LUKE 19:11-27 WORK UNTIL JESUS RETURNS2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 19:11-27 Work Until Jesus Returns

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2014. I'm not sure if you saw the article. It was back a couple years ago now, back in 2010. They released the news of a teenager here in California who traded his cell phone for a Porsche on Craigslist.

He didn't trade it directly for the Porsche. He started out with an old cell phone that someone gave to him...

And he traded that for, I think it was a bike, and he traded that bike later on for a laptop and traded that laptop for another bike and then traded that for a better computer and then traded that for a motorcycle and then got another motorcycle, then got a road bike, then got a Bronco, and then ultimately was able to trade in what he had for a Porsche, the car that he had always wanted.

It's just an amazing account of bartering where he just took something that was given to him and through the process of trading over about two years, then he was able to obtain the Porsche that he had wanted. I think it's an amazing story and it goes along with, it's similar to the point that Jesus is making in this parable that we're looking at this morning. And ultimately the point is that Jesus wants you to negotiate and trade and do business with

in spiritual things in the same fashion as this 17-year-old kid did. And so the title of the message this morning is to work...

until Jesus returns. Work until Jesus returns. That's what he's calling us to do. There's three points that we'll be looking at, but before we get to those points, we want to examine what it is that Jesus is talking about in the first few verses of our passage this morning and get a good understanding of this parable before we move on to consider the main points that the Lord has given to us. And so let's take a look at this parable starting in verse 11.

It says,

In the context here, Jesus has just been speaking with Zacchaeus. And remember, the salvation came to Zacchaeus' house. We studied that last week. There were some objections, and he was dealing with that. And then he goes from that into this parable that he's about to tell.

Now Jesus is seeking to help people understand something very important. And he tells us what it is right here in verse 11. It says that he spoke this parable because, number one, he was near Jerusalem. And then number two, because they thought the kingdom would appear immediately. They were close to Jerusalem in the city of Jericho.

And the people were thinking that Jesus would go into Jerusalem and set up his kingdom right then. With that mindset, can you imagine how excited his disciples must have been?

Remember, they've been on this journey to Jerusalem back since Luke chapter 9. They've been making their way, taking their time, winding down from the northern part of Israel down to Jerusalem. And now the last stop is Jericho. They're about 15 miles away. They're right about to head on into Jerusalem. And the disciples are thinking,

This is it. I mean, we're just one more day of travel and then we're going to be in Jerusalem and Jesus is going to set up his kingdom and we're going to serve with him and there's going to be all this glory. He's going to overthrow Rome. He's going to establish the nation of Israel once again and he will be king. This must have been very, very exciting for his followers, but they were confused.

Because they did not understand that Jesus would come to earth twice. Once in humility, that was this time, he came to die upon the cross. He was going to Jerusalem to be crucified, not to be crowned. But he will come again. He came once in humility, he will come again in glory, and he will establish his kingdom. And so they were confused in their thinking. They were expecting that the kingdom of God would appear immediately. Immediately.

And Jesus wants them to understand the kingdom will be established later. And since that's the case, they ought to use the present time to invest in the kingdom of God. And so this becomes very important for you and I as well. Because we're still in that delayed period. We are still looking forward to the time when Jesus will establish his kingdom. We're looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ.

And you and I can look around and we see the prophetic passages. We see the world events. We see the headlines of the news. And, you know, for many years people have been corresponding those headlines to the prophecies in Scripture. And you can see Ezekiel 38 and 39. I mean, there's nations that are lined up so that it looks like Jesus could come at any moment. And that is a reality.

Before we finish this service, Jesus could return. And the church could be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. But also, something we must not forget, Jesus could return 1,000 years from now or later. We need to have both perspectives in view. We need to kind of zoom out a little bit and understand he could come today. He could come at any moment and that affects the way that we live. But also, he could come today.

Generations from now. And that also needs to affect the way that we live. And so understanding that there is a delay until the kingdom is established helps us to understand the calling that he has given to us. David Guzik puts it this way. The main point of this parable is clear. The kingdom will be delayed so we must concentrate on being faithful servants in the meantime.

