Parable of the Pounds, #4 (Luke 19:11-27)

Introduction: The Certainty and Implications of Christ's Return

0:01 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, December 16th, 2001, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:12 Now I invite you to turn with me in your own copy of the Word of God to the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 19,

0:27 and follow, please, as I read, beginning in verse 11, and conclude the reading at verse 27.

0:37 In the context in which our Lord Jesus is making himself resolutely, immovably, purposefully journeying on to Jerusalem, he has been temporarily sidetracked with the cry of a blind beggar, with the need of an outcast publican named Zacchaeus, and now in verse 11 we read, And as they heard these things, he added and spoke a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was immediately to appear.

1:21 He said, therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. And he called ten servants or slaves of his and gave them ten pounds, or ten mina, the equivalent of about three months of a common laborer's wages. Ten servants, each gets the same amount. And he said unto them, Trade with this until I come.

1:58 But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, We will not that this man reign over us. And it came to pass, when he was come back again, having received the kingdom, that he commanded these slaves, unto whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading. And the first came before him, saying, Lord, your mina has made ten minas more. And he said unto him, Well done, you good slaves.

2:38 Well done, you good servants, because you were found faithful in a very little. Have authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Your mina, Lord, has made five minas. And he said unto him also, You be over five cities.

3:01 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is your mina, which I kept laid up in my house. And I kept it in a napkin. For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You take up that which you did not lay down, and you reap that which you did not sow.

3:22 He said unto him, Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked slave. You knew that I am an austere man, taking up that which I did not lay down, and reaping that which I did not sow. Then why did you not give my money into the bank? And at my coming I should have required it with interest.

3:50 And he said unto them that stood by, Take away from him the mina, and give it unto him that has the ten minas. And they said unto him, Lord, he has ten minas. And I say unto you that unto every one that has shall be given. But from him that has not, even that which he has shall be taken away from him.

4:19 But these my enemies, that would not that I should reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me. Let us again pray and ask God's help in the opening up and application of his holy word. Our Father, as once again our minds will traffic in holy things, we pray that your spirit will be present to bring near the powers of the age to come. We have read this parable that takes us to that final day

5:03 when the king who has gone to a far country returns having received the kingdom, calls his servants before him to give an account, summons his enemies to stand before him to receive their just punishment. O Lord, we acknowledge, left to ourselves, we'll trip through these sobering things as though they were a fairy tale. Come by the Holy Spirit, we pray. Grip the heart and mind of your servant and loose his tongue.

5:42 And grip the hearts and minds and wills and affections of all who receive your word. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. The eleven disciples stand gazing wide-eyed in wonder as they see their Lord ascending into heaven, until he is enveloped by a cloud and is hidden from their view.

6:19 And as they are transfixed by this amazing sight, two men in white apparel stand by them and say, You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. This announcement by the two angels became a vital element in the preaching and teaching of the apostles, so much so that when we read the letters of the New Testament, that is, when we pick up our Bibles and start reading in Romans

7:02 and read clean through to the last verses of the book of the Revelation, which was a letter to seven churches, we find that woven into the very texture of the faith system what apostolic believers pointed to as their confession of faith and the things that regulated their lives, that this truth of the return of the Lord Jesus in glory and in power formed a vital, essential element in the spiritual experience and faith of those believers.

7:44 And in seeking to bring our faith and our experience as an assembly of Christ into alignment with this Biblical emphasis regarding the truth of the Lord's second coming, throughout the summer months I preached twenty sermons in which I sought to expound the major passages which address this truth. We saw, with respect to the coming of the Lord, that as to the fact of our Lord's return, it is certain. As to its place in the history of redemption, it is central and climactic.

8:26 As to the time of our Lord's return, for us it is always imminent, the next great event in God's destiny, in God's dealings with His people and with the world. It is for us always imminent, but indefinite and unknowable. And then with respect to the events connected with the Lord's return, they are clearly revealed and they are manifold. And in seeking to open up those dimensions of the accompaniments of the Lord's return that are clearly revealed, we saw from the Scriptures

9:10 what the Lord Jesus will do with those who are in Him at His coming. Then we saw what He will do with those who are not in Him at His coming. Then we saw from the Scriptures what He will do with the devil and his angels at His coming. And then what He will do with the created order at His coming.

