Aggressive Investment

Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church

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Please turn your Bible to Luke chapter 19 Luke 19 will be looking at the

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Parable of the ten minutes, please stand when you have that Luke chapter 19 beginning in verse 11 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

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He said therefore a nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then returned

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Calling ten of his servants He gathered them ten Minas and said to them engage in business until I come

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

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When he returned having received the kingdom He ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him and he might know

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That he might know what they had gained by doing business The first came before him saying

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Lord your Mina has made ten Minas more and he said to him well done good servant

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But you have been faithful because you have been faithful and very little you shall have authority over ten cities

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And the second came saying Lord your Mina has made five Minas and he said to him

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You are to be over five cities Then another came saying Lord.

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Here's your Mina, which I kept laid away in your handkerchief And a handkerchief for I was afraid of you because you are a severe man

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You take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not So he said to him I will condemn you with your own words you wicked servant

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You knew that I was a severe man taking what I did not deposit and reaping what

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I did not So why then did you not put my money in the bank and at my coming? I might have collected it with interest

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And he said to those who stood by Take the Mina from him and give it to the one who has ten Minas. They said to him

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Lord. He has ten Minas. I Tell you that everyone who has more will be given but from one who has not even what he has will be taken away

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

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Amen May be seated dear.

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Heavenly Father. We ask you today that you would bless the preaching of your word

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We Know that Christ spoke Parables in order that not all would understand we asked that our eyes would be open today in order to understand your parable to understand what

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Christ is taught here and That we would be excellent kingdom citizens excellent investors ready for that day when

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Christ returns In Jesus name Amen Many struggle to serve the

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Lord many struggle to serve the Lord in boldness and to invest in the kingdom boldly

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Many do so because of fear may do so because of hatred as it is described in this passage

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There are various motivations that keep people from serving the Lord as they ought from investing as they ought and It is worthwhile to take time today in this passage to consider

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What is it that makes for wise investing what is it that makes for good investing believe when we look at this and we see the details of these different categories of investors

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You have those citizens who rebelled you have the one who did not invest at all you have the one who invested some and Made back five and you have the one who invested

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Very aggressively and came back with ten minas That the

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Lord rewards bold investment in our terminology today when we talk about Growth strategies our investment strategies we speak of aggressive

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Strategy aggressive investment the Lord rewards aggressive Investment and this is the mindset that we should have as we steward the resources.

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God has given us Doesn't matter if it's time doesn't matter if it's money doesn't matter what it is all your talents

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They should all be stewarded now Is also worth observing here. This is very similar to the parable of the talents that is told in the gospel of Matthew however

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Circumstances are different of many of the details about the parable is different And so there is a distinct message that we are to get from this

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Just to highlight two of the differences for you to show you what those may be First of all, we have immediately before this the context of Zacchaeus and how he has given away half his possessions

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We had before that the rich man that Christ had told to give away all of his things sell to the poor

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So we have a distinctly financial context whereas with the parable of the talents.

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There was not such a distinctly financial context Secondly in the parable of the talents

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The reward is the same for each Here, there are differing

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Quantities, they're all given the same amount, but they are Making different amounts with it.

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And so it draws us to ask a different question Not just about faithfulness in general, but more specifically

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What does it look like to be more faithful rather than less faithful? And the answer is to be bold to be aggressive in the way that you would invest and especially in the context

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Finances as we see with Zacchaeus So it's explains the context here says as they heard these things

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He proceeded to tell a parable because he was near to Jerusalem because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear

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Immediately, this is what the disciples have been proclaiming ever since Jesus sent them out They were sent out into the villages in order to proclaim the kingdom of God has come near It has come near and here

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Jesus is arriving at Jerusalem That place where the throne of David is supposed to be and they are expecting the kingdom to come now

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And then he continues and he says He therefore said a

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Nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return All right, the nobleman represents

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Jesus Christ far country represents heaven. It's going to receive for himself a kingdom That's the kingdom of heaven

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Says calling ten of his servants. He gave them ten minutes said to them engage in business until I come

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But a citizens hated him and said a delegation after him saying we do not want this man to reign over us

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So These rebellious citizens refer to those who do not outwardly serve him especially in the context of This gospel it refers to the

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Jews those Jews who he is supposed to reign over those who are supposed to be his citizens And they have rejected him

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Verse 15 when he returned having received the kingdom he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money be called to him

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They might know what they had gained by doing business Okay, so these citizens that actually did invest these are his disciples at least outwardly, so his disciples and He is calling them forward.

