Living in Expectation of the King's Return

Take your Bibles then this morning and open them to Luke chapter 19 and we're making our way through the 19th chapter.

! We're getting very close to Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And then it's going to be full steam ahead all the way to the cross and resurrection.

And of course that's going to take us a little while to cover those particular passages. But we're not yet even to the triumphal entry. But after this particular text then that's where we're going to be.

And so go ahead if you have your Bibles open there. Listen as I read starting with verse 11. 11 through 27. 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 manath. I'll get to that word here a little bit later. And he said to them, Do business till I come.

But his citizens hated it. And sent a delegation after him saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 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 manah has earned ten manahs. And he said to him, Well done, good servant, because you were faithful in very little.

Have authority over ten cities. And the second came saying, Master, your manah has earned five manahs. Likewise, he said to him, You also be over five cities.

Then another came saying, Master, here is your manah, which I have kept, but put away in a handkerchief. For I feared you, because you are an austere man.

You collect what you did not deposit. You 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 manah from him, and give it to the one, to him, who has ten manahs.

But they said to him, Master, he has ten manahs. For I said 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. Now, there it is.

There's the parable, and an interesting parable, albeit I think a pretty simple one, but it is important that we understand why Jesus told them. And we understand that from the introduction to it, how Luke introduces it.

And with that in mind, you know, at least my reaction is, it's difficult to imagine how the disciples, the disciples could be so dense. I mean, think about it.

Jesus has now repeatedly informed them, a number of occasions, informed them that the coming of the kingdom, the establishment of the kingdom, is not the next item or next event on God's agenda.

And yet they still can't get it. And yet Jesus could not be more clear about it. In fact, you might remember just a few Sundays ago, we were back there in chapter 18, and in verse 31, the Bible says, Jesus said, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.

And what are those things? He said, For He will be delivered to the Gentiles. He will be mocked, insulted, spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.

Remember that? Pretty clear, isn't it? I mean, in fact, you could not be more clear. And so here we are, perhaps just a day or two later, not sure about the time frame, but very, very, very, very, just a short time later.

Here they are, the disciples and Jesus, and they're headed where? Jerusalem, just like Jesus said. And what are the disciples thinking is going to happen when they get there?

Well, verse 11 told us that. Verse 11 tells us what they were thinking. Now, as they heard these things, He spoke another parable. Because why? He was near Jerusalem, actually about 16, 17 miles or so.

And, and here's the point, because they, the disciples, thought the kingdom of God would appear, what? Immediately. I mean, what part of it do they not get?

I mean, Jesus has told them over and over again. I mean, this is ridiculous. I mean, have they been listening to what Jesus said? In fact, what had Jesus just said just a few moments before this?

And all you have to do is just back up one verse to verse 10. We studied this last week. For the Son of Man has come to do what? Well, declare His kingdom.

Is that what He said? No. To defeat His enemies, defeat the Romans, and utterly destroy them? Is that what He said? Absolutely not.

Did He say that He was going to set up His throne there in the temple, there in Jerusalem, and rule from there, establishing His glorious kingdom and ruling over all the nations of the world?

Is that what He said He had come to do? Well, no. He didn't say that at all. What did He say? He said, For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost.

That's why. You see, He did not come to overthrow the Romans and set up His earthly kingdom. And, by the way, unlike contrary to what many are believing and teaching today, He did not come to right all social wrongs either.

He did not come to straighten out all of the civil inequities. He did not come to straighten out all of the problems in the world.

He did not come to heal all of our diseases and all of our sicknesses. He did not come to make the world moral and righteous. He did not come to establish, you know, economic justice for all.

He did not come the first time to accomplish any of those things. He came to seek and save the lost.

He came to die and accomplish the work of salvation upon the cross and to rise again. He came to offer salvation to all who will confess their sins and repent and believe on Him.

He came really to justify the justice of the Holy God so that He would then be able to forgive sins. The disciples just could not wrap their brain around that, could they?

And the simple explanation is they were just simply locked in to the messianic expectations of their times and the expectations of their people. Something they had grown up with and they were fully ingrained in and was indelibly etched in their brains.

That's what they were looking for and what they were thinking about and they could not see it any other way. They certainly couldn't see that Jesus would come and die.

