Chapter 8
Do
Our Rewards Hang in the Balance?
We read
the parable Jesus gave about the ten minas in Luke 19:11-27. Notice
that the one who did not do something with the mina he was given
lost it all. Jesus didn’t really say this man lost his salvation
here in this parable. But
this parable cross references to Matthew 25:14-30, where the same
parable is given. Then almost
in the same breath, Jesus gives the parable of the sheep and the
goats, almost as if to emphasize what we are to do with the “mina” or “talent” we’ve been given. Let’s read Matthew 25:14-30, “Again, it will
be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted
his property to them. To one
he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another
one talent, each according to his ability [a talent was worth more
than a thousand dollars]. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went
at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with two talents gained two
more. But the man who had
received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid
his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants
returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought
the other five. ‘Master,’ he
said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See,
I have gained five more.’ His
master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I
will put you in charge of many things. [cf.
Luke 19:11-27, “ten cities”] Come
and share your master’s happiness!’ The
other man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two
talents: see, I have gained two more.’ His
master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I
will put you in charge of many things. [cf.
Luke 19, “five cities”] Come
and share your master’s happiness!’ Then
the man who had received he one talent came. ‘Master,’
he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have
not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent
in the ground. See, here is
what belongs to you.’ His master
replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So
you knew that I harvested where I have not sown and gathered where
I have not scattered seed? Well
then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so
that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take
the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and
he will have an abundance. Whoever
does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into
the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Now we know from Matthew 28:18-20 that our main assignment is to preach
the gospel, both in word and verbally, however we can. But another important part of our preaching
the gospel is being a light to the world, a light in which the gospel
of salvation shines through our actions to a needy world, and those
in need. The talents we are given to develop consist
of walking in the sanctification process and using our spiritual
skills to perform the job assignment Jesus has given all of us to
do—proclaiming
the gospel of salvation! As I have said in the evangelism section, the
gospel walks forward on two legs, the written-verbal proclamation,
and by our examples of light. Matthew
25:31-46 explains how we are to be lights of the gospel, and also
shows the actions of those who
“hide their mina in a napkin; their talent in the ground”. (These two parables are side by side, given
by Jesus one right after the other, so it would appear Jesus is
indicating their themes are connected and related to each other.)
Let’s
read it. Matthew 25:31-46, “When
the Son of Man comes in his
glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in
heavenly glory.”--Where? Jerusalem! Heavenly glory means glowing like the sun!. All the nations will be gathered
before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He
will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. [This is a parable, not all the timing elements
are precise to the actual events, it’s telling the moral of the story. The “sheep” he’s
referring to here, when he actually is seated on his throne, have
already received their reward, and have been made immortal at the
resurrection to immortality. This “sorting” has taken place at the time
of the resurrection, and perhaps now that he’s on his throne, the “goats” are
marshaled in for judgment. Question
is, who are the “goats”?--“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who
are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared
for you since the creation of the world.”—that’s our reward, folks! Spelled out right there by Jesus! Now who does this reward go to, how does he
describe the believers that will inherit the kingdom?—“For I was hungry and you gave
me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you
clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and
you came to visit me.’ Then
the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry
and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When
did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and
clothe you? When did we see
you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The
King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one
of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to
eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger
and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe
me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They
will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger
or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not
do for one of the least of these,”—and “these” probably are the regathered and surviving sheep of humanity flowing
to Jerusalem as Isaiah 2 shows will be occurring—“you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal
punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” And don’t forget,
some of the precious people we’re a “light” to, by our acts of compassion,
are directly drawn to Jesus and become believers themselves, so they
actually do become “his brethren”, as the King James has it. So our acts of kindness and compassion are
to go to this sick and dying world as a beacon of light, the light
of the gospel.
