matter is, when God does come in judgment, looking at the second coming of Christ, which is consistent with the judgment, when the Lord does come back, a lot of people will not be prepared. And that’s the reason why in Matthew in chapter 24, after using the example of Noah, Jesus says, Therefore, you also be ready. For the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. Now the word ready means to be prepared. It means to be available. And there is a difference between getting ready and being ready. Jesus didn’t say get ready. He said be ready. You could be ready today and not ready tomorrow. You could be thinking about getting ready. And there was a difference.

Bessie and I, because we lived in different locations from where our daughters, and each of our daughters, our three daughters have a daughter. So during the summertime, our granddaughters would come and spend some time with us. I remember on one occasion that one of our granddaughters came alone this particular time. We were preparing to go to a wedding. And I remember Bessie, as mothers, and of course, this case grandmothers would do, they would get the children ready first, and then they would get ready. So Bessie got our granddaughter, Chanel ready, and dressed her in this pretty pink dress and put bowls in her hair. And she brought it to me and said, Paul Paul, I want you to watch Chanel while I go get ready. Now, you know, us guys, we already always have our stuff to do, right?

So I took a peppermint out of my pocket and I said, Chanel, I want you to hold this peppermint. I’ve got to go run to my office. I got to do something, and when we come back, we’ll open up this peppermint and we’ll eat it together. I couldn’t have been gone no more than five seconds. I came back. Chanel had taken the peppermint out of the wrapper, and she had that peppermint in her mouth. And let me tell you what, red and white juice was dripping all down her mouth and on her dress. And I said, I’m in trouble. And I was.

She wasn’t ready. And so I think all of us understand the difference between being ready and getting ready. Jesus asks the question, and then he answers the question. And I want this to serve very simply as our introduction to the series of lessons that we’re going to be conducting in this gospel meeting, and that is questions about God and faith. I’d like to pause. And I want to acknowledge, first of all, and always my gratitude to Almighty God because of who he is. As our brother has already prayed in prayer, we praise him because he is the Almighty God, the creator. He’s the one in whom we live and move and have our being. He’s the one who has blessed us with everything we need for life in godliness.

And made it possible we could be partakers of a divine nature, and we can escape the corruptions in this world through lust. And so I’m grateful for his love and his mercy and his grace. And I’m grateful for his son, the one in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins through his blood, according to the riches of God’s grace. And I’m grateful for the Holy Spirit for the earnest of the inheritance that God has promised us. For the revelation of truth, this wonderful fellowship that God has blessed us with. That we can be together and we can worship one another and we can do God’s work and we can encourage one another and we can strive to be all that God wants us to be as we strive to be ready when he comes so he can take us home.

And I’m I’m glad to be with you once again, the saints here at Bumbay. It was in September of 2009 that we were here. And I just got to tell you again what a good looking group of God’s people you are. And we’re glad to be with you once again. I hope to encourage us as we raise questions and answer questions in these series of lessons. There’ll be several questions that are raised. And I can tell you that you will benefit greatly if you open up your word, because that’s where we’re going to find the answers to the questions that we have. They’re going to come from God’s word. Now, as I said, Jesus raised the question about who is a faithful and wise servant. Our brother read from the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 4, and the Apostle Paul very plainly tells us it is required of servants that they be faithful.

1. Understanding Faithfulness Through God

I think we need to understand what that is. Before we can understand faithfulness, like any other thing, we need to understand some things about God. You see, we can’t understand love except it be for God Himself, who is love.

And herein is love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us. And look at what God has done for us. He said to some that be the propitiation for our sins. But let’s look at God first of all. When we look at this idea of faithfulness, fear. Mr. Joseph Shayer tells us that faithfulness is the character of one who can be relied upon. And when we open up our Bibles, we can see that faithfulness, of course, applies to God, and of course it applies to man. But again, we cannot understand faithfulness because God is the standard for these principles and these concepts that we talk about. And here we’re talking about faithfulness. And so faithfulness is that quality which is applied to God, his unchanging faithfulness is seen in several passages.

