Bible Study - Return (5) - Keep Serving Faithfully - Matthew 24:42-51 - May 22, 2022

 

Bible Study – Return (5) – Keep Serving Faithfully – May 22, 2022

This is lesson five (5) in our series entitled, “CHRIST’S Return: Living with the End in Mind.”

Our focus scripture is Matthew 24:42-51.

Serve CHRIST faithfully as you wait for HIS return.

As Spirit-born people, what do we do as we wait for the return of JESUS? JESUS has entrusted the Gospel to us. We read in 2 Corinthians 4:3-8:

³ But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,^[a] who is the image of God. ⁵ For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. ⁶ For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

Treasure in Clay Jars

⁷ Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. ⁸ We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; 

We who are Spirit-born, have the great treasure of JESUS within us as manifested by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I asked, how do you make a clay container stronger? Much is in the shaping process. The potter needs to get the clay container as smooth as possible. The smoother the stronger. How wonderful our LORD is to us when HE smooths the rough places in our lives, so that we will be strong when we serve HIM. GOD has entrusted the Gospel light to us to share and not to hide it under a cover. We read in Isaiah 64:8:

Yet Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we all are the work of your hands.

Every day is a day closer to the return of JESUS, either JESUS will return or we will meet HIM in physical death of our earth suits but our Spirit-born body will immediately be with JESUS. Our Spirit-born body will return with JESUS when HE returns to earth to rapture those who are Spirit-born. We along, with other Spirit-born brothers and sisters, will receive our Glorified bodies, like JESUS’ resurrected body and return to Heaven with JESUS. JESUS’ message is the same, stay alert and ready because the world we live in is dynamic and no one knows what a day holds. Let’s explore!

Let’s read Matthew 24:42-44:

⁴² Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day^[m] your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this: If the homeowner had known what time^[n] the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Uncertainty keeps most people on alert. This is exactly what JESUS was telling HIS disciples then and now. JESUS does not know when GOD, HIS and our FATHER, will sound the “mid-night cry” and JESUS will return. When we witness the signs, JESUS has told us e.g., wars and tragedy throughout the world, we cry LORD JESUS come. GOD’S timing is perfect. Why? It is because HE is in control!

Who is the thief that comes unexpectedly? It is Satan who seeks to enslave and destroy GOD’S people. That is why JESUS tells all Christians to stay alert, focused and ready. Most especially, Satan comes when we change our focus from following the leading and teaching of the Holy Spirit to focusing on the things the world has to offer.   

In the meantime, JESUS underscored the need for those who know the truth to share the Good News of salvation through faith in JESUS with others, as they wait. Waiting is active with great anticipation that JESUS could return at any moment. It is not passive waiting but active.

JESUS tells us why we, as Spirit-born people, should stay on alert in a parable. If we knew when a thief was going to break into our home, we would be prepared for the thief to come. But if we are focused upon being and staying alert, when the thief comes, we are ready to take action.

What we know is that JESUS will return, we just do not know when. So, JESUS tells Christians to be ready, stay ready and to actively share the Good News with those with whom we come into contact, as we wait.

How do we know when to share the Gospel? The indwelling Holy Spirit knows the mind of GOD and GOD knows the mind of people. The Holy Spirit prompts us to share. We may only share a word of encouragement, a cup of cold water or a helping hand. What the Holy Spirits prompts us to do, GOD has prepared the heart of the person who needs it. Our part is to be faithful and trust as our LORD gives us opportunity.

Faithful Service to Christ

Let’s read Matthew 24:45-47:

⁴⁵ “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you; he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 

Our LORD has made us, who know the truth, responsible for working in GOD’S vineyard and caring for the vineyard and ensuring that those in the vineyard are fed Spiritual food, exercise, are ministered to when they get sick or hurt, down and out, need a helping hand. This is what GOD desires from those who have been Spirit-born. GOD equips those who have been Spirit-born with gifts manifested by the Holy Spirit to serve in extraordinary ways. All things are possible when Spirit-born people have the faith the size of a mustard seed.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 we read:

¹⁹ Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought at a price. So, glorify God with your body.^[a]

Since the Holy Spirit is in you, every place you step becomes Holy Ground. GOD has placed each of HIS Children in the exact spot in HIS vineyard to witness and serve HIM to further the Kingdom. The harvest are those with whom we come into contact. We may plant a seed, water, weed, prune, fertilize or harvest. JESUS tells us to be vigilant and look for opportunity to work. When we see GOD at work, that is our opportunity to join HIM. We need to keep in mind that our part may be to give a cup of cold water to a soul who thirsts for the truth. Be alert and watch and be ready to act as opportunity happens.

Or will we be like the other servant? As we read on -----

Let’s read Matthew 24:48-51:

⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and starts to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Serving GOD as a Spirit-born person is all about the heart. GOD equips and gives us opportunity but what do we do with the light HE has given to us? Do we hide it or do we share it? We may think after we have achieved our goals, then we will serve GOD later. But we may never the opportunity. Are we afraid of what others may think of us if we choose to serve GOD?

JESUS had a message for those of us who want to do our own thing and then pull our life together when we think the end is near, whether in the end times or our physical death. No one can time life or the end.

JESUS’ message is to accept HIM as our Savior and be obedient to HIS calling. All Spirit-born people are called to share the message of salvation. We read in Colossians 1:27:

²⁷ God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

CHRIST is the only hope any person has. It takes a step of faith in JESUS for a person to turn from walking a road to Hell to walking with JESUS on the road to eternal life and Heaven. When a person places his or her faith in JESUS, a Spiritual conception takes place quicker than the twinkle of the eye. When GOD’S Spirit joins the spirit of a person, that person is Spiritually born into GOD’S Family. JESUS told Nicodemus in John 3:1-3:

There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”

³ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again,^[a] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

⁴ “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Just as a new born baby must be fed milk first, then solid food, new Christians must be fed Spiritual food e.g., studying GOD’S Word, praying, serving, fellowship with other believers, etc.. When a baby enters into the world its parents don’t toss it into a room and tell the baby the milk is in the fridge and the diapers are in the closet. Lots of luck. NO!!! That new born baby needs tender love, nourishment and care and so do new Spirit-born people.

The Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:2 - ² Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word,^[a] so that by it you may grow up into your salvation,

In 1 Corinthians 3:2 Paul wrote - ² I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready,

JESUS desires for Christians to move from milk to solid food. It is time for Christians to grow up and embrace WHO is in them, WHO is The Holy Spirit. Ask GOD to help you to grow and dump all the baggage of false notions, unbelief and lack of faith that keeps you from trusting GOD fully and keeps you from sharing the true light that the world so desperately craves. Christians must move from Christians in name only and pray, “LORD, here I am reporting for duty. May the indwelling Holy Spirit lead and guide me every step I make as, I wait for YOUR coming. By YOUR power and in YOUR name, I want to be your person telling others about JESUS. FATHER, I need YOUR strength and leadership and realize that the indwelling Holy Spirit means that I am called, set aside, empowered and gifted for YOUR purpose. Amen!

Blessings!!!