The point is, Jesus might not come back for a long time. So get to work. Be involved in the work of the kingdom of God because now is our chance. Now is our opportunity to be faithful servants. Well, he goes on in the parable in verse 12 to say, therefore he said, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.

And so as he begins to tell this parable, in their ears, this would sound very familiar. This was a story that they were familiar with. Because something like this had happened historically not too long before. That is, Herod the Great's son...

in that region where Jesus is at, he went to Rome to be crowned king. To say, hey, I'm the son of Herod the Great and so I want to be king over this whole area.

And then, as we'll see on in the parable, the people of this area didn't like Herod the Great's son. And so they sent a group of people to Rome and said, we don't want him to rule over us. We don't want him to be king. And so he ended up with not the full authority that he requested, but only partial authority and came back.

from Rome with that partial authority. So they had experienced, they had watched this play out historically. Now Jesus isn't, you know, going point by point through all the exact details of that, but it's a very similar account, something that they were familiar with. And so he says there's a noble man who goes into a far country, just like Herod the Great's son went to Rome to receive a kingdom, and then he was going to return.

So they would understand what Jesus was talking about. But also, as you and I read this today, we understand Jesus is seeking to make a point that his kingdom will be established later on. And so we understand that this parable is a picture of Jesus. And Jesus left earth.

He ascended to heaven and then he will return one day. So he has gone off to a far country. That is, he's in heaven with the Father. And then he will return. That's what it says there in verse 12. He receives a kingdom for himself and then returns. And so that's what we're looking forward to is the return of Jesus Christ.

But that in between him ascending and then him returning is the focus of what Jesus is talking about in this parable. Verse 13. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, Do business till I come. So he is preparing to go away. So he calls in ten of his servants. He gives them a sum of money to each of them.

And he says, okay, I'm going away. Here's what I want you to do. Put that money to work. Do business until I come back. So 10 servants, one mina to each of them. Now, a mina was a pretty large sum of money. It's equivalent to about three months wages. Okay?

So if we were talking about this, you know, in our terms today, looking at the statistics, the, you know, average income for an individual in the city of Corona is about $40,000 a year. So three months wages is about $10,000. So picture this, your boss walks up to you tomorrow, hands you a bag of $10,000 and he says, this is not your money. This is the company's money. Here's what I want you to do.

Invest it. Do something with it. Do your best to increase this $10,000. Do business with it. Now, if your boss hands you $10,000 tomorrow, what would you do with it? It's not your money, so it's not like, well, I'm going to pay off debt and buy some Christmas presents and, you know, not that. No, no, no. It's not a gift. It's your company's money, but you have the authority to use it

In a way that you think is best. To increase it. So maybe you invested in the stock market. Or maybe you invested in some mutual funds. Or maybe you open a lemonade stand. And you sell lemonade. And try to increase that $10,000. By selling drinks.

Or maybe you buy some yarn and you crochet some items and you sell them in order to earn more money on top of the $10,000. Or maybe you buy a car and then sell it for more. Or maybe you buy a cell phone and then trade it in for a Porsche. What would you do if your boss handed you $10,000 of the company's money and said, increase this. Put this to work and see how much you can get for it.

That is the picture of what Jesus is describing here. The master gives his servants the sums of money. Everyone gets the same amount. And he says, put it to work. Do your best. Increase it. See what you can come up with. Now again, Jesus in this parable is referring to himself. He's talking about himself going to the father. He's going to return. In the meantime, he has entrusted some resources to his servants.

And right now you and I need to kind of be evaluating, you know, hey, am I a servant of the Lord? So what resources has he entrusted to me? And how am I using those resources to invest in the kingdom of God? How am I growing those resources that he has given to me? How am I multiplying those resources that he has given to me?

Well, then in verse 14, we see how the citizens respond. So the servants are given this charge. The citizens, the rest of the people, are still not happy. It says, his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying, we will not have this man to reign over us. And so the servants are to get to work. They're given money, they're given a task, and they are charged with multiplying the money that they have been given.

But the citizens are not happy about this man becoming their king. And so they send a delegation. Now again, this actually happened in their history. But also it's a great and vivid picture of those who are the servants of the Lord are charged with the responsibility of using the resources that he has given and being good stewards. But then there's also the citizens of the world who refuse for Jesus to reign over them.