For instance, in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 9, the Bible says, Know therefore that Jehovah thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. The psalmist says in Psalm 36 at verse 5, Thy mercy, O Jehovah, is in the heavens, and thy faithfulness reaches into the clouds. And again, Isaiah says in the book of Isaiah, in chapter 11 at verse 5, speaking of the Messiah who would come, and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. And let me tell you what this means for us. When we are concerned and maybe tempted to be worrying about the uncertainties that are inherent in a changing world, it is reassuring to you and I to remember that this whole cosmos in which we live was created by a God who is eternal.

And what I mean by that, not only is he the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, not only is he eternal in his being, he is eternal in his nature. And what that means is we don’t have to worry about what people hear on the news reports. We woke up this morning almost in any venue, public venue, when people are assembling, they have the news on. We woke up this morning, we went down for breakfast, and they were in the hotel lobby, the television was on, and folks were glued to the TV. And you know what station it was on? It was on the news. Report after report, it was about crime. This somebody got killed, somebody got shot. Can I tell you what the Christian’s worldview is?

That we serve a God who never changes. We don’t have to worry about God being in a mood. We don’t have to worry about God being angry today.

Because the thing about God is He is a God that changes not. And what that means for you and I is the fact that, first of all, God is a God who cannot lie. Titus chapter 1, verse 2, in hope of everlasting life, which God who cannot lie promised before the world began. Let me tell you what that means, folks. That means that not only has God given us everything we need, God wants us to live with Him. God never put us on this earth to live here forever. We need to understand that. God wants us to live with Him. So we have to understand some things about God so we can live with Him. May we not be deceived to think that we’re going to go to heaven and spend eternity with God in heaven if we are not like Him.

God has made it possible for us to be like Him. He wants us to be faithful. And God cannot lie. Isaiah prayed long ago, your counsels of all are faithfulness and truth. And when we say that God’s counsels of all are faithful and true, what that means is we can depend upon them. We can rely upon them. We can rely upon God and we can rely upon what God says.

God doesn’t change. And we can find security and comfort in that. Because God can be relied upon. God can be trusted. And God has demonstrated that over and over in Scripture. But I tell you what, you can look in your own lives and you can see that God has demonstrated his faithfulness to you, even if you hear and you have not submitted to God. Because God makes the sun rise on the good and the evil. God is patient, it is long-suffering. So we need to understand some things about God. The psalmist tells me that the counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. So we need to understand some things about man. Again, Joseph says it’s the character of one who can be relied upon.

2. Can I Be Relied Upon?

Let me ask you, can you be relied upon? I need to ask myself the same question. Can I be relied upon? In all of my relationships, my relationship with God, my relationship with my spouse, my relationship with my children, my grandchildren, my relationship with my brother, my relationship with other human beings. Can I be relied upon as a human being? This word simply means reliance or trust, truthfulness towards God as well as towards man. It means confidence in God and all of his commands. Again, the reading from 1 Corinthians chapter 4. What is required of servants? Religious world gets this all mixed up. Let me show you something. Look in the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 4, the text that was read. 1 Corinthians in chapter 4.

I want you to notice verse 1 and 2. Let a man, Paul says, consider us, I think that’s a reference to the apostles, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. The King James Version says, ministers. In a religious world, they’ve got this all confused. In the religious world, the ministers are those who are part of the so-called clergy. And people sit in the pews are the laity. Let me first of all say that those terms are not Bible terms, nor are those Bible distinctions. Because all of us in our relationship with one another, in our relationship with God, we are just brethren. We have responsibilities. So there’s no such thing in God’s word about clergy and laity. But we’re ministers. A minister is a servant.

