It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch. Sermons
I. THE UNIVERSALITY OF CHRISTIAN SERVICE. It is appointed for "every man" who is in the Lord's household. God works in us in order that we may will and do of his good pleasure. He gives us love to others, and understanding of his Word, an experience of his faithfulness, mental and spiritual faculties, in order to fit us for serving him. Science teaches us that natural agents are so closely related that they are mutually convertible. Motion passes into heat, heat into electricity, electricity into magnetism, magnetism into animal force, and so on in an endless circle. In the sphere of nature God arouses no force which does not arouse another; and though the primal energy passes on into many manifestations, it does not return to him void. So is it in the spiritual realm. He excites in your heart love to Christ, and that arouses thought about him, speech concerning him, activity for him; and these go forth like advancing waves of influence into the lives of others, and none can foresee the end. The Church is not meant to be like the phantom ship of which the poet sings, manned by a dead crew; but is likened to a living "household," in which all the servants are eager, watchful, and diligent; for their Lord has,given "to every man his work." (Show the variety of capacities distributed amongst the old and young, the rich and poor, and the diverse forms of Christian service to which these point.) II. QUALIFICATIONS FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE. 1. Earnestness. Too often this is fitful. It passes from us uselessly when in contact with the worldly, just as electricity passes off when insulation has been neglected. We want insulation of spiritual force. A modern Christian, surrounded by symbols of idolatry, would not always have "his spirit stirred" within him as Paul did at Athens. The present age is enlightened rather than enthusiastic; self-complacent rather than self-sacrificing. 2. Love to Christ and love to souls is the true inspiration of successful Christian service. It is gained at the foot of the cross. "A life of self-renouncing love 3. Constancy. Such as Paul had, who, amid temptations to indolence, and amid persecutions which might have made him falter, pressed forward steadfastly. "This thing I do" was the motto of his life. Is it ours? 4. Watchfulness. A special exhortation to this lies in the passage before us. Let us watch (1) for opportunities of service, (2) for results of work, and (3) for the coming of the Lord. III. THE RECOMPENSE OF CHRISTIAN SERVICE. 1. There is blessing to be found in doing it. On the inactive mind and irresolute will doubts will gather, as limpets do on a motionless rock. Powers fairly exercised, whether they be physical, mental, or spiritual, develop by use. 2. There is blessing awaiting us when we have done it. It was not without reason that our Lord spoke (ver. 28) of the signs of his coming as being like the indications that "summer is nigh." His advent will be to his people not a winter, but a summer, from which gloom and death will be banished, and in which there will be fruit-gathering after toil, and manifestation of beauty and glory arising from the discipline of the past. That summer the faithful! The world is ripening for it. Our work is preparing for it. Then shall the faithful reap fruit unto life eternal. - A.R. 1. It was impossible that His state of humiliation should be continued. 2. The work He had to do in heaven required His presence there. 3. His removal was necessary in order that the Holy Spirit might be bestowed. II. A RESPONSIBLE TRUST COMMITTED. 1. What He left in charge of His servants was His house. The church is frequently set forth under this designation. 2. Those whom He left behind were invested with the powers necessary for the transaction of affairs during His absence. 3. While peculiar authority was granted to some, none of the servants were permitted to remain idle. III. AN IMPORTANT DUTY ENJOINED. 1. To no subject is our attention more frequently directed than that of watchfulness. 2. The consideration by which it is enforced. It is the uncertainty as to when the master of the house might return; whether at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning. 3. Whatever limits may belong to other obligations, this is universal in its claims. "And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch." (Expository Outlines.) II. THE WORK. Authority is never given in the Church of Christ for any other end but work. The work is specific, "to every man his work." Each Christian should pray till he finds out the work God has assigned him in this present life. There is work active and passive in the Master's house; the childlike reception of the grace of God, to evangelise mankind. III. WATCHING. There are two ways of watching. There is a watching against a thing we fear; and or a thing we love. Watch for the second advent, and you will be vigilant against sloth and sin. Will you not keep every trespasser out of the Master's house, when you feel that that Master Himself stands almost at the door? He is worth watching for. (J. Vaughan, M. A.) (J. Vaughan, M. A.) II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. 