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This is for judgment. This represents that judgment on that final day The first came before him saying

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Lord your Mina has made ten minutes more and he said to him Well done good servant because you have been faithful and very little you shall have authority over ten cities

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The second came saying Lord your Mina has made five Minas and he said to him you are to be over five cities

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So these different disciples, these are true disciples. They've invested they are rewarded there will be rewards in heaven this is spoken of many occasions fact that reward is often spoken of as an authority not just a

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Not just a reward that one would get to enjoy but an authority Then another came saying

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Lord. Here's your Mina, which I laid away in a handkerchief For I was afraid of you because you are a severe man take what you did not deposit you reap what you did not sow

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This man is afraid Jesus respond or the nobleman responds.

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

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I did not deposit and reaping what I did not So why then did you not put my money in the bank not my coming?

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I might have collected it with interest said to those who stood by take the Mina from him Give it to the one who has ten

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Minas. He said to him Lord. Yes to mean us. I Tell you that everyone who has more more will be given from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away

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So clearly these represent false disciples those who would outwardly be disciples

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But are not truly investing in the kingdom as they're called to do and therefore betraying the fact

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They are not truly Christ's disciples verse 27, but as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them bring them here and Slaughter them before me.

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I once saw a Debate it was not a very good debate. It was in Since I'm third world country, and I think the

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Christian who was participating in this debate against a Muslim was very cocky and He talked about how

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Jesus was all about peace and love not about war like Muslims are about war in the Muslim quoted this verse and said

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Did you know that Jesus said bring? These enemies of mine bring them here before me and slaughter them and the

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Christian said no Jesus never said that she has never said that and he pulled up this verse and quoted it and the Christian was just so stunned.

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He didn't know what to do with this verse Of course, it's in a parable here and it refers to this final judgment.

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It does not refer to How Christ is running his earthly ministry because his kingdom is not of this world

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But on that final day there will be a great judgment and everyone will have to give an account for what they have done in the body

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Whether good or evil they'll have to give an account for all those resources that they have stewarded Your life is not your own

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Christ has given it to you now as Christians Especially our life is not our own because it has been bought with a price

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But for every single person it is the case that their life is a gift from God and so every aspect of it

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They will have to give an account for how they have steward that and they will have to give an account before Jesus Christ himself on that final day

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So in considering this passage like to start off by talking about the about the timing of the kingdom you can imagine why the

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Disciples would expect that this kingdom is about to come Jesus has had sure some this is the throne of David This is where this is going to happen he has

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Frequently told them the kingdom of heaven is near now. There are several ways That Jesus has spoken of the kingdom.

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He has spoken of it as something that is near to come he has

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Told them that the kingdom of heaven is near He has also told them that there are some of you who will not see death before you see the kingdom of heaven in all its glory

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So there he's speaking of it primarily as something that happens in the resurrection then at other times he says the kingdom of heaven is already among you and Then at other times he talks about it as something that will happen on that final day

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He says not all who say a Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of God And so he uses this phrase

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Kingdom of God in several ways sometimes it's to speak of something that's already existing through inaugurated through his ministry something that will

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Be more fully realized through the resurrection and then something will be more fully realized on that final day now the way that we should think about this is that it is inaugurated through his ministry and through his resurrection if you group those together, that's one kind of the existence of his kingdom

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We speak of that as the kingdom of grace and theology and then there is that final day

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That is the kingdom of glory That's the phrase that theologians often used to describe the the kingdom and its full manifestation on that final day

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Now they aren't operating with these distinctions. And so they are confused when they have this kingdom of grace

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They think it's the kingdom of glory that's coming the kingdom of glory It's not coming till that final till that final time, but we do enjoy this kingdom of grace

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And so what that means is that there are two ages. There's this age in the age to come. There are a lot of different Eschatologies which eschatology is talking about your view of the end times that imagine that there's

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Several ages right? There's this age. There's some golden age that we're waiting for and then there's finally when we're all together in the eternal kingdom

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This is not the way that the Bible speaks of it Bible speaks of it as this age in the age to come There's this age that we are in now when

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Christ returns. That is it There's no golden age that will be in the middle We are we are waiting until that day when

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Christ returns and when he returns that is judgment So if this is the case

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Consider the alternatives. What is the alternative the alternative is? Well one if he is coming so immediately there is no time to invest with any kind of wisdom with any kind of real sense about us and Investment is not that important if he is never coming then there is also no reason to invest because Why would you why would you invest in something that would that never have any kind of reward?

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If the master is never going to return why even bother? But the reality is that he is not coming

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Immediately as they imagined immediately he was not coming then yet He could come at any time.

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And so we must always be ready. We must always be about the business of the kingdom if you have if you have one of these other ideas and You're you're locked up in the idea that this is coming that he is guaranteed that it's coming.

