Now there's probably lots of things we could think of, which you would consider insulting. They just actually offend you, and hurt you, and distress you, when you're treated that way. Do you realise, when someone does an act of love and service, and we don't express gratitude, that is insulting; that when people do good, and we forget it and don't remember it, and honour them and value them, that is insulting. When we look at people, and we see: oh, how much money's that one got, and what position do they work in, that is insulting. There's many things that are extremely insulting to people, that dishonour, devalue and treat them badly. Anything that is insulting to someone else in the body of Christ, anything that insults them and offends them, comes into this category here; and it's because, in your heart, you're saying: the Lord's not coming soon, He's going to wait for a while. It didn't matter - no one saw, I'll do what I like. And people do this all the time. They never stop to think that actually heaven is watching all the time, and you're positioning yourself either as that good servant, who actually encourages and builds up the body of Christ; or that evil servant, that actually their behaviour is destructive.
When you say you're a Christian, and then go into the community, and you treat people in the community and your workplace and so on in a bad way, you are insulting them, offending them and turning away from Christ. You become that servant. That's quite sobering isn't it? I couldn't get this parable out of my mind for about the last four or five days. I kept reading it, reading it, couldn't get anything out of it. It was only really last night, and this morning I just started to see, that God's wanting us to get a handle on what it means to mistreat.
So he began to beat them; and then to eat and drink with the drunkards. So there two things; the first was concerning the household - bad attitude and bad treatment of believers. The second was lifestyle - eat and drink with the drunkard, was literally to just have a lifestyle exactly like the world around you. You're living the same way they do. There's no one can tell the difference between you and someone - it's not that we're not to mix with people. It's just the lifestyle is the issue ,and it says - the only other reference in Matthew 24 to eating and drinking is: in the days of Noah, they were eating and drinking, and didn't know when the flood came. They had no idea - so what he's saying in here, simply is this: is that we are called to an incredibly great inheritance; the eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered in the heart of man, what things God's got prepared for those who love Him. It's absolutely extraordinary what God has ahead for us; and all that we have to do, is just be faithful in our part now; and in this case, this particular servant here, who was faithful and wise, he was wise because he looked ahead, and he was faithful because he did what he needed to do: build up the body, build up the believers, build up the church, being led by the spirit to help one another.
The evil one just put it all off, said: it doesn't really matter, I don't have to be accountable to anyone. I'll just do what I want to do, and then what he did was: one, he began to have a bad attitude, and treat the body of Christ badly; and secondly, his lifestyle began to be similar to those in the community. He become no longer salt and light. He says: now when the master comes, guess what he does to this one? You don't want to even go there, and I've tried to figure it out, but I think I need more insight on it - but notice what it says here; it says: the master come to him, and this is what the master did. He said - here's the first thing - the master comes when he's not looking, so here's the deal. If you live carelessly, here's one thing that's absolutely certain to happen; when the Lord comes, you will not know it. It'll catch you by surprise. See - what he says - come when the day's not ended; and second thing you notice here is, he cuts him in two. That's pretty severe isn't it? Now I don't think it's literally cutting them in half. What the cut in two referred to, how they treated severe criminals. What it means is that the treatment is quite severe, because the crime is quite severe. He said: he appointed him his portion with the hypocrites, because he's just play acting, he's not genuine. There's no genuine love for people, no genuine love and expressions of love, for the household of God; actually he's acting out a lie. He's just a Sunday person, but the reality is, in his heart, his actions and the way he runs his life, he's actually hurting what God is trying to build. That's what essentially it's saying.