1. Watch against thieves and robbers. 2. Watch for the Master. (H. Bonar, D. D.) I. THE SON OF MAN IS REPRESENTED AS A HOUSEHOLDER AWAY ON A JOURNEY (ver. 34). 1. It is not fair to look upon Jesus as a mere absentee lord of the soil. For. He made this world; He has suffered wonderfully to save souls; and He owns what He has purchased. 2. It must be remembered that He went away for a most gracious purpose. He would send the Comforter (John 16:7). He has gone to prepare a "place" for those whom He died to redeem (John 14:2, 3). 3. It is better to urge His coming back with eagerness of prayer. There is fitness in the passionate words of Richard Baxter: "Haste, O my Saviour, the time of Thy return: send forth Thy angels, let the last trumpet sound! Delay not, lest the living give up hope. Oh, hasten that great resurrection day when the seed Thou sowedst corruptible shall come forth incorruptible, and the graves that retain but dust shall return their glorious ones, Thy destined bride!" II. TO EVERYONE "OUR ABSENT LORD" HAS GIVEN HIS OWN WORK TO DO (ver. 35). 1. There is a work to be wrought on ourselves. Our bodies are to be exercised and skilled for service (Romans 12:1). Our minds are to be developed and embellished for God's praise. One of our Lord's parables spoken on this very occasion has actually added to our language the new word "talents," as signifying intellectual gifts (Matthew 25:15). Our souls are to be sanctified wholly (1 Thessalonians 5:23). 2. There is also a work to be wrought upon others and for others. The poor are to be succoured, the weak to be strengthened, the ignorant to be taught, the sorrowful to be comforted. 3. There is another work to be wrought for God's glory. "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." Our whole life is to be consecrated to this, even down to the particulars of eating and drinking (1 Corinthians 10:31). III. "OUR ABSENT LORD" IS SURELY COMING BACK AGAIN TO THIS WORLD (ver. 26). 1. He predicted His second advent (John 14:28). The language Jesus used in this remembered declaration is not at all figurative; it all goes together as a statement of fact. He said, literally, He would send the Comforter, and the Holy Spirit came in person on the Day of Pentecost. And just as literally did He say He would Himself return at the appointed time. 2. He asseverated the certainty and solemnity of His own promise, as if He foresaw some would deny or doubt it (ver. 31). This was endorsing the covenant engagement by a new oath; "because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself." 3. He left behind Him vivid descriptions of the momentous day on which He should arrive (vers. 24-26). In these, however, He does little more than repeat the vigorous language of the Old Testament prophet (Daniel 7:9-14). 4. He even sent back word from heaven by an angel (Acts 1:11). It should be "this same Jesus" who should come back, and He should come "in like manner" as they had seen Him depart. IV. THE EXACT HOUR IN WHICH "OUR ABSENT LORD" WILL ARRIVE IS NOT ANNOUNCED (Matthew 24:42). 1. Jesus asserted that He did not know it Himself (ver. 32). The disciples once asked Him about this (Matthew 24:3). He told them that God the Father had kept this one secret in His own solemn reserve (Acts 1:6, 7). 2. But our Saviour declares that His coming might be expected at any moment, morning or midnight, evening or cock crowing (ver. 35). It would assuredly be sudden. The figure is employed more than once in the Scriptures of "a thief in the night" (2 Peter 3:10). Peter in his Epistle only quotes our Lord's own language (Luke 12:39, 40). 3. Moreover, Christ told His disciples that there would be tokens of the nearness of this great day, by which it might be recognized when it should be close at hand (vers. 28, 29). These signs would be as clearly discerned as shoots on fig trees in the opening summer. He mentioned some of them explicitly (Luke 21:25-28). We may admit that "wars and rumours of wars," earthquakes, famines, falling stars, and pestilences (Matthew 24:6-8), together with "great signs in heaven and earth," are alarming disclosures; but will any one doubt that such phenomena are conspicuous at least? (Luke 17:24). 4. So Jesus insisted that men were bound to be wise in noting these signs, and be ready (Luke 12:54-56). V. THE GREATEST PERIL IS THAT, WHEN "OUR ABSENT LORD" COMES, MEN WILL BE TAKEN UNAWARES (ver. 36). 