Luke 19:12-27 Three groups of believers
12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called ten servants of his, and gave them ten pounds, and said unto them, Trade ye herewith till I come. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent an ambassage after him, saying, We will not that this man reign over us.
This story is cut short, in the other gospels it describes beating and killing the servants. The idea is that Luke is written to those that are raptured at the beginning of the age. You will see the beginning of this hatred, but not the full bloom. Mark is written to those who are raptured in the middle of the tribulation and there you will see the more extreme version of this story. Consider this quote for a little more context on “the citizens hating Him”. From George Orwell’s 1984: “Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party. On the contrary, they adored the Party and everything connected with it… All their ferocity was turned outwards, against the enemies of the State, against foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals. It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children.” We aren’t there yet, but we do hear about “The enemies of the state”, and “traitors, saboteurs, and thought criminals”. Recently Biden and Facebook have both encouraged people to turn in their neighbors and family members. It is not hard for us to imagine them becoming ferocious. Again there is a progression from fearing to speak for the Lord lest they put you out of the synagogue to the time will come when whoever kills you will think they are offering service to God.
15 And it came to pass, when he was come back again, having received the kingdom, that he commanded these servants, unto whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading. 16 And the first came before him, saying, Lord, thy pound hath made ten pounds more. 17 And he said unto him, Well done, thou good servant: because thou wast found faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 18 And the second came, saying, Thy pound, Lord, hath made five pounds. 19 And he said unto him also, Be thou also over five cities.
I think it is easy enough to understand that the ten pounds represents the gifts that the Lord has given. Some are more gifted than others. The one with 10 talents or 5 talents used those gifts for the glory of God. When the Lord returns at the end of the age they will have a powerful testimony of God’s grace and power. However, they were trading on the Lord’s gifts at a time when other citizens were in full rebellion against Him. This account is quite different than Matthew. In Matthew the distribution of the gifts is according to their ability whereas here everyone gets the same gift. The emphasis here is that we have all received the same like precious faith. In 2 Corinthians 10 we learn that as our faith grows Paul is able to glory in that since it was his labor in the word that reached to us. So if I get help from Gill God will reward him, likewise with Chuck Missler, Pastor Sandy, and all the rest. We gain by trading. This is a key process. I pick up something that one brother or sister shared, this causes me to get more light in the word and to then see something else.
20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I kept laid up in a napkin: 21 for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that which thou layedst not down, and reapest that which thou didst not sow.
This man is not a thief, he didn’t try to steal the talent. He also is not a liar, doesn’t pretend that someone stole it or give some story to explain why there is no interest. On the other hand he doesn’t want to be put out of the synagogue. He is “humpty dumpty”, he is attempting to hedge his bets. We have Christians who are "Jesus freaks" preaching the gospel (like Noah), we have others who are nominal Christians but in reality are in the apostasy (like the Concision), and then we have a third group which are the passive, let's not make waves, Christians (like Lot).
22 He saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I am an austere man, taking up that which I laid not down, and reaping that which I did not sow; 23 then wherefore gavest thou not my money into the bank, and I at my coming should have required it with interest?
If you are going to invest you have three options. You can start your own business like Bill Gates did, or you can invest in the stock market like Warren Buffet did, or you can simply put the money in the bank. All three are valid options. If you are a ten talented person I think the best option is to start your own business. If you are a five talented person I think the best option is to invest in businesses that others start. If you are a one talented person the best option may be to put the money in the bank. But, if you are the Lord Jesus, your best option is to invest in everything. During this age the Lord has invested in all of us, when He returns that is when He will settle accounts. During an outbreak of “cancel culture” being silent is equivalent to being wicked. He claims to fear the Lord and yet acted in a way that showed He didn’t fear the Lord. There are things that are happening today that you have no option to be silent. When I saw that DeBlasio was going to mandate the vaccine I publicly resigned and in my resignation letter I made it very clear that this was the strongest stance I could take against vaccine mandates. You cannot sit by quietly while they inject this poison into the kids.
24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take away from him the pound, and give it unto him that hath the ten pounds. 25 And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds. 26 I say unto you, that unto every one that hath shall be given; but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away from him.
This is the secret. Do you think Jobs and Wozniack knew how big Apple would become when they started in the garage? What they knew was that they had something. They invested in what they had and it continued to grow bigger. Do you know why Microsoft became a giant? They bought an operating system from a company that didn’t know what they had and then promised to sell an operating system to IBM based on what they bought. It is a prime example of someone thinking they didn’t have anything and selling what they did have. When you think your little experience or little word or little vision is too small and insignificant you aren’t being humble, you are being wicked. You are insulting the Lord who gave that to you. When you see some little garage operation grow into Google, or Amazon.com or Apple you are seeing the glory and power of God.
27 But these mine enemies, that would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
Right now on the internet there is this huge debate about premillennial rapture, post millennial rapture, etc. Look, the Lord here is dividing the believers into three groups. Those that start ministries, those that invest in ministries, and those that hide what they have been given. If you are actively involved in ministry whether as the minister or someone contributing to that ministry you have a very good chance to get a “well done” at the Lord’s return. If you have been hiding what the Lord has given you will likely get a rebuke as a wicked servant. You aren’t an enemy, you aren’t going to be slain, but there will be no reward for you when the Lord returns. Since we have these three groups why would they all be raptured together? I would compare the pre millennial rapture to Gideon’s army which only had 300. They go up to heaven and kick Satan out. Throughout the Bible we see that God’s people are not all lumped into the same category and do not all receive the same judgement.
