You never appreciate what you have until it is gone
Luke 19:11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
This word for nigh is first used in Matthew 24, when you see the fig tree sprout again you know that summer is nigh. It was also used by Jesus saying "my time is at hand" referring to when He was ready to celebrate the Passover in the upper room. In Mark Jesus said
"So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, G1451 even at the doors." In Hebrews the writers said
"In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready G1451 to vanish away." So there it is translated as "ready". So then the censorship we saw with the vaccine was a confirmation that the Day of the Lord was at hand. Covid19 first was seen in 2019 in China. The armies of the Lord walked around Jericho for seven days. From 2019 to 2026 is seven years. In 2019 we had the first deaths from this bioweapon created in a lab, in 2020 we had the global shutdown, in 2021 we had the vaccine mandates causing many to be fired illegally. So we should all realize that yes, the Lord is about to appear. The earliest that someone would be alerted would have been 2019 and by 2021 everyone who wasn't asleep should have been alerted.
12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
Clearly a reference to the return of Jesus Christ.
13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
We have 12 apostles, so this is not a reference to them. Rather the number ten is like our term "add a few 0's to that". It is a reference to exponential growth. At first you have double digits with the 12 and the others following the Lord, then with the 500 you had three digits, and today we probably have 9 digits. I suspect by the end of the tribulation the Lord will have ten digits of believers when you include all the dead who are also in Christ.
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
The apostasy is also a major sign that the Lord is about to return. Imagine you are this nobleman who is in a far country and you learn that your citizens have decided they don't want you to reign over them? You hear that you are going to return. In the same way the apostate churches that are rejecting the word of God as being infallible, that is going to cause the Lord's soon return.
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.
This is the point of the story. This is why I hate some of the doctrines in Christianity. We have been entrusted with the Lord's word and the Lord's Spirit and we are to trade. We are to share out experiences and hear others experiences and be in fellowship. But I have heard some of these "Once Saved Always Saved" preachers who are so absurd with their condemnation of anything that they can call "works based salvation". Yes, we are saved by grace, it is the gift of God, it is not of us but all of the Lord, but we are saved to then be His servants and to trade with what He has given us. We don't give account of the free gift we received, that was nothing of us, we give account of how much each of us has gained by trading. Now this is intentionally vague. You can understand this to be how many were saved as a result of your preaching. That is fine. It can also be a reference to how many were helped by your prayers, or how many were ministered to by your ministry, or how many were comforted or encouraged, or how many were taught and equipped, etc. Jesus is the King, were you serving according to His command and did your service help build up the kingdom of God?
16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
Our service during the church age is training us to rule and reign over the nations in the next age. If I had never been a teacher in High School I would have no idea about ruling and reigning over schools. I expect it is the same with someone who is a cop, or in the FBI, or a fireman, etc. We all have different jobs, different ministries according to the gifts given to us and if we are faithful with those then we will be accounted ready to rule and reign according to our ability.
18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
In the world they talk about "the Peter principle" meaning people get promoted until they reach the level at which they are no longer competent. In the Kingdom the Lord promotes you based on your competence.
20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: 21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
Who teaches this? What church teaches that Jesus is an austere man that takest up that thou layedst not down? This sounds like this recent teaching about DEI. They teach the reason they are poor is not because they live off of welfare, it is not because they were not serious when they were in school, it isn't because they have a few felonies on their record making it hard to get a job. No, the reason they are poor has nothing to do with their actions at all, it is because they live in a racist society where 160 years ago they had slavery. They buried that talent in the back yard because of "white privilege". When things don't go the way you want you can examine your life and see what you did wrong, or you can simply ignore all of your failings and say that it was due to circumstances beyond your control, the world is biased against you. This doctrine of DEI is very new in the US. We used to say that "equal opportunity" is the desired principle we want. But equal opportunity means that Michael Jordan will be a world famous superstar at basketball and I won't be able to play professional ball. The people who never make it to the pros will greatly outnumber those that do. DEI changes this from "equal opportunity" to "equal outcome". In this doctrine you look at the NBA and say the men on the bench need to be representative of the population. If 10% of the nation is old, fat, white men, then you need at least one old, fat white man on the bench of your NBA team. DEI breathes new life into my dream of playing in the NBA!
22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
This doctrine of DEI comes from a "wicked servant". The Lord says "OK, you know I am an austere man". Yep, simply look at human history, this is how human history has worked. What DEI is saying is this: "God is this way, but He shouldn't be, so we'll just rebel against Him". What the Lord is saying is "You knew I was this way so you should have acted appropriately".
Let's apply this to Christians. It can be very hard to preach the gospel, you can undergo a whole lot of rejection, criticism, mocking, insults, etc. Therefore, you can instead find a more favorable crowd to fellowship with. For example, you can be a Sunday school teacher. Maybe you can't be Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, but you can be someone in his ministry helping to make that TV show. There are all kinds of ministries like soup kitchens, etc. where you can join and help out with.
24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.
Did you get that! This person complaining that "I don't have anything" and "life is not fair" it turns out what they did have will be taken from them. It is the old saying "you never appreciate what you have until it is gone".
