David Diga Hernandez - The Return of Christ: Will He Find Faith in You?

Let’s go now to the Word of God: Matthew chapter 25. You’re going to read verses 14 through 30. Again, the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last, dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. Verse 16: the servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. After a long time, their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, «Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.» The master was full of praise. «Well done, my good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!» The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, «Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.» The master said, «Well done, my good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!» Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, «Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here’s your money back.» But the master replied, «You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it!» Then he ordered, «Take the money from this servant and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who will use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.» Now, this is a powerful portion of Scripture, and there’s a lot that can be gleaned from this. In fact, I’ve preached on this before, but from a different angle than what I’m going to use right now. So, there’s a lot to be said here about stewardship; there’s a lot to be said here about how the Lord entrusts us. But I want you to consider the primary context here: this parable is about the return of Christ. And yes, all of those other truths still hold, but the primary truth here is that when Christ returns, he wants to see what you’ve done with what he’s given to you. Notice the wording here: «Well done, my good and faithful servant.» This is the same wording that we hear when we approach the Lord at his throne on the day that we stand before him after this life is gone. I want to hear those words: «Well done, my good and faithful servant.» Notice also that «wicked» and «lazy» are used together. There is something wicked about laziness. But still, we have to consider this reality: Jesus is coming. The master is returning. He went away on a long trip. He gave us assignments; he gave us something to steward. Now, you notice here that the master never gave these servants specific instructions on what they were to do with what he gave them. In life, we have general instructions from the Lord: live holy, worship sincerely, pray consistently, evangelize boldly, and love one another unconditionally. These are commands in Scripture that guide our lives. But as far as some of the specifics go, God just wants you to be a good steward—to treat well that which he has given to you. When Christ returns, it will be like the strike of lightning; it will be sudden and unexpected. People will be carrying on with their everyday business, and the servants of God will be doing whatever it is that they’re doing. He will not announce when he comes. Sure, there are signs that indicate to us the seasons, but he will not announce that day or the hour. Will he find you faithful? I want you to consider that because this is a challenge to you. Now, I think sometimes it becomes a habit to say «Amen» or to respond in the affirmative when a preacher gives us something that we’ve heard before and we like the way it sounds. But I want you to really, truly, honestly, and deeply consider the question: when he returns, what will he find you doing? When he returns, will he find you faithful? 1 John chapter 2, verse 28 says this: «And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.» What a tragic thing that a believer, at the sight of the One whom they love, would shrink back in shame! 1 John is written to the children of God, and yet this portion of Scripture is cautioning us, the children of God, to live our lives properly so that we don’t shrink back.