And so they send a delegation. They refuse. No, we will not have him reign over us. Well then verse 15. And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. So here the master comes back.

He's going to deal with the rebellious citizens, but that comes later. First things first. What's most important to him is, all right, servants, how did you guys do? Give your report on what you did with my money and how much you have made it increase. In the same way, Jesus is going to return, or you're going to go to be with him if you don't, you know, survive until the rapture. But either way, we're going to stand before the master and

And give account for what we did with what he gave us. He's going to deal with the rebellious. That's going to come later on. But first importance to him is, you're my servant. How well did you do? What did you gain? How did you increase? What was the profit of the resources that I've given to you? And so it's picturing that time when we will stand before the Lord and give account.

Would you turn with me please to 2 Corinthians chapter 5? I want to just make sure that you're able to see this for yourself and understand the reality of the judgment that is to come for us as believers. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Of course, we'll be back in a minute.

Luke chapter 19 in a few moments. But here in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul has been talking about the presence of the Lord and how when we die, we will be immediately in the presence of the Lord as believers in Jesus Christ.

With that thought in mind, in verse 9, he says, Therefore, since we're going to stand before the Lord immediately, he says, Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well-pleasing to him. Verse 10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. So here's what Paul says.

We're going to stand before the Lord. And so we know that. Well, it causes us to then aim to be pleasing to the Lord. So that when we go into His presence, we've been well pleasing to Him. That we're good servants. He says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

We're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Now this is not judgment as in the white throne judgment. That's later on. That's dealing with the rebellious citizens, not the servants. But this judgment seat of Christ has often been referred to as, you know, like an Olympic judge. You know, where the awards are given, rewards are given, the scores are given for the way things were done or the way the athlete performed.

In a similar fashion, we're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be evaluated for how well we did. How well did you perform in the life that God gave to you? And so Paul says, knowing these things causes me and makes it my aim to be well-pleasing to the Lord. Whether I'm here or there, I want to be well-pleasing to the Lord because I'm going to stand before Him. And that's something that you and I must consider.

It's something that should factor in to all of our decisions and strategies and thoughts and plans that we will stand before the Lord. We will stand. You will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Now the question is, when you stand before him, when the master returns and calls in his servants to give an account and you stand before him, what will the results be?

And that now brings us into the three points I want to highlight from this parable this morning. And so you can turn back with me to Luke chapter 19. And we'll look at point number one in verses 16 through 19. And that is that faithful servants will be rewarded. Faithful servants will be rewarded. We see this in verse 16 and 17 with the first servant. Here's what it says.

So the first servant comes and gives his report. And we find that this guy was a really good businessman. He took his one mina.

$10,000. And he turned it into $100,000. He had a tenfold, a thousand percent increase. Turning that $10,000 into $100,000, the master says, good job. Well done. You did great. Have authority over 10 cities. Now the second servant comes on the scene in verse 18. It says, the second came saying, your master, your mina has earned five minas.

Likewise, he said to him, you also be over five cities. So here comes the next guy. And this guy also was a good businessman. He turned $10,000 into $50,000. Good job. Well done. Here's your reward. You have authority over five cities. So these servants come in and give the report. They've done well. Now this is just two of the 10. We actually only look at three of the 10 in the parable.

But the idea is clear. There are those servants who were faithful and they are rewarded. These faithful servants who invested the money and had a good return now have authority over a certain number of cities. Their reward is proportional to how well they did. It's proportional to what they accomplished with the money that was given to them.

And what is the point that Jesus is seeking to make here? Well, again, you and I, his servants, are entrusted with resources. We're entrusted with certain things. And you will be rewarded for your faithfulness in those things that he has given to you. In your faithfulness to increase those resources that he has given to you. And your reward is

will be in proportion to your effectiveness, to how well you did with what he gave to you. What are those resources that he has given to us? Well, there's a lot of ways we can look at this. The interesting thing about this parable is that each servant was given the same amount. It's different than the parable of the talents that we're familiar with in Matthew chapter 25.