9:35 And then we proceeded to open up, having looked at these fundamental strands of Biblical teaching, those aspects of Biblical teaching that address the so what question. Having spent twenty Lord's days considering the what of the Lord's return, we have been wrestling in the past seven messages, this is the eighth, on the so what. And I suggested that the so what of Scripture can be organized under two major headings. There are gracious consolations derived from the truth of the return of Christ,

10:19 and then there are secondly manifold motivations rooted in the truth of the Lord's return. And under that second heading we have seen from the Scriptures that the Lord's return is to motivate us to persevering faith. The Lord's return is to produce in us a spirit of sobriety and watchfulness. The truth of the Lord's return should motivate us thirdly to the serious pursuit of personal holiness, and fourthly to the faithful use of our God-given gifts and opportunities to serve Christ.

Review of the Parable's Historical Setting and Abiding Message

11:00 And in addressing that fourth strand of the motivations rooted in the truth of the Lord's return, we have spent several Lord's days in a careful exposition and application of those two parallel but not identical parables spoken by our Lord in the context of the second coming. We considered first of all the parable of the talents from Matthew chapter 25, and now we conclude this morning our consideration of the parable of the minas found in Luke chapter 19. In our opening exposition we noted the historical setting of this parable.

11:42 Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to die. He knows that at Jerusalem he will face the specific things that he has passed on to his disciples. In chapter 18 verses 31 to 33 he knows that at Jerusalem, he will be delivered up to the Gentiles. He shall be mocked, he shall be shamefully treated, he shall be spit upon, he shall be scourged, and he shall be murdered.

12:14 Jerusalem equals these realities for Jesus. But our text says those around him, including his disciples, for two of them have just said, when you come in your kingdom, can we be prime minister and secretary of state? Kingdom meant glory, kingdom meant thrones, kingdom meant power. For Jesus establishing the kingdom meant blood.

12:39 Establishing the kingdom meant scourging. It meant the horrible dereliction of Golgotha, the shrouded heavens, being plunged into the abyss of the unfathomable wrath of God. For Jesus establishing the kingdom is by way, by way of a cross. But for his disciples and those around him, Jesus is going to Jerusalem.

13:08 Surely at Jerusalem at this Passover, with Jews streaming in from all of the Roman Empire, surely now, he's going to set up his kingdom of glory and of power. And the text tells us he spoke this parable because he knew that their mindset was antithetical to the reality of what he would face at Jerusalem. And so he speaks of a certain nobleman who goes into a far country. He apprises them that the kingdom will be possessed while he's in the far country.

13:49 And then and only then will he return and reckon both with his servants and with his enemies. So we consider the history as a historical setting. We spent a whole message opening up the identity and meaning of the major elements of the parable. I can't go back and re-preach all of that.

14:11 And then we began last Lord's Day morning to consider together the abiding message of this parable. And we looked at three strands of its abiding message. God willing this morning we'll take up the final two. We saw last Lord's Day and we saw this parable informs us that our specific sphere of responsibility, influence and service in the age to come will be determined by our diligent and faithful use of our common gifts, graces and privileges in this present age.

14:52 As Jesus speaks this parable he makes it clear that at his return it will be faithfulness and diligence in the use of the common gifts of grace. All the servants received an identical amount and I sought to persuade you that our Lord is pointing to those common deposits of the grace of God, common endowments and privileges and our Lord is teaching that our sphere of responsibility, influence and service in the age to come will be determined

15:36 by our faithfulness in the use of our minas in the present age. Because you have been faithful in little, be over ten cities. Language could not be clearer. It's what we are doing now that determines the sphere of responsibility and of service in the age to come.

16:06 Secondly, we are reminded in this parable that every aspect of Christ's dealing with his servants is suffused with grace. He describes himself as the nobleman who before he goes into the far country gathers ten slaves. People in whom he has property without in any way opening up the discussion is slavery a legitimate institution among men. I bypass that discussion completely as Jesus bypasses it.

