Transcript
Speaker: Well, good morning, everyone. How are we doing? Listen, listen, we do this every time. After worship like that, i don't know how we're not all standing and rejoicing.
Speaker: Right? Listen, I know it might be cloudy and gloomy outside right now, but hey, praise God, it's cool, right? Yeah? But that doesn't have to affect our heart condition right now when we're in the house of the Lord, amen? Amen.
Speaker: I know there's a lot going on. You know, I mean, there's a lot of hurt going on. I know many have lost loved ones. Many are are dealing with those who are sick and maybe there's caretakers in the room. And, you know, even this past week, maybe the midterm elections didn't go your way.
Speaker: right or maybe your football team didn't win i mean i don't know i was pulling for the aggies for the first time last night and they let me down right but tennessee won it's all right tennessee won so uh but either way regardless of what has happened this week regardless of what's happening right now in your heart the lord is king amen he is the way maker he is the miracle worker he's a promise keeper and he's a light into the darkness And there is no reason why we should not, as believers who have confident assurance that he has Messiah, that we can now walk with gladness and with joy and with boldness. So let me ask you again, how doing church?
Speaker: Amen. Let's go. All right. So if you have your Bibles, go ahead to open them up to Luke chapter 19. chapter We're going to be, again, continuing through our study through the book of Luke. And last week, I'm super grateful for the message that Pastor Victor gave on the wee little man of Zacchaeus. I was very tempted to call him Zacchaeus the whole time as he was preparing.
Speaker: I'm just kidding, Victor. Totally just kidding. But I did joke with him again. i was technically, you know, so the preaching schedule for me is the first Sunday of every month. But my family and I, the Shell household, got sick. We had the flu. so I was knocked out. And Victor graciously was like, hey, man, I'll take the message from you. And I was like, man, I was really looking forward to it. Like a fun one on Zacchaeus.
Speaker: You know what I get stuck with today? I'm sorry. Let me rephrase that. You know what I get the pleasure of walking through today? Yeah, well, you're about to find out. Okay, so, but all that to say, I was just joking with Victor. I was like, man, this always happens.
Speaker: But I am very excited, though, about the message that the Lord has placed in heart this morning. The parable that we're going to be looking at is one that I've read many times. I feel like we can say this a lot.
Speaker: we We read through different passages or parables or accounts, and sometimes when you read through it, you're like, man, that's actually a really powerful parable, but... ah You really don't really glean a whole lot of out of it right right away. You have to go back and reread it five or six or 20 times in order to really understand what Jesus was probably talking about. And this is one of those parables for me. going to confess it.
Speaker: when i when When I saw the parable, I even told Victor, i was like, man, this is a parable where I've read it. It is a powerful parable. And I know what it it represents as a whole, but I've never really done a deep study on it. So I'm super grateful that the Lord pushed the pause button on me talking about Zacchaeus.
Speaker: And allowed me to to do this this morning. But as you see up there on the screen, I did want to make a little bit of a comparison. So the parable that we're looking at this morning is the parable of the 10 minus, right? The 10 minus. This is a parable that is also very similar to a different parable that we see in Matthew chapter 25 called the parable of the talents.
Speaker: Okay. And they're very, very similar, but they're also very different. And so the thing about the parable of the talents is that the born of the location is different from the parable of the miners. And the parable of the talents is given on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. And it deals specifically with the distribution of talents, right? The different gifts and abilities that were given.
Speaker: Whereas with the parable the minus today, what we're going to see is that this is, Jesus is still on the road. He's still in Jericho. He's in the house of Zacchaeus. And so this is a different location, which means it's a different audience. And when it comes about the distribution of the item, it's not talents, it's minus. It's a currency.
Speaker: It's money, right? Also, when when we see the distribution of the talents, it's based on one's ability. if you guys ever remember that parable, it's about what each person is capable of fulfilling, whereas this one is distributed equally. What we're going to see is that each person involved in this parable was given an equal amount of money.