And so Jesus tells a parable that should have finally set them straight and yet really we'll find out later it didn't quite set them straight. But He really told the parable to tell them what to expect when they reached Jerusalem and not just that time but even for the rest of their lives.

Now, before I say too much in the introduction and kind of repeat in the points, let's get to the text. And what we have here is a parable, right?

It's just a parable, a story, a fictitious story. It's one that Jesus made up. Okay, He can do that.

He can use illustrations and so forth. So He just made this story up. And so it is a story that pictures something, right?

That's what we're going to see. It's a story that teaches a principle. A principle. And therefore, it is a story that has a point to it.

It's a very pointed story. It has a point to make. A very strong point to make. And it is a point that we had better not miss as we study this passage. So there you have our outline for the message, okay?

The picture in the parable, the principle in the parable, and the point of it. The point of the parable. So let's begin with the picture. And it's really not hard to see.

The story is simple. And the picture, I think, is fairly obvious if you really think about it. And I'm going to help us think about it. Because all of the main elements of this parable, this story, are connected to Christ, of course.

And connected to His ultimate glory in ages to come. At the culmination of all things. All that's in the story. And so the story begins with a certain nobleman.

That's how it's put. Jesus called him a nobleman. A certain nobleman. And in the Greek language, it is anthropos, tis, eugenes.

And it means anthropos, which is the word for man, from which we get our word anthropology and so forth. Tis is just a word that means a certain one. And then, eugenes is the word that we get our word genetics from.

And it means to be born. And so what do we have here? We have a man of noble birth. Not just a man who's a nobleman. Noble. That is to say something about his character.

But he's a very special man in that he was born a noble. He is of a noble birth. And who is that? That's Jesus. That's Jesus, of course.

He had the noblest birth of any man. Why? Because God is his father. And so then, in our story, the nobleman went into a far country.

Right? A far country. And for what purpose? To receive for himself a kingdom and then to return. Alright?

So, he's going to travel, presumably. The implication from the parable is he's going to travel somewhere to someone who has a higher authority and to receive a kingdom.

And the kingdom is the land that he is leaving. Alright? According to the parable. And that's Jesus. Right? I mean, he's a man of noble birth.

God the Son. He's the Son of God. And after his death and resurrection, what? He ascends then to heaven, to the Father, and he is crowned and given a name above all names.

And he is given his kingdom. And that kingdom is his own country. The country of his birth. Albeit miraculous birth. And one day he is coming back and he will rule over that kingdom.

That's pretty clear to see the parallel. The clear picture. And, but before he leaves, as we go on with the parable, he calls ten of his servants and gives them ten menas.

That's difficult to pronounce. You know, even in the English we're wondering how do you pronounce that. Maybe you've heard it pronounced many other ways. And I'm trying to pronounce it in keeping with the Greek word.

And really, the Greek word is kind of hard to pronounce because if we were to put it in English it would be M-N-A. Now how do you pronounce that? Na.

Okay? Na. And plural would be M-N-A-S. M-N-A-S. And so, he gives his servants ten M-N-A-S each and says to them do business till I come.

The old King James says occupy till I come. But really this is the idea. To do business. Alright? So he gives them a you know, a fair amount of money. It's not a million dollars or anything like that.

He gives them really the equivalent of about three, something less than three years worth of wages. And, but pay attention, you know, don't get bogged down in the details too much here because it's not the amount that is important here in the parable.

Rather, it is what the nobleman instructs his servants to do with the money. That's what's important here. And he said do business till I come.

By the way, that word business, the root of the Greek word is where we get our word pragmatic. And so he's saying to his servants, here, here are ten M-N-A-S, here's three, almost three years worth of wages and I want you to be very pragmatic with it.

That is, I want you to use it to make more money. Alright, that's clear, isn't it, from the parable. And so what do we have here? As we're thinking about the picture of the parable, the picture that it portrays.

Well, they are to be, these servants are to be about the king's business, right? That's what's instructing them to do. They're to be doing business for the king.

And they're not then to be living for themselves. They are to be living for the king and according to his agenda. And they are to be living to add to, to be beneficial to the kingdom, the king's kingdom.

And so they're to do business for the king's benefit, for the king's agenda, for the benefit of the kingdom. And that's exactly what Jesus desires of us while he is away until he returns.

