This is amazing, and scripture abounds in it. It's so great and so magnificent that Paul says: Oh! Thou would anything, that I might obtain unto that day, and that resurrection! He said: oh, run the race, that you might win a prize! It's nothing to assume that we get this thing. Him that overcomes, will I grant to sit with me in my throne. You've got to overcome. There's some part we play in all of this now. Ooh ho ho, isn't that glorious aye? So resurrected saints will be doing all of this. So now that brings us back - we'll close up with this parable. What a great thing, so that's what's at stake. I've only given you a little bit. It's a bit inadequate, but I've given you a little glimpse of what that could look like.
Now go back into Matthew 24. We'll just finish there, because we heard the wise servant was very simply the one that caught the heart of the master, and actually did what the master wanted, built the household, built the household of God, took his gifts and loved on the people of God. That's what he did, because he loved the master. He just applied what he had to build people. It was an intentional part of his life to do that, and he was led by the Holy Spirit in it.
Now it says - there's another one there - and it says: and the evil servant - now that evil servant, so it's not talking about a different person. It's talking about one servant, who could be good, or could be evil. In that case it's talking about all servants, and we all have the potential to do this. Now notice what the servant did. The evil servant said in his heart: my master delays his coming. The first thing is, the heart attitude you notice. Now get this, the heart attitude is very simply this: Jesus isn't coming soon; I got all my life ahead of me. Mate, I'm going to have a great life, and do what I want. I don't need God to help me get my things done. That's virtually what he's saying - not living his life carefully, as though every day counted to eternity; not living his life intentionally, so that he's doing something to advance the kingdom of God, to have his life count. He's just saying: oh, my master delays his coming. Oh well, you know, been hearing the end-time teaching for ages, you know, one day he'll come. I guess he'll come, but I don't know what will happen after that - don't really want to know. No, no, no. There's something very important at stake, and so we saw what the faithful servant got. This one then, because of his attitude the Lord delays his coming. I'll put it to you another way - there's a scripture, I can't remember. It's probably in Ecclesiastes, and it says something like this: when punishment is not executed speedily against an action, the person's heart rises up to do more. So because we don't experience consequences for our actions - we don't always connect the consequences of our choices, to the things that happen in our life, we actually become hardened and deceived.
Now notice he says, the servant said: oh, my master delays in coming. Oh don't worry about it, one day, you know, it's the big pie in the sky stuff, don't worry about it. I got to get on and pay my bills, do my stuff - and you see, so that's the kind of attitude. So then it says: he began to beat the fellow servants. Now the fellow servants, are people of the same household; so he's talking to the relationship with Christians, the relationship with other Christians. I think it can be extended to include those that God intends to add into His household too, because I think when God looks, He sees the householders, not wondering what is, but what He's already written out in our city to be; so it's actually your attitude to people.
And so it says he begins to beat them. Now that word beat is the word literally to give a slap in the face, slap 'em; or another way to put it is this; he begins to insult them, or treat them in a way which is insulting. When you don't keep commitments that is insulting. When you speak behind someone's back, that's insulting to them. When you're one thing to a person's face, and another thing behind, that is insulting. When you have a hidden agenda to manipulate people, to get what you want, that's insulting. It doesn't treat them as a person of dignity. It actually insults their personality, their humanity.