You have read some beautiful and
fantastic prophecies about how we, as resurrected immortal saints,
co-ruling with Jesus, will bring a very compassionate government
of healing, mercy, well-being and justice to a desperate world of
survivors—survivors who are barely clinging to life in the aftermath
of World War III(cf. Rev. 2-3; 5:10). With
these glorious visions of our soon-coming future now more thoroughly
planted in our spiritual minds, what do material blessings count
for against such a glorious future? Jesus advised all of us believers: “Lay not
up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves do not break through and steal: For where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also”
(Matthew 6:19-20). Jesus gave
all believers a job to do until he comes. It
is found in Matthew 28;18-20, where he commanded “Go ye therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them [i.e. those who respond favorably]
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching
them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you…” Jesus
said in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end
come.” The proclaiming of the gospel has two vital
elements, the verbal-written proclaiming, and the living example proclaiming. Jesus
was the living example of the gospel, and of how he and his future government
would rule. He spent his life on earth healing what the
four gospels indicate could have been upwards of half a million people, the blind, the lame, the infirm,
the lepers. As we have already
read, it was a major mark of his ministry on earth, and a sign of his
and our future ministry with him as co-rulers.
So we as believers right now have an awesome duel responsibility set
before us by the Lord. We
have to:
1. Herald
the Good News, the Gospel of Salvation through Jesus to the whole
world (a salvation the coming Millennial Kingdom of God will thoroughly
bring to all surviving inhabitants).
2. We have—as
Christians and Messianic believers in Yeshua—to be constantly and
increasingly demonstrating--in an organized manner--the compassion and healing which will be the hallmark of our future
Millennial Kingdom of God leadership under Jesus Christ. We will be kings and priests in that future
government of God on earth (Revelation 5:10; Rev. 2-3). As we have seen in many prophecies in Isaiah
(Isaiah 35:1-10 for example), our leadership and government will
be known for compassion and healing of the sick, lame, blind, infirm
and poor.
Giving to the Lord by giving to the various works of the Lord which are
fulfilling Matthew 28:18-20 and Matthew 24:14 is investing your
wealth where
“moth and rust doth not corrupt”, it is investing into the Kingdom of
God, the Kingdom of Heaven, which is coming soon to this earth, when
Jesus arrives. For example:
Financially supporting “the JESUS Film Project” and “Gospel for Asia” fulfills
much of the 1st half
of this dual responsibility the Lord has given us. Financially
supporting Samaritan’s Purse—an international Christian care-giving organization
with global outreach capabilities—fulfills much of the 2nd half
of this dual responsibility. I give these three major international organizations
merely as examples. But I have
found each one most fulfills the stated goals Jesus laid out in front
of us in a unified, quality, and international setting.
A
steady weekly-monthly habit of offering-giving to these three international
evangelistic organizations demonstrates just what the future government
of Jesus will be like to this entire world—a government of healing
and compassion—a government that will freely teach all about salvation
through Jesus. Our job, given
to us by Jesus, is to demonstrate these two major facets of this
soon-coming divine government we will be a part of.
In
the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita which brought devastation
and near total destruction of the city of New Orleans, we have a
clear and vivid example of an entire city barely clinging to life,
going four, five days without food or safe drinking water, in sweltering
100 degree heat and humidity—amid the stench and danger of raw sewage
and decaying bodies. Gangs of well-armed looters, armed with pistols
and semi-automatic weapons, roamed the streets disrupting emergency
rescue teams and those trying to bring fresh food and water to the
survivors. We need to be acting
with far greater force in the area of supporting acts of compassion
in situations like the tsunami in S.E. Asia, and now, right in our
own back yard, in New Orleans and our gulf states. We need to consider very seriously giving on a regular monthly-weekly schedule to the above named international evangelistic
organizations—or to other legitimate Christian organizations that
fulfill the same roles. All
three that I’ve mentioned are totally non-denominational and totally
legitimate, above reproach. I
would honestly have to say that if a majority of true born-again
Christians gave only $5 a month to Samaritan’s Purse, the body of
Christ would have made a visible impact on the rescue efforts in
New Orleans that would have been visible and impossible to hide from
TV news camera’s. But such
isn’t the case. Our giving
efforts go mostly to our local congregations, and very little to
non-denominational organizations that truly represent the whole body
of Christ in an honorable and trustworthy manner.