Where each one was given certain amounts of money according to their capabilities, it says. In this case, it's every servant gets the same amount. And so you and I have been given resources from the Lord. And there's a sense where every one of us have those same resources. There's a sense that really he's talking about the opportunities that are given to us. That is, every one of us have before us the opportunities that he's given...

We all have those opportunities. We all have certain things that he has given to us. And our faithfulness to do what he's called us to is really what is being highlighted here. For example, we all have the same amount of time. Maybe not the length of our days, but we have the same amount of time in each day. How we use that time will be judged. We'll stand before him and give account. What did you do with the time that I gave to you?

We all have opportunities to do good works. Because Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10. That we are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus for good works. Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And so we have opportunity to do good works. And we don't have to think up good works. We don't have to make up good works. God's prepared them. He set them before us. The real question is. How faithful am I?

in those things that he has already set up for me. In those things, you know, in the path that he has set for me, he's already established, all right, here's going to be this work, and here's going to be that work, and there's going to be these works over here. And am I just kind of blowing by them, doing 90 on the freeway? Or am I taking the time to do the good works that he has prepared for me? We have all been given the gospel message. Pastor George doesn't have a different gospel message than Chico. We all have the same message.

We all have the opportunity to share it. We all have the opportunity to proclaim it. You could talk about our financial resources. And you might say, well, you know, we don't all have the same financial resources. And that is true. But we all have the same percentages in our financial resources. And so in the Old Testament, the law was, you know, you give a tenth. Ten percent. All of us have ten percent of what we have. Because it's a tenth. It's proportional to what we have. So,

We all have these resources, these opportunities, whether it be time or good works or the gospel message or finances or other things that you could consider as well. The point is, all you have is the things that God has given to you and entrusted to you. And he's going to hold you accountable. He's going to call you to account and say, all right, how well did you do with all that I gave to you?

Now, there's a few scriptures, actually there's quite a bit of scriptures, that talk about the rewards that will be given for certain things. I want to just highlight a few of those for you, just to help put some context to the things that we're talking about. So the scripture declares that you will be rewarded for your relationship with God. Think about that. Talking about, you know, what you've been entrusted with. The first thing that is most important to the Lord is, how well did you do...

With the resources that I've given to you spiritually. That is access to the presence of God. How well did you do with the opportunities I gave you to know the Lord. When you think about what Christ has done for us. In dying upon the cross. In making a way for us to enter into the presence of God. It's quite amazing to reflect and consider that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The creator of the heavens and the earth.

invites us to come in by faith in Jesus Christ. But then it can kind of pinch a little bit when we start thinking about, well, how often do I actually enter into the presence of God? How often am I living in the presence of God? Am I using that resource well? There in Matthew chapter 6 verse 5 through 18, Jesus specifically mentions prayer and fasting. And he talks about

Hey, if you do your prayers in order to be seen by men, then you have your reward. Because there you are praying, but you're praying not to know God, not to walk with God, not to further your relationship with God. You're praying because you want to impress other people with how often or how well or whatever about your prayers. And so Jesus says you have your reward. If you're impressing people, that's your intention, that's your goal. Then when people are impressed...

There's your reward. But he says, if you'll pray with a different motivation, in secret, that doesn't mean we can never pray publicly. But again, the point is, your goal is not for other people to see you, but your goal is to really connect with and communicate with the Father. He says, if you do that, if you'll really connect with the Father, if you'll really pray, if you'll really invest time, then your Father who sees in secret, He will reward you.

There's a reward for spending time with God in prayer. And so the time that he's given to you, part of your $10,000, if you invest that in prayer, there's an increase. There's a return on that investment. There's a reward that is given for time spent with the Lord. Now you could also use that same time to do other things.

And maybe they're important things and maybe they're not important things. You've got to evaluate. What's the best investment of my time? Am I giving time to pray? To receive that reward? He also talks about fasting. And he says, look, if you fast in order to be seen by people, he's talking about the practices of the Pharisees, you know, they would put dust on their heads and make sad faces and they wouldn't wash and they would have, you know, it was just, so it was obvious to everybody.

