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The Unprepared Servant
Luke 12:45-48
The Text
45But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
46The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
47And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Summary of Events
In this parable, a servant did not prepare for the return of his master because he believed the return was going to be far in the future. As a result, the master returned when the servant was not aware and the servant received the fate of an unbeliever. However, since the servant knew the master's will and chose not to prepare himself the master beat him with more stripes than those who did not know the master's will.
The Spiritual Meaning
Almost anyone who grew up in the church, myself included, remembers being told over and over that Christ’s coming will be like a thief in the night. In other words, no one can know when His coming will occur. One place we read about this is in First Thessalonians 5:2-6 so let’s examine this passage verse-by-verse:
2“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”
Here we have that frequently-quoted statement. I can remember hearing this over and over.
3”For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
Teachers in the past have always used this as proof that people will be caught off-guard by Christ’s coming. It is true that this verse is teaching that, but that’s not the whole story…
4“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
Here we discover that there are some people who will not be caught off-guard by Christ’s coming. We have all been taught time and time again that Christ’s coming will be like a thief in the night, but here we have a clear statement (at least, it’s clear to us now) that it will not come as thief for some people.
5“Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”
The light of the world is Christ (John 8:12). Therefore, the children of light are the believers. They are the ones God is addressing here.
6”Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”
So we learn that those who will not be caught off-guard are those who are not “sleeping,” those who are watching. This does not mean those who are watching will simply know that Christ’s coming must be getting close. According to a recent study, about one-third of the world’s population calls itself Christian.1 Another study indicates that 85% of professing Christians believe the end of the world is near2 so there are about 2 billion people who know we are living in the end times. How many more non-Christians believe the end of the world is near for one reason or another? The point is, a very large percentage of this world’s population recognizes the end is near. This large percentage is not the group of people God is referring to when He says the end will not come as a thief in the night for some. In fact, in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 God is specifically addressing just the churches, just those who claim to be His people, and there He says that if they don’t watch then He will come as a thief in the night to them:
“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (Revelation 3:3)
The setting of those chapters is one of caution (see Study on The Seven Churches). This is a warning God has placed in the Bible that really applies to us today because we are living in the time about which this warning is given.
We find another statement in Mark reminding us to watch and not sleep:
“Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” (Mark 13:35-37)
We will see that those who are “sleeping” are not those out in the world who want nothing to do with God, but they are those in the Christian community who continue to hold the belief that we can’t know when the end will occur. God defines "sleeping" as not having spiritual eyes opened to understand the truth:
"What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day." (Romans 11:7-8)
When we study Second Thessalonians chapter 2 (see Study on The Antichrist) we realize that as a result of the churches' desire to cling to their doctrines without continually re-examining them, God sends them strong delusion to keep them in their lies:
"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11)
We find another passage in Isaiah that reminds us that sometimes spiritual blindness ("sleeping") is a result of God's judgment:
"For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed" (Isaiah 29:10-11)
We are being taught here that we can know enough about the timing of the end that it will not come unexpectedly if we are watching. How do we watch? Do we go stand on a hilltop and look at the sky? No, of course not. We aren’t going to find any information in the sky about when to expect Christ’s return so that it does not come as a thief in the night. We watch by studying God’s Word very carefully. That is the only way we can obtain any information about what to expect and when.
The Bible teaches that if we don’t watch, then yes it is true that the Rapture will come as a thief in the night:
“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (Revelation 3:3)
In other words, Christ will come as a thief in the night unless we are watching. This is how we know that watching means to study the Bible and learn the timing of the end.
So the servant in Luke 12:45 that says, “My lord delayeth his coming,” represents the professing Christians who make no attempt to look for His coming. They continue to believe that Christ’s coming will be a surprise, and therefore it will be a surprise to them.
The statement in Luke 12:45 that they will be eating and drinking is reminiscent of Matthew 24:37-39 where God tells us that people will be going about their business as usual right up until the day of the Rapture:
“But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
This, too, will be the situation for the professing Christians who refuse to acknowledge that Christ’s coming will not be a surprise to those who are watching (that is, those who are carefully studying the Bible where God is revealing the timing in our day).
Luke 12:46 reads, “The lord of THAT servant…” What servant? The one who says, “My lord delayeth his coming,” the one who is not looking for His coming, the one who is not expecting that the timing of His coming can be known. Remember, this is speaking specifically about professing Christians as is evidenced by the phrase, “that servant.” This is not speaking about those out in the world who want nothing to do with the Bible. Of course they will be caught off-guard by His coming, but that is not the people who are in view in this passage.
There is a very ominous statement in this parable: “and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” This again reminds us that this passage is speaking of only professing Christians. The ones out in the world ignoring God are the unbelievers spoken of here. This is a very serious warning. In this verse God is grouping the professing Christians who do not watch in with the unbelievers out in the world.
In other words, there is going to be a large percentage of people who think they were right with God and belong with those who are saved because they went to church and read their Bibles. However, after the Rapture there will be a lot of people wondering why they have been left behind:
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23)
God is revealing these new truths to Bible students around the world (see God Is Revealing The End) and the churches are going to hear about them. They aren’t going to agree with them, but they will know the Master’s will in that they will have heard it. For example, they will have heard that we are to be watching, not just continuing on in our lives assuming we need not worry ourselves with the timing of Christ’s return.
Those in the churches will also hear about God’s command to come out of the church (see Study on Judgment On The Church). For the most part, they will of course not agree with the command. They will think it’s heresy and will pay no attention it. Nevertheless, they will have heard about it.
Isaiah chapter 5 is a chapter that is addressing the situation in the churches of our day (see Study on The Vineyard). There God warns about those who will call good evil and light darkness:
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20-21)
In our day, the vast majority of people in the churches are scoffing at this new information that we are to leave our churches. Some even call it the work of Satan. This is the kind of thing the Bible is warning about here when it says woe unto them that call good evil and put light for darkness.
This is no small matter. We’re kidding ourselves if we are thinking, “It can’t be that bad. What’s the worst that could happen if I stay in the church?” Remember when God brought the tribulation on Judah and commanded His people to leave the city? He warned that those who remained in the city would be destroyed along with it:
“Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.” (Jeremiah 38:2)
And remember, the book of Jeremiah is primarily addressing the situation in our day by using the setting of Judah (see Study on Book Of Jeremiah)
We now know that the Great Tribulation will be immediately followed by a period in which God will pour out His full wrath on this world (see Study on The Sixth Seal and The Seven Last Plagues). This horrible event will take place immediately following the Rapture when all of the believers have been removed from Earth (see Study on The Rapture). I believe by the phrase, “shall be beaten with many stripes,” that God is teaching that the unsaved in the churches will be punished more severely during that period because they heard about the command to leave the church but scoffed at it. Those out in the secular world who want nothing to do with God or the Bible are in less trouble with God than those who are claiming to be His followers but aren’t obeying Him.
1http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm
2http://christiannews.christianet.com/1201403987.ht
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