And what are ministers to do? What are servants to do? They’re to do their master’s bidding. That’s what we’re supposed to do. Elders are supposed to do what they do, elders L. Deacons deep, preachers preach. Members serve. We do what the Lord tells us to do. That’s not difficult to understand. But like our brother prayed. You know, we ought to desire to be together to worship. But I got to tell you something else, folks. We ought to like it. We ought to enjoy it. We ought to enjoy being a Christian, being the kind of people God wants us to be, because God is helping us. God is training us to be more like him. It’s confidence in God and all of his commands. I mean, for instance, when you look at those Christian graces, remember, and our brother mentioned those as well.

Remember what Peter said? He said in chapter uh 1 Peter chapter uh 1, 2 Peter chapter 1, remember in verses 3 and 4, God has given us everything we need. He goes on in verse 5. Okay, because God has given us everything we need, he says, add to your faith virtue and the virtue knowledge and the knowledge, self-control. And to that he says, perseverance or patience. And to that he says, godliness, and to that, brotherly kindness, and to that he says love. And he says, if you do these things, you will be what? Neither barren nor unfruitful. You got to do these things. And if you do these things, you know what’s going to happen, folks? You are gonna find that faithfulness is going to be a part of your life.

Remember Galatians in chapter 5, in contrast with the works of the flesh, this struggle that we have in life. But if we submit to God, if you sow to the spirit, you’re gonna reap everlasting life. And so we got to be sowing to the spirit. And you know what you want to get? You want to get love and joy and peace and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. The first three have been said to be those that turn our thoughts towards God. The second three, that is patience and kindness and goodness directs our attention to our fellow man. And then the third three, that is faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, refer more directly to ourselves. So that’s what we’re doing, folks. We’re looking at ourselves.

3. You Also Be Ready, Like Noah

Isn’t it easier to look at somebody else and see when they’re not faithful? What about me? That’s what we want to do. So Jesus asked a question, right? Jesus commends faithfulness. So let’s go to our text. Again, the book of Matthew in chapter 25. He asked the question in verse 45. He’s already given us the details in Matthew and chapter 24. The Lord is going to come in judgment. And therefore you be ready too. You also be ready, he says. Like Noah was. You see, he says in verse 7, like Noah was. The Hebrew writer gives us a commentary on Noah. He says, Noah was divinely warned. Noah was warned by God to build an ork for the saving of his household. If you go to the book of Genesis in chapter 6, you can see in 7 and 8 and 9 how Noah was faithful.

Look at the very end of the book of Genesis, chapter 6, the last verse. The Bible says, thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him. So here’s a mindset, folks. We just have to make up our minds that first of all, I need to learn what the will of God is, and I’m going to make up my mind that whatever God says, that’s what I’m going to do. So Noah was ready. And I tell you something else. Not only was Noah ready, Miss Noah was ready also. I don’t know what her name was. That’s what I call her. I call her Miss Noah. If some of you have some information I don’t have, please let me know. But there was Shem Ham and Japheth.

And then there were the wives that they married. Let me tell you something else. Miss Noah and those others, they didn’t get on the ork just because of Noah. Let me say this. God doesn’t have any grandchildren. They got on that ork because of the faith of the own. But Noah had influence. That says something to you and I as husbands and fathers. We need to have influence. We need to have influence, first of all, in our homes and our families. We need to save our children. And those that we’ve committed our lives to. And there, young people, is one of the reasons why you ought to think about the person that you plan to marry. Because that’s the person that’s going to help you get to heaven.

And we need somebody to help us get to heaven. And if we’re going to have children, we need somebody to help us to raise those children so they can get to heaven too. But in the days of Noah, people were just going about their lives. But Noah had prepared himself. He did everything God says. So if you can understand that example, then he says in verse 45 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.

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 is not looking for him, and had an eye that he is not aware of, and will cut him into and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth because it will be too late. What don’t you understand about that? It’s a parable about judgment. It’s telling us that when the Lord comes back, some people are not going to be doing his will. And here is the scary thing about that. It could be people who at one time had fellowship with God.

