Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Watch therefore because the hour of the Lord's coming is unknown, so readiness must be constant and unbroken. To watch means to stay awake, alert and expectant every hour and every moment until the close of time. The coming warned of is the literal second coming in the clouds with power and great glory to gather the elect, which will break in suddenly and unexpectedly upon ordinary life as in Noah's day, when one is taken and another left. The day and hour remain God's unrevealed mystery, so fixing a definite time is forbidden ground that brings neglect, shaking and disappointment, while uncertainty keeps all ready today. True watching is not idle expectancy but vigilant waiting joined with praying, working, giving timely spiritual nourishment, faithful use of entrusted talents, and daily character preparation through self-denial and obedience, by which the faithful servant is found doing his work and blessed, and the evil servant who says his lord delays and smites and indulges appetite is cut asunder in an hour he looks not for.
Words and Setting
Watch therefore because the hour of the Lord's coming is unknown, so readiness must be constant and unbroken. The uncertainty of the time makes readiness necessary, since the Son of man will come at an unexpected hour, and the warning belongs both to the disciples who first heard it and to those living in the final scenes of earth's history. Readiness is explained by what follows, where the faithful servant keeps serving the household and giving its food at the proper time and is found doing so when the Lord comes, and is blessed and entrusted with greater responsibility, while the evil servant assumes delay, becomes indifferent and unfaithful and mistreats others, and meets unexpected return with reward for the faithful and judgment for the unfaithful. The surrounding warning likens that day to Noah's time, when people carried on ordinary life and did not recognize danger until judgment came.
To watch means to stay awake, alert, and expectant every hour and every moment until the close of time. The hour is unknown and will break in suddenly like a thief in the night bringing the time of trouble, so only those who stay awake and ready will be safe and found doing their duty, aroused from sleep and from peace-and-safety slumber. The day, month, and even year are placed in a thick cloud in secrecy so they cannot be known, for the coming of the Son of man is God's mystery, and therefore no definite point is to be settled upon but life is to be lived by the day and by the moment as though each day is not one's own but the Lord's. Setting a time and mapping out the future is false reasoning on forbidden ground and is dangerous, because that time will pass and bring shaking, disappointment, confusion, and loss of bearings. Watching is standing as faithful watchmen and sentinels warning others of danger and crying the time of night, giving the trumpet a certain sound with earnest solemn warning that the morning comes and also the night, and presenting the important truths applicable to this time in the clearest manner to agitate, stir, and arouse people to inquire for themselves, since sudden destruction comes upon everyone who is not watching while false ministers soothe consciences crying peace and safety. It is eternal vigilance until the close of time because the conflict between good and evil continues and Satan works with malice to destroy souls, staying at the post of duty with loins girt about with truth, girding up the loins of the mind, being sober and hoping to the end, laying hold of God's promises, and continuing in watching, waiting, praying, and working, which applies especially to ministers amid suffering, want, despondency, misery, and unbelief, who must be instant in season and out of season, always ready saying Speak, Lord, and urgently entreat sinners not to tarry in these days of peril for souls. Looking for that blessed hope leads to counting earthly things as emptiness and nothingness and worldly honor and distinction as of no value, living above the world and advancing heavenward as a pilgrim and stranger whose citizenship is above, gathering the righteousness of Christ into the soul to be a burning and shining light in moral darkness with vigorous faith, lively hope, fervent love, holy consecrated zeal, and decided distinction from the world, praying always, being ready, keeping the garments and the oil of grace and righteousness of Christ without which no one is safe even an hour, and being accounted worthy to escape the things coming to pass and to stand before the Son of man. It is daily religion and zeal without excitement over a special definite time, rising with praise, going out to work with prayer for help, praying more when there is more work, seeking the throne of grace with greater earnestness under financial pressure and clinging to God as Jacob did, cultivating fidelity, faith, and love, purifying the soul through the truth, examining a consistent godly life so watching associates are not led to excuse lightness and neglect their souls.
As a householder who knew the thief's watch would guard his house from being broken up, so followers must be ready because the Son of man comes in an hour not thought of, as a thief in the night. Knowing the time would prompt watchfulness and protect the house, and likewise readiness is needed because no one knows what hour the Lord will come, whether this year or next year or in several years. The faithful and wise servant is made ruler over the household to give meat in due season by diffusing light, and is blessed if found doing so and made ruler over all goods, so those given light from God's Word must make right use of that light and be guarded not to feed the flock with food inappropriate for the time. That work requires eating Christ's flesh and drinking His blood, for His words are spirit and life, holding not mere assenting faith but practicing His sayings, sinking the shaft deeper for precious truth, and dispensing every ray of light instead of burying it like the talent hid in the earth. His coming in that solemn unexpected period comes when signs of the last days are thickening, wickedness is increasing, and men ask where is the promise of His coming, when the righteous dead will rise and together with the living saints be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, while the wicked do wickedly and do not understand and the wise understand. Ordinary activities such as eating, drinking, planting, building, and marrying are lawful, but carrying them to excess is sinful, as in Noah's day when people became absorbed in temporal affairs despite received light and responsibilities. Those who held it as associated teaching said Christ will come as a thief, invisibly, without anyone knowing when He comes, and will take the saints without others being aware.
The verse belongs to the discourse recorded in Matthew 24 and 25, given shortly before entering Gethsemane after a day of work and amid questions, in answer about the signs of His coming and the end of the world. It briefly covers the whole Christian dispensation to the second advent, with the destruction of Jerusalem serving as a type of the final destruction of the world by fire, and serves as the starting point for the narrative of the present age and the events leading to promised redemption and final triumph. Its predictions are being fulfilled and its signs show the coming is near, outlining what is coming upon the world amid the perils of the last days when people must be warned and God is about to punish those who reject His commandments and warnings. Its truths concern the eternal destiny of souls and must be studied and taught, and ministers and teachers are to explain its warning to watch to those they instruct.