Speaker: A couple other things is that the servants and the talents, they doubled their investments. Whereas what we're going to see today is that the servants had varying different results. In the talents, it was based on ah proportional faithfulness.
Speaker: Whereas on this one, it's based on absolute productivity, the results. And then lastly, ah in the talents, what we see is that Jesus is addressing professed servants.
Speaker: He is specifically addressing believers. Whereas in this one, we see that it's there's a distinction between the the servants and the faithful ones and then his enemies. And so I wanted just to at least lay that as the foundation as we go into this parable. That way you have an understanding because a lot of times like me, when you read through them, you're like, wow, these parables are actually a lot the same. It's like...
Speaker: They are similar, but they're different, right? And they both share one common concern, and that is for active, faithful stewardship and the theme of multiplication moving forward, okay? So, um but now that that's over, i want to i want us to go ahead and read the passage. I want us to read the parable, then we'll pray, and then we'll dive in together and see what the Lord has for us and what he's trying to communicate to his audience in this particular parable. So if you guys don't mind, stand with me in the honor of God's word.
Speaker: For this is his word we want to honor it. And we'll pick up in verse 11 of chapter 19. We'll go down to verse 27. let's read this together.
Speaker: As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable. Because he was near to Jerusalem and because they supposed that the kingdom of God would appear immediately.
Speaker: He said, therefore, a nobleman went to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling 10 of his servants, he gave them 10 minas and said to them, engage in business until I come.
Speaker: But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying, "'We don't want this man to reign over us.' When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know that they had gained or what they had gained by doing business.
Speaker: The first came before him saying, "'Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.' And he said to him, well done, good servant, because you have been faithful with very little, you shall have authority over 10 cities.
Speaker: And the second coming saying, Lord, your mina has made five minas. And he said to him, and you are to be and you are to be over five cities then another came saying lord here is your mina which i have kept laid away in a handkerchief for i was afraid of you because you are a severe man you take what you do not deposit and reap what you do not sow he said to him I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant.
Speaker: You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put the money in the bank? And at my coming, I might have collected the interest.
Speaker: And he said to those who stood by, Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has 10 minus. And they said to him, Lord, he has 10 minus. I tell you that everyone who has more will be given.
Speaker: But from the one who is not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for the enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.
Speaker: Let us pray. Father, we come before you. And Lord, once again, we just thank you for your word that is living and active. And Lord, we thank you for the fact that no matter how many times we read it, it penetrates the hearts of those who are reading it.
Speaker: So Lord, I pray right now over all of us as we study this this morning, that you will open our hearts and that your words. will penetrate our heart and our soul to the reality of what we are called to as believers here on earth right now. And Lord, if there is anyone in this room who does not know you personally, i pray, Father, that they will heed the warning that is within this passage today and that they will come to recognize you as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and as the mighty, compassionate one who wants to give generously.
Speaker: God, we love you. We praise you. we thank you for this morning and we lift it all in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, thank you. You may be seated.
Speaker: So, first things first, i would just want to remind us of what the setting is here within this parable, right? We saw last week, as Victor gave the message on Zacchaeus, that Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem. He is going through the city of Jericho.
Speaker: And as he is walking through Jericho, he encounters this tax collector named Zacchaeus. Y'all remember where he was located? up in the sycamore tree, right?
Speaker: He was a short little man who couldn't see over the people. So he was like, I want to see Jesus. I know, i mean, I've heard of him and I want to see him. So he climbs up to the sycamore tree. Jesus is walking by and sees him up there. He says, Zacchaeus.
Speaker: You come down for I'm coming to your house today. Right? So I don't know if he actually sang a ah jingle to it, but he probably did. But all I say is that he sees Zacchaeus and he says, hurry and come down for must stay at your house today. why was that significant? Y'all remember?
Speaker: Who is Zacchaeus in line society? He was a tax collector. to do Those of you guys who don't remember, they were one of the most despised people among the Jews because they were considered, they were traitors to their own kind.