16:41 Taking things as they are he said here is a nobleman who has no obligation to do anything other than to provide food and shelter and give decent treatment to his slaves he calls them in and he makes them stewards of his stuff. That's gracious. He was under no obligation to do it. He expresses a measure of confidence in them.

17:10 He says trade with this until I come. And it becomes clear as the parable unfolds that all the while he did that not just to make a few bucks at the expense of their ingenuity and industry but he was testing them in their character because he wanted to assign some cities to these slaves at his return. You talk about grace grace that gives them the minor grace that then gives an exponential reward ten cities for a few shekels well invested made to work for the nobleman for the king in his absence. It is gracious

17:54 from beginning to end and surely as we saw in a number of passages that is the nature of Christ dealing with his servants in every age and it will come to its glorious expression when in the last day whatever we have been enabled to accomplish we will say Lord your minor has gained not I your grace that was given to me your grace manifested in this endowment of privilege and opportunity your grace was operative and whatever I accomplished was by the grace that you gave 1 Corinthians 15 10

18:37 Paul's statement and yet this gracious savior will reward the fruit of his own grace because all of his dealings in every aspect of them with his servants are suffused with grace. Then we saw thirdly we are instructed by this parable that wrong conceptions of the disposition and the ways of Christ make it impossible to render joyful service to Christ. That third one comes along and says you are an austere man what he was saying is my misconception of you I am treating as reality reality is you are an austere hard

19:22 inflexible insensitive unsympathetic man and perceiving you to be such I didn't want to run the risk of losing the minor let alone not presenting any gain being an austere man I could not contemplate your frown the back of your hand now of course it was slanderous the very fact that the nobleman called him in along with the other seven and gave him a minor showed that he was not an austere man an austere money-grabbing unprincipled immovable insensitive character but he projects his own twisted notions for one reason alone

20:06 because he wants to do his own thing he can't be bothered trading with what the master gave him he's got other plans for the hours of his days much simpler to wrap it up in a napkin hide it in the closet stick it under the bed and go to bed in the morning in the morning in the morning in the morning while he goes about doing what he wants to do when the master said trade with it not preserve it hide it trade with it the orders were clear to all the other servants the only reason they were not clear to him was because he willfully projected misconceptions of his master's character and his master's

20:50 ways you take interest where you didn't invest any money you go out and reap in fields where you never sowed you're unprincipled you're money grabbing and with that perspective willfully living with lies about his master's character and his ways he could not serve him with joy nor can you as long as you believe the devil's lies about Jesus you'll never embrace him from the heart and come under his yoke and count his service a privilege well that's a brief review we got a number of visitors today you who are here week by week bear with me now we come to the last two applications

No Such Thing as an Unproductive Christian: The Wicked Slave's Exposure

21:35 or the last two strands of the abiding message of this parable remembering now that the overarching emphasis is connected with motivating us to faithful use of our common gospel gifts and graces we see in the fourth place if we consider this an extension of last week's sermon or this morning the first this parable affirms the truth that there is no such person as a completely unproductive non fruit bearing Christian listen to the words

22:16 as I give them again this parable affirms I originally put teaches and I said no that's not the right word the overarching teaching of the word of God is this this affirms it I would be very reluctant to build a novel doctrine on any passage let alone a parable this parable affirms the truth a truth taught everywhere in the scriptures there is no such person as a completely unproductive

23:01 non fruit bearing Christian look at the text Luke chapter 19 when the master the nobleman returns having received his kingdom comes back a duly authorized bonified registered ruler in that land when he returns we read in verse 20 and the other came he's not there or the other came saying Lord here is your minor which I kept laid up in a napkin for I feared you you were an

23:45 austere man you take up that which you did not lay down and reap that which you did not so he said unto him out of your own hand and he said to him that he was a wicked man and the word here for wicked is the word used of the devil himself in passages such as John 1715 where our Lord

24:29 prays that his name is not the name of God but his name is wickedness and his wickedness is seen in contrast with these citizens that we will take up in our rebellion but by being totally completely un productive and it is his un productiveness with