Sudden Coming Foretold
The coming will be sudden and unexpected while ordinary life goes on with eating and drinking and marrying, just as in Noah's day people carried on unaware until the flood took them away. As then, the present time has reached a corrupt and lawless condition where the world grows accustomed to evil, yet work and daily occupation continue until the division comes with one taken and another left. Like a thief coming in an unknown watch of the night to break up a house, the Son of man comes in an hour not thought of, so readiness must be constant because the hour is unknown. That readiness is the work of a faithful and wise servant who takes heed, stays ready every hour, lifts the voice in warning that the end of all things is at hand, and gives truth as meat in due season instead of saying the Lord delays His coming.
The coming so warned of is the literal second coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, not merely an event fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem. He will send His angels with the sound of a great trumpet to gather the elect from the four winds, the righteous dead will rise from their graves, and together with the living saints they will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. It comes as a thief in the night in an hour very many think not, calling for careful, earnest readiness at all times and for zeal in the true believer. The faithful and wise servant found so doing is blessed and made ruler over all goods, while the evil servant who smites fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken is overtaken in a day he looks not for and cut asunder to his portion with the hypocrites in weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Not knowing the exact time does not excuse ignorance of its nearness, for signs are given by which followers are to recognize that it is near, and to neglect that warning is fatal. The signs are thickening around, prophecy is fulfilled, wickedness is increasing, and men ask where is the promise of His coming, showing the solemn period of the last days has come. Earthquakes, sinking ships with loss of life, destructive floods, the burning of costly fireproof buildings, and the plagues of God speak with a loud voice that the end of all things is at hand and His coming draws near. Judgments come upon cities because their inhabitants greatly dishonor God and reject warning, and the Lord sends them to arouse the world from apathy and sleepy indifference, for He is near, at the door. Many, even those who for years have expected the second appearing, remain listlessly indifferent to these daily events, and as the antediluvians knew not the time in which they were living, so people today know not because they do not choose to know they live in the last days.
The decisive hour will come silently and unexpectedly when probation has ended and every destiny has been fixed, shortly before Christ appears. People may still continue ordinary activities, absorbed in worldly pursuits, unaware that mercy's offer has closed. There will be no chance to get ready after Jesus leaves the most holy place, and very soon it will be too late, so watching must correct dullness, dormancy and unbelief now. Watching therefore means refusing to grow weary, moving carefully in the Lord's way, examining the heart, pressing together in union where there is strength, and diligently using the present opportunity to warn the world and speak truth from the Word.
Faithful and Evil Servants
The unknown hour requires readiness shown by steady service, for the faithful and wise servant is set over the household to give its food at the proper time and is blessed when found doing that appointed work of caring for others at the Lord's return. Such readiness means using entrusted resources to help proclaim the warning message suited to the times and to save perishing people, giving timely spiritual instruction rather than turning mind and time toward worldly pursuits and self-indulgence. No timetable for the end of earth's history is given, so each servant is to labor as if that day could be the last and not assume delay. As the Flood found people unprepared in Noah's day, so the Son of man will find the unwatchful unprepared, while the servant found faithfully feeding the household will be entrusted with greater responsibility and made ruler over all goods.
The contrast is between that faithful servant and the evil servant who says in his heart that his lord delays his coming. The evil servant smites his fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken, mistreating others while indulging appetite. His lord will come in a day he looks not for and an hour he is not aware of, as suddenly as the flood took the unaware who were eating and drinking and marrying, and as a thief surprises the householder. He will then be cut asunder and appointed his portion with the hypocrites, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, while the faithful servant giving meat in due season is made ruler over all goods. Watching therefore means taking heed and staying ready every hour, lifting the voice in warning that the end of all things is at hand instead of saying the Lord delays His coming.
That description of the evil servant is fulfilled where those in ministry with light and knowledge of the truth fail to overcome because they will not restrict appetite or deny self for Christ. They lack moral courage to war against appetite and passion, and many thus drawn to Christ depart from the faith in the latter times. Meanwhile the most depraved, poor outcasts, publicans and sinners grasp the hope set before them in the gospel and enter the kingdom before those with great opportunity and great light who walk in darkness, as seen in the work done in Battle Creek. The faithful work instead is reaching the most depraved and feeding the poor outcasts. In the last great day many shut out will cry Lord, Lord, open unto us, but the door will be shut and their knocking will be in vain.
The following parable of the ten virgins illustrates this same waiting experience for those looking for His return. It portrays the last-days church waiting for the Bridegroom and the experience of delay with its resulting disappointment after the passing of the expected time. The difference exposed is between sincere, enduring, personal faith grounded in Scripture, which can endure delay, and superficial expectation resting on impulse or the faith of others, which falters.
No Known Time
The day and hour remain God's mystery in secrecy, unrevealed and placed in a thick cloud so that day and month and even year cannot be known. Even Christ Himself could not make known the day or hour of His appearing, and therefore unceasing watchfulness and constant expectancy are required. Claiming to know the very day and hour and mapping out the future is occupying forbidden ground and is false reasoning that the Lord has warned against.
