Faithful & Wicked Servant

Matthew 24:45–51; Luke 12:42–48
Prepared by David Hersey

Opening: A Steward’s Test in the Master’s Absence
Jesus pictures a household where the master appoints a steward “to give them food in due season.” The steward’s work continues while the master is away. One servant stays at the task and receives promotion when the master returns. Another turns to cruelty and indulgence and receives judgment. The lesson reaches every disciple: keep the charge the Lord assigned, care for fellow servants, and live ready for His return.

Setting and Aim
These words follow the Lord’s warning to watch. The focus shifts from calendars to character, from timetables to tasks. Readiness shows in steady obedience during the delay. The steward’s job description is clear—handle the master’s goods, feed the household, and serve as one under authority. Judgment rests on faithfulness to that assignment.

The Faithful Servant: Steady Hands, Timely Care
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant?” Jesus answers through action. He keeps the household supplied. He measures portions well. He treats souls with dignity. He views time as borrowed and resources as entrusted. The master returns and finds him working. Promotion follows: “He will make him ruler over all his goods” (Matthew 24:47). Faithfulness with today’s duty prepares a servant for greater responsibility tomorrow (Luke 12:42–44).

The Wicked Servant: Delay Becomes Permission in His Mind
The other servant speaks in his heart, “My master delays.” The inward sentence shapes the outward life. He strikes fellow servants, seeks drunken company, and wastes the household’s goods. He treats the master’s absence as freedom from oversight. The master arrives on a day he does not expect and assigns him a portion with the hypocrites—language of loss, exposure, and anguish (Matthew 24:48–51; Luke 12:45–46).

Judgment According to Knowledge and Deeds
Luke adds a sober detail: stripes are measured. The servant who knew his master’s will and refused it receives many stripes; the one who acted in ignorance receives few (Luke 12:47–48). The Lord sees motive and measure. He weighs stewardship by revealed will and visible practice. “He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:9). “He who does the will of My Father” enters the kingdom (Matthew 7:21). Hearing leads to doing; confession and compliance travel together.

Readiness Measured by the Pattern
Disciples serve under authority. “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17). The steward has no right to invent policy or bind human rules as law. The Pharisees elevated tradition to the level of command and turned worship into vanity (Matthew 15:1–9). Scripture warns against additions or subtractions (Deuteronomy 4:2; 1 Corinthians 4:6; Revelation 22:18–19). Readiness honors the pattern God revealed and carries it out with care.

Marks of a Faithful Steward
A faithful steward feeds, protects, and equips. Leaders in congregations—elders, deacons, teachers—and leaders in homes—fathers and mothers—share this charge. Sound teaching supplies the household in season. Wise oversight preserves peace. Honest accountability corrects with fairness. Gentleness marks every interaction with fellow servants. Private life matches public duty. The master’s delay becomes a proving ground for patience, purity, and perseverance.

How Delay Tests the Heart
Delay reveals whether we serve the master or the moment. Cynicism whispers, “There’s time.” Indulgence urges a holiday from holiness. Violence rises when authority turns inward. The Lord’s answer is simple: keep working. The clock belongs to Him. He appoints the day. He will arrive at an hour we do not anticipate. The safe path stays the same—do the will of the Father today and keep doing it tomorrow.

Practices that Keep a Steward Ready
Open the Scriptures daily and let the Lord’s words set the schedule. Fulfill known duties without bargaining—assemble faithfully, pray sincerely, speak truthfully, make wrongs right, and keep promises. Test every rule and tradition by the written word. Guard your treatment of fellow servants; cruelty, gossip, and partiality have no place in the master’s house. Handle the Lord’s money with integrity. Use your post to lift burdens, not to create them.

Conclusion: Found Working
When the door opens and the master steps in, He will ask no riddles. He will look for the meal on the table, the flock fed, and the household at peace. Promotion belongs to the servant found working. Judgment belongs to the servant who used the delay as a license for sin. Choose your posture now. The return is certain; the hour is hidden. Faithful stewardship is the way to be ready.

Exhaustive Sermon Outline

• Text and Picture

  • Parable read: Matthew 24:45–51; Luke 12:42–48

  • Household, steward, delay, return, reward, and punishment

• Context of Watchfulness

  • From signs to stewardship: readiness defined by duty (Matthew 24:42–44)

• Faithful Steward

  • Task: “give them food in due season” (Matthew 24:45–46)

  • Traits: faithfulness, wisdom, timeliness, equity (Luke 12:42–44)

  • Outcome: found at work; promotion over more

• Wicked Servant

  • Heart-sentence: “My master delays” (Matthew 24:48)

  • Behaviors: violence, waste, drunkenness (Matthew 24:49; Luke 12:45)

  • Outcome: unexpected return; portion with hypocrites; weeping and gnashing (Matthew 24:50–51)

• Judgment Principles

  • According to knowledge: stripes measured (Luke 12:47–48)

  • According to obedience: Matthew 7:21; Hebrews 5:9

  • According to revealed will: Colossians 3:17

• Authority and Pattern

  • Serve within what is written (1 Corinthians 4:6)

  • Refuse additions and subtractions (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18–19)

  • Expose traditions that displace God’s commands (Matthew 15:1–9)

• Applications for Leaders and Members

  • Feed the household: sound teaching, balanced diet (Acts 20:27–28)

  • Protect the household: fair discipline, no partiality (Galatians 6:1; James 2:1)

  • Steward resources: honesty, transparency (2 Corinthians 8:20–21)

  • Guard relationships: gentleness, patience, refusal of cruelty (Ephesians 4:31–32)

• Living Through Delay

  • Resist cynicism and indulgence; redeem the time (Ephesians 5:15–16)

  • Keep to known duties: worship, prayer, reconciliation, purity (Matthew 5–7)

  • Expect surprise; maintain readiness (Matthew 24:42–44)

• Invitation and Ongoing Walk

  • Obey the gospel as the appointed beginning (Mark 16:16; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:3–4)

  • Continue in faithful stewardship until the master comes (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Call to Action
Examine your stewardship. If you have never obeyed the gospel, begin today—believe in Christ, repent of sins, confess His name, and be baptized for the remission of sins. If you have drifted during the delay, return to the Lord’s pattern, make wrongs right with fellow servants, and be found working when He appears.

Scripture Reference List (with brief notes)

• Matthew 24:45–51; Luke 12:42–48 — Parable of the steward: faithfulness rewarded; negligence judged

• Matthew 24:42–44 — Watchful readiness during the delay

• Matthew 7:21 — Entrance tied to doing the Father’s will

• Hebrews 5:9 — Salvation appointed to those who obey

• Colossians 3:17 — Serve under the Lord’s authority in word and deed

• 1 Corinthians 4:6 — Stay within what is written

• Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18–19 — No additions or subtractions to God’s word

• Matthew 15:1–9 — Traditions that replace God’s commands render worship empty

• Acts 20:27–28 — Feed and oversee the flock

• Galatians 6:1 — Restore with gentleness

• James 2:1 — Reject partiality

• 2 Corinthians 8:20–21 — Provide for things honorable in the Lord’s work

• Ephesians 5:15–16 — Walk carefully; redeem the time

• Mark 16:16; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:3–4 — Appointed response to the gospel

• 1 Corinthians 15:58 — Steadfast work in the Lord is never in vain

Prepared by David Hersey of the church of Christ at Granby, MO