The Cross and Crowns Ministry Nairobi

Being COMMENDED by their master, the faithful servants in the two parables received the prize and the crown, the inheritance−Matt. 25:21, 23; Lk. 19:17, 19.

Christ gives SEVEN promises that constitute the COMPLETE COMMENDATION for believers found faithful at the JSOC-Rev. 2-3! If we take this to the two parables under study, we might as well draw the conclusion that this is exactly what each of the faithful servants received from their master!

As with the individual presentation of the servants so with the master’s commendation and/or condemnation of EACH individual servant! There was/is NO corporate commendation/condemnation−Matt. 25:21, 23, 26; Lk. 19:17, 19, 22.

The commendation that the master gives the profitable servants is REGAL in nature!

God created Man to ‘have dominion’ i.e., to rule over the earth as a replacement for Satan. This is the focus of the parables under study i.e., the servants who are trading with their talents/minas and thus making profit will be identified as good and faithful at the JSOC and will be made co-rulers with Christ.

God is presently ACTIVELY searching for individual believers who will serve as co-regents of Christ in the soon-coming Kingdom!

Believers who presently co-operate with the Lord are positionally sons of God and the day is coming when they will experientially be made co-regents in Christ’s coming kingdom.

In the Parable of the Talents, three servants are in view and the two who gained present themselves before their master FIRST. In the Parable of the Minas, ten servants are in view, each of whom received a mina, but only three come before their master and the two who gained present themselves before their master FIRST.

God is a God of order and therefore the manner in which the servants appear before Him is NOT random! By allowing the faithful ones to appear before Him FIRST, it is safe for us to conclude that God is revealing what His desire, His will, His goal, His focus is i.e., FAITHFULNESS on our part!

Having heard from the servants who had made gains with his goods, the master commended them!

The Lord has redeemed us with a view to ruling with Christ in His Coming Kingdom (PURPOSE) and towards this end, He has supplied the Word of the Kingdom to trade with (RESPONSIBILITY) and when He returns, He will call us to His judgment seat (ACCOUNTABILITY) to establish who among us will participate in His Coming rule.

Before believers are called to account, resurrection/rapture MUST first take place−1 Thess. 4:15-17.

Although the resurrection/rapture is a corporateexperience and we will find ourselves among a great throng of Christians in that moment, our appearance at Christ’s Judgment Seat is anything but corporate−2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:12.

We will be called INDIVIDUALLY into Christ’s Presence.

We will be called PERSONALLY before Him according to the order that He has established. We will stand before Him ALONE, and He will deal with each of us ALONE, completely separate from anyone else.

Hearing that bread was available in Bethlehem, Naomi began a return journey. She was joined by her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth.

Being in the company of Naomi, Orpah and Ruth represent believers instructed in the Word of the Kingdom which is inferred by the marriage conversation.

The PURPOSE before Orpah and Ruth was to find REST, each in the house of her husband! The RESPONSIBILITY before them was to make the journey to Bethlehem under the instruction of Naomi! With the passage of time, each of them would be held ACCOUNTABLE!

Like the servants in both the Parables of the Talents and Minas, Orpah and Ruth had each been given talents/minas. They had heard the master’s instruction to do business with them in full anticipation of his return. Although Orpah went back to her people and gods, she would not be absolved from ACCOUNTABILITY, otherwise God would be impartial contrary to His Word! Contextually, Ruth typifies the servants who did business with their talents.

What Ruth DID with the instructions given by both Naomi and Ruth would be the basis of settling accounts and this alone would determine if Boaz would grant her the request to take her under his wing or not−Ru 3:11 .

The theme on PURPOSE, RESPONSIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY is the context within which the master of theservants returned after a long time i.e., he had delivered his goods to them, gave them an instruction on what to do and now it was time to evaluate them.

At the master’s return, only one thing was uppermost in his mind i.e., settling accounts with each of the servant−Matt. 25:19.

Settling accounts was about what profit/gain each servant had earned as a result of doing business with the talents/minas during the master’s absence.

The Lord gives us His goods, the Word of the Kingdom, with the expectation that we will choose to obey Him (RESPONSIBILITY) and as we do so, we are weaving our wedding garments which will cause us to receive the salvation of our souls, the goal (PURPOSE) of our faith when He will hold us ACCOUNTABLE at the JSOC−1 Pet. 1:9

Matt. 25:19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

After the man/certain nobleman gave his servants an instruction to trade/do business with their talents/minas he went on a journey to receive a kingdom and return.

During the master’s absence, the servants were to be actively involved in executing the master’s instruction anticipated his return.

At his return, the master had only one mission i.e., to settle accounts with his servants.

RESPONSIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY exist within thecontext of PURPOSE! This means that individuals are held ACCOUNTABLE in a given RESPONSIBILITY to determine their suitability to fulfill a given PURPOSE. Responsibility and Accountability, as with Sowing and Reaping, are separated by TIME−Eccl. 3:1-2.

a. The two servants who did nothing with their talent/mina DID NOT give the more earnest heed to the things they heard.

b. The two servants hardened their hearts, disobeyed their master’s instruction and walked in unbelief.

c. The Lord DID NOT permit the two servants to go on to maturity.

d. The two servants who did nothing with their talent/mina came into mature knowledge, but fall away from it.

e. The two servants who DID NOT trade/do businesswith their talent/mina despised their birthright.

The Lord admonishes us not to be looking back lest we are disqualified from entering the kingdom−Lk. 9:62.

The two servants who did nothing with their talent/mina, as with the rest of the servants, heard the instruction of their master−Lk. 19:13.

They made a CHOICE to either ignore, reject and/or disobey this command/instruction.

They ere deceived by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in a similar fashion like the woman−Gen. 3:13.

They servants knew the right thing to do, (trade/do business), but did not do it−Jas. 4:17.

This understanding emphasizes the necessity for us to do TWO inter-related things; HEARING correctly and HEARING consistently! This is our safeguard against deception which none of us is immune to!

Hearing correctly is hearing the Word of the Kingdom by studying it in the manner God has given it-Lk. 8:18a; Rev. 3:3.

Hearing consistently is hearing the Word of the Kingdom for the entire of our lifetime because the race of the faith is a marathon and not a sprint-Heb. 3:6, 14: 6:11-12; 1 Pet. 3:13.

The nation of Israel was redeemed from Egyptian oppression with a view to being taken into the land of promise where they would realize their inheritance, being made the head over the nations, based on their CHOICE to walk in faithful obedience to the Lord’s Word−Ex. 19:5-6.

However, they did not believe the Lord, rebelled against and tested Him−Ps. 78:17-22.

Following this attitude that continued through the first advent of Christ, the kingdom of the heavens was taken from Israel and would be offered to the Church.

The three kinds of believers who bore no fruit in the Parable of the Sower are believers who have hidden their talent in the ground and/or kept their mina put away in a handkerchief. They have NOT traded, NOT done business and ultimately have NOT gained!