Fixing a definite, certain time for the coming is forbidden, because fixing the mind on a future date leads to neglecting the duties of the present day, especially the little duties that look small now but are of great importance. The time is left uncertain so that people will stay ready today, doing today's work with submission for the day and trusting God's grace to bear evils when they come, which removes most difficulties. Setting a time is dangerous because that time will pass, and when it passes there will always be shaking, disappointment, confusion, and loss of bearings. Watching therefore means living by the day and by the moment rather than settling on a definite point, since no one knows the hour of the Lord's coming nor when personal probation will close and work will be done and the armor laid off. It means rising in the morning with praise on the lips, going out to work with prayer for help, praying more when there is more work to do, seeking the throne of grace with greater earnestness under financial pressure and clinging to God for blessing as Jacob did, keeping daily religion and zeal without excitement or emotion over a special definite time, refusing to sleep, keeping the oil of grace and the righteousness of Christ because no one is safe even an hour without it, and living a consistent godly life so that watching associates are not led to excuse lightness and neglect their souls.
Not knowing the exact time does not excuse ignorance of its nearness, for Christ gives signs by which His followers are to recognize that it is near, and neglecting this warning is fatal. Faithful watching means giving attention to the prophecies being fulfilled and actively waiting for the second coming, not idly contemplating it, so that faithful watchmen will recognize the events taking place in the world and will not be surprised or unready when He appears. It calls for present heed to self, discerning the fulfilment of predictions, and diligent work of repentance now while mercy still speaks and probation still lingers, repenting and being converted and forsaking sin that sin may be blotted out and laying hold of the hope set before in the gospel. Christ foretold to His disciples the signs of the times to give instruction to those who should afterward believe and help them prepare for the great conflict, and at this age of the world God's people must discern those signs and reach a higher standard. The faithful servant is found watching and doing his work, including teaching the coming, while the unfaithful servant who says his Lord delays is condemned.
The passing of an expected time, as in 1844 and the Advent disappointment, does not make the word fail or remove the call to watch. The word of the Lord is sure and cannot fail, so those who have done their duty remain disappointed but not discouraged, keeping their faith and waiting with hope and trust and living prepared for the coming at any time. Watching means letting light shine into the darkness of the world and not neglecting the assembling together for instruction, encouragement and comfort. The waiting believers applied the exhortation to watch to their trials and duties after the Advent movement, continuing to wait, watch, and pray until they recognized by faith the open door of the heavenly sanctuary and Jesus pleading before the ark. Readiness means watching in daily life by examining words and conduct, praying for forgiveness for sins in thought, word, or action, and living in the faith professed, as illustrated by those who in 1844 expected the Lord might come while they slept. Hearing alone is not enough, for losing interest brings slumber, while signs that the end is near and at hand call for patient, hopeful waiting and faithfulness.
What Watching Requires
Watching is not idle expectancy but heeding the warning of Christ's second coming and the destruction to fall upon the world, by which those who heed will be saved as Noah and Lot and the disciples who fled Jerusalem were saved. Expectation of His coming makes men fear the Lord and His judgments upon transgression and awakens them to the great sin of rejecting His mercy. Those who watch purify their souls by obedience to the truth and join vigilant watching with earnest working, their zeal quickened because the Lord is at the door, to cooperate with divine intelligences in working for the salvation of souls. Waiting, watching, and working together develop a balanced Christian character, for the command does not call for neglecting ordinary duties for meditation, study, or prayer, nor for becoming so busy that personal piety is neglected. It is solemn waiting combined with earnest, vigilant work in waiting, watching, praying and working as servants of God, with personal consecration through cultivated and cherished heart-holiness, with no spiritual declension but continually striving to increase capabilities to do better work for the Master by using every facility He has provided to work intelligently.
That active service means everyone who believes in Christ as a personal Saviour uses the abilities God has entrusted, great or small, to display the truth's saving power and bring others to it. It is earnest labor for souls in darkness to show them the necessity of perfecting a Christian character, earnest work and fervent prayer to arouse the churches to understand their responsibilities, arousing the world from its worldliness with plain decided messages because the day of the Lord is right upon us, and showing the husbandmen their work in rendering to God the fruits of the vineyard. These are the faithful and wise servants found watching and blessed when He comes, giving the Lord's household their portion of meat in due season by declaring the truth specially applicable now, as Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses each declared the truth for his time.
Readiness includes faithfully doing the work entrusted to each person and giving the world the warning message and present truth suited to the time, including giving the household spiritual nourishment at the proper time, especially urgent in the last days when iniquity can cause love to grow cold. As in Noah's day people carried on ordinary life and did not recognize danger until judgment came, so those who assume the Lord is delayed become indifferent, unfaithful, and absorbed in worldly affairs instead of serving God. Because judgments will come upon cities whose inhabitants have greatly dishonored God, with the Lord near, at the door, and the end of all things at hand, believers must move carefully in the Lord's way and use the present opportunity to warn the world while mercy lingers. The Lord sends judgments to arouse inhabitants from apathy and sleepy indifference, and watching means being always ready and diligently searching God's Word, faithfully warning others of danger and speaking truth from the Word.
To watch means to stay awake and waiting for His appearing in the clouds of heaven, aroused from sleep and from peace-and-safety slumber, and to stand as faithful watchmen and sentinels warning others of danger and crying the time of night. Sudden destruction comes upon every person who is not watching, awake and waiting, while false ministers soothe consciences crying peace and safety. Faithful servants must therefore give the trumpet a certain sound with earnest solemn warning, crying the morning comes and also the night, diffusing light and presenting the important truths applicable to this time in the clearest manner to agitate, stir and arouse people to inquire for themselves and to use every opportunity to prepare people for His return.
Readiness means making Christ's self-denial and self-sacrifice evident, with self dying and appetites and passions brought into strict conformity to God's Word, since selfish indulgence weakens physical, mental, and moral power until sacred things are no longer distinguished from common things. Watching in daily life means examining one's words and conduct, praying for forgiveness for sins in thought, word, or action, and living in the faith one professes, as illustrated by those who expected the Lord might come while they slept in 1844. It means keeping the mind in a devotional frame through the Sabbath and carrying religion into business transactions, so that honesty marks every work and justice is done to every soul connected with it. It means living under the eye of the Infinite One upon every word uttered and every spirit borne, being converted and repenting when a wrong spirit is carried or a day is lost, representing Jesus Christ every day as His witnesses, spending every moment as though it might be the last in work for time and eternity. This doing the work of Christ and bringing the virtues of Christ's life into daily life is character-building on the true foundation that decides eternal life, whereas building with material represented by hay, wood, and stubble will not stand the test of the judgment; those who watch in this way will be ready for His appearing and prepared to receive eternal life. Preparation includes learning from God's word and putting away distractions that keep the mind from eternal concerns, hinder sanctification through belief in the truth, or prevent response to the last-day messages of warning and invitation.
Watching includes giving oneself to God and faithfully serving others and using entrusted resources to help proclaim the warning message and save perishing people, for the servant who neglects his duty and lives for self-indulgence will face judgment when the Lord comes unexpectedly. Every natural advantage is a talent belonging to the Lord, and each person must use those gifts for God's glory rather than selfish ends. At the day of reckoning each will answer for the gifts received, with greater gifts bringing greater responsibility, yet through Christ's grace consecrated talents can grow and increase. That faithful and wise service of giving meat in due season means diffusing light, which requires eating Christ's flesh and drinking His blood, meaning His words are spirit and life, holding not mere assenting faith in the Bible but practicing the sayings of Christ, sinking the shaft deeper for precious truth, and dispensing every ray of light to others instead of burying it like the talent hid in the earth.
Urgent Present Application
The command to watch because the hour is unknown is a present call to heed self, discern the fulfillment of the predictions, and do the work of repentance now while mercy still speaks and probation still lingers. It requires repenting and being converted and forsaking sin and forbidden conduct, that sin may be blotted out and the hope set before us in the gospel may be laid hold of. This applies even where ambitions reach to the ends of the earth with widespread activities and many commercial enterprises, for however broad the calling or outward activity, continuing for years in a course God forbids must be repented of before God. Without such repentance no one will see the kingdom of heaven or enter it at the unexpected coming.
Expectation of the soon appearing turns attention from earthly honor, distinction, and possessions as worthless and having no lasting value, toward heaven. It leads believers to live as pilgrims whose citizenship is in heaven and to live above the world in readiness for Him. That hope inspires vigorous and lively faith, lively hope, fervent love, and consecrated zeal and service.
The warning forbids assuming delay like the evil servant who says in his heart that his lord is delayed, in contrast with the faithful servant found doing his work. It applies when the scorner and rejector of truth has become presumptuous, when money-making goes on without regard to principle, and when students are fully engaged in ambitious aims to obtain knowledge of everything but the Bible. It applies to a world asleep in carnal security, full of rioting and godless pleasure and absorbed in temporal affairs despite light and responsibility, putting the coming afar off, laughing at warnings, and calling those who arouse them fanatics. Lawful activities such as eating, drinking, planting, building, and marrying become sinful when carried to excess, and as in Noah's day and with the dwellers in Sodom who awoke with plans of iniquity, ordinary life continues until sudden destruction and surprise come as a thief to the householder who knew not the watch. The crisis comes gradually while probation quickly closes and every case is decided, the signs are being fulfilled, the time is short, and every hour that passes leaves one hour less to make preparation of character for the great event.
Christians are therefore to consecrate themselves and be ready, and sinners are to seek Christ before it is too late, that they may be saved and meet the Saviour with joy when He appears. Watchfulness means not too readily giving up brethren or friends but staying alert to win them, correcting dullness, dormancy, and unbelief. It means pressing together in union where there is strength instead of being too willing to see faults in one another, waiting with hope and trust, letting light shine into the darkness, holding to faith when expectation passes and disappointment comes because the word is sure and cannot fail, and not neglecting to meet together for instruction, encouragement, and comfort, since there will be no chance to get ready after Jesus leaves the most holy place and very soon it will be too late.
The same watchfulness belongs to the closing period of this earth's history and its perils and crisis, which must be recognized and met without delay. Earthquakes, sinking ships with loss of life, destructive floods, burning of costly fireproof buildings, and the plagues of God speak with a loud voice that the end of all things is at hand and the coming is drawing near, yet many even who have long expected the appearing are listlessly indifferent to these daily events and, like the antediluvian world, know not because they do not choose to know that they live in the last days. Prosperity itself can make people less alert, and false Christs and false prophets may deceive many, so readiness means faithfully carrying out duty until He comes rather than assuming delay. It calls for self-examination asking whether the Scripture refers to self, for being the faithful and wise servant made ruler over the household to give meat in due season and blessed when found so doing and made ruler over all goods, lest the evil servant who smites fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken be overtaken in a day he looks not for and an hour he is not aware of, cut asunder, and appointed his portion with the hypocrites with weeping and gnashing of teeth. God's servants must live in eternal vigilance until the close of time because the conflict between good and evil continues and Satan works with malice to destroy souls, staying at the post of duty with loins girt about with truth, girding up the loins of the mind, being sober and hoping to the end, laying hold of the promises against the enemy, and continuing in watching, waiting, praying, and working. This applies especially to ministers who daily meet suffering, want, despondency, misery, and unbelief and face many unsaved souls, who must be instant in season and out of season, always ready saying Speak, Lord, and urgently entreat sinners not to tarry because these are days of peril for souls.
Watch therefore because the hour of the Lord's coming is unknown, so readiness must be constant and unbroken. To watch means to stay awake, alert and expectant every hour and every moment until the close of time. The coming warned of is the literal second coming in the clouds with power and great glory to gather the elect, which will break in suddenly and unexpectedly upon ordinary life as in Noah's day, when one is taken and another left. The day and hour remain God's unrevealed mystery, so fixing a definite time is forbidden ground that brings neglect, shaking and disappointment, while uncertainty keeps all ready today. True watching is not idle expectancy but vigilant waiting joined with praying, working, giving timely spiritual nourishment, faithful use of entrusted talents, and daily character preparation through self-denial and obedience, by which the faithful servant is found doing his work and blessed, and the evil servant who says his lord delays and smites and indulges appetite is cut asunder in an hour he looks not for.
Words and Setting
Watch therefore because the hour of the Lord's coming is unknown, so readiness must be constant and unbroken. The uncertainty of the time makes readiness necessary, since the Son of man will come at an unexpected hour, and the warning belongs both to the disciples who first heard it and to those living in the final scenes of earth's history. Readiness is explained by what follows, where the faithful servant keeps serving the household and giving its food at the proper time and is found doing so when the Lord comes, and is blessed and entrusted with greater responsibility, while the evil servant assumes delay, becomes indifferent and unfaithful and mistreats others, and meets unexpected return with reward for the faithful and judgment for the unfaithful. The surrounding warning likens that day to Noah's time, when people carried on ordinary life and did not recognize danger until judgment came.
To watch means to stay awake, alert, and expectant every hour and every moment until the close of time. The hour is unknown and will break in suddenly like a thief in the night bringing the time of trouble, so only those who stay awake and ready will be safe and found doing their duty, aroused from sleep and from peace-and-safety slumber. The day, month, and even year are placed in a thick cloud in secrecy so they cannot be known, for the coming of the Son of man is God's mystery, and therefore no definite point is to be settled upon but life is to be lived by the day and by the moment as though each day is not one's own but the Lord's. Setting a time and mapping out the future is false reasoning on forbidden ground and is dangerous, because that time will pass and bring shaking, disappointment, confusion, and loss of bearings. Watching is standing as faithful watchmen and sentinels warning others of danger and crying the time of night, giving the trumpet a certain sound with earnest solemn warning that the morning comes and also the night, and presenting the important truths applicable to this time in the clearest manner to agitate, stir, and arouse people to inquire for themselves, since sudden destruction comes upon everyone who is not watching while false ministers soothe consciences crying peace and safety. It is eternal vigilance until the close of time because the conflict between good and evil continues and Satan works with malice to destroy souls, staying at the post of duty with loins girt about with truth, girding up the loins of the mind, being sober and hoping to the end, laying hold of God's promises, and continuing in watching, waiting, praying, and working, which applies especially to ministers amid suffering, want, despondency, misery, and unbelief, who must be instant in season and out of season, always ready saying Speak, Lord, and urgently entreat sinners not to tarry in these days of peril for souls. Looking for that blessed hope leads to counting earthly things as emptiness and nothingness and worldly honor and distinction as of no value, living above the world and advancing heavenward as a pilgrim and stranger whose citizenship is above, gathering the righteousness of Christ into the soul to be a burning and shining light in moral darkness with vigorous faith, lively hope, fervent love, holy consecrated zeal, and decided distinction from the world, praying always, being ready, keeping the garments and the oil of grace and righteousness of Christ without which no one is safe even an hour, and being accounted worthy to escape the things coming to pass and to stand before the Son of man. It is daily religion and zeal without excitement over a special definite time, rising with praise, going out to work with prayer for help, praying more when there is more work, seeking the throne of grace with greater earnestness under financial pressure and clinging to God as Jacob did, cultivating fidelity, faith, and love, purifying the soul through the truth, examining a consistent godly life so watching associates are not led to excuse lightness and neglect their souls.
As a householder who knew the thief's watch would guard his house from being broken up, so followers must be ready because the Son of man comes in an hour not thought of, as a thief in the night. Knowing the time would prompt watchfulness and protect the house, and likewise readiness is needed because no one knows what hour the Lord will come, whether this year or next year or in several years. The faithful and wise servant is made ruler over the household to give meat in due season by diffusing light, and is blessed if found doing so and made ruler over all goods, so those given light from God's Word must make right use of that light and be guarded not to feed the flock with food inappropriate for the time. That work requires eating Christ's flesh and drinking His blood, for His words are spirit and life, holding not mere assenting faith but practicing His sayings, sinking the shaft deeper for precious truth, and dispensing every ray of light instead of burying it like the talent hid in the earth. His coming in that solemn unexpected period comes when signs of the last days are thickening, wickedness is increasing, and men ask where is the promise of His coming, when the righteous dead will rise and together with the living saints be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, while the wicked do wickedly and do not understand and the wise understand. Ordinary activities such as eating, drinking, planting, building, and marrying are lawful, but carrying them to excess is sinful, as in Noah's day when people became absorbed in temporal affairs despite received light and responsibilities. Those who held it as associated teaching said Christ will come as a thief, invisibly, without anyone knowing when He comes, and will take the saints without others being aware.
The verse belongs to the discourse recorded in Matthew 24 and 25, given shortly before entering Gethsemane after a day of work and amid questions, in answer about the signs of His coming and the end of the world. It briefly covers the whole Christian dispensation to the second advent, with the destruction of Jerusalem serving as a type of the final destruction of the world by fire, and serves as the starting point for the narrative of the present age and the events leading to promised redemption and final triumph. Its predictions are being fulfilled and its signs show the coming is near, outlining what is coming upon the world amid the perils of the last days when people must be warned and God is about to punish those who reject His commandments and warnings. Its truths concern the eternal destiny of souls and must be studied and taught, and ministers and teachers are to explain its warning to watch to those they instruct.
Sudden Coming Foretold
The coming will be sudden and unexpected while ordinary life goes on with eating and drinking and marrying, just as in Noah's day people carried on unaware until the flood took them away. As then, the present time has reached a corrupt and lawless condition where the world grows accustomed to evil, yet work and daily occupation continue until the division comes with one taken and another left. Like a thief coming in an unknown watch of the night to break up a house, the Son of man comes in an hour not thought of, so readiness must be constant because the hour is unknown. That readiness is the work of a faithful and wise servant who takes heed, stays ready every hour, lifts the voice in warning that the end of all things is at hand, and gives truth as meat in due season instead of saying the Lord delays His coming.
The coming so warned of is the literal second coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, not merely an event fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem. He will send His angels with the sound of a great trumpet to gather the elect from the four winds, the righteous dead will rise from their graves, and together with the living saints they will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. It comes as a thief in the night in an hour very many think not, calling for careful, earnest readiness at all times and for zeal in the true believer. The faithful and wise servant found so doing is blessed and made ruler over all goods, while the evil servant who smites fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken is overtaken in a day he looks not for and cut asunder to his portion with the hypocrites in weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Not knowing the exact time does not excuse ignorance of its nearness, for signs are given by which followers are to recognize that it is near, and to neglect that warning is fatal. The signs are thickening around, prophecy is fulfilled, wickedness is increasing, and men ask where is the promise of His coming, showing the solemn period of the last days has come. Earthquakes, sinking ships with loss of life, destructive floods, the burning of costly fireproof buildings, and the plagues of God speak with a loud voice that the end of all things is at hand and His coming draws near. Judgments come upon cities because their inhabitants greatly dishonor God and reject warning, and the Lord sends them to arouse the world from apathy and sleepy indifference, for He is near, at the door. Many, even those who for years have expected the second appearing, remain listlessly indifferent to these daily events, and as the antediluvians knew not the time in which they were living, so people today know not because they do not choose to know they live in the last days.
The decisive hour will come silently and unexpectedly when probation has ended and every destiny has been fixed, shortly before Christ appears. People may still continue ordinary activities, absorbed in worldly pursuits, unaware that mercy's offer has closed. There will be no chance to get ready after Jesus leaves the most holy place, and very soon it will be too late, so watching must correct dullness, dormancy and unbelief now. Watching therefore means refusing to grow weary, moving carefully in the Lord's way, examining the heart, pressing together in union where there is strength, and diligently using the present opportunity to warn the world and speak truth from the Word.
Faithful and Evil Servants
The unknown hour requires readiness shown by steady service, for the faithful and wise servant is set over the household to give its food at the proper time and is blessed when found doing that appointed work of caring for others at the Lord's return. Such readiness means using entrusted resources to help proclaim the warning message suited to the times and to save perishing people, giving timely spiritual instruction rather than turning mind and time toward worldly pursuits and self-indulgence. No timetable for the end of earth's history is given, so each servant is to labor as if that day could be the last and not assume delay. As the Flood found people unprepared in Noah's day, so the Son of man will find the unwatchful unprepared, while the servant found faithfully feeding the household will be entrusted with greater responsibility and made ruler over all goods.
The contrast is between that faithful servant and the evil servant who says in his heart that his lord delays his coming. The evil servant smites his fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken, mistreating others while indulging appetite. His lord will come in a day he looks not for and an hour he is not aware of, as suddenly as the flood took the unaware who were eating and drinking and marrying, and as a thief surprises the householder. He will then be cut asunder and appointed his portion with the hypocrites, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, while the faithful servant giving meat in due season is made ruler over all goods. Watching therefore means taking heed and staying ready every hour, lifting the voice in warning that the end of all things is at hand instead of saying the Lord delays His coming.
That description of the evil servant is fulfilled where those in ministry with light and knowledge of the truth fail to overcome because they will not restrict appetite or deny self for Christ. They lack moral courage to war against appetite and passion, and many thus drawn to Christ depart from the faith in the latter times. Meanwhile the most depraved, poor outcasts, publicans and sinners grasp the hope set before them in the gospel and enter the kingdom before those with great opportunity and great light who walk in darkness, as seen in the work done in Battle Creek. The faithful work instead is reaching the most depraved and feeding the poor outcasts. In the last great day many shut out will cry Lord, Lord, open unto us, but the door will be shut and their knocking will be in vain.
The following parable of the ten virgins illustrates this same waiting experience for those looking for His return. It portrays the last-days church waiting for the Bridegroom and the experience of delay with its resulting disappointment after the passing of the expected time. The difference exposed is between sincere, enduring, personal faith grounded in Scripture, which can endure delay, and superficial expectation resting on impulse or the faith of others, which falters.
No Known Time
The day and hour remain God's mystery in secrecy, unrevealed and placed in a thick cloud so that day and month and even year cannot be known. Even Christ Himself could not make known the day or hour of His appearing, and therefore unceasing watchfulness and constant expectancy are required. Claiming to know the very day and hour and mapping out the future is occupying forbidden ground and is false reasoning that the Lord has warned against.
Fixing a definite, certain time for the coming is forbidden, because fixing the mind on a future date leads to neglecting the duties of the present day, especially the little duties that look small now but are of great importance. The time is left uncertain so that people will stay ready today, doing today's work with submission for the day and trusting God's grace to bear evils when they come, which removes most difficulties. Setting a time is dangerous because that time will pass, and when it passes there will always be shaking, disappointment, confusion, and loss of bearings. Watching therefore means living by the day and by the moment rather than settling on a definite point, since no one knows the hour of the Lord's coming nor when personal probation will close and work will be done and the armor laid off. It means rising in the morning with praise on the lips, going out to work with prayer for help, praying more when there is more work to do, seeking the throne of grace with greater earnestness under financial pressure and clinging to God for blessing as Jacob did, keeping daily religion and zeal without excitement or emotion over a special definite time, refusing to sleep, keeping the oil of grace and the righteousness of Christ because no one is safe even an hour without it, and living a consistent godly life so that watching associates are not led to excuse lightness and neglect their souls.
Not knowing the exact time does not excuse ignorance of its nearness, for Christ gives signs by which His followers are to recognize that it is near, and neglecting this warning is fatal. Faithful watching means giving attention to the prophecies being fulfilled and actively waiting for the second coming, not idly contemplating it, so that faithful watchmen will recognize the events taking place in the world and will not be surprised or unready when He appears. It calls for present heed to self, discerning the fulfilment of predictions, and diligent work of repentance now while mercy still speaks and probation still lingers, repenting and being converted and forsaking sin that sin may be blotted out and laying hold of the hope set before in the gospel. Christ foretold to His disciples the signs of the times to give instruction to those who should afterward believe and help them prepare for the great conflict, and at this age of the world God's people must discern those signs and reach a higher standard. The faithful servant is found watching and doing his work, including teaching the coming, while the unfaithful servant who says his Lord delays is condemned.
The passing of an expected time, as in 1844 and the Advent disappointment, does not make the word fail or remove the call to watch. The word of the Lord is sure and cannot fail, so those who have done their duty remain disappointed but not discouraged, keeping their faith and waiting with hope and trust and living prepared for the coming at any time. Watching means letting light shine into the darkness of the world and not neglecting the assembling together for instruction, encouragement and comfort. The waiting believers applied the exhortation to watch to their trials and duties after the Advent movement, continuing to wait, watch, and pray until they recognized by faith the open door of the heavenly sanctuary and Jesus pleading before the ark. Readiness means watching in daily life by examining words and conduct, praying for forgiveness for sins in thought, word, or action, and living in the faith professed, as illustrated by those who in 1844 expected the Lord might come while they slept. Hearing alone is not enough, for losing interest brings slumber, while signs that the end is near and at hand call for patient, hopeful waiting and faithfulness.
What Watching Requires
Watching is not idle expectancy but heeding the warning of Christ's second coming and the destruction to fall upon the world, by which those who heed will be saved as Noah and Lot and the disciples who fled Jerusalem were saved. Expectation of His coming makes men fear the Lord and His judgments upon transgression and awakens them to the great sin of rejecting His mercy. Those who watch purify their souls by obedience to the truth and join vigilant watching with earnest working, their zeal quickened because the Lord is at the door, to cooperate with divine intelligences in working for the salvation of souls. Waiting, watching, and working together develop a balanced Christian character, for the command does not call for neglecting ordinary duties for meditation, study, or prayer, nor for becoming so busy that personal piety is neglected. It is solemn waiting combined with earnest, vigilant work in waiting, watching, praying and working as servants of God, with personal consecration through cultivated and cherished heart-holiness, with no spiritual declension but continually striving to increase capabilities to do better work for the Master by using every facility He has provided to work intelligently.
That active service means everyone who believes in Christ as a personal Saviour uses the abilities God has entrusted, great or small, to display the truth's saving power and bring others to it. It is earnest labor for souls in darkness to show them the necessity of perfecting a Christian character, earnest work and fervent prayer to arouse the churches to understand their responsibilities, arousing the world from its worldliness with plain decided messages because the day of the Lord is right upon us, and showing the husbandmen their work in rendering to God the fruits of the vineyard. These are the faithful and wise servants found watching and blessed when He comes, giving the Lord's household their portion of meat in due season by declaring the truth specially applicable now, as Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses each declared the truth for his time.
Readiness includes faithfully doing the work entrusted to each person and giving the world the warning message and present truth suited to the time, including giving the household spiritual nourishment at the proper time, especially urgent in the last days when iniquity can cause love to grow cold. As in Noah's day people carried on ordinary life and did not recognize danger until judgment came, so those who assume the Lord is delayed become indifferent, unfaithful, and absorbed in worldly affairs instead of serving God. Because judgments will come upon cities whose inhabitants have greatly dishonored God, with the Lord near, at the door, and the end of all things at hand, believers must move carefully in the Lord's way and use the present opportunity to warn the world while mercy lingers. The Lord sends judgments to arouse inhabitants from apathy and sleepy indifference, and watching means being always ready and diligently searching God's Word, faithfully warning others of danger and speaking truth from the Word.
To watch means to stay awake and waiting for His appearing in the clouds of heaven, aroused from sleep and from peace-and-safety slumber, and to stand as faithful watchmen and sentinels warning others of danger and crying the time of night. Sudden destruction comes upon every person who is not watching, awake and waiting, while false ministers soothe consciences crying peace and safety. Faithful servants must therefore give the trumpet a certain sound with earnest solemn warning, crying the morning comes and also the night, diffusing light and presenting the important truths applicable to this time in the clearest manner to agitate, stir and arouse people to inquire for themselves and to use every opportunity to prepare people for His return.