25:14 what the master gave that exposes him as totally wicked do you see that from the text you see that turning king as wicked because like the prodigal son he had been out in the far country wasting his masters mina on harlots and expensive gourmet meals and trips to the Bahamas no his

25:59 wickedness is demonstrated to him and in the parallel passage not identical parallel passage you'll remember when our Lord is a bit more fulsome in his description of that slave who had a talent where there was disparity of gift one talent two talents five talents twenty six but his Lord answered and said unto him you wicked and then he adds and slothful

26:44 servant and then we read that he has his talent taken from him and he is cast into outer darkness he is not put in some empty room of heaven no such thing as a completely unproductive non fruit bearing Christian and it's interesting in both the parable of the talents and of the minor before the Lord's done dealing with the wicked

27:28 servant and the wicked and slothful servant what this parable is the only parable and it's not the the the the but it is the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the that In this parable is the universal teaching of the Word of God.

28:12 All of the books and all of the preaching and all of the seminars notwithstanding that talk about, quote, carnal Christians. That is, people who've trusted Jesus, they're saved. If their ticker stopped, their souls would go to heaven. But in the final day, when the Lord gives out the goodies, they won't get as many yo-yos and lollipops.

28:40 It's all a matter of rewards.

28:44 And people who are utterly non-productive sit and say, Who cares if I miss a few yo-yos as long as I miss the lake of fire? Jesus has fire-proofed me because I trusted Him. If you sit here this morning with that notion, may God help me in love to dismantle it. Because it is delusive.

29:11 There is no teaching anywhere in the Word of God to support the notion of a completely unproductive, non-fruit-bearing Christian. You remember in the parable of the sower and the soils. Some fell upon good ground. Good ground.

29:34 And what was the evidence? Brought forth fruit. Some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred. Yes, there are degrees of fruitfulness.

29:45 That's the parable of the talents. There is a diversity of giftedness, diversity of returns, as well as the parable of the minor. Common gifts of grace given to all ten servants. One of them brings back ten for one.

30:01 He's rewarded accordingly. One brings back ten for one. He brings back five for one. He's rewarded.

30:09 But the one who was utterly unproductive has his minor taken away. He's called wicked.

30:22 What is true in the parable of the sower and the soils is true in the explicit words of Jesus when He uses agricultural imagery. Listen to His words in Matthew chapter 7, verses 17 to 19. Speaking more explicitly about false prophets, false teachers. Our Lord articulates a principle that goes much broader in its application.

30:49 Verse 17, Matthew 7. Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit. It doesn't say every good tree looks good. No, no.

31:07 Every good tree, if that's its essential nature, it bears fruit. Every good tree, without exception, brings forth good fruit. But the corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit.

31:27 Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down. Every good tree, if that's its essential nature, it bears fruit. And casts into the fire.

31:40 It doesn't say every tree that looks ugly and looks bad shall be cut. No. If there's no fruit, it's the fire. Or the fire is no such thing recognized in the Word of God as a completely unproductive, non-fruit-bearing Christian.

Doctrinal Support: Romans 6 and the Nature of Conversion

32:03 You see the same thing taught in Matthew 12, 33 to 35. Taught again by our Lord. In the extended metaphor of the vine and the branches. I am the vine.

32:14 You who are attached to me in external, visible communion. You are branches. Every branch in that relationship to me that brings not forth fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. John teaches the same thing when he preaches, recorded in Matthew chapter 3.

32:35 Ah, but someone says, Pastor Martin, those are parables. And those are metaphors and similes drawn from agriculture. Surely the more vigorous, explicit doctrinal passages, or as my English friends would say, doctrinal passages. They don't teach that.

32:53 Ah, my friend, you're wrong. I give you a sampling of what could be, if not dozens, handfuls of such text out of the epistles. Look at Romans chapter 6. Seeking to establish now, no.

33:09 Such person as a completely unproductive, non-fruit-bearing Christian.

33:21 In this chapter, Paul has been answering the objection made to salvation that is all of God, all of grace, all in Christ. Saved by the doing and the dying of another. Verse 1. What shall we say then?

33:36 Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God. Forbid. Don't even think it for a moment.

