Matthew 24:33 So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

Jesus does not say these must come to an end within the first generation of believers. He only says all of it will unpack within the first generation. Then the unfolding will continue and continue and continue, until He returns.

The Lord Will Return Suddenly

Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

The point in this context is the suddenness of the separation. Even close family members will be completely disassociated from their environment, in the suddenness of the Lord’s return.

We Must Be Attentive

The unexpectedness of the Lord’s return is here emphasized again by a parallel between a thief and Jesus.

Directions for Living While We Wait

Matthew 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his lord has made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

We are to live as stewards who must give an account of their service—faithful, or otherwise.

The good servant is prepared for his lord at any time. He is faithful throughout the long delay, and in the end he is highly rewarded. But the wicked fails to discharge his responsibilities.

This passage presupposes a long delay. But the wicked servant, surprised in his evil, is then consigned an abysmal place with the hypocrites (verse 51). He is pretending to be a leader, a senior leader in the flock of God. But in fact, it is all sham.

We Must Prepare for the Wait

Matthew 25
We are to wait for the Lord and make careful preparation because there will be a long delay.

The entire plot turns on the delay of the bridegroom. The foolish virgins discover they’ve been left. Their intense cries are of no avail. The bridegroom’s refusal to let them enter is the rejection of those who, despite appearances never made preparation for the coming of the bridegroom.

What is presupposed is an enduring faith, a constant communion with the Lord Christ, an appropriation of the promises and Spirit of God by faith, walking in the Spirit, and consistent patterns of obedience developing mature men and women in Christ.

We Are to Work While We Wait

We are commissioned to improve what Jesus gives us.
Matthew 25:14-30

This parable goes beyond the prior ones. It mandates not only preparedness and performance of duty even if there is long delay. It also emphasizes the improvement of the allotted talents that Jesus gives us, until He returns.

The faithful servant is rewarded with two things:
increased responsibility and a large share of his master’s joy

What this wicked servant overlooks is the fundamental principal: His refusal to acknowledge his responsibilities as a servant, and his responsibilities as a servant consist of improving the assets of his master.

Too often believers wait in sanctified restraint and retreat. What have we done with the assets He gave us?
What do we do with our training, our opportunities, our wealth, and the freedom we have now? How many hours have we wasted in front of the television or some computer game?
How have we improved what God has given?

We Will Care For Fellow Believers While We Wait

Matthew 25:40 And the King shall answer and say to them, “Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to Me.”

We wait as people whose lives are so unselfconsciously transformed by the gospel that we are characterized by self-sacrificing service to brothers and sisters in Christ. These least brothers of Christ are here those who belong to Christ who are most despised, most distressed.

A Great Separation

Matthew 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:

The thing that is most overlooked in this passage is the surprise of both groups when Jesus tells them of their fate, and the reason for it. The surprise of the righteous makes it perfectly clear they do not think of their works as efforts to gain salvation. The most important point of all is this passage provides a test that eliminates the possibility of hypocrisy. The Lord had simply provided a test that you could not duplicate or fake.

Fake or Real: here is a test.
Do we believe Jesus is Christ the Lord?
Do we obey His commands in our living?
Do we love our brothers and sisters in Christ?