DOING BUSINESS TILL HE COMES
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on August 11, 2021 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: August 11, 2021 from Luke 19:11-27
Theme: Our future blessedness in Jesus’ kingdom depends on our faithfulness with what He has given us today.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus had been teaching His followers about His kingdom. They were learning much about it, of course, just by observing the things He did. Along the path to the city of Jerusalem, for example, He healed a blind man. And a little while after that, He brought salvation to a wicked tax collector. Jesus’ followers were seeing the great things He was doing; and were, understandably, filled with great expectations about the blessings and glories of His coming kingdom that would commence as soon as He entered the city.
But along the way, He had also told them that, before the glories of His kingdom could come, He must first be rejected by the leaders of His people in Jerusalem, die on the cross, and be raised from the dead the third day. His followers might have been anticipating that the glories of His kingdom reign would begin as soon as He made His entry. But it would not be so.
And it’s then that we find these words in Luke 19:11-27—the last thing He told them before making His triumphant entry:
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. Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’ And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’ Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me’” (Luke 19:11-27).
Among the many other things we learn from this parable, Jesus was letting His followers know that the glories of His kingdom reign would not begin right then—as much as they may have wanted those glories to begin right then. Instead, there would be work that yet needed to be done by them. He was going to leave them for a time, and He would be giving them responsibilities and duties with respect to His kingdom’s spread on earth; and as it says in verse 13, they were to “do business” till He came.
We are still living in that period of ‘business’. As God’s redeemed people, we won’t experience a ‘judgment’ in the sense of experiencing God’s wrath for sin. But there will nevertheless be a ‘judgment’ in the sense of an evaluation. We will be examined in terms of what we did with what God has given us—even if what He gave us was small. The apostle Paul once wrote to Christians and said, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). And this parable is meant to teach us that our future blessedness in Jesus’ kingdom depends on our faithfulness with what He has given us today.
Having received His grace, we must put it to diligent use and ‘do business till He comes’.
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Now; the first principle we find in this parable is that …
1. WE ARE LIVING RIGHT NOW IN THE TIME OF OPPORTUNITY (vv. 11-12).
In verse 11, it says; “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.” People thought that Jesus was going into Jerusalem in order to commence His reign as soon as He got there. They mistakenly thought that the glories of the kingdom would be brought about “immediately”. And even today, many critics of the Christian faith point to this as proof that Jesus and His apostles were mistaken—that they believed and taught that the kingdom would appear in their lifetime. And since it didn’t happen, as they argue, then you can’t really trust anything that the Bible says. But as this parable shows us, that’s not what Jesus taught. He clearly told this parable to show that the kingdom would not “appear immediately”; but that an undefined interval of time would occur before the glories of the kingdom would be experienced on earth.
Another thing this parable tells us concerns what it was that our Lord Himself was about to do. He began the parable in verse 12 by saying, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.” To go to a “far country” suggests that a long trip was involved; and that a certain amount of time would pass before the nobleman would return. But this ‘long trip’ was not meant to be a picture of His trip to Jerusalem. When He came there—as the Bible tells us in John 1:11—”He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” And yet, we’re told very clearly in verse 15 of the parable that the nobleman still nevertheless received the kingdom. So, this shows us that our Lord’s “long trip” is the one that He made back into heavenly glory after His resurrection and ascension. It would be from there—from the heavenly realm of His Father—that He would receive the full rights to His kingdom; and it would be from there that He would return to earth one day to take possession of it in Jerusalem.
But as you can see, there would be an interval of time between His departure and His return—an interval during which we, His servants, are to be ‘doing business till He comes’. And that means, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that you and I are living right now in the season of opportunity. If we simply declare ourselves to be a Christian—but then do nothing that the Lord gave us to do—passing our time as we wait to be taken up to heaven—we need to repent. This is not the time for us to be resting. We are living in the season in which the Lord allows us to invest the grace He has given us productively, and to put it to good use! Now is the time of opportunity! Now is the time to be doing the Lord’s business!
And so, another principle that we find is that …
2. WE MUST PUT WHAT HE’S GIVEN US TO PRODUCTIVE WORK (vv. 13-15).
In verse 13, we read of what the nobleman did before he left on his long trip. “So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’”
As we can see from verse 15, a ‘mina’ was a unit of money. It was roughly equivalent to three months of an average working man’s wages. It may not have seemed like much in relation to all the vast wealth that this nobleman possessed; but it was still enough with which to “do business”. And notice that each one of the ten servants that he called to himself got the same amount. There was no difference between them in terms of what they received. The only difference between them would be revealed by what they did with it. This—from the Lord’s perspective—is a picture of you and me. Each one of us is given equal opportunity to serve Him; and the only difference between us will be measured by what we did with what we were given.
And so, the nobleman left. Verse 14 tells us, “But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’” And this is just what happened to our Lord. In John 19:15, when Pilate made Him stand before His own people, they shouted, “’Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!’” But what’s fascinating is that, even though His people rejected Him as their king and crucified Him, it didn’t change anything for Him. He still took possession of His kingdom. And that’s because they weren’t the ones that were giving it to Him. When our Lord returns, He will return in power and rule over the kingdom given to Him by the Father; and He will rule over it as King of kings and Lord of lords.
And that leads us to the great event that is the focal point of this parable—the day of Jesus’ glorious return. Jesus goes on in His parable in verse 15 to say, “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading” (v. 15). And the very important thing for you and me to notice is that, the whole time long, the expectation of the nobleman was that His servants would be putting what He had given them to productive use.
