“But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delays his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24:48-51)
What the evil servant says and does shows most clearly the position and work of the faithful and wise servant. The reason why the evil servant says, “My Lord delays his coming,” is that the faithful servant is proclaiming the coming of his lord. The evil servant smites the faithful servant, because he teaches the speedy coming of his lord.
The faithful servant, true to his commission to preach the “gospel of the kingdom” to a fallen church and a scoffing world, toils on, and the evil servant smites on.
One is laying up treasure in heaven, and is preparing to go home to his eternal reward, while the other is calling down upon his head the displeasure of the high and holy One, and is getting ready to receive the unmingled cup of the fury of the Lord.
The faithful servant is turning some to righteousness, to shine forever as stars in his crown of glory, while the evil servant pursues his downward course and work of death, making the bitter cup of woe which awaits him still more bitter.
But the separating day is coming. The Lord will come, and cut asunder the evil servant, and appoint him his portion with the lost. In the general wailing and gnashing of teeth, with hypocrites he will receive the portion due him for his works.
That this application is correct is shown by the words of the Saviour in the closing part of this chapter. Both parties are professedly “servants” of God. The “evil servant” says, “My lord delays his coming.” But when, because of his unfaithful ness, because of his refusal to heed the instructions and warn ings of his lord, and of his ill-treatment of his fellow-servant who is sounding the alarm, the lord shall appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. It will avail him nothing that he has called the lord his lord; that he has been looked up to as a leader of the flock.
They have the duty laid upon them, as servants, to give meat in due season; to sound the alarm; to proclaim the mes sage of the advent near, even at the doors. But they are “evil servants,” recreant to the trust committed to them, unmindful of the “sure word of prophecy.” They do not want to think, nor to have the people think, of the Lord’s coming.
All scriptures which speak of that day call for watchfulness, diligence, and earnest zeal to be prepared to meet him. But these are worldly-minded, selfish servants. They love their ease; they cry, “Peace and safety,” when sudden destruction is impending.
“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden de struction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3)
They love to slumber; they say “tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.”
“His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Come you, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant. (Isaiah 56:10-12)
They join the idle throng in singing, “There’s a good time coming.” In the words of the Saviour, they “eat and drink with the drunken,” “walking after their own lusts” (2 Peter 3:3).
The sociable, the festival, the fair, the supper for feasting-- these have attractions for them which their selfishness cannot resist. By these is piety dethroned; zeal is extinguished; crossbearing and self-denying become distasteful graces; to hunger and thirst after righteousness is a burden; the “form of godliness” is retained, but “the power thereof ” is gone (2 Timothy 3:5).
What a condition for a servant of God to be found in when his Master appears! And yet this is a fitting description of the mass of feasting professors who turn away with scorn from the unwelcome thought of the Lord’s near coming.
How different the lot of those who bear the cross, and give the household of faith meat due season!
“Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing.” (Matthew 24:46)
“Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the king- dom of their Father.” (Matthew 13:43)
We invite the attention of the reader to the following list of points made plain in our examination of this chapter: