Some dispensational teachers may say that this portion in Matthew is only for the Jewish people. Let us then read Luke 12, which not only mentions the same thing in principle, but even in a more serious way. Verses 46 and 47 say that the lord of that servant "will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." The fact that the servant knew his lord's will proves it refers to a saved person. How could any unsaved person know the Lord's will? Surely this is a saved one. That servant who knows his Lord's will but who does not prepare himself and does not do according to His will shall be beaten with many stripes. What are the stripes? I have no idea, but surely it will be a kind of punishment and will not be pleasant. Do you like to be beaten? You may say this is only a parable; this is not a real beating. But either way it is not something which will cause you to be happy and joyful.

The Lord went on to say that the servant who knew not and yet committed things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes. But, "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more" (Luke 12:48). On the one hand it is the mercy of God to be clear concerning these matters, but on the other hand it eventually becomes a great responsibility. You need to pray over the pure Word of God in these verses and consider where you are. Are you certain that you are any better than this evil servant? You may say that you cannot bear this kind of responsibility. But the Lord Jesus never asked you to bear it. Rather, the Lord's attitude is that He demands, and He also supplies. The only problem is that we would not take His supply. His grace is sufficient. Whenever we are weak, we are strong. We should rather boast in our weaknesses, because at that time we can enjoy Christ as our sufficient grace (2 Cor. 12:9-10). There are no excuses. Do not say that you cannot make it. If you do, the Lord Jesus will ask whether or not He was in you. He will ask you why you didn't enjoy Him and apply Him to your situation and need. At that time, what will you say? All you can say is, "Lord, I didn't want to apply You." Then the Lord Jesus will say, "You are an evil, wicked servant." These are not my words. These are the words of the Lord Jesus concerning the manifestation of the kingdom.

When the Lord Jesus returns and the kingdom is manifested, He will exercise His judgment over all the Christians. He will not judge the worldly people first, but His own people. According to the parable of the ten virgins, if we are the foolish ones, we will miss the enjoyment of the marriage feast. The Lord has made this very clear. Moreover, according to the parable of the talents, we will not only miss something, but we will suffer something. It is not just a matter of missing something, but it is also a matter of suffering some punishment. Don't say that as long as you are saved it is sufficient. As far as the eternal security of your salvation is concerned, it surely is sufficient. But before eternity there will be the time of the millennial kingdom. At the beginning of the millennial kingdom the Lord will exercise His judgment over all of us, His believers, to decide whether or not we should be allowed to go into the marriage feast and into the reigning of the kingdom, into His joy. Also, He will decide whether or not we should suffer some punishment. This is not a small thing. If we are living in the reality of the kingdom today, when the Lord Jesus comes back He will invite us into the manifestation of the kingdom and we will receive the reward. If not, we will miss the reward of the marriage feast, and we will suffer some punishment.