And all of it is to show our love for him, our loyalty to him, our devotion to him, our service to him through our lives and through the resources that he has given us.

And so he's given us resources to be used for the benefit and the growth of his kingdom and he expects his servants to use those things to make, make, make the best possible use of those gifts for him and for his kingdom.

That's pretty clear. And then the parable goes on from there. The nobleman then returned as king, right? Just as Jesus will one day return to his kingdom as king.

And according to the parable, he 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.

All right? So that's what he's going to do in his return. So it's a time of accounting, isn't it? To give an accounting. Listen, King Jesus will return one day.

It may be sooner than later. We don't know. But he will demand an accounting of what we have done for him with the resources he has given to us and what we have done for his kingdom.

And then the story concludes with the nobleman who is now king, who has returned as king to his kingdom and we find him rewarding those of his who are faithful servants and rejecting those who are unfaithful or really false servants and judging his enemies.

Because, you know, don't forget in the story, in the parable, there are citizens of the kingdom who hate the king. They hate him. And they do not want him to rule over them.

Alright? So, and by the way, that's a perfect parallel, isn't it, to what is going on in the Lord's kingdom today? What's been going on with the Supreme Court? What's been, of late, going on with Planned Parenthood And all the politics of that, all the heinous things that we knew all along were going on and now it's come to light and how appalling it is.

And yet, we should not be surprised by any of that. Should we? I mean, it's alright to be shocked by it and appalled by it and disgusted by it and brought to a place of deep burden in prayer, but we should not be surprised by it because it's just citizens of this world who are doing what comes natural because they hate the king.

They do not want the king to rule over them and that describes most of the population of this planet. Alright, so here then, near the close of Jesus' ministry, his earthly ministry, Jesus tells this parable that is designed to show the disciples what's coming because they've got the wrong idea about it.

They've come to the wrong conclusion about it. Their expectation is wrong. And so, he wants to tell them what's coming, not just in the next week or so, not just during their time there in Jerusalem that's coming very soon, but also, what is going to take place between now and the end of all things, the culmination of all things.

And so, with that in mind, the parable is eschatological. Eschatological, that is, it includes all of the basic events that will occur in the end times starting with the cross because that's when the end times began with the cross and resurrection of Christ and the establishment of His church.

We've been living in the end times for the last 2,000 years. Now, we may be living at the end of the end times. I hope so, but I don't know that. And so, this is what the parable does for us.

And all the basic elements are there. We have the Messiah's rejection, cross, His cross and resurrection. We have the royal coronation in the halls of heaven. We have His return at an unspecified period of time.

And then we have the reward that is given to His faithful servants. And we have His retribution that is given to His enemies, those who hate Him, those who will not have Him rule over them.

And it's all right here in the story, in the parable. So that's the picture. The picture of the parable. There's more than just a picture.

And so second, I want you to notice the principle. The principle in the parable. And what is it? What is the principle taught in this parable?

You have a King James version, then you might notice that there's a kind of a heading for this story because some versions would include that. And by the way, you should know that's not part of the inspired text.

The Holy Spirit did inspire the writers to put little headings above their stories. That's been added by the translator. Okay? And so, in the King James, it's entitled the parable of the ten pounds.

That's not pounds as in weight. That's pounds in terms of money. Right? That's the old King James world. If you have a new American standard, then you'll see this heading above it, the parable of money usage.

Which, by the way, is unfortunate because the parable is not about that. It's not about pounds of money or how to use money or to use it wisely or to be good stewards of your money.

There have been some who have used portions of this parable to teach those principles, but that's not what the parable is about. Not about that. Remember, I said that the parable was eschatological.

Remember? That is, that it reveals end times events. And you know that there is such a controversy, of course, about eschatology or about end times events.

I mean, there's the view premillennial. There's postmillennial. There is amillennial. That is, they don't believe in any kind of real millennium.

I mean, those are those three primary views. I've even heard some who talk about a panmillennialism. You ever heard of that one? Those are people who don't take a stand on any theology.

They just believe everything's going to pan out in the end. Panmillennialism. I even heard a professor who said he was pro-millennialist. I kind of like that one.

