We must be rigorous with ourselves. We must not imagine that our poor or nonexistent performance will be excused. In Matthew 24-25 we see the failure of all excuses before God.
The man who was given one talent and hid it in the ground explained that he had not done more because he knew his master’s nature too well: “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and went out and hid your talent (money) in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.” The servant did not actually know his master at all. The servant was only making an excuse. It was a foolish excuse, and it certainly did not fool his master. But many people do the same today. They use the theology of justification to excuse their failure to care for others. They use knowledge of predestination to excuse their failure to evangelize. They use perseverance as an excuse for being lazy.
The master told the servant that if he was right about his character, he should have worked even harder. If the master was hard, the servant should have labored even more to produce a profit for him. The servant was wicked because of his unjustified slander, and he was lazy, which was the real reason for his zero-growth performance. By that standard, what wicked people must there be in our Churches? How lazy must many of us be!
You can get away with giving excuses to other people – to your boss, your parents, your spouse, your pastor. But do not think you can get away with giving excuses to God. The apostle Paul wrote that in the day of God’s judgment “every mouth [will] be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.” There will not be a single protest when Jesus the Judge takes the bench.
There will be a surprise for many on the day of judgment – it will not be pleasant. Many will be startled, shaken, and distressed. The wicked servant thought he had done well. He must have been startled to hear the words, “Throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness…there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This will be the end for many who in their lifetime called out, “Lord, Lord,” but did not do the things Jesus said. We would not dare to say this if the Lord had not said it first, but on His authority, we must say that many who worship in apparently Christian congregations and consider themselves good Christians will be confounded by Christ’s judgment.
This last point is very sobering. Jesus speaks of divisions, between the five wise and the five foolish virgins, between the faithful and wicked servants, between sheep and goats. But these are not for this life or for a few moments or years after death. They are forever. There is a gulf between heaven and hell, happiness and suffering, misery and the joy of the redeemed.
What a grim fate that is! Darkness, because it is a life without God, who is the source of all light. Outside, because it is without God, who is the Creator and center of all things. In that darkness there is no hope, no joy, no love, no laughter. In that outside world there is only weeping and gnashing of teeth forever. Do not go there. Repent of your sin, trust Christ as your Savior, and use your new life in Christ to work for Him now.
Maranatha!
(mar-uh-nath-uh – “Our Lord Comes”)
Pastor Steve can be reached at PastorSteve@MaranathaBibleChurch.org