They were ready today, but they weren’t ready when the Lord came back. Do you know what one of the greatest threats to the church of Christ is? It’s false doctrine, yes. But do you know what the second greatest is? It’s apathy and indifference. I saw my brother. Big grin over his face. I thought I recommended it. I thought I remembered his face, but I didn’t remember his name. And I say, I’m glad you’re here. He said, I’m glad I’m here too. I said, I’m not, I’m not just glad that you’re here. I’m glad that you’re still faithful. And he said, I’m glad I’m still faithful too. I know exactly what he means. I don’t know of anybody who intends to apostasize, but people do. Jesus says the faithful servant is the one that will be doing his will when he comes back.

4. Parables About Judgment

And ironically, Matthew chapter 25. I mean, again, ignore the chapter break. We got another parable here, and of course, you know, people make a lot of things about all these different parables. But the point of the parable is very simple. This is about judgment also. Because the parable of the wise and the foolish servant illustrate the fact that there are some people who are wise and some people who are foolish. Because knowing what lies ahead, they don’t prepare themselves.

And so what happens is some people procrastinate. And some people keep themselves prepared. They know what life’s all about. They know that a relationship with God is the most important thing in this world. They know that if they die without a relationship with Jesus Christ, that they will be lost forever. They live that way.

I think the thing that strikes me most is when I look in verse 10, the Bible says, the door was shut. And then you look at the parable of the talents in chapter 25, verses 14 through 30. And I know that a lot of folks talk about, you know, abilities that we have. I don’t have a problem with that. But let me suggest this. It may also include opportunities that come our way. You ever thought about that? These talents? God blesses all of us with opportunities, some with more than others. And it depends upon, if you will, the abilities we have, how we use them, but the opportunities that come our way. What do we do with them? I want you to look at verse 21.

Look at verse 23. Compare them. They’re exactly alike. And the person who didn’t do anything. That tells me, if you don’t do anything in preparation for eternity, you’re going to stand before God in judgment. You don’t have any excuse. None. None of us. We don’t have any excuse not to be ready. And then you look at chapter 25, verse 31 through 46. That’s a parable by judgment also. You know what that has to do with? It has to do with our relationship with other people. Especially those who are less fortunate than we are. Especially those of our brethren. And like Galatians 6 10 says, as we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially those that are of the household of faith. We’re going to be judged based upon how we respond to the needs of other people when they are in distress.

5. Let’s Test Our Faith

So let’s test our faith, if you will. I think the lifeblood of any congregation is attendance. And before you start going, you know, give me give me a chance. There that preacher goes talking about attendance again. The lifeblood of any congregation is attendance. Attendance to services is a spiritual barometer. Because what it does is it manifests the interest or lack of interest that a person has in the word of the Lord and in the cause of Jesus Christ. And yes, in the book of Hebrews, in chapter 10, verse 25, the Hebrew writer exhorts, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. And while it is true that the meaning and the import, I know of Hebrews 10 25, is not abandoning the coming together as the manner of some is, in view of the persecution that they were undergoing at that particular time, I think the fact still remains that if we love the truth and the study and the proclamation of it, that we are going to afford ourselves every opportunity to support it and to hear it proclaim.

The psalmist says, Oh, how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day. And it’s because of the countless number of brethren who demonstrate their fidelity and their faithfulness in attendance that the congregations in the brotherhood continue to function and support the truth. Again, I’m not just saying that, folks. You are a good looking group of God’s people. Your presence indicates your concern for spiritual things. And I’m sure you’ve observed people in the world, and I know we’re not supposed to judge people by their appearance, we’re to judge them by their heart. But isn’t it true that the way people dress or don’t dress, the way people put markings on their bodies, the way people talk, the way people act, isn’t that an indication of who they belong to?