Speaker: they were ah They were hired by the Roman government. They were overseen by the Roman government. They were taking money that wasn't theirs. And if y'all remember there at the end that Zacchaeus, after he encountered Jesus, he even confesses. He says, Lord, I want to give back everything I've given and more to those that I've taken from him.
Speaker: Right? So they're known to be these deceivers and those who are to take money from them. But yet Jesus sees them and he calls them down and says, Zacchaeus, I want to go to your house today. And so he goes and he has this incredible moment with Zacchaeus. And if you remember the crowd around him, they're like, why is he going to this guy's house?
Speaker: This is a tax collector. This also reminds me the time when Jesus called Matthew or Levi, right? This tax collector to come and follow him. And there's this tension there. Y'all remember there was a very similar situation where Jesus even went to Matthew's house to have a meal and the Pharisees and the scribes came and they're like, why is he dining with these sinners?
Speaker: Right? Y'all remember this? So this is a very powerful moment in the and Jesus' ministry in the city of Jericho where he is dining with sinners. And because of that, Zacchaeus comes to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Speaker: And then why is that important? It's because we Zacchaeus. And Jesus met us where we were at in our brokenness, in our sin. And we have an opportunity to receive him as Savior and Lord of our life if we choose to accept him.
Speaker: Right? And if y'all remember, Zacchaeus,
Speaker: and In Luke 19, verses 8 and 9, he assumed and said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of the goods I give to the poor, and if I've defrauded anyone or anything, I'll restore fourfold. So we see this transformation in the heart of Zacchaeus.
Speaker: And Jesus said to him, Today, salvation has come to this house since he is also a son of Abraham. So because of his confession and repentance, he receives the kingdom.
Speaker: And now this is the setting, right? So Jesus is here with Zacchaeus. He's having a meal. They're in his house. And then after that, ah Jesus makes this really profound statement that echoes Ezekiel 34, 11.
Speaker: And he goes on he says, not only does to salvation come to this house today, since he's also son of Abraham, but rather he says, for the son of man came to what? Seek and save the lost.
Speaker: Seek and save the lost. the reason why this is a profound statement, because you've got to remember, who's the main audience that has been following Jesus this whole time? The Jews, the chosen ones, the ones who are supposed to inherit the kingdom when the Messiah comes to establish his kingdom forevermore, right?
Speaker: And then, like I said, it echoes Ezekiel 34, 11, because it says this, for thus says the Lord God, behold, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. So this whole time, the Jews have been selfish. They've been waiting for the Messiah to come back for their own personal gain.
Speaker: But yet what Jesus was saying here in this moment with Zacchaeus is saying it's far greater than just for you. It's far greater. What is happening right now, the kingdom that is going to be established is far greater than anything you can ever comprehend and understand.
Speaker: Right? However, the Jews, as we go into verse 11, they're not thinking on the greater scale. They're thinking more about them. Right? For it says there verse 11, as they heard these things, right?
Speaker: This means that they were thinking about what this means for them in the moment. But it says what the purpose is of this parable. it says, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near to Jerusalem and because they suppose that the kingdom of God would appear what? Immediately. Immediately.
Speaker: Immediately. So these Jews, upon hearing this word from Jesus, they're like, oh man, finally. Jesus is almost in Jerusalem. The Messiah is going to come. He's going to establish his kingdom. Immediately going to appear. And then going to come down. He's going to destroy the governing authority that's over us right now, which was Rome. And we are going to just take over.
Speaker: And we're going to rule this place. Right? That's what they have in their mind. But Jesus, knowing, it doesn't say this in the scriptures, but you know Jesus, knowing their hearts, had a parable in store for them.
Speaker: And this is the parable. All right, y'all ready for this? So there's gonna be five takeaways I want us to really glean from this parable as we work through this. One is the charge. I want us to see the charge that Jesus gives in the parable.
Speaker: And I want us to see the two different responses, whether it's from the faithful or in the unfaithful. And I want us to see the results parable. of their investment. And then lastly, I want us to see the what happens to those who reject the kingdom, right?