Hey, what's wrong with Mike? Oh yeah, he's fasting. Make sure everybody knows. Wow, Mike's really holy. He's pretty righteous. I mean, wow. I see him looking that way all the time. He's fasting a lot. Jesus says, if that's why you fast, then you have your reward. Because people are seeing you and they're patting you on the back and saying, oh wow, he's holy and you're getting your reward right then. But he says, if you fast in secret before the Father,

then your father will reward you. He's talking about relationship with God. And when you invest in your relationship with God, he rewards you and you grow. You develop. There's a great work that he does. And so I would ask you to consider, you know, it's still early enough in 2014 to look back at 2013 and say, how much did you increase last year in your relationship with the Lord? How much did you

What kind of reward will you receive from last year's investments? What kind of return will you have? Did you grow in your relationship with God? What type of return will you receive this year? In Hebrews chapter 5, the author of Hebrews says, look, some of you guys ought to be teachers by now. You've been around a long time. You've heard the word a long time. You ought to be able to teach others. But instead, you're still in this condition where you need to be taught.

The elementary truths. Once again. There's some who just. They don't grow. They're not investing. In the relationship with the Lord. And so. It's years later. But they're still in the same spot. They're still in the same condition. They're not experiencing the return. Because they're not investing. The time. You will be rewarded. For your relationship with God. According to. It's proportional to. What you invest.

Your faithfulness in walking with God is important. Now it's not just about more time. So, you know, as a baby Christian, I spent 10 minutes a day. But as a mature Christian, I have to spend 8 hours a day in prayer. That's not exactly the way that the Lord is asking us to walk. We still also have stuff to do. But the time that we spend with Him can become more meaningful. Time will increase and it will vary depending on season.

But it's really our heart in relationship to the Lord that we're seeking to be changed and the work to be accomplished in us. And sometimes that will require more time and other times it will require praying on the go and seeking the Lord when we can here and there in between other things that he's called us to do. You will be rewarded for your faithfulness in your walk with the Lord. What kind of investment have you made? What kind of return will you receive?

Well, you'll also be rewarded for fulfilling your role in the body of Christ. Paul makes reference to this in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 8, talking about his ministry and the ministry of Apollos. And there are different aspects in the church of Corinth. He says, look, he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

I did one thing, Apollos did another thing. We're the same. We're just serving the Lord. And individually, we're going to be rewarded according to our labor. It's really about our faithfulness to what God has called us to do. So the one who waters isn't necessarily better than the one who plants. It's about your faithfulness to do, well, the role that God has called you to fulfill. Paul had his role. Apollos had his role.

And they will be rewarded for their faithfulness to their individual roles. In the same way you will be rewarded according to your faithfulness to your role in the body of Christ. The Bible makes it very clear. We all have a part to play. We all have a role in the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 talks about the different parts, the different members and how each one is necessary. We all are necessary in the body of Christ. We all have a role to fulfill in

And our faithfulness to complete that role will be evaluated in order for us to receive reward when the master returns or when we stand before him. How much have you invested in your service to the body of Christ? And I would ask you, similar to the previous point, have you grown in that service? So if you're, you know, investing by fulfilling your role and God's called you to the children's ministry,

Have you invested to become more effective in the children's ministry? Not just did you, you know, serve the times that you were scheduled, but how have you grown in your ability to minister, in your capacity to minister? Or if God's called you to serve in another capacity, whatever it might be, there's many parts in the body of Christ. Many things that God could call you to. And there's one aspect where we need to be faithful to

To serve in those times that were scheduled. And serve in those opportunities. But there's also this idea of investment. That you can grow in your ability to serve. You can grow. For example spiritual gifts. Paul was encouraging Timothy remember. Hey stir up those gifts. Don't let them lie dormant. Keep on using them. Grow in them. We grow in our use of spiritual gifts. If you have the gift of teaching.

Well, let me just use myself as an example. I better be growing in my gift of teaching. I did not teach the way that I teach today. That's not how I started back when I was 16 years old. It was quite different then. And I've grown and I've regressed and I've grown and I've regressed. It's a continual pursuit.