1. The instinctive tendency of the human heart is to procrastinate in the performance of religious work. 2. Time glides mysteriously on with no reference to daring delay. The grave, like the horseleach's daughter, cries "Give" (Proverbs 30:15, 16), and damnation slumbereth not (2 Peter 2:3), but men sleep clear up to the edge of divine judgment. They did in Noah's time, and in Lot's, when a less catastrophe was at hand; and so it will be when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 18:26-30). 3. Christians ought to hold in memory the repeated admonitions they have received. Walter Scott wrote on his dial plate the two Greek words which mean "the night cometh," so that he might keep eternity in mind whenever he saw the hours of time flitting by. Evidently the Apostle Paul feels that he has the right to press peculiarly pertinent and solemn appeals upon those who had enjoyed the advantage of such long instruction (1 Thessalonians 5:1-7). 4. There is no second chance offered after the first is lost. When Christ comes, foolish virgins will have no time to run for oil to pour into their lightless lamps. A forfeited life cannot be allowed any opportunity for retrieval. Where the tree falls, north or south, there it must lie, whether the full fruit has been ripened upon its branches or not (Ecclesiastes 11:3). VI. THE FINAL COUNSEL LEFT BEHIND HIM BY "OUR ABSENT LORD" IS FOR ALL TO WATCH (ver. 37). 1. Christ's coming would seem to be the highest anticipation for true believers. When He appears, saints will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4). This is the "blessed hope" of the Church along the ages (Titus 2:13). 2. It might clear an inquirer's experience to think of this coming of Jesus. Does one love to "watch" for Him? In the autobiography of Frances Ridley Havergal we are told of the years during which she sought sadly for peace at the cross. At last one of her teachers put this question to her: "Why cannot you trust yourself to your Saviour at once? Supposing that now, at this moment, Christ were to come in the clouds of heaven, and take up His redeemed, could you not trust Him? Would not His call, His promise, be enough for you? Could you not commit your soul to Him, to your Saviour, Jesus?" This lifted the cloud; she tells the story herself: "Then came a flash of hope across me, which made me feel literally breathless. I remember how my heart beat. 'I could surely,' was my response; and I left her suddenly and ran away upstairs to think it out. I flung myself on my knees in my room, and strove to realize the sudden hope. I was very happy at last. I could commit my soul to Jesus. I did not, and need not, fear His coming. I could trust Him with my all for eternity. It was so utterly new to have any bright thoughts about religion that I could hardly believe it could be so, that I had really gained such a step. Then and there, I committed my soul to the Saviour, I do not mean to say without any trembling or fear, but I did — and earth and heaven seemed bright from that moment — I did trust the Lord Jesus." (C. S. Robinson, D. D.) I. EVERY LIVING CREATURE HAS ITS OWN PROPER WORK. It matches with each man's natural endowment and his spiritual attainment. It is what suits him: neither too little nor too much. Enough to engage, and occupy, and draw out all his powers; and yet not so much as to injure or distress them. Take pains to ascertain whether the work you are engaged in is really yours — the work God would have you to do. To settle that satisfactorily, the following conditions must be fulfilled: 1. There must be the vocation of the heart — conscience and spiritual conviction telling you, after prayer and thought, that you are called to it. 2. The vocation of circumstances — your position and means being suited, and your education and habit of mind accommodated to it. 3. The vocation of the Church — the advice and judgment of pious friends who are in a position to offer an unprejudiced opinion on the subject. If these three things unite, you may be sure that, though you are directed to it by human agencies, the work is really allotted to you by God. II. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE ONLY FOR DOING THE WORK, NOT FOR THE RESULTS. The work is yours, but the issue is God's. Leave that to Him. Do you work with faith — for faith is confidence, and confidence is calmness, and calmness is power, and power is success, and success is God's glory. (J. Vaughan, M. A.) I. WORK. 1. Work of mercy. 2. Work of uprightness. 3. Work of struggling against evil within us. 4. Work of witnessing for Christ. 5. Work of helping others in various ways. 6. Work of comforting the sad, of supporting the weak. 7. Work of reclaiming the erring. 8. Work of saving the lost. II. HE WANTS THIS TO BE DONE WAKEFULLY; in that fresh and earnest way which men take (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (R. Glover.) 