Speaker: So the first thing that we see here, though, is the charge in verses 12 through 14. So Jesus, because he knew their heart, right, because he was near to Jerusalem and they supposed that the kingdom of God would appear immediately, he said, therefore, this,
Speaker: A nobleman went to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then to return. Now, just a little, some fun studying here. This Greek word for nobleman is this Greek word called eugenis, which means well-born, high-born, or noble-minded, right?
Speaker: And the reason why wanted to bring this about is because of this. The term carries dual significance, right? on one level, it describes someone possessing elevated character, while on another level, it refers to an actual membership in the hereditary ah hierarchy, right? Or the aristocracy, if you want a big fancy word, right?
Speaker: But in this particular case, in verse 12, it describes a prince or a person of noble birth. Okay, y'all seeing the connection here right now? We're gonna talk about who that represents here in just a little bit, but I hope you guys have picked up a little bit of what I put down, right? Okay.
Speaker: But this particular word appears only three times in the New Testament. It appears in Luke 19, 12, which is what we're seeing. It appears in Acts 17, 11, and in 1 Corinthians 1, 26. And in the parable, Jesus uses it to establish the nobleman's social standing and authority.
Speaker: He's not merely wealthy, but he possesses the rank and legitimacy of the rule. Okay? So... This is setting the stage the the stage here. So Jesus, in the beginning of this parable, a nobleman went to a far country to receive the kingdom. and So with this status in mind, this would immediately, y'all ready for this?
Speaker: recall to mind to the Jewish audience this this process of receiving a kingdom. This is not the first time this has happened. So when we see this picture of the nobleman going to a far off country, or far off country which sounds kind of out of order, you would think that if he's going to receive a country, he'd go to the country he was receiving, right?
Speaker: But it says here that he goes to a far off country to receive a kingdom for himself and then to return, right? But this is not the first time this has happened. What we see here is that there is ah a king or a ruler named Archelaus, who was the son of Herod the Great, who was a figure well known by the Jewish listeners, who had traveled from Jericho to Rome to seek a kingdom from Caesar.
Speaker: But the people of Judea despised him and sent protesters to oppose his appointment. So this is an actual situation. where where Archelaus goes to receive the kingdom from Caesar in Rome.
Speaker: But they did not like it. They opposed it. They protested it. So for Jesus to begin the parable with this picture, it's very close to home for the Jewish audience. Okay? And then it goes on.
Speaker: um the The other thing I wanted to call to mind here is that though Archelaus was a very harsh and and a brutal king who caused unrest during his reign, i'm not saying we're not saying that this nobleman here is a 100% representation of Archelaus. right So this king or this nobleman does not appear to be unjust or harsh, but it does appear that the citizens of the kingdom that he is going to inherit do not like him.
Speaker: And they are protesting against his rule and his reign. So again, does this sound familiar?
Speaker: i hope so. But as the nobleman goes away, despite the protesting, despite those who did not like him, he calls 10 servants to him, as we see verses 12 and 13, and he gives each of them a charge.
Speaker: First, he gives them one, each mina, okay? He gives them each one mina, and then he says, engage in business until I come. Engage in business until I come.
Speaker: Okay, so a mina, for those of you guys who don't know, first century Jewish monetary value, okay? Does anybody know what a mina's worth, anybody?
Speaker: Okay, a what? Okay. Not quite a year's worth, that's a good guess. But, um so a mina is equivalent to 100 drachmas. And for those guys who do not know what a drachma's worth, I'll tell you, okay? A drachma is a day's wage for a common laborer, okay? So, which means one mina equates to 100 days wages or roughly one-third of a year's salary, okay? So, this isn't some small amount of money that's being given to these servants.
Speaker: You gotta remember, what did these servants start with? It appears nothing. But yet the servant or at the noteman as he leaves, he says, hey, I want you to take this one minor. And while I'm gone, I want you to engage in business. And I want to see what happens when I return. OK, so this word, this phrase engage in business.