At least, he's for the second coming of Christ. He's for that. He said, I believe that Jesus is coming again. We don't know when, and we had better be ready. And that really gives you the three points of his eschatology, his theology.

I believe in the second coming. I don't know when it will be, and I intend to be ready all the time. Now, that's pretty good theology.

Pretty good eschatology. And I don't know what your view is, but no matter what your view is, you can't disagree with that. But, this parable is really not about eschatology either.

Okay? And so, if you're looking for some passages to help support your view of end times, then this is not one you need to go to because that's not the intent of the parable. Even though it does give us some of the broad categories of the events that are going to be taking place throughout the culmination of all time.

It's not about eschatology. As a matter of fact, I would say that here's where many people make their mistake about the biblical teachings on end times.

Because whenever the Bible teaches some of those issues, whenever the Bible alludes to end times events, wherever the Bible is, even overtly, teaching on the subject of the culmination of all things, its objective is not to produce in us a fixation on these things or some preoccupation with it or even speculation about the end times.

You know, trying to, you know, read it and look at the newspaper and try to fit everything into your particular paradigm of eschatology. The Bible never intends to do that. Rather, its objective is to help us live today.

Now, remember that every time you study or read particular passages that deal with end times, you know, whether it's the rapture or the millennium or the judgments or the resurrections or any of those things.

When the Bible deals with those things, it is informing us of these things so that we would take a look at how we're living now and be ready for those events. And so, in this parable, Jesus is teaching his disciples about what to expect in the future, their near future and distant future, so that they will know how they should be living in the present.

So, remember that with every passage that deals with end times. So, basically, Jesus is answering their burning question, what's it going to be like, Jesus, when we get to Jerusalem?

What can we expect? And so, Jesus is answering that question. Now, the disciples already think they know what to expect and they are expecting the wrong thing.

Actually, it's something that will happen one day, it's just not going to happen in their lifetime. And so, Jesus wants to set them straight and let them know what to expect. And so, he gives us, them and us, some principles.

A principle to follow, a principle to live with. And it begins with a couple of expectations. And I just gleaned this from the parable itself.

A couple of expectations. First of all, that the king's return will be delayed. Now, we already know that, don't we? The king left and his return is going to be delayed.

I mean, a delay is written into the parable. At several junctures. Verse 12, a certain nobleman went into a far country. It suggests a distance.

And so, it suggests for us, the implication is that it's going to take him a long time to get there, going to take him a long time to get back. Now, that's the parable. That's this nobleman.

Of course, it didn't take Jesus a long time to get to heaven, that far country. But, the parable is told in such way to interject this idea of delay. That's been 2,000 years now, hasn't it?

And still, we're waiting for the king to come. And so, there's a delay. So, we ought to expect that. Now, I don't know how much longer it's going to be. Don't think you do either.

You don't. I don't know when. We don't know when. But we ought to expect that there's a delay. So, the idea here, the point is to teach us endurance, patience, keep on, because there's a delay in his coming, and so his disciples should know that, and we should know that as well, and act accordingly.

There's another expectation, and that is that we should expect rejection. That also is built into the parable.

We should expect, as we're waiting for the king to return, we should expect rejection. and the disciples are going to find that out pretty quickly when they get to Jerusalem. And Jesus is not, you see, leading them to a party, or some kind of victory march.

He's leading them to an all-out war. That is going to take place there in Jerusalem, but it's going to continue all throughout their lives, and it is continuing even today in the lives of believers, and has been the case for all believers for now 2,000 years.

He's saying you ought to expect that. Rejection. See, the citizens hated the king, and the implication is they're going to hate his servants as well, and we know it to be true.

Rejection, persecution, poverty, hunger, difficulty, afflictions of various kinds, of every kind, troubles, hurts, pain, death, loss, all of those things, and many more I could name.

And Jesus wants us to know that, and to expect that. In this world, there will be tribulation. Do not lose heart.

He said, for I've overcome the world. Now, He has overcome the world, but the reality of that, the full establishment of that is yet to come, even though now He's overcome the world.

So we ought to expect trouble in this life, tribulation in this life, of every imaginable kind. Every one of us in this room have experienced some and many of those things I've just listed.

We will experience those things in this life. And yet there are people in the Christian community who are telling us a different story. They're saying, just follow Jesus and you'll be healthy.

