SUNDAY SERMON
Topic:: TILL HE COMES
Text: Luke 19:13KJV
13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
Our Lord and Saviour went on a journey to prepare us a kingdom and he commanded us to stand for him till he comes.
From our scriptural text above, talents were given to ten servants to get busy, get occupied and to stand in till their master returns likewise every child of God who have been redeemed and purchased by the blood, who wait earnestly for the coming of the Lord must occupy till he comes.
But the truth is that many are waiting in idleness, they have gifts and talents deposited in them but they are doing nothing with it, they give excuses for their refusal to get occupied till he comes. Even when in the church they hear the calls to work for God they would say they do not have time as their secular jobs or businesses take the most of their time. Some will says they don’t want embarrassment from any pastor or member and so would just mind their own business; that is, go to church services at will, pay their offerings and tithes and go back home, and nothing more, no further commitment or responsibility as far as the church services is concerned.
Some have excuses of not having talents saying they don’t have voice to sing and so can’t be a chorister, they are not eloquent, not an orator or not well learned and so can’t be a preacher, a teacher or do the work of evangelism, some will say they have phobia and so can’t face crowd. Beloved, from our text above there were ten servants and there were ten talents, meaning each servant got a talent to work with, to serve with and there was no one without something to get occupied with. It means that no one was saved and redeemed without something to serve God with, except you have not taken time to discover what God has deposited in you to serve him.
Beloved, I want to make it clear that you were not saved empty, heaven has deposited much more in you than you can imagine to stand-in till he comes, great treasure are in you to be a blessing for the salvation and edification of the church till he comes except you choose to be idle. Finally, I want you to know that
those talents, gifts and treasures deposited in you are not needed when you get to heaven, but only relevant here on earth to serve and occupy till he comes
And so if you refuse to use them on earth, where will you make use of them?. Think on these thing…
PURPOSE OF THE TALENTS
From our scriptural text above, what actually does he have in mind when he gave talents to those servants to occupy till he comes:
* TO BE RESPONSIBLE: There were every tendency that if the master embarked on that journey without commiting the servants, they would become idle, lazy and irresponsible. Some of them would even stray away and get lost in the world. And as it is often said that
“An idle hand is the devil’s workshop”.
So to avoid all that and make them responsible servants he gave them talents to occupy till he would return. Likewise, God deposited something in everyone of us to make us responsible.
But it’s quite amazing that a lot are not responsible in the house of God or to God’s service, a lot are idle and lazy when it comes to the matters of the kingdom, they have no interest in spiritual things other than their salvation. Beloved, you were saved to serve, you were redeemed to be his ambassador and representative and so you must be responsible
* TO DO BUSINESS: The talents were not given to them to feed and sustain themselves but rather to trade with them according to Luke 19:15
“And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading”.
Of course the servants had needs but the master knew how their needs would be met. Whatever talents and gifts God desposited in you is primarily to do his kingdom business and not to make ends meet. Of course you have needs and he knows how your needs will be met, moreso as you trade and do his kingdom business with his talents, gifts and with whatever he has given you capacity to serve with, blessings will certainly follow you because he owes no man anything. Therefore it is wrong if you now prioritize his talents, gifts, skills e.t.c primarily to satisfy your needs and not for his kingdom progress.
Beloved, God is not wasteful and so does not waste his resources, whatever he desposited in you is for you to be occupied in his kingdom business till he comes, to be responsible, not to be idle or lazy and not primarily to satisfy your want.
* TO MAKE PROFIT: Everyone into business is primarily doing so to make profit, no one does business to run at a loss, likewise our God. The servants were given talents to make profit for the kingdom as they do the kingdom business. So every talent, gift, skill, wisdom, knowledge, ability e.t.c that God has deposited in you is to profit his kingdom or let me simplify it by saying it is to the benefit of his kingdom. So don’t be an unprofitable servant who left his talent unused, who hide his talent somewhere till his master came back and condemned him. Beloved, as a point of emphasis, I want to say again that the talents and gifts are deposited in you to prosper his kingdom here on earth and to bless lives, when you leave this earth and get to heaven there would be no use for them, so use them now so that you will be rewarded when he comes and not condemned.
* TO EXPAND HIS KINGDOM: The kingdom of God extends from heaven to the earth, that was why Jesus taught his disciples in the Lord’s prayer saying
“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
The expansion of the kingdom is Paramount in the heart of Jesus. From the parable in our scriptural text, the master left the servants with a KINGDOM gave them talents to trade while he was going on a journey to still prepare himself a KINGDOM (that is expansion). Beloved everything God has deposited in you is to expand his kingdom here on earth and in heaven, so as you use them, you will win more souls into his kingdom, you will turn many from the kingdom of darkness into his kingdom of light and that brings about the expansion of his kingdom on earth and in heaven. Therefore, brethren, occupy till he comes. God bless you
PRAYER:
* Father, make me a profitable servant and use me to expand your kingdom in heaven and on earth in Jesus Name
* Father, help me to be responsible in your kingdom business in Jesus Name.
* Father, help me to occupy till Jesus come in Jesus Name.