Speaker: Another Greek word for you guys is pragmatumai, meaning to do business or trade, to busy or exert oneself. And there's purpose behind why I'm saying these words. OK, so don't get lost in the translation of Greek.
Speaker: All right. But he wants them to be busy while he's gone. In other words, he wants them to be a good steward of the kingdom of which he is going to inherit, that he's going to return for.
Speaker: And while he's gone, he wants them to take this money and to do business, invest. In other words, nobody wanted to test his servants to see just how faithful they were while he was away.
Speaker: Have you guys in the business world ever had anything like that? Anybody in the business world where like your boss is like, hey I'm going to go on leave for a little bit. I want you to take over. I want you to watch the business for me. And when I return, I want to see what happens. What kind of pressure and stress does that put on you?
Speaker: Yeah, right? And I can only imagine for these servants, right? They just received a pretty large sum of money. But what it appears to me is here is that even in in the sight of receiving this money, they weren't just viewing it as like, man, i just gained a third of my salary. They were like, no, man, this ain't my money.
Speaker: This is the servants. This is the nobleman's money. This is my master's money. And I want to be a good steward of this, right? at least that's what you think they would think, right? But let's go on. And so in verses 15 and 16, we see exactly what happens, right? So the nobleman goes away. He leaves the minas with his servants. There's 10 servants and they each get one mina each, right?
Speaker: He goes away. He does his business. And then when he returns at 15, it says, when he returned, having received the kingdom. So at this point, who has the kingdom? The nobleman.
Speaker: So he has gone off. He's received his kingdom. He's come back. And now he's asking for an account of what these servants did for them. Again, for those you guys who ever been in the business world, you've ever been entrusted to something, when your boss comes back and he's like, hey man, how'd it go? and you're like...
Speaker: I could have done a little bit better. How do you think he's going to respond? Or or you could be like, man, business was booming. He's like, hey, that's awesome. Well, what typically happens? You get rewarded, right?
Speaker: Based off of how you stewarded the company or stewarded the resources. Well, that's exactly what we see here. When he returned, after he received the kingdom, he ordered the servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him.
Speaker: That he might know what they gained by doing business. While doing or while staying busy. While investing what he has been given to them. What has been given to them by investing into those things around them.
Speaker: And what do we see here? Well, we see two faithful servants and then one unfaithful servant. Now, ah as you can tell, there was 10 servants in the beginning. We only see the response of three, okay? But these three typically are are demonstrating a whole of what all the servants did, okay? So the first came to him saying, Lord, your mina has made 10 minas more. So this guy was busy, okay?
Speaker: This guy wasn't sitting back idly. I mean, he started off with one mina and how many does he have now? 10, right? That's pretty incredible. he's He's pretty business savvy, right?
Speaker: I wish I could learn from this guy, right? But so he says, Lord, here's your mina. I've made 10 minas more. And what did the what did the master say or the normal say? He said to him, well done, good servant.
Speaker: Well done. Is that a phrase that we also anticipate to hear one day? Well done, right? So he says, well done, good servant.
Speaker: Because you have been faithful with little, you shall have authority over 10 cities. Y'all talk about a reward. This guy just went away, this nobleman, this master just went away to inherit, to receive this kingdom of his. And he left behind this money to his servants. You could tell just by the way he's handling the money that he's not worried about the monetary value of the money because he knows he's about to inherit this kingdom.
Speaker: And so when he comes back, and because of this guy's faithfulness, turning one minor into ten, how many cities? Cities does this guy receive? Ten.
Speaker: Ten cities. So this servant of the master now becomes a ruler and authority over ten cities. Talk about a reward. And then we see this very same thing happen again. The second servant comes, right? And the second came saying, Lord, your mina has made five minas.
Speaker: And the master said to him, and you are to be over what? Five cities. So what are we seeing here based off of the responses of the servants? There is this theme in this passage that you will be rewarded based off of your actions.
Speaker: Based on how faithful you are and based on how you steward the things that you have now, you will be rewarded for that. And so in the meantime is how are you going to remain faithful with it?