33:46 And then Paul has two basic lines of argument. From verse 2 all the way down to verse 14. He is saying, it can't be so because the faith that is laid hold of Christ and the righteousness of God in Christ has so united us to Christ that Christ's death, burial, and resurrection in space-time history becomes our death, burial, and resurrection. In our experience, we die to the dominion of sin and we rise to newness of life in union with Christ.

34:25 That's his argument in a nutshell. Then he takes a second tack in his argument, beginning in verse 15. And he says, if you've come into faith union with Christ, you've had an exchange of masters. Not only have you died in union with Christ, to the dominion of sin and risen to newness of life, you've had an exchange of masters.

34:49 And he uses different terms. Sin is the old master. The new master is God, is righteousness. And in summing up the argument in that second line of thought, look at verse 22.

35:06 But now, here's his summarizing argument. But now, better rendering, having of the Greek tense, having been made free from sin, that is, free from sin's dominion and lordship, and become servants to God. That's what happened when you were truly converted. A change of masters.

35:33 He's not saying you ought to be, you will one day be free from sin, and you ought to become. No, he says, having been made, made free from sin's dominion, change of masters, and become bondservants to God. Notice the next phrase. You are having your fruit unto sanctification or holiness, and the end, eternal life.

36:03 Paul sees God's gracious salvation in these three wonderful categories. Change of master on the threshold. Change of practice, positive fruit bearing in the interim, from conversion to glorification. You have been made free from sin, become servants to God.

36:29 You are having your fruit unto holiness or sanctification, and the end of that, eternal life. And professing evangelical churches are full of people who say, I've got this, and I'm going to have, but who don't have a smidgen of evidence of this. God doesn't give two of the three. He gives them all in Christ, because there is no such thing as a totally, completely unproductive, non-fruit bearing Christian.

Personal Application: Where is Your Fruit?

37:06 And passages could be cited from many other places. I hope I've cited enough and demonstrated to the persuasion of your judgment that these are not the rantings and ravings of my emphasis. What's that say to you? Children, listen to me.

37:28 Remember we identified the minor as those common deposits of God's grace in the gospel. Common privileges that come to us. I think of so many of you children, and I'm thankful I don't see gross manifestation, of crass wickedness. You're polite.

37:56 You sit and listen to me when I preach. Come and give me hugs and kisses at the door. Everything about you is lovable. Now I know there's another side of you that your brothers and sisters see sometimes at home.

38:12 I know that. I'm not naive. I'm second oldest of ten children. All right?

38:17 But for the most part, it'd be very hard to say, you wicked child. Occasionally you're naughty. A little bit cheeky maybe. A little bit lazy.

38:29 But not wicked. But children, listen to me. Listen to me. With all that God has deposited in your hands, where's the fruit?

38:42 Where are those things that can't be explained in terms of you embracing basically that mom and dad when they make rules and set standards are doing it for your good and the happiness of everyone around you and life is much more manageable if you simply cave in and behave. You're happier. Brothers and sisters are happier. Mom and dad is happier.

39:05 Everybody around you is happier. And there are so many things about you that are the fruit of good consistent parental training and good solid instruction in the framework of your schooling, home schooling, Christian school. And the instruction in this church. But where are the things that have no explanation but that the fruit of the Spirit of God is being produced in you?

39:38 Hunger for God. Love for His Word. Not just reading it because daddy's going to ask me if I had my devotions. But reading it because you've tasted even as a boy or a girl the sweetness of fellowship with Jesus.

40:00 Not just saying to brother and sister I was wrong, will you forgive me when mom or dad are there engineering, sorting out the stats. But when you just thought a mean thought and you went into your room and tried to pray and you knew you couldn't pray with that unconfessed sin. And you said dear Lord Jesus that was a terrible thing I thought about my brother. Lord Jesus forgive me.

40:32 And you go out and find your brother and you say not just I'm sorry but I had sin in my heart. I don't know if you felt it but I tried to pray and I couldn't pray. Jesus has forgiven me. Would you forgive me?

40:49 Fruit. Fruit. Spiritual dealings with sin. Hunger for God.