Now
let’s open our eyes to a spiritual reality that is beginning to manifest
itself. What happened in the
our southern gulf states of Mississippi and Louisiana & New Orleans
can and should be taken as an opening warning sign—as observed by
a radio talk-show host—that the Lord has started to withdraw his
protecting hand from our wealthy Judeo-Christian, English speaking
western nations. We all know that some radical type “preachers
and evangelists” will be pointing this out very vocally. While they may be technically correct in coming
to this conclusion, they will not be saying or telling us believers
what we need to be doing about it—drawing closer to God, heralding the gospel of salvation
with ever-increasing volume and intensity, and showing the compassion
of Jesus to this dying world as an active and living example of the
new divine world government he is bringing with him at his return.
Do you realize, when you accepted Jesus, and
were baptized, you became an ambassador of Jesus and the government
of God he’s bringing back with him? We
collectively are a team of ambassadors of Jesus and his soon-coming
government. Could we lose it all by burying our talent,
mina in the ground or a napkin? I honestly don’t know. There are two schools of thought, one that
says,
“once saved, always saved.” The
other says, “no, it you don’t hold on to the end, you’re lost” (based
on Matthew 24:13, and the three parables we just read). When a doctrine is that fuzzy, is it worth
risking it all, thinking “We’ll I’m saved anyway, so my reward will
be small.” With an attitude like that, you may not even
have the Holy Spirit within you. Better
rethink things and examine ourselves as Paul said in 2 Corinthians
13:5. Following are some ideas and how we might be
able to muster collective support that would really get things moving
in the areas I’ve been talking about.
We’re in the last days,
September 11, 2001, Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans are merely
the opening salvo’s of what’s to come. Society
is crumbling. Don’t be the
one to bury your “talent” in the ground, or hide your “mina”
in a napkin, and then find yourself facing your Lord trying to explain
yourself. It won’t be pretty.
The only
thing Jesus asked us to do in return for his free gift of salvation
is that we “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to everyone--and
for those that believe and are baptized, we are instructed to teach
and disciple them into the body of Christ” (paraphrase of Matthew
28:19-20 and Mark 16:15-16). “But
how in the world can I help do that?”, you may be asking yourself. Some
of us may have an opportunity to evangelize to a friend or acquaintance
now and then, “but taking the gospel to the ends of the world, there’s
no way I can do that”, you’re probably thinking. “I know Jesus paid a horrible price for my “free”
salvation, but there’s no way I can take the gospel to the world.” Well, not alone, you can’t, that’s for sure.
Can you spare $5 a week, supporting three major international evangelistic
organizations? (If I can, you can.) Here
a very simple and unique plan for giving is proposed, one that if followed
by a large percentage of Christians, would revolutionize the body of Christ in the field
of evangelism and Christian care-giving (which is a vital part of evangelism
too). Here’s how a lot of people,
each providing a steady but small, almost insignificant amount of money
on a weekly basis can move mountains in causing the gospel of salvation
to be preached worldwide—both by word and living, caring example. I call it the $5.00 a week plan.