Speaker: How are you gonna be a good steward of the things that you have? And again, we're gonna dig into this a little bit more in just a minute, but like, if y'all haven't caught onto this, who is the nobleman? Jesus.
Speaker: Who are the servants? His followers. his his The believers. And Jesus has entrusted us with this incredible gift.
Speaker: Now, you can fill that blank with whatever, right? Whether it's your gifts, your talents, your abilities, your time, your resources. For me, it's the gospel, right? He has given us the gospel, the keys to the kingdom. And he has told us, hey, I'm going to go far off for a little bit.
Speaker: And I want y'all to be good stewards of the things I've given you. And guess what? I'm going to return. And when I return, you're going to give an account to me of how you chose to steward the things I've given you. What a terrifying thought.
Speaker: But also what a very humbling and very cool thought at the same time, know that we have the God of the universe who came out, took our flesh to dwell among men, not only to save us, but to also build a kingdom for us to participate in.
Speaker: And he allows us to be a part of the process.
Speaker: He desires us to know him. He desires us to walk faithfully with him and to be a good steward of the things in which we have in this life. I mean, look around you. yeah'all Hopefully all y'all are here with some family. And if you're not here with family, guess what? You have a church family, right?
Speaker: Like we're here. This is family. Like we are called to be good stewards of our family. We are called to be good stewards of the resources that have been given to us and to love one another, to to fulfill what James calls ah the royal law, to love God and to love your neighbor.
Speaker: If you just do those two things, you are doing well, my friend. No matter what kind of resources you have outside of that. But what we see in this right now with the way that the the nobleman or the master is rewarding his servants is that he sees their good deeds.
Speaker: He sees what they are doing and he is rewarding them for it. But again, let me reiterate this. Y'all ready? In the beginning, what did the servants have to do to receive the mina?
Speaker: Nothing. It is a gift by grace. It's a gift by grace. What does that remind you of? The gospel.
Speaker: The gospel. Jesus came down so that he could die for you and I, so that we can receive a gift that is so far exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever think or imagine for free.
Speaker: For free. It's a free gift. For it is by grace you've been saved through faith. Not of the works of your own doing, but by the gift of God. Right? So these servants receive this gift and they're only multiplying it. Right? So again, this is not a prosperity gospel in the sense of, hey, if you do good things, the Lord's going bless you.
Speaker: That's not what I'm saying. It's out of the abundance of the love of God with any that you've already received that we desire to do good works. That's what James talks about later in the book of James.
Speaker: but Out of an overflow of the gospel, you desire to do good works. You desire to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, and to advance the kingdom while you still have time here on earth right now.
Speaker: Because we live in this period of great grace, and that's exactly what we see in this parable. The the master goes away, the zoomenal goes away, there's an extended leave of absence, if you will,
Speaker: The noblemen are called to do business while he's away. And then what happens? He returns. He returns. And he gives an account for what you do while he's away.
Speaker: And people, Jesus is coming back soon. We don't know when that is. we don't that That term, that word soon is very relative.
Speaker: right It's been over 2,000 years since he's ascended into heaven. But he's still coming back. And while we still have opportunity breath in our longs we are called to do business.
Speaker: We are called to serve faithfully and to love God and to love our neighbor faithfully. And so we see how he rewards the good faithful servants, but what about the unfaithful one?
Speaker: We see there that ah says he said, ah verse 20, Then another came, Lord, here is your mind which I have kept laid away in the handkerchief, for I was afraid of you because you are a severe man.
Speaker: You take what you do not deposit and reap what you do not sow. So in other words, there is this servant who knows who the master is and has a false understanding of who he is.
Speaker: He sees some of the stuff that the master does on the outside, but he doesn't understand the heart of the master and what he's actually doing, what he's planning for. And so because he sees these things in a perceived mind of, man, you're a harsh you're a harsh master. You're a severe master.
Speaker: I'm afraid of what you would do if I take that money and do something with it. Lord forbid if I take it and i actually lose it. how are you going to reward me if I lose it? So I'm just going to take I'm going to put in my handkerchief and hide it away.
Speaker: And how does the master reward him? He says, you foolish servant. You foolish servant. He goes on. He said, i will condemn you with your own words.
Speaker: I will condemn you with your own actions because you did not walk faithfully with the mind that I've given you. It's going to be taken away from you. You're not going to have anything. Why would you act so foolishly? At least go put it in the bank, the nobleman said, the master said, go put it in the bank. At least you'll get some interest for it.
Speaker: You didn't have to do anything. Just put it in the bank. You just collect money, right? But yet that servant didn't even do that because he was more afraid of the potential outcome of of how severe the master might be Rather than trusting in who he is it with his character with his integrity and who he who he has proven himself to be.
Speaker: Does that make sense? Some of you in this room, you may believe that Jesus is real. But you have a really hard time grasping the true character and integrity of Jesus.
Speaker: How can a loving God send people to hell? If God is so good, why is there so much evil and wickedness in the world? if If God was so good or if God was so loving or kind, fill in the blank, right? There's all these questions that we ask about the character and nature of God, but yet we we never we don't give God the credit and we don't give God the chance to reveal it to us.
Speaker: We end up just like this unfaithful servant. We find ourselves in a position where the master's going to return. And just because you believe that he is real doesn't mean that he's going to bless you.
Speaker: You have to learn to surrender your all to the master and trust in the plan and the will in which he has for you. Then and only then will you then begin to understand the fullness of God's love. Does this make sense?
Speaker: There are things that we will never truly know about the character and nature of God, but what we do need to know about God is revealed. He is a God of love. He is a God who is just and righteous and he is holy. And he desires for all to come to know him, but yet he also desires all to hate and despise sin.
Speaker: But yet here we are in this inner turmoil of the flesh. Lord, do I love you enough to surrender to you and to push away my sin? Or do I love my sin more to where I'm going to cling in this and distrust in your grace? That's called cheap grace.
Speaker: When you trust in the goodness of God to the point to where it's all right if I continue to sin because God's going to forgive me anyway. It's not how it works. God wants all of you. He doesn't just want part of you.
Speaker: He wants full surrender. And that's exactly what we're seeing from this unfaithful servant. Now, here's the beauty of these three right here. Y'all ready? They're all three servants of the master, which means they're all three part of the family of God.
Speaker: Right? So though the unfaithful servant didn't act wisely with his money, he doesn't lose anything because the money was a gift anyway. He's still in the kingdom of God.
Speaker: He just doesn't get the reward out just like the other two servants, right? So this is, the reason why I'm missing that is because this is the grace of God for all who choose to believe in him. All of us are imperfect. We all fall sin or we all fall short to sin and to of the glory of God.
Speaker: But the grace of God is sufficient to cover a multitude of sin. He's ready to meet you where you're at to bring you back into redeemed status in his presence. So again, do not lose heart if you're in this room today and you do not fully understand the will of God.
Speaker: Continue to seek him, continue to pursue him, live for him, and he will reveal it to you in the right timing. So cling to that reality. And then lastly, though, with with the remainder of our time, I know there was the results, right? Well, we we already kind of talked about the results and how for those who are faithful, they will be blessed.
Speaker: The two men who multiplied the minas, they got their just reward. For the one who was or faithful, he didn't receive a reward. with What we actually see is that his mina gets taken away and it gets given to the one who has 10. Right?
Speaker: But now want us turn our attention to the last group of people. It's the citizens. y'all remember them? We see it in verse 14, and then we ultimately see it in verse 27. Where, if y'all remember, even here where it talks about how when the master takes away the one minor from the unfaithful servant, he gives it to the one who has 10.
Speaker: How do the people respond? It says... ah Take the one minor from him and give it to the who has 10. And they said to him, Lord, he already has 10 minors. Why would you give him one more? Right, so you see this heart condition of these citizens.