Isn’t that an indication of who they serve? Your presence here in lifting up praises to the God of heaven, bowing your heads to prayer. And when we commune together on the first day of the weekend, we do the things that we do. And whenever the saints assemble together, we know exactly what we’re going to do. And it is no, listen very carefully. It’s no coincidence that the things that you do here are the same things that you’ll find your brethren doing in other places. Because we’re connected. We’re connected because of the blood of Jesus Christ. And we ought to want to be together. May I ask a question? What do you think that we’re going to be doing when we get to heaven? We’re going to be together.

And we’re going to be praising our God. The attention is upon God. Second of all, giving. I think that’s another indication of a person’s faithfulness. We know it’s the first day of the week. But there’s a certain attitude that needs to be involved with that. Cheerfulness. According to what you prospered. In Romans chapter 12, verse 8, the apostle Paul says that he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. The word simplicity could be remember rendered liberality. Have it ever dawned upon you that we could stand before judgment and God condemns us because we’ve been stingy. Because we haven’t given.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 5, the Bible says, they first gave themselves. Let me tell you what, if you don’t give yourself first to the Lord, you’re not going to be faithful in other things either. And what about your life? And what about your conduct? Jesus says, be faithful unto death. I think some people say, be faithful until you die. That word has a lot more importance. It means even in the face of death. And I tell you what, this world in which we live now, folks, it may come to that. How faithful will we be? If, like brethren in other places or hindered in their assemblies. How faithful will we be if we are restricted and what we can preach and what we can teach.

How faithful will we be in live in God’s word as He has revealed it to us in our homes and families with relation to marriage, with relation to the sanctity of life, with relation to modesty. And just plain old goodness and kindness and mercy and truth. Gotta live it. Gotta do it. Because when the Lord comes back and we’re not ready, folks, the truth of the matter is we’re just not going to be ready. We’re not going to be ready. And we don’t have an excuse. Because God has made his will available. And what we need to do is use it. So we can prepare ourselves. On the way to the building, you know, like we do, and I’m sure many of you do. Also, we will listen to some hymns, recorded hymns.

Conclusion

One of our daughters go to the Kleinwood Church in Houston, Texas. Many of you may have some of the recordings for the annual singings that they have. But one particular hymn was being sung, and that goes reminded me of what I was preaching on this morning. And the hymn was more like you. God wants us to be faithful. Because he’s faithful. He can be relied upon. He can be trusted. I know there may be some of you who may be going through some difficult things in your life. I know that’s a part of life. I think about Job and what he was going through. But you know the thing about Job? God trusted Job. God said, I know my servant Job. Ain’t nobody like him. I don’t care how much you put on Job’s not going to turn his back on me.

And I read the book of Jobs, and all those questions come from Job. You know, and Job realizes in the very end, you know, who am I to question God? Who am I to question God? God knows everything. He’s the creator. He knows what he’s doing. God has good things in store for us, brethren.

I think the greatest challenge we have in life is just learning how to trust God. And God can be trusted. Because He’s the faithful God. That’s all I have to say on this subject. So I thank you for your attention. If I have time left, that’s a little bit unusual. But I could spend it by simply saying, we are grateful to be with you. Again, this second time around. There’ll be questions raised throughout the lessons. They’ve been announced. If you have questions, I hope I answer those questions in the lessons that are presented. And if I don’t, please feel free to come and ask me.

This idea of questions about God and faith. A lot of people have questions. And I tell you what, brethren, you and I have the answers. Jesus would often say, Have you not read? You know what that tells me? The answers to our questions can be read. So if you look at the subjects that have been announced, and I’m assuming that they’ve been made available to the congregation, then you can look at those questions and you can prepare yourself so you can know exactly what we’re going to be talking about, and you can maybe prepare some questions that you might have. And again, if I don’t answer them, then I certainly am prepared to help answer them for you. So we’re glad that we are here, and we thank you for your kind invitation.