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So immediately you will not be Inclined to invest into the kingdom if you have in mind that it's coming so far out

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That you will not have to answer to him. You will not invest in the kingdom It's important to have the right mindset, which is that we do not know when he is returning

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It may be some time away. It may not be and so if that is the case we must invest

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When a parent leaves their child at home and says, you know do these several things while I'm gone the

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Kids often are taken away by the temptation to just do whatever they want the parent arrives

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Then they have to suffer the consequences, but the faithful child is rewarded by the parent now consider these these rebellious

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Citizens The citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, okay

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These are those who oppose him Christ is Lord over all he is called the

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Lord of Lords and the King of Kings So even though in this context is primarily talking about those who are most obligated to serve him

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The Jews having been waiting for this Messiah at the same time

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It is still the case that Christ is an authority overall he is not an authority just over some he's an authority over every single person who lives on this earth and he

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Demands obedience he demands people submit to him. He demands they believe his gospel so few do and This is not and So therefore given this passage you should not see those who reject the kingdom of God Reject Christ Lordship over the kingdom of God as being those who are simply ignorant now

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There is a level at which there is ignorance, but this passage describes it as hatred

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Now you could have anyone could have at that time say oh But all these Jews just don't know that Jesus really is the

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Messiah sure if they had answered a multiple -choice quiz They probably would have said Jesus is not the Messiah, but what is going on in their hearts is hatred likewise

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Romans 1 says that Mankind suppresses the truth in Unrighteousness that it's by his own wickedness that he rejects the reality of God And so when one hears of Jesus Christ, it's by man's own wickedness that he would reject that Lordship you should think of the word hatred as a

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Pervasion of love this is if you think of it like that It will answer a lot of difficult questions in the

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Bible How can the Bible say that God loves his enemies and also say that he hates evildoers, right?

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There's a He loves there is a there is a love is a positive thing

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Hatred is a lack of love And so if there is some love but not all the love that there could be you can call that from one angle love you

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Can call it from another angle hatred, right? And that's that makes sense of these truths that you see in the

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Bible about him loving his enemies and also talking about him hating the wicked Now if that's the case

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When we say hatred, we're not necessarily talking about a foaming at the mouth

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Rather we're talking about a pervasion of the love that is due to Jesus Christ He has done

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Most excellently he is most excellent and we should have a great affection for him we should have a great love toward him and in and a

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Service great service to him and so those who don't Lack the love that they ought to have and this is rightly called a hatred

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So this is uh, and if you consider how people in the world usually phrase this

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Right. They usually say things like oh, I don't have any problems with Christianity. I just don't want anyone telling me what to do

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Okay, so their problems are not with Jesus as a person is with Jesus as Lord Right.

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They do not want Jesus as Lord is once he requires something of them. They do not want it there's a famous quote from Gandhi I like your

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Christ. I do not like your Christians Your Christians are so much unlike your Christ a lot of people will hear that and they're like, oh, yeah a lot of Christians aren't like Jesus, but the thing is

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Jesus is making them like him and so Does Gandhi did he really like Christ?

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No, he didn't like Christ He he liked Christ as an idea. That's just out there

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But it's when something's actually required of him right when you come face to face with those who are saying repent and believe and There's some kind of lordship demanded

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That is what people don't like all kinds of people say it can say that they like Jesus as a teacher, etc But if they do not submit to him

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They truly hate him it is not a love of him. It is a hatred of him. So the believing mindset

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Understands that your whole life is owed to God and that you are not one who has your things whatever it is, but most especially finances in this context and then

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You would give them to God out of your own Generosity, which is your own as though you are the source of blessing and it didn't come from him a lot of people imagine that when they give

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God should be very thankful to them because They have done so well to give that which is which is theirs not realizing that it is given from him to you in order to steward and that he has called you to live with your whole life in In regard to how he would have you to invest your wealth and resources your whole self

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So, yeah disabuse yourself of that mindset that would say God should be thankful to me because these blessings are coming from me.

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They're coming from him They're coming to him from him. And so if you give to him you have given

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As long as you have given short of Everything you have given him less than he has given you now there is a

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Very likely illusion that Jesus is making in this parable Herod Archelaus who is mentioned in Matthew 2 he's of the different Herod's is very

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Short -lived reign only ten years. You don't see in much of Scripture, but he's mentioned in Matthew 2

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He's the reason why Jesus why Joseph went away and took his family out to Nazareth because Herod Archelaus Herod Archelaus when his father

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Herod the Great died Because they were under the Emperor of Rome had to go away to Excuse me to Rome in order to get the kingdom

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He had to say my father has died. I'm the one who should be ever rightful here. You should give me this kingdom

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Now Many of the Jews did not like him He was a wicked man.

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And so they sent out a delegation after him to Rome to say no Do not give him the kingdom.

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He should not have the kingdom But when he got the kingdom, what do you think he did? Well He put to death many of his political opponents

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So Jesus is alluding to something that has happened within their own history This is if you ever wondered how how could it talk about going away to get a kingdom?

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I understand how Jesus goes away and gets a kingdom comes back. But what does that look like in real life? well and the analogy that he's making here is to one who would be over a nation like Judah and Go away to the

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Emperor to get the rights to that kingdom and come back and that is precisely what happened and those

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Rebels are Often put to death and so it is the case in Jesus kingdom.