How do we do this? How do we seize the opportunity today to put the grace He has given us to work? We do so by taking advantage of the provisions He has made for the growth of that grace. He has given us the Scriptures to be our guide in life; and so, we must read the Bible daily, and study it diligently, and obey it faithfully. He has also given us the right to come before His Father in prayer; and so, we must pray often about everything—both in our individual lives and together as a church family. He has entrusted His gospel message to us; and so, we must learn how to share it regularly, and live the kind of life that is consistent with it. He has placed His Holy Spirit in us; and so, we must allow this divine Helper to fill us and empower us for service. He has even given us to one another as members together of His body; and we must make sure we meet regularly to encourage and edify and serve with one another. And what’s more, He has given each of us individually some unique talents and abilities and skills and resources that we must develop and grow in and put to work for His kingdom.
All of the gracious gifts and provisions that the Lord Jesus has lavishly given us are meant to be put to use. That is His expectation of us right now. That will be what He will evaluate on the day of His return. May we make good use of His grace while we can—and be pleasing to Him on that coming day!
Now; with that in mind, a third principle we find in this parable is that …
3. A PRODUCTIVE USE OF HIS GRACE LEADS TO BLESSING (vv. 16-19).
We’re told that the nobleman called the ten servants to himself to see how they did with what had been given to them. “Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’” We’re not sure how much most of the others earned; but these two did wonderfully well! Both of them received the highest commendation they could receive. I don’t believe there will be anything more valuable on the great day of review than for our Lord to turn to us and say, “Well done!” It will be worth everything we could give on earth to hear those words from Him!
But in addition to the commendation, there’s also a reward. And did you notice the greatness of that reward? A mina, as we have said, is probably around three months worth of wages. That’s not really a very small amount. But our Lord called it “a very little”. And compared to the reward they were about to receive, it was very little indeed; because for each additional mina their one mina earned, they received a city! It’s hard to think of a greater return for a mina than a whole city! A city for a mere mina! This symbolically gives us just a faint idea of what’s in store for our Lord’s faithful servants in future heavenly glory! It truly staggers the mind to think of how great the reward will be! Paul said it well when he wrote, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). Laboring faithfully for our Lord while we have the opportunity, and making as much productive use as we can of the grace He gives us, is something that we will never regret! Great is the reward for faithfully ‘doing business till He comes’!
But then comes that other servant. And it’s here that we find a final principle; that …
4. A REFUSAL TO WORK WILL RESULT ETERNAL LOSS (vv. 20-27).
Now; it’s proper to call it ‘a refusal’; because that’s what it was. This other servant had the same mina given to him as the first two had been given. He received the same command as had been issued to them And he had the same opportunity of time that they had. But as our Lord puts it; “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow’” (vv. 20-21).
For this servant to call the master an “austere” man was to suggest that he was rigorous and exacting and hard. Perhaps he feared his master because he thought he could never measure up to the expectations he had for him. But there was more to it than just that. He apparently thought his master was unjust. He characterized him as collecting what he didn’t deposit, and reaping what he didn’t sow. There was great arrogance in what this servant said; because he behaved as if the mina was actually his—and not his master’s. This servant spoke just like many ‘professing Christians’ speak. They talk about ‘their time’ or ‘their possessions’ or ‘their talents’ or ‘their life’. But none of those things are really ever ours at all. Praise God that He lets us enjoy and use these things; but the rich graces that He pours out on us belong to Him. They are only ours as a matter of stewardship; and He alone has the right to dictate what is done with them.
So; what did this man do? He took the mina that the master had given him and hid it in—of all things—a handkerchief. He tucked it away somewhere and did nothing with it. And again, sadly, that’s what a lot of ‘professing Christians’ do with the graces that the Lord Jesus has given them. They hide them, tuck them away somewhere, and accomplish nothing with them—thinking that, somehow, that should be acceptable to Him. And look at what our Lord said next; “And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’” (vv. 22-23). Perhaps this teaches us that, even if we don’t put the resources God gives us to productive use, we could at least exercise the responsibility of our stewardship to pass them on to someone who can. The Lord goes on to tell us, “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him” (vv. 24-26).
This teaches us that there are two different types of ‘having’. One is the kind where we think that we possess a thing and have it in our hand for a short period of time. But the other is one in which we truly ‘have’ a thing to the glory of our Lord and to the service of His kingdom. There are a lot of us who think that we ‘have’ what the Lord has given us in that first sense; but He is looking to see if we will put what we have to use—and thus prove that we truly ‘have’ it in the second sense. The proof is in whether or not we faithfully ‘do business’ with it ’till He comes’. Sadly, there will be many like that wicked servant—who thought they ‘had’, but who proved by their refusal to put it to work that they didn’t really ‘have’ at all. Even what they thought they had will be taken from them; and given instead to those who truly ‘have’ in a faithful and obedient sense.
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At the end of this story, the nobleman said, “But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me” (v. 27). Clearly, this is speaking of the way our Lord will come, in due time, as a mighty conqueror to take possession of His kingdom at His return. He is indeed coming; and we must be looking ahead to that day! But for now, He expects us to make good productive use of what He has entrusted to us. We are living in the season of opportunity right now; and He promises, at His return, to richly and immeasurably reward those who put that grace to work in a productive way.
Let’s remember what the apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 1:5-11;
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, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, 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 Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-11).
Now is the season of opportunity. Now is the time to use what He has given us. He will reward faithful service; but a refusal to work will result in eternal loss. So then; let’s be diligent to ‘do business till He comes’!
EA