Readiness means making Christ's self-denial and self-sacrifice evident, with self dying and appetites and passions brought into strict conformity to God's Word, since selfish indulgence weakens physical, mental, and moral power until sacred things are no longer distinguished from common things. Watching in daily life means examining one's words and conduct, praying for forgiveness for sins in thought, word, or action, and living in the faith one professes, as illustrated by those who expected the Lord might come while they slept in 1844. It means keeping the mind in a devotional frame through the Sabbath and carrying religion into business transactions, so that honesty marks every work and justice is done to every soul connected with it. It means living under the eye of the Infinite One upon every word uttered and every spirit borne, being converted and repenting when a wrong spirit is carried or a day is lost, representing Jesus Christ every day as His witnesses, spending every moment as though it might be the last in work for time and eternity. This doing the work of Christ and bringing the virtues of Christ's life into daily life is character-building on the true foundation that decides eternal life, whereas building with material represented by hay, wood, and stubble will not stand the test of the judgment; those who watch in this way will be ready for His appearing and prepared to receive eternal life. Preparation includes learning from God's word and putting away distractions that keep the mind from eternal concerns, hinder sanctification through belief in the truth, or prevent response to the last-day messages of warning and invitation.
Watching includes giving oneself to God and faithfully serving others and using entrusted resources to help proclaim the warning message and save perishing people, for the servant who neglects his duty and lives for self-indulgence will face judgment when the Lord comes unexpectedly. Every natural advantage is a talent belonging to the Lord, and each person must use those gifts for God's glory rather than selfish ends. At the day of reckoning each will answer for the gifts received, with greater gifts bringing greater responsibility, yet through Christ's grace consecrated talents can grow and increase. That faithful and wise service of giving meat in due season means diffusing light, which requires eating Christ's flesh and drinking His blood, meaning His words are spirit and life, holding not mere assenting faith in the Bible but practicing the sayings of Christ, sinking the shaft deeper for precious truth, and dispensing every ray of light to others instead of burying it like the talent hid in the earth.
Urgent Present Application
The command to watch because the hour is unknown is a present call to heed self, discern the fulfillment of the predictions, and do the work of repentance now while mercy still speaks and probation still lingers. It requires repenting and being converted and forsaking sin and forbidden conduct, that sin may be blotted out and the hope set before us in the gospel may be laid hold of. This applies even where ambitions reach to the ends of the earth with widespread activities and many commercial enterprises, for however broad the calling or outward activity, continuing for years in a course God forbids must be repented of before God. Without such repentance no one will see the kingdom of heaven or enter it at the unexpected coming.
Expectation of the soon appearing turns attention from earthly honor, distinction, and possessions as worthless and having no lasting value, toward heaven. It leads believers to live as pilgrims whose citizenship is in heaven and to live above the world in readiness for Him. That hope inspires vigorous and lively faith, lively hope, fervent love, and consecrated zeal and service.
The warning forbids assuming delay like the evil servant who says in his heart that his lord is delayed, in contrast with the faithful servant found doing his work. It applies when the scorner and rejector of truth has become presumptuous, when money-making goes on without regard to principle, and when students are fully engaged in ambitious aims to obtain knowledge of everything but the Bible. It applies to a world asleep in carnal security, full of rioting and godless pleasure and absorbed in temporal affairs despite light and responsibility, putting the coming afar off, laughing at warnings, and calling those who arouse them fanatics. Lawful activities such as eating, drinking, planting, building, and marrying become sinful when carried to excess, and as in Noah's day and with the dwellers in Sodom who awoke with plans of iniquity, ordinary life continues until sudden destruction and surprise come as a thief to the householder who knew not the watch. The crisis comes gradually while probation quickly closes and every case is decided, the signs are being fulfilled, the time is short, and every hour that passes leaves one hour less to make preparation of character for the great event.
Christians are therefore to consecrate themselves and be ready, and sinners are to seek Christ before it is too late, that they may be saved and meet the Saviour with joy when He appears. Watchfulness means not too readily giving up brethren or friends but staying alert to win them, correcting dullness, dormancy, and unbelief. It means pressing together in union where there is strength instead of being too willing to see faults in one another, waiting with hope and trust, letting light shine into the darkness, holding to faith when expectation passes and disappointment comes because the word is sure and cannot fail, and not neglecting to meet together for instruction, encouragement, and comfort, since there will be no chance to get ready after Jesus leaves the most holy place and very soon it will be too late.
The same watchfulness belongs to the closing period of this earth's history and its perils and crisis, which must be recognized and met without delay. Earthquakes, sinking ships with loss of life, destructive floods, burning of costly fireproof buildings, and the plagues of God speak with a loud voice that the end of all things is at hand and the coming is drawing near, yet many even who have long expected the appearing are listlessly indifferent to these daily events and, like the antediluvian world, know not because they do not choose to know that they live in the last days. Prosperity itself can make people less alert, and false Christs and false prophets may deceive many, so readiness means faithfully carrying out duty until He comes rather than assuming delay. It calls for self-examination asking whether the Scripture refers to self, for being the faithful and wise servant made ruler over the household to give meat in due season and blessed when found so doing and made ruler over all goods, lest the evil servant who smites fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken be overtaken in a day he looks not for and an hour he is not aware of, cut asunder, and appointed his portion with the hypocrites with weeping and gnashing of teeth. God's servants must live in eternal vigilance until the close of time because the conflict between good and evil continues and Satan works with malice to destroy souls, staying at the post of duty with loins girt about with truth, girding up the loins of the mind, being sober and hoping to the end, laying hold of the promises against the enemy, and continuing in watching, waiting, praying, and working. This applies especially to ministers who daily meet suffering, want, despondency, misery, and unbelief and face many unsaved souls, who must be instant in season and out of season, always ready saying Speak, Lord, and urgently entreat sinners not to tarry because these are days of peril for souls.