But I approach the Lord and I want to grow so that I'm able to communicate to you the words that he wants to share that it would be effective. I don't want to get in the way. I don't want to be a distraction. So I need to grow. Become effective and more effective. That there's a better return for my investment. So I can spend the same investment of time studying, the same investment of time delivering, but there's a better return because I've

Well, I've been sharpened by the master and more effective for him. In the same way, you and your giftings, you and your callings, you and your role, you'll be held accountable for, you know, whether you served when you were called to, but also, well, how did you improve? How did you excel? You'll be rewarded for your faithfulness according to your calling. Also, you'll be rewarded for making disciples.

Daniel chapter 12 has a reference to those who turn many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever. The shining of the stars is going to be great glory for those who turn many to righteousness. Making disciples is something that every disciple is called to do. Disciples are called to make disciples. What kind of reward will you have for the disciples that you have made?

How many disciples have you made? And you might go, well, I'm not sure. Well, what does it mean to make a disciple? How do you know when someone, you know, has become a disciple? Jesus described in Matthew chapter 28, he said, look, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all that I've commanded you. So maybe you could summarize it that way. You've made a disciple when you've taught someone to obey what Jesus has commanded.

When you've taught them to walk with the Lord. When you've taught them to hear from the Lord. You've taught them to obey the scriptures. You've made a disciple. How many disciples have you made? What kind of reward will there be for your investment in making disciples? Now immediately you could consider as parents. Your children are those that specifically are entrusted to you to make disciples. Have you taught your children to walk with Jesus? Yes.

When you stand before him that day, will you say, well, I took them to church and they were supposed to teach him how to walk with Jesus. And then later on they walked away and I don't know, I think it's the church's fault. And Jesus will say, I don't think so. I gave them to you, not to the church. I gave them to you. You teach them how to walk with me. You make disciples from them. Or whoever else that God has entrusted to you and placed around you. You will be rewarded for your faithfulness in making disciples. Amen.

You could also consider your giving. In Matthew chapter 6 verses 1 through 4, Jesus talks about charitable deeds. He's talking about giving. He says, look, if you do your charitable deeds, you do your giving, you announce it with trumpets, you have your reward. But if you do it in secret unto the Lord, then the Lord who sees what's done in secret, he will reward you openly. How much will you receive for your investment from giving? Are you involved in giving back to the Lord? Giving

To him what is his. According to what he has entrusted to you. It's about time. Many of you are going to be filing your tax returns. Right? And you have that section on charitable giving. And you get to put that number down there. And get a deduction. I think there's nothing wrong with getting a tax deduction. On the amount that you give to the Lord. It's something they offer. There's nothing wrong in receiving it. However.

If you give so that you can get the tax deduction, that's your motivation, then you have your reward. You get the tax deduction. The point is, where's your heart in it? Are you giving unto the Lord? Or for some return for yourself? You could also evaluate, you know, the effectiveness of where you're giving. You could support...

A variety of ministries. A variety of things. And you should consider. What's the fruit? What's going to be the return on my investment? Remember Paul said to the Philippians. Hey I desire the fruit that abounds to your account. Because they were supporting him financially. And I think man if I could support the Apostle Paul. I mean that's going to be some good fruit right? But if Judas Iscariot is asking for money. There's probably not going to be as much fruit from that. And so I need to be a wise investor.

Put my money where it will do well. It will affect the kingdom of God to have a greater investment or a greater return later on. Well, then finally, you could also see in Matthew 5, 12, Jesus says, you'll be rewarded for your faithfulness in the midst of persecution. When people persecute you for the name of Christ, he says, you'll be rewarded for that. There's a lot of other things. These are just some highlights for us to consider, for us to use to evaluate, am I a faithful servant?

Am I a faithful servant in investing the resources that God has given to me to have a good reward, to get a tenfold return on the investment, the resources that he's given to me? I would encourage you to be creative. I would encourage you to be aggressive and invest in the kingdom of God. Turn your one mina into ten. Do your best. God has great rewards for those who are faithful.

Well then going on in verses 20 through 26. Now we have point number two. Obviously we won't spend as much time in the remaining points. But point number two is that wicked servants will be judged. Verse 20 says, Then another came saying, Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. For I feared you because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit and you reap what you did not sow. So the first servant comes.

Tenfold increase. The second servant comes. Fivefold increase. Now this servant comes. And he says. Here's your money back. I didn't put it to work. I didn't do anything with it. I kept it hidden and safe. So here you go. Why didn't he put it to work? Now he says. Well I didn't put it to work. Because I feared you. Because you're a severe man. You're a hard man. And you earn money where you didn't invest.

I mean, you're just such a shrewd business person. And so I was afraid of you and I didn't want to mess up and lose your money. I didn't want to, I didn't know what to do. So I just kept it. And I thought, well, that's good enough. If I just keep it and preserve it and then you can have back what's yours, that's sufficient. But the master responds in verse 22. He said, out of your own mouth, I will judge you, you wicked servant.

You knew that I was an austere man collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money in the bank that at my coming I might have collected it with interest? The master is basically saying, your words are all nonsense.

He says, look, you're claiming that I'm an austere man and I'm severe and so you're afraid of me. He says, look, you really don't fear me. If you did fear me, what you would do is you would have put my money in the bank to collect interest so that at least there'd be something to show when I returned. He's calling out the guy. He's saying, look, you're claiming that you fear me

But you really don't. And your actions prove, your words prove that you don't because you didn't do anything with the money I gave to you. So he says, you really don't fear me. And so he says, you are a wicked servant. A wicked servant because you would not do anything with the money I gave you. Verse 24.

And he said to those who stood by, take the mina from him and give it to him who has ten minas. But they said to him, Master, he has ten minas. He's upset with this servant. He says, you didn't do anything. You're a wicked servant. You claim to fear me. You don't fear me. Your actions prove it. Take away his money and give it to the one who has ten. Now it's interesting here that the servants who are administrating this judgment say, well, Master, that guy has ten minas already. Why are you going to give it to him?

But you have to think in the mindset of this master. He's thinking, okay, I can give it to one servant and he'll get me five more for it. Or I can give it to this other servant. He'll give me 10 more for it. It's a better investment. So give it to the one who earned 10. He's a faithful servant. I'll get a better return for my money if I give it to the one who brings back 10 for it.

And he explains that in verse 26. For I say to you that everyone who has will be given and from him who does not have even what he has will be taken from him. The father will give greater resources to those who are faithful because he knows he'll get a better return on his investment. He's looking for that return. He's looking for what's it going to bring back? How faithful will they be with what I give to them?

And for the servant that is not faithful, even what they have, he says, will be taken away. Now, I just want to make sure it's clear. And so I want to read to you 1 Corinthians chapter 3, where Paul talks about this idea of rewards and then loss of rewards. In verse 2, Paul says of 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Now, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw, each one's work will become clear, for the day will declare it.

Because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Here Paul explains, look, we're all building for the kingdom of God. We're all doing things for the kingdom of God, but the things that we do will be tested.

And so, you know, you could look at somebody and think, wow, I mean, they're going to have an awesome reward in heaven. But then when they go through the fire and those things are tested, we'll find out, oh, well, all those prayers, those were for people. They weren't really for the Lord. All that fasting, all that time in the word, all that teaching, all that serving, all that giving, they didn't do it for the Lord. They did it for what they could get out of it. The work is tested and it's burned up.

And only what was really done for the Lord, only what was, well, faithfulness to what God had called them to, will remain and they'll be rewarded accordingly. But he says, if anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss. When we're talking about this wicked servant here for point number two, I wouldn't try to stretch this parable to mean that this guy loses salvation, but that he loses reward. That's what Paul is saying here. There's some who are going to suffer loss.

They're going to make it. He says, he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. They're going to make it, but they're going to suffer loss. Now, some people look at this and say, you know, that's not such a bad deal. I don't really care about rewards. As long as I get to heaven, that's, you know, that's important. And, you know, hey, if you're comparing just the contrast between heaven and hell, definitely heaven is better than hell. Heaven without rewards is better than hell. But

It's a really foolish mindset to think of it that way. I liken it to a kid who's never been to Disneyland who says, hey, I don't care about the rides. I just want to get to Disneyland. Now what's going to happen? The kid gets to Disneyland. It's like, well, you can't go on the rides. You didn't get that reward. So you sit here on the bench. We're going to go on the rides. We'll come back afterwards. It's foolish to say, I don't care about the rewards. I just want to get to heaven. No, no, you don't know what you're missing out on.