Just wholeheartedly, totally committed to Jesus and you'll be rich. Just follow Jesus and you won't have any problems or any sicknesses.

And if you do, it's because you don't have enough faith. Or maybe you don't have the right kind of faith. Or maybe you just are not believing the Word of God and claiming His promises.

But Jesus said, I'm not calling you to a picnic. Not calling you to be a part of a victory march, a victory parade. I'm calling you to serve your King faithfully until I return.

no matter what happens. And that's the principle of the parable. Absolute devotion to the King no matter what life throws you.

See, each of the servants were given a certain amount of money and they were to use it wisely for their King and for His Kingdom and it was to signify their love and their loyalty and their devotion to the King and to His Kingdom.

And it causes us to ask ourselves the question what am I living for? I mean, what do I really care about in this life?

What am I really doing with what God has entrusted to me, given to me as His servant? My life, my talents, my spiritual gifts, my resources, my money, my possessions, all these.

What am I doing with those things? And what I am doing with those things, does it express my love for Him, loyalty to Him, and devotion to Him?

I mean, what is my life all about? That's what we should be asking us. while Sherry and I were in Beijing, and we had the privilege the last few days for coming home to see some of the sights in Beijing, and we toured the Forbidden City, very interesting, right there in the heart of Beijing, built 600 years ago.

we don't have anything that old in this country, at least not in our civilization. And very interesting, and as the guide was taking us through the various parts and through the various gates in the Forbidden City, we always had to go up some steps or down some steps, there were a number of steps to traverse in the Forbidden City, and he pointed out to us that all of the steps were exactly nine steps, no more, no less.

And I got to looking, it was a trick. Every time we would go up a few steps, go through another gate into another segment or another part of the Forbidden City, always nine steps. I found myself every time counting, one, two, three, four, nine steps.

And our guide explained to us that in Chinese tradition, culture, number nine signifies a long and meaningful life.

So that's why the people of the Ming dynasty who built the Forbidden City, that's why they put that in there. Long life, meaningful life. And then our guide told us, he said, but today the favorite number of the younger generation of Chinese people is the number eight.

And he said the number eight signifies financial prosperity. pretty telling. I think we could apply that to our own culture as well.

You see, he said to them, occupy till I come. Use the resources that I've given you for the benefit of the kingdom and for your king as evidence of your love and your loyalty and your service to your king.

That's what it's all about. Full devotion to your king. That's the principle taught in the parable. So the picture in the parable, the picture of Christ and his kingdom and the ultimate culmination of all of the events of his kingdom.

And then there's the principle in the parable, principle of devotion. absolute devotion to our king till he comes.

And then one more, the point, the point of the parable. This is really where it all gets down to the nitty gritty. The parable is really quite pointed in a very stark way, even perhaps somewhat disturbing.

with some elements of it. It describes three types of people and what will happen to them when the king returns. First, there will be rewards for those who are faithful to the king.

The faithful servants. Look again at verse 15. And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants to whom he had given money to be called to him that he might know how much every man had gained by trade.

So it's a calling for an accountant. Now watch this. Then came the first saying what? He said, Master, your minah has earned ten minahs.

Your minahs has earned ten minahs. minahs. And so the king rewards him. And so here's the reward. And he said to him, well done, good servant, because you are faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.

What a reward. Amazing. Let's look at verse 18. And the second king saying, Master, your minahs has earned five minahs. And then comes the king's reward.

Likewise, he said to him, you also be over five cities. And so it goes. We're to assume one after another. All ten of the servants give an accounting of what they have done with the resources that were given to them by the king to do business with it until he comes.

Jesus only mentions three of the servants. We're to assume that all ten made their accounting. Right, Chris? That's a question Chris asked me earlier this week.

He said, what about the other seven? We don't have anything in the parable about that. It doesn't matter. This is just a sampling. A sampling. And the point is that two of the three were faithful, right?

Two of the three that were included in the parable. They were faithful. Therefore, what? They were rewarded. They were rewarded when the king returned. Now, I want you to notice a couple of amazing things about this reward.

Significant things. And we could possibly draw some other conclusions as well and implications, but there are two things very important for us to see. First of all, did you notice how disproportionate was the reward in relation to the service rendered?