Speaker: And then he goes on. He says, I tell you that everyone who has will be given more those who, from the one who has not, even he has, what he has will be taken away. But verse 27 says this, but I ask for the enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them.
Speaker: what happens? Bring them here and slaughter them before me.
Speaker: So there's a group of people in this room today that I really want to hone in on. Maybe you're on the fence, right? Maybe you're kind of like the unfaithful servant and you're it's really hard for you to really trust the master.
Speaker: But maybe you're in this room and you're completely off the fence and you don't trust the master at all. You're just like these citizens who don't want Jesus to reign and rule over your life. Well, what does that look like? What does that look like, right?
Speaker: What does it look like for someone who doesn't want Jesus to rule and reign over their life? Well, Jesus commands us to love God, to love our neighbors, and to flee from sin. If you cannot do those things, you do not want Jesus to reign in your life.
Speaker: Sounds harsh. That's the reality. And if you're in that place, I want you to hear me this morning. It is not too late to turn back to the grace of God. He is ready and he is willing to meet you where you're at to redeem you, to restore you, and to renew your heart, to bring grace into your life to where you can see him for who he actually is.
Speaker: You just have to give him a chance. You see, for these citizens, and and who do you ever think about who the citizens represent in this parable? It's the religious leaders, those who betrayed Jesus, who sin who sent us into death on the cross, right? Those who rejected and despised him.
Speaker: You know, Jesus came to die for them as well, right? So, you just have to you have to get out of your own way and allow the Holy Spirit to work in your heart. You cannot be like Pharaoh in and Egypt who had a hard heart, so much so that it came to the point where the Lord saw his heart and he hardened it in a solid state. Does that make sense?
Speaker: We live in a period of great grace.
Speaker: Take every advantage of it right now while we still have breath in our lungs to encounter Jesus and to be renewed and restored. Receive the gospel message today. But for the rest of us, may we heed the warning that Jesus is giving to his listeners here right now.
Speaker: Again, these listeners in the parable, they were ready for the kingdom to be established now. They were tired. They were ready for the kingdom to come. And so that way they can experience the goodness and the fullness of the kingdom forevermore. And I get it. Many of us, including myself, are there right now. I'm like, Lord, please come right now.
Speaker: Right? Jesus. I mean... This past week, I was there. i was like, Lord, just come. But then I looked at my beautiful daughters and I said, no, don't come yet.
Speaker: Right? Have you ever been there? Anybody? Right? But the the people, the Jewish audience were there. They were ready for the kingdom to come. And Jesus says, no, it's not yet time.
Speaker: Trust in what I have for you. Take this good deposit that I've given you, this gospel message that I'm revealing to you now, And take it and invest in it until I return.
Speaker: Be devoted to one another. Be devoted to the the breaking of the bread, the fellowship of the believers, the reading of God's word. Share the gospel because people need the light more than ever in the darkness right now.
Speaker: May we heed this message this morning. Sure, again, not to bring up politics in the church, but when, when no offense, when politics brings religion into politics, we gotta stand up for it.
Speaker: That's all gotta say about that. All gotta say is the midterm election prayer did not turn out the way you thought it did, the way that you like it to turn out. God is still king. He's still sovereignly in control. We need to be praying for our leadership.
Speaker: We need to be praying that the Lord encounter them and reveal in them their own sinfulness and and see that there is a better way We need to come before the Lord on our knees because of that.
Speaker: But not just me not just for politics, not just for our leaders, but for our family. I mean, the song that we sang this morning, Jesus, it shot the name of Jesus, right? Jesus for our family, Jesus for our city, Jesus for our home, Jesus for our church.
Speaker: Proclaim it while we still have opportunity today. So we're about to go into a time of invitation. This is a time for for anybody who needs to make a decision, right?
Speaker: Maybe you're already a believer and you need to reorient your life. Maybe you've been walking down a wayward path. Maybe you've been walking on a path that doesn't glorify the Lord. Again, i had to find myself this week repenting of my hard heart, of my my selfishness with with how things turned out. I will confess it. I'm not a perfect man.