41:00 A sensitivity to spiritual realities. Not expecting the big plump ripe fruits that God grows on the tree of a person who's a fully grown mature adult who's been saved for 30 years. We ought to be making the boughs bend with the fruit we bear. We just want some nice little round nubby 10 year old.

41:28 But things that only God can produce. What we want to see. You better be satisfied with nothing less kids. Because there's no such thing as a totally nonproductive fruitless Christian.

41:52 Jesus will identify you if there's no production of the things he's given as a wicked slave. And he'll take away that which you seem to have. I think kids if I heard anybody preach to me like that when I was your age I would have stayed glued to my pew until I knew I had dealings with God. What about you teenagers?

42:24 Your peer pressure is to be decent. Thank God we've got good peer pressure in these days. It's been lovely to see. I've never seen it in 40 years where anybody not serious about spiritual matters and willing to be decent and marginalized in terms of natural groupings of the young people.

42:47 Hallelujah. May your tribe increase. But I tell you that ain't enough. If there's not been an internalization and some of you have been testing this during this year as you've gone off and for the first time God has split the cocoon that's been built around you.

43:08 It should have been built around you. Mom and Dad and church and school have put a lovely cocoon around you. And God has split the cocoon. And now we're going to see is there a dead caterpillar in there or a live butterfly.

43:22 And thank God I see wings sprouting in some of you. And I mean that. I've never seen it in all my 40 years. But I don't see wings in some of you.

43:36 I see nothing that has any explanation or has no explanation but that God has internalized these things. You are in a most dangerous place you young people. The second generation who get with your mother's milk things that some of us had to sweat and spill blood for in our mature years. The real test is is it yours?

44:06 Ready to live by it? Die for it? That's the fruit. That's the fruit.

44:14 What about some of you older ones? I'm going to get very personal. Could your wife stand by up this morning if it were appropriate to ask her to do so? And bear witness that though she doesn't know your heart she has seen things in you as a man.

44:36 In the way you relate to her in the way you relate to the kids in the way you relate to your television to your time to your schedule to disappointments to unexpected she'd have to say there's no explanation for the man I live with. But that God by the Holy Spirit is producing larger more luscious fruit of the Spirit. Could your wife stand up and say that this morning in the presence of God? If not, why not?

45:12 You've had your minor. You've sat under the ministry under which others have flourished. There are wives here anxious to say Pastor I'd be one of them. Others of you saying in your heart Pastor please don't look at me and ask me.

45:28 The cat would be out of the bag. Everybody thinks my husband's Mr. Joe Spiritual. I and my kids know what he really is.

45:37 What about you wives? Turnabout's fair play. I picked on the husbands first, didn't I? I think I should get a little medal for that.

45:45 I picked on the husbands first. I'm going to pick on you wives. Could your husbands stand this morning and say in the solemn presence of the God? In the presence of the God who knows all.

46:00 No explanation for what I've seen in my home for the past year. But that God the Holy Spirit lives in my wife and is producing the fruit of the Spirit. Why don't you go home and ask her? Why don't you go home and ask him?

46:21 Brethren, I'm not here just earning my salary. My son's father died this morning. And the Lord tarries word is going to go out someday. Have you heard?

46:36 He's gone. I'm going. We bought our grave plots a few weeks ago. Sobering thing.

46:50 The shadow of death is over me this morning. A wife lying in bed. The ongoing battle with that wretched disease that I hate. Do you believe Jesus?

47:14 Jesus, full of grace when he deals with his true servants. He's taken away from him. Cast him into outer darkness. I could hold out no such thing as a totally unproductive non-fruit bearing Christian.

