by Rob Pue, All News Pipeline:
As followers of Christ — Jesus, the Son of God, our souls are saved by the blood He shed for us on Calvary, but we remain strangers, foreigners in this world. We must understand, we’re living in a world ruled by Satan, sojourners among the enemies of God, and we’re commanded to “occupy” until Jesus returns.
In Matthew 25 and Luke 19, just prior to Jesus entering Jerusalem, where He knew He would shortly be crucified, He told His disciples the “Parable of the Talents.” In this lesson, Jesus told of a nobleman who gave each of his servants a number of “talents,” each according to his ability. He didn’t assign any of them more than He knew they were capable of handling well. And prior to leaving, the man in the story told his servants to “occupy ‘til I come.” Jesus also explained that the people would hate the nobleman and rebel against him and would be hostile to his servants.
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We all know the story. The first two servants invested their talents and their work of “occupying” bore fruit. But the third man — who had only been given one talent, because the nobleman knew that was all he could handle — buried his, gained nothing for his master and gave a lame excuse when asked to give an account. Most likely, this third man did nothing with the talent he’d been given because of cowardice. He feared the people who hated the nobleman and were hostile to his servants.
Friends, the “nobleman” in this lesson was Jesus. His servants were His disciples — His disciples then, and His disciples now. This is a lesson for all of us who claim the name of Christ today as well. We live in a world that hates Christ and true Christ-followers, yet we’ve been given a command, a duty, marching orders: to use the talents we’ve each been given to serve our King, bring the lost and perishing into His kingdom and occupy until He returns. Sad to say, most who call themselves Christians today will never hear the words, “well done, thy good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord,” but rather, they’ll be called “wicked.”
No, those who truly know Jesus and are known by Him will not be well liked and popular in this world. They’re the enemies of this world — mocked, ridiculed, minimalized, censored, shunned, banned, persecuted, hunted and martyred for His name’s sake. Many want to maintain the illusion of “fire insurance faith,” but are too cowardly to occupy until He returns, and so they will reap what they have sown.
In contrast, we have the words found in Daniel 11: “…the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.”
Our Creator, God, sent His Son into this hostile world to seek and to save that which was lost… to offer life, light and hope. But as we read in John 3, “…light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Our assignment as Christ-followers is to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, snatching souls from the enemy, Satan, impacting the wicked culture of darkness and death and showing the lost the only way back to God. “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).
These are dark days we’re living in, and the darkness is growing ever more ominous. Since the fall of our first parents in the garden, this earth has been a battleground, and a spiritual battle has been raging all around us, though most cannot discern it. Revelation 12:12 tells us, “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” The clock is ticking, and the devil’s time is running out, even as his rage increases minute by minute.
So, if this world seems more hostile, more violent, more sinful, more evil and wicked, it’s because it is. Time is speeding up and running out, leading to a final battle — and that great and terrible Day of the Lord. On that day, you’ll be called to account for your performance in this spiritual battle; for how you’ve invested the talents God’s given you and whether or not you stood your ground, and then, having done all, to stand. How will you fare? Revelation 21:8 tells us, “…the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.”
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