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He will come back in power He may not be operating in the same kind of power right now

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But every last enemy will be put under his feet then on that final day when he returns he will return

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Operating in full power power that he already has but that he restrains And he will destroy every last enemy now.

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We also see this servant who does not Invest as he ought to invest

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This is in verse 20. Then another came saying Lord. Here's your Mina Sorry, I should have explained

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Amina is about Mina is about three to four months of income you can imagine this You know if if we take the idealized salary as being a hundred thousand

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This is like twenty five thousand dollars and in our time. That's that's how you can imagine it.

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So It and you compare that to the cities that they're given, you know, that's a huge ratio we're talking about 25 ,000 is nothing compared to being given an authority over a city

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Okay, so he says Lord. Here's your Mina, which I late kept laid away in a handkerchief

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For I was afraid of you because you were a severe man you take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not

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So, okay. So this man is afraid he puts it in the handkerchief. It's not a very great way of making an investment and Nobleman says to him

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I will condemn you with your own words you wicked servant You knew that I was a severe man taking what I did not deposit and reaping what

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I did not So why then did you not put my money in the bank and at my coming?

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I might have collected it with interest So all he had to do was give some all he had to do was

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True investment really does not require much there even even timid investments are very easily made

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But this man made no investment at all He does not know the master he speaks of him as a hard man

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But he is not he has been incredibly generous with the others And he does not know himself

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He thinks of himself as one who is not truly a servant But one who gets to decide what he would do master told him to invest and he did not he did not invest and What is what is?

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The punishment here he is truly a wicked servant

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When it says that all are taken away all is taken away What might come to your mind is something like first Corinthians 3 where it talks about someone not having it

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You know all the reward being burned up, but they will be saved yet as if through fire, okay

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That's talking about teaching and teaching that is not true teaching those who do not teach. Well it being burned up However here

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What you see is one who is just a false disciple This is not someone who is done poorly and so receives little what he has is taken away entirely

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He's called a wicked servant and Matthew in the parable of the talents the one who does not invest at all is cast off into outer darkness

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This is a this is a false disciple now Consider the nature of his character you can consider this in I'm gonna give you three different ways one is fear one is laziness and one is selfishness and All those are really the same thing, but they can be variably considered from those different angles

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So fear I do not believe he is lying Every time I come to this passage my immediate thought is that okay?

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This is just an arbitrary excuse The more I think about it and the more I think about examples in Scripture examples in life where I see people operate this way

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I realize I do not think this man is lying when he says that he is afraid he fears

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The consequences failure and so he does not act consider David when he wants to bring bring the ark into Jerusalem and Then one man touches it and he dies and David becomes so scared of the

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Penalties for failure that he doesn't even try bringing in the ark into Jerusalem for a number of more years

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This is a frequent way that people go about service to the Lord. They become too afraid of failure.

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And so they do not even try Many people are scared of what it would look like to serve the

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Lord They think through the options that they have and each one is met with fear And so they are frozen in inaction because of fear.

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So I do not believe this man is is lying or making Excuses that have no grounding in reality

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I believe that this really is his mindset his mindset is that the master is a harsh man his mindset is that If I fail

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Then there will be great consequences so it is better off not trying at all The problem is not trying at all is failure.

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Of course, that wouldn't be tolerated. So he simply assumes that he's going to fail and then decides to fail the

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Simplest way he can which is doing nothing This is also can also be considered as laziness as laziness

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He doesn't do anything the Proverbs say on multiple occasions Sluggard says there's a lion in the streets

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All right. Why does the sluggards say there's a lion in the streets because not maybe he believes there's a lion in the streets

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Maybe it's just a good excuse Regardless of whether or not it's sincere This is frequently someone's reason for not doing hard work is because there is

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Some something that they are afraid of and so the Bible also calls this laziness

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So this laziness and fear they are not really distinct things in this way and there are a lot of people who would avoid hard work because of fear

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You know talk to people about going into plumbing. They say oh, no, that'll hurt your that hurts your knees

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And so they they kind of sit unemployed rather than or going into construction. Oh, no, that's a very dangerous profession

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You list profession after profession after profession. They're like, oh no, that one has dangers. That one's hard to your body

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That one has you know, etc And then what they end up pursuing is something incredibly mediocre if anything at all because Because they're paralyzed by fear which the

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Bible also calls being a sluggard being lazy now

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Additionally you can also frame this as selfishness This man is concerned about his self -preservation

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He's not concerned about what will be best for the master. What he's concerned about is what will be best for himself so he is concerned that the master will

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Treat him harshly and so in his self -preservation He just wraps up the

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Mina and a napkin and leaves it hidden away doesn't do anything with it so many people are very self

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Centered and you wouldn't once again all these things, you know fear laziness

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Selfishness, you might not identify them this way because they are kind of proxying one another in ways that make them ambiguous so you see

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You can't tell that someone is lazy because it's proxying fear, right? You can't tell that someone's selfish because because it's actually something else that's going on.