Did you notice that? The first servant took the ten manaz and made ten more. Made ten more. Okay? He doubled. Doubled the king's money.

And the king rewards him with what? Effectively, governorship over ten cities. amazing. And then the second servant, he only turned his ten manaz into fifteen.

He earned five, and so the king rewards him with the governorship, rulership, over five cities. Amazing. And in both cases, the reward is lavish in comparison with the service each one rendered.

You see that? it's disproportionate. And there's a reason for it. And this is a glorious truth. That at the Lord's coming, as his faithful servants, as his servants serving him the very best we can with the resources he's given us, as we're serving him, we may go through a life full of rejection, and experience all manner of disappointment in life, and hardship, and heartaches of various kinds.

Believers have been experiencing that since the church was founded. And like America, most believers in many other countries experiencing horrendous times, difficult times, and all kinds of persecution, afflictions, and so forth.

And so he's saying that as faithful servants, serving the King the best we can, we're going to experience rejection and disappointments and heartaches and hurts and pains and losses and all manner of tragedies, and some of them will be lifelong kind of tragedies, but there is a reward coming that we cannot even comprehend.

It far out measures anything that we have done for the Lord through our weak, limited resources. It's coming to us. That's what this parable is promising.

It's coming to us. this reward that far outmeasures anything that we have ever done for Christ. It's glorious.

And the expectation, here's the idea, the expectation of that reward makes all the difference in the way we live now or should.

So first of all, notice how disproportionate the reward is in relation to the service range. Second of all, and this is a very important point, and we get this from the parable.

Notice that the reward that's given these servants, the reward does not come from the world in the sense that it is connected in any way with the resources they were given.

And, you know, like some interest that they gained from being smart managers of God's money or serving the Lord. It's not directly related to, in any way, to the minas, their service.

The reward is going to come from the king when he comes. This is very important to see. Because, you see, when we devote our lives to the king, to King Jesus, we have a tendency to expect some reward, some immediate reward in this life as a result.

And, quite often, when it doesn't happen, when, instead of reward, we have difficulty or rejection or nobody appreciates what we've done, that's what we get instead of reward, quite often.

And, we're looking for some kind of affirmation, some kind of praise, some kind of affirmation, some kind of immediate blessing as a result of our hard labor for the Lord, and our sacrifices.

I mean, we sacrifice selflessly, or we serve him faithfully in some area, or we suffer afflictions, and we suffer it patiently and enduringly and faithfully, and we give of our resources, sometimes generously, and we tend to expect to have an immediate reward from that.

And, when we don't get it, we're either a little bit myth about it, or we begin to doubt God, or maybe even turn it inward and say, well, you know, because I'm just such a wretch and a sinner, I can't reward.

You know, we have all kinds of different thoughts, because the reward is not here, it's not immediate, and we expect it to be. we're selling ourselves short.

We really are, because the king's reward comes at his coming, at his return. And the king's reward is always disproportionate to our service, and so don't settle for, you know, some meager reward that may come in this life.

reward actually is coming when the king comes, and it goes beyond anything we could ever comprehend, because the reward is basically the king himself.

So, think about that. Reward for those who are faithful to the king. I want you to notice a third servant mentioned in the parable.

You can't miss him. In fact, the parable spends more time on him than it does on the other two servants, the faithful servants. And so, second, rejection for those who are false before the king.

Rejection for those who are false. False servants. Look at verse 20. Then another came saying, Master, here is your minah, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.

I didn't do anything with it. He didn't put it into circulation. He didn't do any kind of business with it. He didn't do a thing with it. He just wrapped it up in a napkin and held it. And what was his excuse?

Well, verse 21, for I feared you because you are an, now listen to this, an austere man. That is, harsh, hard, exacting, severe.

you take what you did not deposit. Are you listening to this? You take what you did not deposit.

You reap the benefits, reap what you did not sell. Now get this. And we really delve into the language here and understand what this man is saying.

It boils down to this. he's accusing the Lord of being a hard king. Harsh. He's actually accusing the Lord of being unfair. He's accusing the Lord of being a thief.

A thief and an exploiter of his subjects. Far from a benevolent and loving king, he exploits his subjects.

You take up what you did not lay down, you reap what you did not sow. No believer calls the Lord a liar, a thief, an exploiter.