The Returning King's Judgment on His Enemies

47:39 Then I hastened for just a few moments to deal with that second group of people. You remember, I trust, when I sought to expound the passage, I said that when the nobleman left the country, servants and apparently he was not too far on his way to the imperial seat where his rightful claim to be king back in that area a delegation came from that area where he had rightful claims to be king presenting their appeal to the monarch wherever he was and this would have been something these people would have understood under roman rule it happened right in that time frame in which

48:24 the lord spoke and right in that area of jericho and the delegation said we will not to have this man rule over us we've heard he's going into the far country to have his claim to govern us validated by the imperial seat we want you to know we object to him coming back a duly bonafide king to govern us and then they pass off the scene then he returns the the the text says having received the kingdom and there is much said about what he will do with his

49:03 servants all the way from verses 16 down through verse 26 but then the passage closes with the king saying these words but these my enemies that would not that i should reign over them bring the them here and slay them before me and the way i've tried to capture this final strand of truth the abiding message of this parable is with these words

49:48 the parable announces in graphic even shocking language what jesus the returning king will do to all who will not submit to him the parable announces in graphic even shocking language what jesus the returning king will do do all who hate him and will not submit remember their relationship to the normal men

50:31 they were his legitimate subjects burst release obesity using this hated him. I'm sorry. Verse 14, his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him. They were his citizens. In other words, they were those over whom he had a right to rule. He was no imposter.

50:55 He was their rightful ruler. He went off to have his right to rule there validated by the imperial seat. They no sooner become aware of it, but they say, though we are his citizens and he claims a right to rule over us, we do not consent to his rule. We will not have him rule over us. He obviously

51:23 becomes aware of this and upon his return, having dealt with the servants, he then says, I regard them my enemies. Verse 14, says his citizens hated him. Upon his return, he says, but these my enemies, citizens who are my enemies. And then he mandates that they should be brought to him and be slain in his very presence.

51:55 New Greek students will notice that the standard word for slaughter when you'd slaughter an animal for sacrifice is svazo. This is kata. Svazo. The preposition intensifying, bring them here and utterly slay them down before me. I say,

52:17 it's graphic, even brutal language. The same Jesus, full of grace, calls his slaves in grace, entrusts mina to them, calls them at his return and said, faithful and little, I entrust you with much. And as I reflected upon, this, the words of Paul in Romans came to me so vividly. Behold the goodness and the severity of God. And if the true and living God is revealed in Jesus Christ, in Christ supremely, we behold

52:58 the goodness and the severity of God. Here is the severity of God. God in Christ saying, my enemies, that I should not rule. Over them, bring them hither. Their relationship to the nobleman, they were his legitimate subjects.

53:22 Their internal disposition, they hated him. The external manifestation, they refused his rule.

The Carnal Mind's Enmity and the Call to Submission

53:31 And that's the picture God gives of every man by nature. Romans 8 in verse 7, the carnal mind, the mindset, the prevailing disposition of the heart by nature in every man, woman, boy or girl, the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can it be. When my kids used to say, Daddy, can I go outside and play? I'd say,

54:03 well, your legs look functional. I think you can. And they'd start out, did I say, where are you going? I'm going out. I said, why? You gave me permission. I said, no, I didn't. What do you

54:14 mean? I asked you, can I go outside? I said, no, I didn't. I said, no, I didn't. I said, no, I didn't.

54:16 I said, yeah, that's what you did. You asked me whether you had ability. You didn't ask for me. Oh, Dad, you know what I mean? And I've got a married daughter listening to me this morning,

54:25 and she'll remember that. I'm sure she's smiling as she's home with my wife listening.

54:30 You know what I meant. What did you mean? May I? I said, oh, good. Now you'll get good theology

54:35 when you know the difference between can and may. Romans 8, 7 says, neither indeed can it be. That disposition of a clenched fist to the rightful reign of Christ, it's impossible. It's impossible morally to change it with just the stuff we have by nature.

54:55 Blessed be God, there's one who can and who does change it. But these, it was not changed in them. And the fundamental call, you see, of the gospel is to deal with that clenched fist. If any man will to come after me, let him say no to himself. That is the center of life must change

55:18 from living to do my thing. From living to living to do his thing. If you will not to have him reign over you, the day is coming if you die in that state, when you will exegete in your experience this passage. He'll call you before him. He'll summon the angels to bind you hand and foot,

55:47 to cast you into outer darkness. It's a frightening thing. But I could not be true to the words of my Savior if I omitted them. All sense of reserve or modesty.