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But really these are all the same So think about how many people are

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Very self -centered in their life and their life is not in ordered because they are so selfish.

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They are so self -centered Now once again, I'm not talking about outwardly me me me, but when you are not focused on others

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You have a tendency to only focus on self and to engage in ultimately self -destructive behavior

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It's very ironic the way that God has Structured the world. He has structured it so that those who are

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Concerned about others ultimately are building themselves up He has guaranteed this he has said that those who serve others will be raised up to high positions

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Those who put themselves at the end of the table will be brought to the height of the table There are

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Increasingly in our world More households have fewer people in it, right?

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And so you have all these households where they're just one person even right and in a one -person household

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It's very hard to be thinking about others And so there's an increased temptation in our world to only be thinking about yourself because your circles are so small now even

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Even those households that do have multiple people in it are often not really focused on much more than themselves the

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Bible describes in 1st Timothy 3 that preparation for being a

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Elder or a deacon involves managing your own household Well so that you are equipped for the household of God.

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This is true just for kingdom service in general It's especially true for those two offices But this is true in general if you want to be

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Equipped for kingdom service that begins in your own home. The more you have the more you are

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Caring for others and you have an outward focus The more you are ready to serve in the kingdom in this way.

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This man is very self -centered He is concerned about himself And so he is not able to think about what is in the master's best interest because he is only thinking about himself

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Just to say some more about how households are run frequently and to I Really want you to realize just how much temptation we're under and how big of a generational sin this kind of self -centeredness is

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I know that a lot of people talk about this, but if you think about it in terms of isolation,

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I think that it's helpful and just how Just how people financially structure just for themselves

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One interesting statistics I saw that nearly 50 % of Baby boomers said that they would prefer

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To spend their to spend their savings on themselves and pass them off to the next generation

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Now only I think it was 11 % of Gen X or said that and 13 % of Millennials But that is a that is an incredible statistic that those that are passing off wealth right now

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About half of them are saying that they don't want to that they want to use it all on themselves and they don't care to pass it off to their children as a wild statistic and 40 % of baby boomers said that they this is a different study 40 % of baby boomers said that They plan on passing off nothing to their children and then an additional 20 % said it would be less than 10 %

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So right now you just have a an incredible Set of statistics about That are yeah operating against the the pattern you see in Scripture passing off an inheritance

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Having a home where you care about others, you know Just generally being outward focus many people are just focused on themselves

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And then like I said have that mindset that when they do do give anything, you know God should be thankful to them though.

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They would give something that you know, ultimately is coming from them when it's ultimately actually Coming from the

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Lord All right. Now you have these other two these other two disciples

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First comes and says in verse 16 Lord Your Mina has made ten Minas more and he said to him well done good servant because you have been faithful and very little you

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Shall have authority over ten cities and the second came saying Lord your Mina has made five Minas And he said to him and you are to be over five cities

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So he puts them as rulers just having him invested a very small amount and Having done very well with it.

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He gives them whole cities to look over Because that's the thing is his his possessions right now

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This nobleman he has ten Minas. That's all he has, you know, if we if we really treat it like it's $25 ,000

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You know, you can do the math and that's what? 250 right times 10.

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That's that's easy, right? $250 ,000 that's a quarter million, right?

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And so that's in this area You know, there are a lot of people that have that much but he's going to go off and get a whole kingdom

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Right. He's going to get you know, imagine someone having that much money, you know, not even much to buy a house in this area

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He's gonna go off and he's gonna get the whole state of California. So when he returns he's going to give a

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Proportional portion Depending on how you did with that very small amount that he had access to before This is what is going to go on in the kingdom

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He has spoken multiple occasions about how he will give authority over things He has told the twelve disciples that they will judge the twelve tribes

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He speaks of us as not just receiving crowns, but his receipt and think about what a crown is, you know a crown is authority, but as speaking of us as Receiving a rulership and authority there will be a great

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Responsibility that is given to us If we are faithful servants now just imagine

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I mean just imagine if Like the little amounts of faithfulness that God calls you to just how those things are rewarded.

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They are rewarded They will be rewarding credible proportions If you knew how much the small things that he calls you to will be rewarded

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How much more would you eagerly do them like it's nothing if you had these things in mind?

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You would follow like it is like it is nothing now

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You have here also the Objections that are given right and he said to those who stood by this verse 24

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Take the Mina from him and give it to the one who asked him Enos So all the wealth is transferred to the one who has done the best with it

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And this is considered crazy by others. He already has so much. Why would you give him more if you think about this?

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primarily in terms of some kind of fairness Primarily in terms of of right with reward it's going to be hard for you to wrestle with if you think of this nobleman and Jesus Christ as King as Wanting sound investments, of course, he's going to give it with the best investor

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Of course, that's going to be the case And so this this nobleman is not concerned about making sure that you know, everything's spread out evenly and fairly he's concerned about the health of his kingdom and the health of his kingdom means granting greater authority to those who have demonstrated the ability to use this greater authority and He receives much hostility for this

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He's told and they said to him Lord he has ten Minas now you might

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Just consider how hostile the world is toward Jesus toward those who would give now it will be the case on that day that they will be even more hostile

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But it's already the case now It's already the case now that if you want to serve the Lord if you want to invest you'll be met by mockers

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It will be met by the world who is trying to rebel against him Even those in the kingdom who are purportedly part of the kingdom

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But are like this man fearful will try to discourage you out of their own fears they will try to offload their fears on you and have you bear that anxiety with them as a way of getting affirmation and These will all work against your desire to invest you must

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Put all that aside wash that out of mind and embrace the truth that Christ is a good master.

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He is not a severe one and he rewards those who are truly faithful and in bold Now Given that comparison that we've seen here where you have

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There's the one with five and the one with Ten the one who has invested one has made five the one who has invested ten or one has made ten now

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What is what is the right strategy? What is wise investment this? Parable is inviting you to contemplate that people might look at Zacchaeus and say he's really just kind of wasting it all

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Why would he why would he just throw away all his money like this? This is

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Inviting you to ask what is a wise investment and if you compare these, okay someone who invests one it makes five you have to make really bold investments to make multiples on what you invest over a

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You know, it takes a very long period of time to make multiples unless you are investing very boldly very aggressively same is doubly true with ten and What is the man who has put it in a handkerchief

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What is he? Condemned over it is his fear is his lack of boldness

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So the The answer to this about what faithfulness looks like Given that we have something different than the parable of the talents.

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We have one where they each are receiving different amounts For having made the same investment

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What we are to take away from this is that we are to be bold in our investment in the kingdom that we are not to operate in fear that we are not to Hold back thinking that God would not reward such things people are very

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Risk averse, but we are not to be risk averse when it comes to serving in the kingdom consider the examples of Financial giving that you see in the

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Bible that are most praised, right? You have the widow and her mites, right? And I know there's kind of a popular thing right now that questions whether or not that was right of her

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I believe she is being praised. All right, the widows two mites She has given more than all they did because she has given out of her poverty

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She is trusting the Lord with all that she has and then the Macedonians that you see and second

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Corinthians 8 They're told there are spoken of as having given To the utmost of their ability and then beyond it

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Okay, they were ones who gave very boldly giving even what is called by Paul beyond their ability that is not timidity that is not being afraid of the consequences of Generous giving of bold investment of Giving your whole self.

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We ought to be people who are Are willing to do this? What is the what are the implications if we are?

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Fearful if we are risk -averse The first is that you are saying what are the things you're saying you're saying we're suggesting that God would not bless

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Efforts in his kingdom now unlike this master here that we see this nobleman here where he does not have the power to Ensure that every bold investment will be blessed

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Jesus Christ does he has He has called us he has placed us in him so that all our prayers

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Would be answered in order that we might be fruitful This is what explains in John that he answers our prayers in order that we might be fruitful

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He blesses all those efforts Now on top of that on top of that it suggests that he has real needs

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Okay, once again, you know this this nobleman has Maybe he's upset in the parable because he wanted more and and The man was afraid that he would lose it all but our master has no needs

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If if something were to be truly lost and we were being faithful, it would be no loss to him

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He would be able to make it up Also, it suggests that we are the authorities who get to determine the strategy.

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He has determined the strategy He has already commanded boldness He has not told us to hedge our bets and and act in the most timid way and careful way possible

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And then it also suggests that we are alone Right, if you imagine if you put all your investments in a single basket

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You would want a pretty conservative basket to put it in you don't want to be too bold with that one basket

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Otherwise you might lose everything Now our master has invested in many

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Okay, it's not just ten people with ten Minas It is many and so you do not have to worry that if you fail the master would lose

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Much because he is already diversified. You are free from thinking in a cowardly way.

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You're freed from thinking in a conservative way where you cannot be bold because The reality of his kingdom is so much more than what you even see in the parable

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He has enabled and equipped us for bold investment into his kingdom and Consider the example that we have in Jesus Christ He is the king himself and how did he invest into his own kingdom?

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He gave his own life He gave his own life in order that though being rich.

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He became poor in Order that we might become rich So it should be the case with us us being in him having been made rich by him rich there referring not necessarily to financial wealth but referring to all the riches that we have in him and the

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Hope of glory that we have in him us having so much in him. We should be eager to Eager to give following in his footsteps

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Not just following him as an example, but having been transformed by him having been freed from the fear of death there is that's another reason that there is no reason for cowardice or or Conservativeness when we invest in the kingdom because there is no there is no

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Death that can hold us because it could not hold him. We will likewise Rise from the grave.

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We do not have to preserve our own lives and make sure that we have enough to continue surviving, etc You know, there are a lot of there are a lot of people who?

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Operate out of such fear of their own lives that they they are very Unfaithful with their wealth because they're trying to hang on to it in order to make sure that their lives are preserved

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I think I've mentioned the example in the past how Yeah, there are many women who would

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Who would hang on to what they have in a distinct bank account with a distinct income, etc

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Just because they are scared about the possibility of divorce and that they would have to preserve their own life and they're not freed to Give themselves wholly to the household and not only give themselves wholly to the household but give themselves wholly to the kingdom

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Many people have this mindset. They are really concerned about their own self -preservation because they are not trusting that the

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Lord has them In his control if God has given us Jesus Christ, how much more will he give us all things?

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He will give us all things We must repent of our rebellion to the

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Lord doesn't matter if it's the high -handed rebellion that you see of these citizens who send a delegation after the noblemen if that's you if you are openly if you are openly

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Hostile to the kingdom and by hostile I mean even if you you can give lip service to how you love

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Jesus, but if you will not submit to him He is not your Lord you must you must repent you must turn to him

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He is he is a good kind master who has given his own life.

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He has saved a people It is not through is not through Yeah, anything that we do that we would be saved rather He has given everything in order that we might be saved and we out of his his kindness and generosity has transformed us

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So that we might be like him Now it is also the case that if you are one who claims to be a disciple

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You know identifies as part of the church, but refuse to invest in any kind of meaningful way in a very timid way

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Maybe you're investing more than just laying it in a napkin But ultimately your priorities are centered on yourself.

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Your priorities are around fear and around some kind of laziness Those are things that must be cast off you must cast those things off When he returns and you have to give an account for all that he has given you

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You do not want to be there and to say I laid it in a napkin because I was too afraid You do not want to be like the servant who in Matthew is told you will be cast off into outer darkness

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You should invest in the kingdom and you should be bold. You should take inventory of what you have now

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This includes all things, you know your time your skills, etc But in this context, especially your own wealth you should

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You should have take inventory to know what you have because God has given it to you to steward it

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You should know in order that you might use it in a meaningful way that truly honors him If you don't even take inventory, you are not able to you're not able to do this in a meaningful way

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And you should be bold You should put aside those fears and you should invest boldly

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You know, there are all kinds of ways that people are Cowardly in how they and how they approach the kingdom, you know

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There are people who avoid ever even considering the possibility of missions Maybe the God has called them to something and they are equipped for it

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But they don't because they are scared of the consequences scared of the physical dangers that they would go into Scared of the financial difficulties, right?

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There are those who God calls them to give Financial quantities and they are scared that they will not have enough

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To continue on with their life as they want to live it They're very very terrified of this.

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There are those who are scared of what will happen if they invest in their home And build up the things that God has called them to build up right if they would those who would go off Many people are afraid of marriage, right?

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Many people are afraid of having children This is what I'm talking about what I'm talking about investing in the home They are afraid of these things because they are afraid of failure.

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What if I'm not a good parent? What if I'm not a good spouse, etc, etc These things are the training ground for the household of God They are the training ground for those and so invest both directly and indirectly in the kingdom

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Directly as you have opportunities for regular giving here, of course, but there will be occasions where God gives you special opportunities to give

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Be on the lookout for those because those are rewarded in special way that we are supposed to be mindful of How we are investing if not every single

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Investor both the both the five investor with the five and investor who got back ten Both of them were faithful servants, but they got back different amounts.

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It means that they were investing differently You should be on the lookout for good investments

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Do not just throw your money at anything right to any teacher who asked for your money

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You want to invest in especially good works? You should be evaluating what you are giving your funds to so that they would be they would truly

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Build up the kingdom investing boldly does not mean investing senselessly. Okay investing boldly should still be wise

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Now you can so be on the lookout for special opportunities that would that the

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Lord would call you to Also invest indirectly and this is through your own home building up a home in which you are training for service in the household of God not training as though it's only a future thing, but the more you the more you in your everyday life are

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Thinking outwardly the more that as there is intersection with the kingdom not that the kingdom should be isolated to a to one small place but hopefully you understand what

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I mean those things that are more proper to your To your home life versus those things that are more proper to church life

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You will find that the more you Have practice in being outward focus in your own personal life

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The more you will be suited to do that when it's properly kingdom service

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Engage in hospitality have people over, you know Learn to learn to be selfish or selfless and outward focus.

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Excuse me Charity just in general look at Zacchaeus. He gives his wealth to the poor, you know

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Be open -handed with others if you want to fight selfishness within you you must mortify it by by Doing that painful thing that that hurts that selfishness right giving every time you give and you you chop off a little that Selfishness you poke at it and it hurts it becomes number and number and then you you don't feel it anymore

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That's the way that you should approach it and you should dwell on these thoughts the one who has the right mindset will

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Approach this rightly Jesus telling these people this about this coming kingdom because they need to have the right mindset

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They aren't expecting the kingdom the way they should be expecting the kingdom. They don't know what's going to take place

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They think it's all going to be immediate. They don't realize that he's going into a faraway place and there's going to be some time

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We must have the right mindset about what is taking place in order that we can be faithful dwell on these truths dwell on the radical proportions of What he has entrusted with in this life versus what he will be actively exercising authority over in power in the next and The the ratio is so wild that we will look back at how we

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Spurn the opportunities we had to be faithful with the small time and small amounts that God Had entrusted us with and we will we will not be able to believe our own foolishness

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When we look back, I believe that about myself, too Even yeah, even this past week as I'm reading this passage and I'm thinking about How I will look back at this own time and how

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I've used it I I think we will all just We will all be amazed at their own foolishness and how we have not taken advantage of this time that he has given us

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If you need to cut influences out of your life that are hostile towards your investment Yeah, I don't don't hear me saying, you know, avoid toxic people or or something really

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Really lame like that. I think a lot of people use all kinds of awful excuses to isolate themselves further

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I'm trying to argue for the opposite of isolation here, but do Do shut out of your mind any kind of discouragement away from away from investing in the kingdom

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Every one of those voices that say the master will not come back in power. The master is not faithful He is a harsh man, etc

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Put those all out Be bold be bold And do not have any jealousy over those who are wasting their lives.

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I know that Sometimes that's a temptation you see it in the psalms, too Why do the wicked prosper as it says in psalm 73?

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It's very easy to look at that and say man. Sometimes I wish I could just Take it easy on a sunday spend it all on myself, you know um

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Just sit around play video games all day you might have those kinds of thoughts, but what on that last day everything

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That they had been entrusted with will be handed off. I don't know what exactly that look will look like We don't know what exactly that authority will look like but it will scripture speaks of this frequently proverbs 13 22 says uh

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A good man leaves up an inheritance for his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous

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The sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. That's exactly what you see here the mina being taken and given away to the righteous

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Ecclesiastes 226 speaks of this as well talks about how how

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Many will labor and labor only for what they have built up to be given away to the righteous

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He is Not looking to give some kind of uh, quote unquote

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Fair reward to make everybody feel good about himself in his building up of a kingdom He is going to give authority to those who can handle the authority

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And he is growing us in the holiness without which no one will see him In this time in order for us to be prepared for that Life in the kingdom of glory take advantage of every moment to prepare yourself for that life of the kingdom of glory

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And I'll say this too one of the messages on good works I plan on doing on this topic

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But a lot of people imagine when we're all there, it'll all kind of be the same and we'll all have the same capacities.

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I believe We'll all be perfectly holy in that there will be no corruption within us

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But the way the lord is shaping us in this time He is shaping us for different things and we should take every advantage of the time that we have that we have

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Encourage one another encourage one another to this. Uh, do not stoke fears Teach people what wisdom is but encourage one another toward boldness

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The whole world is all telling us that the lord will not be faithful. You need to watch out for number one You need to be careful

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Know that those voices are happening and so encourage others that god will be faithful in whatever circumstances they are in But especially those kind that we have spoken about here where people feel the need to to seek self -preservation

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And maintaining their own material resources encourage people in that especially your children you have an opportunity to teach your children

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I know that this is something that was really impressed on me. I don't know if my parents were trying to I just remember that the few sermons

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I heard about Either this parable or rewards in heaven things like that were things that really stuck to me and have shaped most of my life

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And that I was taught to give at an early age And it was uh, it's just something that really really shaped my whole life

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You have an opportunity to pass off that mindset to your children so that they aren't starting adulthood

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Fighting against a selfishness and a laziness and a fear that they have cultivated for so many years

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Okay, you have the opportunity to do that if you are a parent The lord has given us a wonderful opportunity.

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He has gone to a faraway place, but he will be returning in power He has given us small amounts to watch over he has given us an easy tack task and he is blessing it he has

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Given us the investment strategy. He has told us to be bold. He's told us to be aggressive with our investments

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And when he returns we will have something greater than this parable is described something

01:00:00

Eye has not seen No one knows When it describes ten cities, do you really imagine that it would be less than that?

01:00:09

It is certain. It will be much much more You will not just rule over ten cities.

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It will be much much more than that for those who are faithful serve the lord in faithfulness he has

01:00:22

Become poor in order that we might be rich Let us follow in his footsteps the one who has saved us by his grace by offering his own life for us

01:00:32

Let us Offer our lives for him By pursuing him enjoying the incredible joy and glories of his kingdom.