You haven't been there. You don't understand. Jesus even cared about rewards. Some people wonder, well, am I even supposed to care about rewards? That doesn't sound very spiritual. Listen, Jesus cared about rewards. Think about Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2. He says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. He went through the cross. He was faithful to the will of God. Why? Why?

For the joy that was set before him. That's you and me. For us. We're his reward. And to receive that reward. He was. He cared about it. And so he endured the cross. He was faithful. Because you are his reward. His joy. And so you can be a faithful servant. And bring back a good return. For the investment of resources that God has given to you.

Or you could be a wicked servant and do nothing with it. And yeah, maybe you're still saved. Maybe you make it there. But you will suffer loss. You will miss out. And don't go crying to Pastor George, you know, after a thousand years in heaven. You're like, I wish you guys would have told me there was going to be these great rewards up here. I would have done something differently. No, we need to put God's resources to work. To be good stewards, faithful servants. Because we will be rewarded.

Well the final point is there in verse 27. And that is the enemies will be slain. He says but bring here those enemies of mine. Who did not want me to reign over them. And slay them before me. So there was the servants. Entrusted with resources. Told to get to work. And then there was the enemies. Who sent the delegation and said. Hey we don't want this man to rule over us. And so here we get to see very clearly. We have three options.

As it comes to the Lord. You can be his faithful servant. Investing his resources. Working for his kingdom. Bringing back a greater return. Than what was given to you. You could be a wicked servant. You receive the resources. But you don't do anything. And so you lose your reward. Or you could be an enemy. Where you say. I refuse to submit to Jesus. I will not allow him to reign over me.

And those will be slain. Those will be put to death. Those will go into the second death. The lake of fire. The eternal punishment for those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord. These are your three options. You're one of these. Faithful servant. Wicked servant. Or an enemy of Jesus Christ. This morning Jesus is telling this parable specifically to his servants to say, Listen, my kingdom is delayed.

So now is your chance. You have opportunity to invest, to have greater rewards in my kingdom when it does come, when it is established. What you do right now with the present will determine how great eternity will be for you. So now is your chance. Now is your opportunity to work until Jesus returns, to invest, to bring a greater return for his kingdom, for his glory.

And I'll finish with the words of Jesus in Revelation chapter 22 verse 12. He says, Behold, I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. What kind of reward will you receive as you enter into eternity? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray for each of us here, Lord, that you would help us to see and to understand your calling in our lives.

Your call to relationship with you. Your call to serve within your church, within the body of Christ. Your call, Lord, to disciple others. I pray that you would open our eyes to all the resources that you've given to us. Help us, Lord, to seriously evaluate where we are and what we're doing with what you've given to us. And I pray, God, that you would help us to be faithful servants. Lord, that we would not do nothing without

But Lord, I pray that you would give us great wisdom and stewardship that we might have a great return for all that you've invested in us. I pray, Lord, that you would do this work in our hearts. And if there are any, Lord, who are like the wicked servant, not doing anything, I pray, Lord, that you would bring conviction, that you would help them to see, Lord, that they would take steps forward

To be a faithful servant. Whether it's a bigger return or a little return. But Lord that they would invest. That they would invest themselves. First of all in relationship with you. And pursue you. And get to know you. And not remain in the constant state of needing to be taught the first things again. But Lord that they would grow into the role that you've called them to. That they would develop the way that you want them to. And Lord I pray for any who might be enemies. That is that they refuse.

For you to be the Lord of their life. I pray God that you would also bring conviction there. That you would bring clarity. That you would remove the blinders that the enemy has placed there. That they would see the decision that they're making and the consequences it brings. But Lord also that they would see your great love for them. And how you desire to bring redemption, forgiveness, grace and eternity with you. Including great rewards. And so Lord I pray that you would help each one.

to turn to you, to submit to you, to allow you to be Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.