56:04 Now, he says to you, by his cross, remember this is the Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. A bunch of people around him, ready to make him an earthly king. That's what they do as he enters Jerusalem. Hosanna, son of David.

56:23 Few days later, put him on a cross. Why? Pilate says, behold, your king. And what do they say?

56:30 We have no king. But Caesar, not this one. We will not have this one to reign over us. That's their language, John 19, 15.

56:43 As dear old Matthew Henry said, he who will not be ruled by the grace of Christ will be ruined by the wrath of Christ.

56:57 I ask you this morning, do you love Christ and his yoke? He says, come to me in all his graciousness. Come to me. All you that labor and are heavy laden, thy will give you rest.

57:15 Take my yoke upon you.

57:21 We take, we get rid of the wretched yoke of will and termination. We want to do our thing in our way, by our standard, to our ends. And Jesus said, that's a horrible galling yoke under which you live. It galls now.

57:44 And it will gall forever.

57:48 Come to me. I'll take that wretched, galling yoke off you. And you'll come under my yoke, which is what? Easy.

58:01 And my burden, which is light. We begin to live for the very purpose for which we were made. To commune with the living God. To know the exquisite joy of living for the purpose for which God made us.

58:17 And give. And give us breath. What blessed liberty to be under Christ's yoke. That if you will not, one day he'll say, bring them here.

The Wrath of the Lamb and the Invitation to Christ's Yoke

58:34 Slay them before me. Sobering things. Sobering things. That's why in Revelation chapter 6, we read that a day is coming when people who would not come under the yoke of Christ will pray that they be crushed by mountains.

58:54 It says they will cry to the rocks and to the hills. Those fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sits upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. What a conjunction of words. Whoever thinks of being afraid of a lamb.

59:16 If it said the wrath of the lion of the tribe of Judah, then we could relate to it. But it will be the wrath of the Lamb. And that will add to your agony. That it's the Lamb who came to you in gospel appeal and promise and proclamation.

59:37 And said, behold me, I'm the Lamb. I died for sinners like you. Come to me. Take my yoke.

59:47 Learn of me. And you've said, no, I would not have him reign over me. You'll see his wrath.

59:56 And you'll pray for rocks and mountains to crush you.

60:01 May God grant that today. You'd say, oh God, enough of this stupidity.

60:08 No longer will I resist the gracious invitations of one who in this very setting is determined to go to Jerusalem. And take buffeting and spittle and nails in his hands. Because it's the only way hell deserving sinners like me could be saved. Lord Jesus, enough of this stupidity.

60:35 Enough of seeking to do my own thing. Lord Jesus, I throw myself upon you in the joyful abandonment of faith.

60:46 Then you'll know what it is by his grace to experience his easy yoke and his light burden. May God write upon our hearts these vital lessons as we anticipate that coming day. When his true servants will see his smile. And according to their productiveness, by his grace, be commended.

61:12 But all those who were utterly unproductive will be unmasked. Whatever they seem to have will be taken from them. And the infallible Christ will identify them for who they are. And cast them into outer darkness.

Concluding Prayer: Seeking God's Grace for Fruitfulness and Submission

61:30 May you not be among their number. Let's pray. Our Father, as we do, behold your goodness. And your severity mirrored in the person and work of the Lord Jesus.

61:49 We confess with shame that we have altogether two trivial thoughts of you. Forgive us, we pray. Write the principles of this passage upon all of our hearts. And Lord, we do ask that your servant may not have labored in vain.

62:11 To see boys and girls and young people. And men and women. Lay hold of Christ this day in this place. Help your dear people.

62:22 That they will be encouraged in the knowledge. That every faithful exercise of the stewardship of your gifts. Comes under your sight. And will receive your commendation.

62:38 May we, by your grace. So labor. That the frowns of men will mean little to us. That we may say with the Apostle Paul, it's a very little thing for me.

62:51 If I be judged of you or of man's judgment. He that judges me is the Lord. Oh Lord Jesus. We've asked for greater measures of a single eye.

63:03 To please you. And to receive your commendation in that day. Seal your word. Dismiss us with your blessing.

63:13 We ask for your name's sake. Amen.