1. Work is the common duty of all in Christ's house. The calm stars are in ceaseless motion, and every leaf is a world, with its busy inhabitants and the sap coursing through its veins as the life blood through our own. It would be strange then if the Christian Church, which was intended to be the beating heart to all this world's activity, were exempted from a law so universal. Such a thing would be against our highest nature. Work is not only a duty, but a blessing. Every right deed is a step upward. Instead of praying that God would grant us less work, our request should be that he would give us a greater heart and growing strength to meet all its claims. 2. This work is varied to different individuals. In one respect there is something common in the work of all, as there is a common salvation — to believe in Christ and to grow in grace; but even here there may be a variety in the form. There is a different colour of beauty in different stones that are all of them precious. One man may be burnishing to the sparkle of the diamond, while another is deepening to the glow of the ruby; and each is equally useful and necessary. The cornerstone and the cope stone have both their due place in the palace house of Christ. To see how this may be, is to perceive that an end can be put to all jealousies and heart burnings, and may help us even now to take our position calmly and unenviously, working in our department, assured that our labour will be found to contribute to the full proportion of the whole. 3. Each individual has means for ascertaining his own work. Not a special revelation, or an irresistible impression. Still Christ does guide men into their sphere of work by the finger of His providence and by the enlightenment of His Word in the hand of His Spirit. If it be thought it would be simpler and more satisfactory to have our place directly pointed out to us, let us remember the trouble and care necessary to ascertain it are part of our training.There are these rules to guide us. 1. Our aptitudes. 2. Our opportunities. 3. The opinion of our fellow men when fairly expressed. II. THE WATCH OF THE PORTER. The porter is that one of the servants whose station is at the door to look out for those who approach, and open to them if they have right to enter. It would be wrong, however, to suppose that the body of the servants are exempted from watching, while one takes the duty for them (ver. 37). In saying the workmen are many and the watchman one, our Lord indicated that, while the mode of labour in the house may vary, the duty of watchfulness is common to all who are in it. The porter must stand at the door of every heart, while that heart pursues its work. What, then, is this watching? It is to do all our work with the thought of Christ's eye measuring it, as of a friend who is ever present to our soul, gone from us in outward form, sure to return, and meanwhile near in spirit; to subject our plans and acts to His approval, asking ourselves at every step how this would please Him, shrinking from what would cloud His face, rejoicing with great joy in all that would meet His smile. This is a more difficult task than to have our hands busy with the work of the house. But, if attended to, it will bring its proportionate benefit. 1. It will keep us wakeful. 2. It will preserve purity. 3. It will maintain the soul in calmness. 4. It will rise increasingly to the fervour of prayer — that prayer which is the strength of the soul and the life of all work. III. THE BEARING OF THESE TWO DUTIES UPON EACH OTHER. 1. Work cannot be rightly performed without watching; for then it would be (1) (2) (3) 2. Watching will not suffice without work; or it would be (1) (2) (3) (John Ker, D. D.) (Thoreau.) (Biblical Treasury.) 2309 Christ, as judge The Credulity of Unbelief On the Words of the Gospel, Mark xiii. 32, "But of that Day or that Hour Knoweth no One, not Even the Angels in Heaven, Neither "But the End of all Things is at Hand, be Ye Therefore Sober and Watch unto Prayer. " A Short and Easy Method of Prayer All are Commanded to Pray --Prayer the Great Means of Salvation The Noonday. The Four Gospels. The Jewish War and the Destruction of Jerusalem. A. D. 70 The Midnight Cry. Texts Explained; Eleventhly... Content of Revelation. God Three in one and the Incarnation. Things Perishing and Things Stable The Impending Judgment The Doctrine of Angels. The Doctrine of the Last Things. Why was the Fact of Our Lord's Return Presented in the Language of Imminency and the Exact Date Withheld? God's Dealings with the Earth During the Tribulation Period. Our Lord Himself Spoke of his Return in the Language of Imminency. Secret Study of the Holy Scriptures. To Each one his Work August 31 Evening The Widened Mission, Its Perils and Defences |
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