The Gospel of Luke (#84) December 8, 2024

First Baptist Church Leominster

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:28

Let's be seated. Now, Pastor Jason isn't here, so I've asked Leo to come and read.

00:35

And because our notes are kind of long today, and I knew we'd be kind of tight on time,

00:43

I asked Leo if he would read our passage for us from Luke 19 in place of Galatians 4.

00:50

So Luke 19, and today we'll be addressing verses 11 through 28, a little longer passage.

00:58

Leo, if you would read for us and then pray for us, please. 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 was to appear immediately.

01:23

He said, therefore, a noble man went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.

01:33

Calling 10 of his servants, he gave to them 10 minas and said to them, engage in business until I come.

01:42

But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying, we do not want this man to reign over us.

01:51

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 what they had gained by doing business.

02:04

The first came before him saying, Lord, your mina has made 10 minas more.

02:11

And he said to him, well done, good servant, because you have been faithful in a very little.

02:17

You shall have authority over 10 cities. And the second came saying, Lord, your mina has made five minas.

02:25

And he said to him, and you are to be over five cities. Then another came and saying,

02:31

Lord, here is your mina which I have laid away in a handkerchief for I was afraid of you because you are a severe man.

02:39

You take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow. And he said,

02:45

I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant. You knew that I was a severe man, taking what

02:52

I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not take my money, put it in the bank, and at my coming might have collected it with interest?

03:04

And he said to those who stood by, take the mina from him and give it to the one who has 10 minas.

03:11

And they said to him, Lord, he has 10 minas. I tell you that everyone who has more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

03:26

But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and I will slaughter them before me.

03:37

That's the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, may you at this time descend upon your congregation by your

03:51

Holy Spirit and in your sovereignty, have your way with your people. And Lord, may you illumine our congregation and make the clarity of the gospel preached by our pastor so that we can see your son,

04:07

Jesus Christ, dying on a cross for sin. And may you accept our worship and sanctify it by your

04:15

Holy Spirit and wash it in the blood of Calvary's cross. And it's in the name of your son,

04:21

Jesus Christ, who I pray, amen. Pastor Jason does real well to stick with his notes when he has them before you.

04:42

Mine are more like guidelines. So I divert a little bit, but I fill out more than what we can address on a

04:54

Sunday morning here because again, we send our notes out. Pastor Jason's to about 650 addresses every week.

05:04

I don't, you know, probably just a fraction of those read them, but maybe 175 of those now are pastors in third world countries.

05:12

And they use them in their churches, many of them, and they copy them and give them out to other churches as well, particularly in Africa, Kenya, Uganda.

05:22

I have an acquaintance in Mozambique that I met in South Africa 15 years ago.

05:30

And so they get around. And so I feel like I need to fill things out for their sake because they may not have the, you know, the background that you folks have.

05:41

And so I can't assume everything for them. And so this, you know, we will need to skip over some things as we go through this because it's, you know, it's too long, it's 11 pages.

05:54

And it's really longer than you think, because I actually, I got a new 11 pages, but that's after I squeezed out the margins on all four corners, you know, so there's quite a bit of information here.

06:07

But I felt, you know, that it was necessary, not only for their sake, but also that you have to read later at your convenience.

06:19

And so, and here we have arrived in Luke 19 at this last episode that Luke recorded before our

06:25

Lord and his disciples reached Jerusalem, their destination. They began this trip from Galilee back in Luke 9 .51,

06:37

and soon they will arrive in Jerusalem. The episode is a parable commonly referred to as the parable of the pounds, reflecting that really the terminology of the

06:50

King James translation and the English standard of money, pounds.

06:57

But it has been rendered in the New King James Version, and as well as the

07:03

ESV, as the parable of the minas. And that's really the more accurate description of the parable, because a mina was an actual standard of money in the first century

07:17

Roman Empire. We talk about denarius, a talent, but here is a mina.

07:24

In this parable, we may learn more clearly about the nature of the kingdom of God. That's the point of emphasis.

07:31

For our Lord was informing and correcting his disciples and his other Jewish hearers regarding the nature of this age and the age to come.

07:42

Here we are also reminded of our responsibility as his stewards and the accountability before him that we will render of our stewardship when we are brought before his throne on the future day of judgment.

07:58

It would seem that all of us are in need at periodic times of a corrective to our values, our activities, and our pursuits.

08:06

We can become caught up in our own interests and concerns and neglect the weightier matters of life, and in so doing, allow time to waste away and opportunities to be forfeited.

08:18

And so, when we should have been giving ourselves to nobler and more godly goals, we've only squandered our most precious gifts of time and opportunity to serve

08:28

Jesus Christ. And this passage may serve us well in setting us back on a right track, a right course.

08:37

We'll not read the passage again as Leo just read it in our hearing. We'll consider this passage under three headings, the background of the parable, secondly, the content of the parable, and third, the application of the parable to us.

08:55

First, the background of the parable. And so, let's first consider the occasion of the parable.

09:02

And what we mean by occasion is the cause or reason that Jesus gave the parable. Whenever you're interpreting a portion of scripture, you should always ask the question, why was this written?

09:14

And why was this spoken on this occasion? This will help you identify the major emphasis and the role of the episode you're studying.

09:26

Well, the primary occasion for the parable is clearly stated by Luke in verse one.

09:32

Now, as they heard these things, he spoke another parable because he was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.

09:45

The Lord's teachings and miracles had for a long time raised the expectation of the people and of his own disciples regarding the realization of the long -promised kingdom of God.

09:58

Of course, the popular opinion was that when Jesus arrived at Jerusalem, he would proclaim himself the

10:03

Messiah, the king, and establish an earthly kingdom, a kingdom which would be a restoration in nature and scope to David's kingdom,

10:12

King David's kingdom that existed the nation of Israel 1 ,000 years before. This errant understanding of the kingdom of God had to be dispelled, not only in the minds of the

10:25

Jewish people, but most importantly, in the understanding of his disciples. They were all wrong in what they thought.

10:34

Jesus was a king, but not a king of a kingdom according to current Jewish expectations.

10:41

Jesus would indeed reign over the kingdom of God, but it would not be the kingdom of the nature and in the time anticipated by the

10:48

Jewish people. No one had it right, and so to correct their errant and deficient thinking,

10:56

Jesus gave this parable. In this parable of the minas, Jesus taught his disciples that there would be a delay between the time they arrived at Jerusalem and the full manifestation of the kingdom.

11:11

He taught in this parable that he would depart from them to travel far away and be gone for a long time, for there he would receive his authority over the promised kingdom, but he would one day return with all authority and impose the full manifestation of his kingdom over the world.

11:31

That's what this parable conveys. This parable is related to what

11:36

Luke had just recorded of Jesus in his dealings with Zacchaeus. Although salvation was presently bestowed and enjoyed for Jesus had pronounced it had come to Zacchaeus today, nevertheless, the end or the final coming of the son of man and the full realization of his kingdom and its accompanied judgment of mankind was in the distant future.

12:01

But there's a second reason, secondary reason or occasion for this parable. Through this parable,

12:07

Jesus provided instruction regarding the disciples stewardship as they awaited the full appearance of the kingdom.

12:15

How were they to live? And what could they expect in his return because of the way they lived?

12:22

And so here is where the parable intersects perhaps with our lives most pointedly.

12:28

Those are the two main occasions for the parable. Now, when we read this passage in Luke's gospel, we might assume that it is

12:38

Luke's rendition of the same parable recorded in Matthew's gospel that is commonly called the parable of the talents.

12:46

I trust you remember that. But we would be mistaken to assume the two accounts are the same.

12:55

It is true both parables involve three men and that the third individual suffers humiliation and God's rejection and judgment at Christ's coming.

13:04

But that is where the similarity ends. For this parable in Luke 19 was given while Jesus and his disciples were on the road leading to Jerusalem, coming out of Jericho.

13:17

But Matthew records that Jesus gave the parable to the talents later in the week while in Jerusalem.

13:23

They are two different parables, two different teachings, two different emphases. And moreover, the details are quite distinct from one parable to the other.

13:34

In this parable, the nobleman gave 10 of his servants, one Mina each. But in the parable of the talents, the man had three servants and to each he gave different amounts, five talents, two talents, one talent.

13:49

The two parables are completely distinct from one another. When the

13:54

Lord gave this parable, the details must have immediately arrested the attention of all the Jews present.

14:01

There is some familiarity about this parable. For there was a historical situation which had occurred a generation before from which it would have been clear that the

14:11

Lord was drawing a parallel. About 30 years before King Herod the

14:16

Great had died. Herod had reigned over Israel as a king but as a vassal of Rome.

14:23

It encompassed Galilee, Perea, and Judea. He had quite a large region over which he was a puppet king, really, of Rome.

14:35

King Herod the Great was an Edomian half -Jew. He was in some ways quite notable, humanly speaking.

14:44

He was a great builder throughout the land. I remember in seminary I had to write a paper on the architecture of Herod the

14:52

Great, I wish we had time to go into it, but he was quite a significant builder. But he was hated by most of all his

15:01

Jewish subjects. And when he died, he willed his kingdom to be divided among his three sons,

15:07

Herod, Antipas, Philip, and Archelaus. And these three brothers didn't get along.

15:13

There was controversy and conflict. Archelaus claimed his father's title as king.

15:19

Of course, his two brothers reacted to this. And so this moved Archelaus to make the long trip to Rome to gain recognition and legitimization of his rule from Caesar.

15:33

But a Jewish embassy followed Archelaus there and stood before Caesar objecting, we would not have this man rule over us.

15:42

And as a result, Archelaus was given authority of only half his father's kingdom and Caesar withheld the title king from Archelaus.

15:52

He became officially the Roman ethnarch of Judea and Edomoea.

16:00

And so knowledge of this historical background helps us really little in understanding the parable, but it does give us insight of our

16:08

Lord's method of teaching and relating to his hearers. His words would have arrested their attention.

16:14

There was a historical and cultural context in which he was speaking to them. Now let's consider the contents of the parable.

16:25

We first read in the parable of a nobleman who left the region to travel to Rome to receive authority to become king.

16:35

This clearly displays that Christ would depart from them for an extended period of time to receive his authority as king over his kingdom.

16:45

Luke records in verse 12, therefore, Jesus said, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.

16:56

Jesus was certainly alluding to his departure from this world through his death on his cross and his resurrection.

17:02

When he ascended to his father in heaven and was seated on his father's throne, Jesus himself declared to the church in Revelation 3 .21.

17:13

Christ was revealing to his disciples, which they would only understand fully later that he was leaving them going to heaven and there receive from God the father a kingdom.

17:25

This was prophesied in the Old Testament in the book of Daniel, Daniel 7 .13

17:30

and 14. Daniel said, I was watching in the night visions and behold one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven.

17:40

He came to the ancient of days, that would be God the father. They brought him near before him and then to him, this one like the son of man was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people's nations languages should serve him.

17:57

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away and his kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed.

18:06

Jesus on several occasions had taught his disciples that his destiny in Jerusalem was to be arrested and crucified, but that he would be raised from the dead on the third day.

18:18

And we read the latest word about this just in the previous chapter,

18:23

Luke 18, when he took the 12 aside and said to them, behold, we're going up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the son of man will be accomplished for he will be delivered to the

18:35

Gentiles, will be mocked, insulted, spit upon, they will scourge him and kill him and the third day he will rise again.

18:45

But then we read in that episode that they understood none of these things, this saying was hidden from them, they did not know the things which were spoken.

18:56

And so here Jesus spoke in terms of leaving through his suffering, death and resurrection, ascending to his father in heaven to be exalted and inaugurated as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, which he is now.

19:11

But Jesus also spoke of his return, in other words, his second coming at the end of the age, when he would fully manifest his kingdom and execute

19:19

God's judgment of the world, the final judgment. But further,

19:25

Jesus intimated that there would be a prolonged period between his departure and his return, the nobleman of our parable is going to a far country.

19:38

Now here is a word of correction to something you might have heard frequently, but it's simply not true. We've made this point in the past several times because it's such a common error, did so recently as last

19:51

March. Some argue for an imminent second coming or rapture of Jesus Christ.

19:57

It can happen any moment, they say. And in doing so, they claim the

20:03

Christians of the first century expected Christ's second coming to occur at any moment. That his return was imminent, that's the word you'll commonly hear.

20:13

But this is not taught in the New Testament. In fact, the opposite is true. According to this parable, the disciples were instructed that a prolonged period of uncertain duration would transpire before Christ's second coming, this church age.

20:31

For example, the disciples knew that before Christ's return, the second coming at the end of the age,

20:37

Jerusalem would be utterly destroyed and the city would be occupied by Gentiles for a prolonged period of time, a time referred to as the times of the

20:45

Gentiles. Jesus wasn't coming back a second time before that occurred. Jesus also taught the disciples that his second coming would be preceded by a time in which nations would rise and fall, wars and seemingly many wars would transpire.

21:03

You can't expect the imminent return of the Lord if you got many wars that are gonna be taking place in history before he comes.

21:11

The time before the end would also entail the worldwide mission of the gospel to all the nations of the world.

21:19

Jesus warned his disciples that before the end came, many of them would be dragged before kings and would forfeit their lives for the faith.

21:27

And in fact, at least one of the disciples, Peter, knew that he would die before Christ's return.

21:33

According to John's gospel, certainly Peter was not expecting Christ's imminent return.

21:40

And so the emphasis of the New Testament does not teach or stress the imminent return of Christ for the early church.

21:47

The early Christians were not expecting in any moment return of Christ. The fact is they did not know when he would return, but they were always to be living and preparing themselves so that they would be ready whenever he returned.

22:02

And that's the emphasis of the New Testament. Take note again that the time which he would be separated from them would be of long duration.

22:12

He was going into, this nobleman was going into a far country. And here the idea of the country being distant is not to suggest that Jesus is far from us.

22:23

Scripture makes it very clear he's ever with his people. He told his disciples at the Great Commission, "'Lo,

22:28

I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.'" But rather the idea of a distant country was to convey a prolonged delay of time before his return when the kingdom would be fully manifested.

22:42

In the first century, one would travel for months, even a year or two to get from one side of the

22:47

Roman Empire to the other and back again. Winds, weather, seasons had to be suitable for travel.

22:55

And so our Lord was instructing his disciples that he would leave them for a lengthy period of time.

23:02

Jesus was intimating to his disciples the reality of this present church age, an age in which he's been exalted and thrown in heaven, but that he would return at a future time then to execute the final judgment of the human race prior to the onset of the eternal state.

23:22

The New Testament teaches that there are only two future ages from our Lord's earthly life and ministry.

23:30

Repeatedly, the New Testament speaks about this present kingdom age or church age, in which the kingdom of God is entered spiritually through salvation in Jesus Christ.

23:41

Every Christian is presently a citizen of the heavenly kingdom. Paul wrote, for our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the

23:50

Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father has delivered us from the power of darkness and has conveyed, past tense, he conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love.

24:02

That's when we were converted. But apart from this age, this kingdom age, there is the age to come when the kingdom will be fully ushered in and we will enter into eternal life, inheriting the kingdom promised to us by the

24:15

Father from before creation. On the day of judgment, after his people are exonerated of all condemnation because of the righteousness of Christ and the forgiveness of their sins secured by Christ's death on the cross,

24:30

Jesus will declare to his people, in other words, his sheep, on that day, they come inherit, you blessed of my

24:37

Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. That's a future event after the judgment.

24:46

According to the New Testament scriptures, there are but two ages future after the first coming of Christ, this present age of the spiritual kingdom and the age of everlasting life that commences at the resurrection and judgment of the world.

25:01

Two ages, not three, not more, two ages. The Jewish people, including

25:08

Jesus's disciples at this stage of their journey to Jerusalem were still under the delusion that Jesus as the

25:15

Messiah upon his entry into Jerusalem would establish an earthly political kingdom comprised of citizens of Jewish ancestry.

25:26

Through this parable, our Lord corrected their error and foretold that he would depart from them for an extended period of history before his return at the end of the age when he'd execute the final judgment of the world and usher in his everlasting kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth.

25:43

The Jews were wrong in their eschatology, in other words, their understanding of the end times.

25:52

They were wrong in their understanding of the nature and timing of the kingdom of God. But it's very unfortunate that most evangelicals today continue to espouse that the

26:03

Jews were right in their understanding of the messianic kingdom, but that the

26:08

Jews were only mistaken in understanding its timing, when it would take place. Dispensationalists continue to teach that the promised messianic kingdom is an earthly, ethnic,

26:19

Jewish political kingdom that will be established at the second coming of Christ that will last 1 ,000 years, a future millennium.

26:29

Their understanding of scripture teaching is characterized with the same error that Jesus' hearers possessed when he told them this parable.

26:39

That this is such a popular view of the end times is evident everywhere. For the past several months or number of weeks,

26:46

Fox News Channel, and I don't know who else, has been advertising a new book written by David Jeremiah entitled

26:55

The Coming Golden Age, 31 Ways to be Kingdom Ready. It promotes the same errant understanding that the

27:04

Jews had on this occasion that our Lord Jesus sought to refute and correct. C .I.

27:11

Schofield, in his study Bible, first published in 1907, 1917, which shaped the general theology of evangelicals in the 20th century and even on today, has a division title at the head of this parable in Luke 1911, which says, "'Parable of the 10

27:28

Pounds, the Postponed Kingdom.'" They think that Jesus was offering the earthly millennium, but instead of receiving it, they crucify

27:38

Jesus, so the offer of this earthly kingdom was withdrawn by God and postponed until the second coming.

27:45

Bible does not teach that. They teach it because Israel rejected

27:51

Jesus as their king and crucified him that God hath withdrawn his offer to Israel of an earthly political kingdom, postponing its realization until the second coming of Jesus Christ.

28:03

The Jewish disciples and crowds were wrong about the nature and timing of the kingdom when

28:08

Jesus gave forth his parable, and dispensationalists continue to be wrong about the nature and timing of the kingdom of God, even though our

28:16

Lord taught them quite clearly and forthrightly what was before them. Could not be clearer.

28:25

The Bible, the word of God, teaches that there are only two future ages, the present spiritual kingdom of God, of which every true

28:32

Christian is a citizen, and then secondly, the eternal state, which commences at his second coming, and the resurrection and general judgment of all mankind, and at that time,

28:43

God will create the new heavens and the new earth, and we will enter eternity, inheriting the fully realized kingdom of God.

28:52

Sam Waldron wrote a book probably 15 years ago, End Times Made Simple, where he set forth this understanding of the

29:02

Bible. It's not that hard, but some people make it very difficult.

29:08

They take the Jewish interpretation that was errant, and they just said they were wrong in when it would take place.

29:15

It's gonna happen in the future. No, clearly through the gospel, the distinction between Jewish and Gentile people in Christ was totally broken down, and now there's one people of God, and God's not gonna go back, all right, to an earlier covenant, a

29:33

Mosaic covenant, and once again separate Jews from Gentiles. The church is universal, and all people who come to Christ, whether they're

29:42

Jew or Gentile, the former middle wall of partition, the Mosaic covenant has been taken down by Christ on the cross, and now there's one people of God, those that are in Christ.

29:55

There's no third age, an age of an earthly Jewish thousand -year millennium that's commonly asserted.

30:01

There is this age, and there is the age to come. Paul expressed this in 1 Corinthians 15.

30:08

I watched this short video the other night with Vodie Bauckham, in which he reminded me of this passage.

30:15

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all should be made alive. Not all humanity. The all, the first all, the pronoun refers to all humanity, all in Adam die.

30:26

The second pronoun, all, refers to all that are redeemed by Christ. They should be made alive, but each one in its own order,

30:33

Christ the firstfruits, speaking of his resurrection. Afterward, those who are

30:38

Christ's, it is coming. This would be Christians resurrected, believers resurrected at the second coming.

30:45

Then comes the end. Dispensationalists have to put 1 ,000 years at the end of verse 23 and before verse 24.

30:54

There's no room for that in Paul's writing. Then comes the end. When he delivers the kingdom to God the

31:01

Father, when he puts an end to all rule and authority and power. Paul wrote of the two ages of Christian experience in 1

31:08

Timothy. For bodily exercised prophets, little but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and that which is to come.

31:20

Present age and the eternal state to come. Well, now let's consider what

31:28

Jesus pressed upon his disciples that he would leave his disciples with responsibility.

31:36

We're not just supposed to be waiting for the second coming. We're to be actively serving the

31:44

Lord, doing business is what the verb speaks about. King James says, he said, occupy till I come.

31:54

And so of this nobleman leaving to travel to a far country, Jesus said, so he called 10 of his servants, delivering to them 10 minas, and said to them, do business till I come.

32:05

Occupy till I come. The New Testament sets forth Christians in this age, in this fallen world, as pilgrims, as sojourners, who temporarily dwell in exile, but are journeying to faith under their promised homeland, the new

32:20

Jerusalem, the city of God. This was the hope of Abraham, who did not view anything in this world as the true promised land.

32:28

It was a type. The anti -type is the new heavens and the new earth. Abraham did not regard the promised land over there as his home.

32:37

That's why he lived in tents. He was looking not for an earthly city, but the city whose builder and maker is

32:45

God. He was looking for the new Jerusalem, the same city that we're looking for. I won't read that passage from Hebrews 11, but it clearly states it, that Abraham was dwelling in tents because he did not regard anything in this fallen world as home.

33:02

Another but similar portrayal of the Christian's life is that Christians are as Jewish exiles dwelling in ancient

33:08

Babylon, who long to be delivered from this fallen city to travel to their homeland.

33:16

Christians are promised to experience a second exodus as found repeatedly in the Old Testament prophets.

33:23

The first exodus having been out of Egypt under Moses, but the second exodus being converted and being delivered from this present fallen world into the glorious eternal life.

33:35

Actually, the promise in the prophets of this second exodus is set forth in a twofold sense.

33:41

First, they were physical Jews who returned in the sixth century BC from literal Babylon to their homeland to rebuild

33:48

Jerusalem in the temple, and they were led by Nehemiah, Ezra, and Zerubbabel. But the true second exodus are returning exiles who are true

33:58

Christians in this current church age who are exhorted to depart from fallen Babylon, an emblem of the fallen godless world, and make their journey of faith following Jesus who had blazed a trail of faith and obedience before them.

34:13

That's what we're doing as Christians. We're on a pilgrimage. Jacob spoke about the years of his pilgrimage to the

34:22

Pharaoh. We are on a pilgrimage. We're journeying, or we desire to journey from Babylon onto our new

34:32

Jerusalem. That's what Hebrews 12 speaks about. You're not come to a mountain Sinai that can be touched, but rather we're coming to a new

34:40

Jerusalem, a heavenly Zion where all the people of God are. And of course, the book of Revelation speaks of the fallen overthrow of Babylon, the fallen world system that has existed through history since the early days of the fall of man into sin.

34:57

We read about the Tower of Babel, which was the origin of Babylon back in Genesis. And so as Christians, we're exhorted to depart from our fellowship with the fallen world,

35:07

Babylon, so that we may enjoy our relationship with our Lord and his people. I wish we could read 1

35:13

Corinthians 11 and following, come out from among them, be separate. And if you do so,

35:18

I'll be a father unto you. What do we become separate from? The fallen world,

35:24

Babylon. And the book of Revelation records the eventual overthrow of Babylon at the end of this age, at the second coming of Christ.

35:32

We won't read that. But Revelation 18 announces, pronounces, and sees realized the fall of the fallen world system with the coming of Jesus Christ.

35:43

But here in this parable in Luke 19, Jesus declared to his disciples that they had a duty, that they were responsible and accountable for how they lived in the intervening time between his departure and his second coming.

35:57

Jesus sent forth through the departure of the noble men that he entrusted his goods to his servants who were to do business on his behalf in his absence.

36:06

And so he called 10 of his servants to him. He gave each of the 10 men, 10 minas, in other words, one each.

36:13

And we read in verse four, so he called 10 of his servants, delivered to them 10 minas, and said to them, do business till I come.

36:21

We might recall the words through the prophet Jeremiah to the Jewish exiles when they had been taken to slavery into Babylon.

36:29

We won't read the passage again for the sake of time, but God told the people through Jeremiah, you go into Babylon and you settle down there.

36:40

You build homes, seek the well -being of that city. You serve there until the time that God calls you to come home.

36:49

And we also are in this fallen world, Babylon, and we're not to be embracing it or certainly becoming a part of it, but rather we are to occupy, we are to conduct our

37:01

Christian business in every way we can while we're in this fallen world as we are exiles.

37:08

James opens up his epistle, referring to the exiles scattered abroad.

37:14

First Peter one, verses one and following speaks about we're the dispersion, we're scattered throughout the world, and we're exiles being called in this journey of faith under our heavenly

37:25

Zion. The whole realization of the Old Testament promises are found in this present age and fully at the second coming of Christ when

37:35

Christ returns. And so there are different metaphors that may be applied to the

37:41

Christian in this world. In some passages, the Christian life is set forth as having been exiles released from bondage, slavery to sin, and we're on a pilgrimage to our heavenly rest, our heavenly

37:52

Jerusalem. But in other passages, we're as Daniel and others dwelling in Babylon seeking to be faithful to God as we attempt to bear faithful witness to our

38:01

Lord until the day he delivers us out of this fallen world. And our Lord Jesus himself described his life in this fashion.

38:09

When he spoke with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John, you know, they heard them talking,

38:17

Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. What were they talking about? And in the Greek text, it makes it clear they were talking about Jesus's exodus.

38:26

In other words, his departure out of this fallen world to go to heaven to return to his father.

38:34

But here in this parable, Jesus spoke of the noblemen giving to each of his 10 servants a trust.

38:40

Again, he called 10 of his servants, delivered to them 10 minas, and said to them, do business till I come.

38:47

Jesus was indicating that his disciples had responsibility as his stewards, and he was intimating that one day they must give an accounting of their stewardship.

38:57

That has application to you and me. We see 10 servants called before him, each given a mina, which was perhaps the equivalent of about three months' income.

39:06

A talent was a much larger measure of currency. But the mina was about three months' labor of a daily laborer.

39:15

The point in the parable is that each one of these 10 men had been given equal opportunity, and how some servants were faithful and successful in the use of their money for the good of their master.

39:27

There's nothing significant about the number 10, 10 servants, it's probably only a detail to fill out the story.

39:33

We should avoid reading meaning into points of details of parables, which are not patently clear. The nobleman gave them a charge, do business till I come.

39:43

They would be busy using that which the master had given them, investing it, multiplying it, that it and its increase may be returned to him at his second coming, at the nobleman's return.

39:55

And so our Lord Jesus has entrusted his disciples in this age to use every opportunity to devote their lives to invest or work toward advancing his kingdom, evangelism, discipleship, and one day each of us will give an accounting to our

40:10

Lord for our stewardship in this life. Interesting, Jesus also took this occasion through this parable to speak of some who rejected his authority and their responsibility altogether.

40:25

Verse 14, but his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, after the nobleman, saying we will not have this man reign over us.

40:35

This is a description as well as a prediction of the reaction of the majority of Jews toward Jesus Christ as the promised king of the kingdom of God.

40:44

They rejected him. Luke will later record the desire of the Jews regarding Jesus when he was before the

40:50

Roman governor Pontius Pilate, whereas Pilate desired Jesus to be released. There's no reason to kill him.

40:56

The Jewish people, led by their corrupt leaders, insisted on Jesus being crucified.

41:03

We won't read that passage, but that's clearly what it teaches. And we can also read of Jews in Athens who later rejected the

41:10

Apostle Paul's message of the gospel to them, where they rejected

41:16

Jesus as king. Well, thirdly, let's consider

41:23

Jesus Christ has received his kingdom and one day will return. Again, two ages, not three.

41:30

You can't put 1 ,000 year Jewish millennium in there. Jesus went on to say of this nobleman in his parable, 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.

41:49

First, we read that while in the far country, he was made king. This is what occurred when the risen lamb of God was resurrected from the dead, ascended into heaven, and was presented before God the

42:01

Father on his throne, a fulfillment of Daniel 7, 13, and 14. He ascended into heaven.

42:07

The cloud received him. He went into heaven, and you read what happened in Revelation 5.

42:15

The lamb of God, though slain, John saw him in heaven. No one was able to take that scroll out of the hand of the

42:22

Father on the throne, and John wept much, and then an angel told

42:28

John, don't weep, there's one that could do it, and behold, he saw a lamb as though it had been slain, who was also a lion of the tribe of Judah, King Jesus ascending into heaven after his resurrection, and all of Revelation 5 speaks about God the

42:46

Father giving kingdom authority to Jesus Christ. He became Lord of lords and King of kings when he ascended into heaven, and he's ruling over the world right now.

42:57

He's Lord of lords. He's King of kings right now. Jesus is controlling history to accomplish his purposes, and the book of Revelation says he's got two purposes in history.

43:10

One is to save his people who the Father has given him, and he's successful in every one of them.

43:17

He doesn't lose a one of his hundred sheep, and secondly, he's bringing his enemies to their certain judgment and condemnation, and that's what's going on in history.

43:30

King Jesus, he's raising up the kings. He's raising up armies. Granted, you have evil men that are acting, whether it be in Ukraine or Syria or wherever it is across the world, but King Jesus is the one who's sending forth the armies to accomplish his good purposes on behalf of the

43:50

Father, and through these events, he's saving his people. They will come to salvation through the gospel, and he's also overthrowing his enemies, and so King Jesus is ruling over history, and you and I should see it with the eye of faith now.

44:06

We confess Jesus is Lord. Nobody else sees it. They're in unbelief, but every eye will see it when

44:13

Jesus comes back, and it'll happen that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is

44:20

Lord to the glory of the Father. You and I confess that now, and we see it now and believe it now, or at least we should, but again, there needs to be clarification for this, so Revelation 5,

44:33

I recounted it there again for the sake of those who receive our notes. Again, a fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel 7, 13 and 14.

44:41

Many look at Daniel 7, 13, 14 with the one like a son of man coming to the ancient of days to receive a kingdom.

44:48

They say that's a prophecy of the second coming, but if you read Daniel 7, 13 and 14, it does not declare that this one like the son of man is coming to the earth.

44:58

He's not. He's coming to the ancient of days. He's coming to God in heaven, and this is realized, of course, when

45:04

Christ ascended into heaven after his resurrection, and so on page nine, the clear application of the parable is that when

45:12

Jesus Christ returns at his second coming, he'll manifest that kingdom which had been given to him.

45:18

We as Christians recognize his kingdom that's been granted him. We've heard of the news from the far country that Jesus had been made both

45:26

Lord and Christ, and knowing this, we have submitted to his rule. Jesus reigns.

45:32

We confess ourselves to be citizens of that kingdom. We order our lives according to the way he's instructed us.

45:39

We do not reject his rule as most do, but we've submitted and do willfully and joyfully serve him as our king, and one day he'll return.

45:49

Again, every eye will see him in all its glory. Then we see it now with the eyes of faith, but when

45:57

Jesus Christ returns, he'll judge the world, and this judgment will be the works of both his people, his disciples, and all the believers in all of history.

46:07

As Paul appealed to this judgment to Christians as a motivation not to sin against our

46:13

Christian brethren, why do you judge your brother for why do you show contempt of your brother?

46:19

We'll all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, for it's written, as I live, says the

46:24

Lord, every knee shall bow to me, every tongue shall confess, so then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.

46:33

Every one of us. Many argue that you and I won't have to answer on the day of judgment.

46:40

We'll not be judged according to our work except for rewards. It will be raptured out of here and we'll pass it.

46:46

That's for the unbelievers. That's not what the scriptures teach. Every one of us will give an account of ourselves.

46:53

Second Corinthians 5 .10, Paul included himself, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one, that's you, that's me, may receive the things done in the body according to what he's done, whether good or bad.

47:10

The things done in our body speaks of every word we've ever spoken, every attitude we've ever displayed in life, every act that we've ever performed.

47:19

For the true Christian, there is nothing done in this body that will condemn him on that day we're under the blood of Christ.

47:26

But rather his life being judged will give proof of his faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

47:33

And the old adage is, I happened to hear a radio program this week, you know, the old adage is if you were drug and to court and charged with being a

47:42

Christian, could enough evidence be found to find you guilty? And that's what we're going to endure on the day of judgment.

47:50

Does your life demonstrate that you're a Christian? Don't wanna hear what your lips say. What does your life declare that you believe?

47:58

Because that will be the test on the day of judgment. You're not saved by your works, but your works will either validate that you are a true child of God with saving faith, or it'll prove that you're a hypocrite, you were never a true

48:14

Christian. It matters how you live. You're not saved because of your works, but you're gonna be saved by your works in the sense that it will be judged on that day.

48:26

The Bible does not promise salvation for someone who simply and only believes, but a person who believes and orders their life according to the will of God.

48:37

It's he who does the will of God who abides forever, is what John the Apostle wrote.

48:44

But the works of the unbelievers will confirm them as deserving of damnation, for though they may have professed to be

48:50

Christian in this life, their actual living of this life will prove them to have been but hypocrites, professors but not possessors of eternal life.

48:59

Jesus spoke this parable of the accounting his servants would render to him on the day of judgment. Again, then came the first of the servants.

49:09

Master, your mina has earned 10 minas. He said to him, well done, good servant, because you're faithful and if very little, have authority over 10 cities.

49:20

And the second, master, your mina has earned five minas. Likewise, he said, you also be over five cities.

49:27

And so each of the 10 men in the parable had been given a mina to invest in their master's absence.

49:34

And we read that he rewarded his faithful stewards with great honor, exalted positions of service in their faithful stewardship in eternity.

49:44

If our Lord's disciples, servants, were found to have been faithful in small things, the Lord will bestow great honor and great opportunity for service in the eternal state.

49:52

Who knows what we're gonna be doing for the Lord? The servant who had taken as one mina and made an additional 10 minas had made rule over 10 cities, five over five cities.

50:04

Caution should be exercised, however, in understanding and applying the details of this or any parable.

50:10

I have heard preachers say, when Jesus comes, I wanna be made mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma. I wanna be ruler over 10 cities.

50:19

Now, that is a detail in the parable, not a promise of what Jesus is gonna give you at the onset of eternity.

50:26

You follow? He's gonna reward you. And the idea of your little mina, your little insignificant three -month salary is gonna bring a hundredfold reward that you can't even fathom.

50:39

That certainly is conveyed by the parable. But it's not declaring that you and I as Christians, if we're faithful, we're gonna be ruling over cities in a future millennium, as many people teach, or a

50:51

Jewish millennium, incredibly. What can we say about this? Well, just a couple things.

50:57

We have to wrap things up. The Lord always blesses faithfulness and obedience. Second, the

51:04

Lord rewards in such a manner that it's of grace. He repays a hundredfold.

51:10

It's not warranted, it's not earned. He gives so much in recompense to what seems to us to be so little effort that we see it and we'll see it for what it is, the riches of his grace, not the merit of our deeds.

51:24

Augustine spoke about God rewarding his own grace that he gives to his people, and that's a truism.

51:31

Third, present stewardship will determine future privilege and responsibility in the kingdom, the eternal kingdom.

51:38

This is a time of testing in which our faithfulness is being demonstrated. In eternity, our respective stations of responsibilities will be determined by our faithfulness here in this life as his stewards.

51:52

Those who are faithful in a little are given much, much more responsibility and privilege.

51:58

But to the stewards who have been less than faithful, we read of great shame, loss, and condemnation.

52:04

We must admit it's very difficult to ascertain from this statement and this parable whether it refers to two Christians who are rather poor stewards, or it's referring to those who are damned in their sins, and there's different opinion among commentators.

52:18

Again, it speaks of the one. Master, here's your mean of which I kept put away in a hacker chip. I didn't do anything with it.

52:25

For I feared you because you're an austere man. Now, clearly, Jesus is implying these people think ill of God himself.

52:32

You collect what you did not deposit, reap what you did not sow. He said to him, out of your own mouth,

52:38

I'll judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man collecting what I did not deposit, reaping what

52:43

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?

52:50

You should have done something. He said to those who stood by, take the meaner from him, give it to him who has 10 meaners.

52:59

Of course, people react to that. They've already got 10 meaners. For I say to you, to everyone who has will be given, and from him who does not have, even what he has will be given away from him.

53:12

Is this a Christian or a false professor? And I really don't know for certain.

53:19

I read both views. One commentator, Norval Geldenhise, wrote a commentary on Luke.

53:25

He thought this was an unfaithful Christian, a true Christian, but unfaithful.

53:30

Well, there's a lot of those around. He wrote, the believer who through a wrong attitudes towards the

53:36

Lord proves unfaithful in his service will at his advent be rebuked and will have no part in the privilege of reigning in the heavenly kingdom and sharing the authority of the eternal king.

53:46

Although no believer can perish the unfaithful and those who forsake their vocation will meet with disgrace and loss.

53:53

I don't know. He may be right, I don't know. The Lord, however, is capable of presenting his people without shame before his glory on that day.

54:03

However, Calvin believed verses 20 through 25 describe a lost man. That's one of the quotes

54:08

I cut out. I knew we didn't have time. What can we say? The following, there will be some

54:14

Christians who will encounter the Lord's rebuke. I think that's probably true. They're not damned for their sin, but they're rebuked for their poor stewardship in this life.

54:25

Of all the opportunities, all the time you had, did you squander it? Were you diligent?

54:32

There will be some Christians who will be ashamed or remorseful for how they squandered their privilege and opportunity.

54:39

Those stewards will be saved, but their potential joy will be diminished. Now, their joy will be full, but their capacity for joy is less than those that were more faithful.

54:50

Everybody's joy will be full, but your ability or capacity for the degree of joy may be quite varied.

54:58

Daniel 12, too, many in the earth will say, or sleep will rise, and many will be glorified.

55:09

There will be those who will shine as bright as the firmament, the sky outside, but there will be others who will shine as bright as the stars, those who turn many to righteousness.

55:21

There will be degrees of glorification that'll vary between us, depending on how faithful we are as stewards in this life.

55:32

So, again, the details of the parable should not be pressed literally of what will occur, but it describes rebels to the king.

55:39

Lastly, and when he said in verse, what is it, is it 27?

55:46

Bring here those enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them and slay them before me.

55:51

That's what the nobleman does, but of course, it portrays the Lord Jesus' damning souls on the day of judgment.

55:59

The goats who refused Jesus as Lord and Savior their lives, they go into everlasting damnation, which is a just punishment.

56:09

Sin against an infinite God warrants infinite punishment. Conclusion, as Christians, we have each been given wondrous privilege by our

56:19

Lord. He's blessed us with the privilege of serving him, and he's entrusted each of us with that which we can render him glory.

56:28

Some more, each of us may not have more than just a mean, if you wanna speak about opportunity and ability, we can talk about the talents another time, but every one of us has opportunity in different ways.

56:42

Our greatest need in the ministry is for people to faithfully pray that our

56:47

God would watch over us, protect us, and preserve our church and our people, and bless his word to the conversion and sanctification of his people.

56:56

That's the greatest possible service you can render to your kingdom, the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We've been given time, talents, and treasures, and we're to be investing these things in the work of the kingdom.

57:09

We're to be putting to work what he has given us. Think of the opportunities, the technical ministries that are available today are just overwhelming.

57:18

You know, Mike Cappadona sent me this week about our telephone app.

57:24

I had no idea. He said, since we began that thing five years ago, there's been over 220 ,000 full downloads of audio sermons on the telephone app.

57:37

That's not just going on our internet webpage, being there five seconds, then shooting off somewhere else.

57:42

It's an intentional full download of an audio sermon off either

57:48

Pastor Jason's or my sermon here in this church. 220 ,000 of them in the last five years.

57:55

Who could possibly imagine? And the sermon notes, you know, they take on a life of its own.

58:02

We ought to pray to this end. Spurgeon, in the 19th century, would edit his Sunday sermon.

58:07

His secretary would take it on shorthand. He'd edit it on Monday morning and send it out to 100 ,000 people every week in the middle of the 19th century.

58:18

And, you know, if you can imagine that, may we pray that the Lord would further the gospel, you know, in the advance of the kingdom through our radio, the internet, through these notes, through the telephone app, everything that has been wonderfully provided for us.

58:36

May the Lord help us to be wonderful stewards looking for opportunities, you know, employ them in service, put them to work, in every possible way, and ask the

58:47

Lord to bless that effort. We'll close with 2 Peter chapter one, where Peter exhorted these rather young Christians, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our

59:02

Lord as his divine power given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

59:09

They're available to you and to me. Through how? Through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue.

59:15

That's how these things are administered to you as you grow in your understanding and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Learn of me and you will find rest of your soul,

59:25

Jesus said, by which we've been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that's in the world through lust.

59:37

And so what are we to do? But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self -control, to self -control perseverance, perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness love.

59:51

For if these things are yours and abound, you will neither be bare nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our

59:57

Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, he who lacks these things, is short -sighted, even to blindness, has forgotten he was cleansed from his old sins.

01:00:05

And therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, certain to you.

01:00:14

For if you do these things, you will never stumble, for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our

01:00:24

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That should be each of our desire, to have an abundant entrance, to enter abundantly with abundant entrance and blessing into everlasting kingdom of our

01:00:37

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May the Lord help us to be faithful in these things, amen.

01:00:45

Thank you our Father for your kindness and mercy to us in Christ. Help us to see our

01:00:50

God, the great privilege and promises that belong to us. We do pray you'd help us to serve you faithfully in this present age, as we anticipate the coming of Christ, our

01:01:02

God and thank you our God that we have no reason to fear the coming general judgment of mankind, for we will stand in the righteousness of Christ, his life, his righteousness,

01:01:14

Lord, is credited to us through faith in him alone. And even though,

01:01:20

Lord, our lives will be examined and there will be so much there, I'm sure that would be sufficient to condemn us, we will be exonerated,

01:01:27

Christ will own us, for not only is he the judge, but he's the advocate on our behalf, our defense attorney, as it were, on the day of judgment.

01:01:36

Thank you, God, for the peace and joy this brings to us. Help us to go forth from here, Lord, and be faithful to you in service to your name, for we pray our