Living Waters Christian Fellowship - Lake Nacimiento - California

35 “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;
 
36 “and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.
 
37 “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.
 
38 “And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
 
39 “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
 
40 “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
 
41 Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”
 
42 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
 
43 “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
 
44 “Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
 
45 “But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk,
 
46 “the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
 
47 “And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
 
48 “But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
 
Introduction  This scripture is about how we are to live our lives in this age, and that we will have to give an account to God of how we lived when the Lord returns. 
 
There is a very good reason God wants us to live in a certain way, and be found living in that certain way when He returns.
 
It’s all about love.  Jesus said that if we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and if we love our neighbors on planet Earth as we love ourselves, we have fulfilled everything he requires of us.
 
God has done 5 things for us in relationship to love:  Creation, Atonement, Resurrection, Pentecost and the Final Consummation.
 
In the Creation - that God created us in love, and to love in relationship with Him and other people
 
In the Atonement - that God can forgive us, because of the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross, for the times we have missed the mark, and not been loving toward Him or other people
 
In the Resurrection - that God raised Jesus and us to walk in newness of life in love
 
In Pentecost - that God can enable and empower us to love Him and other people by the Holy Spirit
 
In the Consummation - that God will create a New Heaven and New Earth where there is nothing but love with Him and others forever
 
So God is doing these 5 things to help us love him and others, but the sad fact is that Humanity has made a mess of this world.
 
45 “But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk.”
 
In the history of mankind, there have been those who truly loved and worshipped God, and were good to their fellow servants. 
 
But there have also been those who were godless, greedy, selfish, violent, abusive, uncaring, ruthless, inconsiderate and proud.  These have brought unspeakable sadness, misery and sorrow on the human race.
 
It will not continue like this forever.  God is going to take some people to the next level, and others will be banished.  It’s all about love. 
 
He is looking for the faithful and wise steward, someone who is faithful to God, the principles of the Kingdom - to love Him and other people in this life, and to be found so doing when He returns.
 
The Faithful and Wise Steward
 
1. Longing for Jesus’ Appearing
 
35 “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;
 
36 “and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.
 
2. Ready and Watching
 
36 “and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.
 
37 “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.
 
38 “And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
 
39 “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
 
40 “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
 
3. Faithful and Wise
 
41 Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”
 
42 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
 
43 “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
 
44 “Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
 
4. Conscious of the Master’s Return
 
45 “But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’
 
5. Good to His Fellow Servants
 
45b and begins to beat the male and female servants
 
6. Responsible
 
45c and to eat and drink and be drunk
 
7. A True Believer
 
46 “the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
 
8. Knows the Master’s Will and Prepares Himself
 
47 “And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
 
48 “But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few.
 
9. Wisely Appropriates What He/She Has Been Given
 
48b For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
 
The Reward of the Faithful and Wise Steward
 
1. Not Worried
 
35 “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;
 
36 “and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.
 
2. Blessed and Honored
 
37 “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.
 
38 “And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
 
3. Trusted to Rule
 
42 And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
 
43 “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
 
44 “Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
 
4. Escapes Judgment
 
45 “But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk,
 
46 “the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
 
47 “And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
 
48 “But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
 
Conclusion
 
God is going to take some people to the next level, and others will be banished.  It’s all about love. 
 
He is looking for the faithful and wise steward, someone who is faithful to God, the principles of the Kingdom, to love Him and other people in this life, and to be found so doing when He returns.