No true believer brings an indictment to the Lord, accusing the Lord of injustice and unfairness. No true believer is going to accuse the Lord of using his people for selfish gain.

So what do we have here? We have an unfaithful servant. False servant. Because he has an unfaithful heart.

He has no real love for the king. He has no desire to honor the king in any way. And so what? He's one of the servants so he's just been putting on a show.

kind of passing himself off as one of the true servants of the king. He's a fake. He's false. He does not desire to really serve the king in the right way.

He doesn't honor the king. He doesn't love the king. He's just a fake. I'm kind of wondering what Judas was thinking when Jesus told this parable, by the way. he describes him to a T.

And so this is a false servant and what did the king give him? Rejection. He gave him rejection. Verse 22, and he said to him, out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant.

That is, on the basis of what you just said, I'm going to judge you. What does that mean? Look at what he said next. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.

Now, what does that mean? It really ought to be in the form of a question, grammatically, though there is no punctuation in the Greek text, but the grammar really suggests more of a question here, and it's kind of ironical.

Really, he's saying the Lord is not saying that this man was right in his assessment of the king. he's not saying, you know, you're right, I am hard, I am austere, I am an exploiter of my people.

He's not agreeing with him at all. In fact, he is saying, is that what you think you know about me? so be it.

And that's what I'll be for you, man. That's how I would treat you. Verse 23, he said, and he said to those who stood by, take the minah from him, give it to him who has ten.

Listen to him, master, he has ten minahs, he already has ten minahs, give it to him. Well, go on. 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. We've seen something similar to this in another place in the Gospel of Luke.

We covered that some time back. So what is he taking, what is taken away here from this false servant? Is it his salvation? No.

I mean, you can't lose what you never had in the first place. So what is it? Well, this false servant, you see, represents those in the church who profess Christ, but they're not possessors of Christ.

They're not true believers. They are connected to the church. I mean, they're part of the church. I mean, they're on the membership rolls, and they're in the attendance, and maybe even greatly involved in the church, so they're connected to it, and they also are privy to be surrounded by the truth, the gospel, and they hear it, and they even believe some of it to possibly be true, so they're surrounded by the truth, kind of immersed in the truth, and they make a profession of faith, faith, but they serve for their own gain, for what they will get out of it.

They have no real relationship with Christ, no love for Him, no devotion to Him, they have no desire to honor Him, they certainly have no desire for Him to rule, and yet they're in the church, and so what is taken away from them at the Lord's return?

Well, the truth that they had. They've been exposed to the truth, they've considered it, and so they have some of the truth, but they've never fully believed it, and even the truth they have is going to be taken away from them.

Also, the opportunity they had. Think about it, the opportunity sitting under the preaching, of God's Word, to hear the gospel, and the opportunity that they had, but they never responded to, that's going to be taken away.

Also, you could add the presence of all that is good and righteous, to be numbered among the family of God, to be a part of that goodness and that environment, but never really appreciated.

Not really. And all they have done is just tasted of the heavenly gift. And so that will all be stripped away and they will be rejected.

One more. So we have the reward for those who are faithful to the king. We have rejection for those who are false before the king. Then we have finally retribution for those who are foes of the king.

Enemies of the king. Verse 27, but bring here those enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them and slay them before me. Wow. Pretty pointed.

Judge. Hell. This is a pointed parable. And the point is you are in it.

Every one of us in this place are in this parable at some point or another. That's pretty pointed.

You're either a faithful servant, a false servant, or a foe of Christ, enemy of Christ.

I doubt there are too many of those. There are only three possibilities, and here is really the point for all of us.

Right now. Right now counts forever. You understand? Right now counts.

forever. Forever. What you are doing now for the king and for his kingdom counts when he comes again.

The king is coming to his kingdom. Right? He's coming. Any day now. though it could be another hundred, two hundred, a thousand years.

I doubt it. He's coming. Coming for his king. Do you believe that? Well, are you living in light of that?

That's what it all comes down to. Not whether you are pre- millennial, post- millennial, pro- millennial, but how your theology affects the way you're living.

Faithful servants taking what the king has given to us, putting it into circulation, investing, using, multiplying, for the king and for his king.

Thank you.