A whole
host of quality Christian evangelical and teaching ministries have
sprung up around the world within the past forty years, and a lot
of them are non-denominational or inter-denominational. They
all serve to spread the gospel and help nourish and disciple Christians
around the world. But the
question is, how do we concentrate our giving-power? Here’s the answer, and it’s simple. Below are listed three major non-denominational
international evangelistic organizations that are totally above reproach. If every believer
using this site for spiritual nourishment, stirred by the only major
request Jesus asked in return for his “free gift” of salvation, were
to give a mere $5.00 a week on a rotational
basis to each organization listed below (so each received $5.00 a
month), each organization would receive multiple thousands of dollars
a month. On the fourth week try sending $2.00 to Mission Aviation
Fellowship—and $2.00 a week to http://www.jewsforjesus.org to
help the major Messianic Jewish evangelistic organization. (And if you wish to help support this website,
so it can continue to nourish Christians across denominational lines
online, send $1.00 a month to it.) The
total for this fourth week will equal either $4.00 or $5.00. This adds up to $19 to $20 a month. That’s it. Simple
isn’t it? The key to the plan’s
success is to maintain the habit of sending in the offerings.
These
amounts may seem insignificant but when the hundreds of users of
this site all do the same thing—week by week, month by month—it adds
up to thousands of dollars a month, and hundreds of thousands of
dollars a year! The amounts my seem insignificant to you, but this is a major
way we can be “united” in our giving to cause the gospel to make
a HUGE IMPACT on this
evil world. And when “this
gospel of the kingdom” makes a huge impact on this evil world--it will hasten Jesus Christ’s
2nd coming (cf. Matthew 24:14-15). Just
within the past year (2005)
hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and most of coastal Louisiana,
a killer tsunami hit the southeast Indian Ocean countries, killing
millions of people, a killer 7.2 Richter-scale earthquake hit Pakistan,
killing upwards of 45,000 people and displacing millions, just as
winter is coming on them. Samaritan’s Purse must be getting hard-pressed
to help all of these people in the name of Jesus with so many huge
disasters occurring within one year. Churches
in Borneo that didn’t even exist 30 years ago, because of evangelism
(with the help of the Jesus Film Project as well), have lent aid
in the wake of the killer tsunami within their local region. But these international evangelistic organizations
are basically starved for funds in the wake of recent events, and
these events are only going to increase, as prophecy shows. We must be about our Father’s business. Considering
all this, are you up to $5.00 a week? The three major international evangelistic
organizations that are attempting to blanket the world with the gospel—in
both word and deeds of Christian care—are listed below:
Week one $5.00 donation
1. EVANGELISM: Campus Crusade for Christ International's JESUS
Film Project, at: http://www.jesusfilm.org.
To learn more about this major international evangelistic tool,
click on http://www.unityinchrist.com/evangelism/whyjesus.htm and http://www.unityinchrist.com/evangelism/excerpts_isawjesus.htm . To donate, click on http://www.jesusfilm.org/giving/index.html . Many Christian churches are
being planted around the world as a direct result of their efforts
coupled to the Lord's massive calling of people through the JESUS
film. Their address is THE JESUS FILM PROJECT, PO
BOX 628222, ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32862-9841.
Week two $5.00 donation
2. CHRISTIAN VERSION OF C.A.R.E.: Samaritan's Purse. Online: http://www.samaritanspurse.org ."To learn more about this incredible work of Christian caring and
evangelism log onto their site, email them and ask if they could
send you Franklin Graham's autobiography, which will thoroughly describe
this work of God and how it got started. They
will send it free of charge." To
preview that book, log onto http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/evangelism/samaritan_purse.htm .
Week three $5.00 donation
3. Gospel For Asia: Online: http://www.gfa.org . To read excerpts from K.P. Yohannan's book
about Gospel For Asia, log onto http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/evangelism/worldmission.htm. This
book will be sent to you free of charge by contacting Gospel for
Asia and asking for a copy.
Week four $5.00 donation
4a. Mission Aviation Fellowship, P.O. Box
3202 4b. “Jews
for Jesus” is one of two major international Messianic Jewish evangelistic
organizations. Donations can
be made at: http://www.jewsforjesus.org.
(and should you wish to throw in $1.00 a month
to this site, it would multiply greatly the number of expository
gospel of Christ studies I could put on it each month.)
This is an abbreviated description
of some of the three major international non-denominational evangelistic
organizations and one organization that lends support to all of them,
Mission Aviation Fellowship.
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