OCCUPY TILL JESUS COMES – PART ONE

Hello friends, I welcome you to today’s broadcast. And I believe you have been enjoying these messages which are uplifting and impactful. May the LORD continue to help you grow in the LORD; and be close to HIM this year…in The Mighty Name of JESUS CHRIST. Amen!

Our message today is titled: Occupy Till JESUS Comes.

OCCUPY TILL JESUS COMES

And we will be looking at Luke 19:11-13

Luke 19:11-13

¹¹ Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. ¹² Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. ¹³ So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’

Let us pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly FATHER, The FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, we thank YOU for this great opportunity to listen to YOUR Word. We know that the entrance of YOUR Word gives light. And I pray, O GOD, that YOU would give light to YOUR People who are listening to this message at this point in time. Grant that The HOLY SPIRIT will use YOUR Word to sanctify them and to heal them and to bring them unto YOURSELF…in JESUS Mighty Name I pray. Amen!

Occupy Till JESUS Comes

To occupy is to take hold of territory. Occupiers don’t become like the land they occupy; instead occupiers strive to mold the land they occupy into the image of their mother country. Let us bear in mind the last observation: Occupiers strive to mold the land they occupy into the image of their mother country.

As we consider this topic which is taken from Luke 19:11-13…this parable is similar to the parable in Matthew 25:14-30, yet a little bit difference from it. In The Gospel According to Luke the Servants received the same amount of financial resources and different rewards. But in the account in The Gospel According to Matthew, they received different amounts of resources according to their abilities, but the same rewards for their returns were in proportions to their varying abilities. In Luke 19:13 the nobleman gave gifts and also a command to all his servants. None was exempted. None: no servant was exempted. The command is, “Do business till l come.” (NKJV). “Occupy till I come.” “Occupy till JESUS comes.”

Those Master commands to occupy must be occupied for the Master. And what does it mean to be occupied? Let me cite an example. Those of us who are conversant with restrooms in airplanes, you see the sign, “Occupied” whenever someone is inside there. when nobody is actively engaged in them they read vacant.

Christian, are you occupied for the Master or vacant; Are you busy or idle? Those

who are vacant are marked by idle chatter, gossips, lustful daydreaming, sometimes self-pity and prayerlessness, to mention a few. One servant of GOD warns Christians whom the Master has commanded to occupy till HE comes:

“Beware of an idle, talking, gossiping, sentimental, do-nothing religion.”

From the command in (Luke 19:13), we will find two important ways we should

be occupied.

Two important ways we should be occupied. We will consider one of them today, and in the next broadcast we will consider the second one.

1. We Should Be Occupied Practically.

We should be occupied practically. The master of the servants gave them something to do, and said to them, Occupy or do business for me. Notice that he provided them resources to do the business. The King James Version says he provided them Pounds. The New King James Version says, he provided them Minas – he provided them money: capital, for the business they were to do. A Mina was worth about three months’ salary.

The LORD JESUS CHRIST commands us to occupy till HE returns; HE

commands us to do business for HIM till HE comes back and expects us to

be occupied, not to remain vacant or idle. It will be unlike HIM not to provide us the resources we need. GOD never sends a man or woman without equipping him or her. In 1 Corinthians 9:7 the question is: “Who ever goes to war at his own expense?”

one writer, Hudson Taylor, founder of China Inland Mission said:

“People say, ‘Lord increase our faith’ Did not our Lord rebuke His disciples

for that prayer? It is not great faith you need, He said in effect, but faith in a

great GOD. We need a faith that rests on a great GOD, and expects HIM to

keep HIS own word and to do just as HE has promised.

“GOD’s work done in GOD’s way will never lack GOD’s supply.” We are witnesses to this! And we can testify that for several years we have been serving The LORD HE has never failed us in making provisions for the things of GOD. The LORD has promised to provide us with all we need for the Gospel. HE has used people and circumstances to do so. And we are witnesses to this, and HE will do it for any other person.

II. Let us look at the provisions for servants to occupy till the Master comes.

The provision for the servants to occupy till the Master comes.

a. Opportunity or time

How often does the LORD bring people who do not know HIM our way and we miss the opportunity to introduce them to CHRIST. The reason is that we do not live in the consciousness of CHRIST as fully as we ought to. The Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian believers in (1 Corinthians 2:2): “For l

determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him

crucified.”

HE has provided us with opportunity and time. And we must learn to make use of these opportunities and time HE has provided for us.

b. HE has provided us with Influence.

Influence! Every Christian has a sphere of influence; some may have a wider sphere of influence, and of course the Bible says, to whom much is given, much is expected or required. What do you do with the sphere of influence the Master has given you? Do you influence those in your sphere to hate or to love; to help or to hinder; to build or to tear down; to unite or to divide. Do you influence them for CHRIST or against CHRIST? You meet a Christian brother or sister you have not offended in any way and he or she is avoiding and resenting. An enemy of CHRIST has used his/her influence to sow the seed of hatred. What do you do with your pound of influence, sister, what do you do with your pound of influence brother? You are in a place where you can influence people for CHRIST. What are you doing with them?

c. The third one is money. The third provision is Money.

The Master gives us a measure of affluence to do business for HIM. The

issue of money is a source of sorrow for many Christians. Money, either by

way of benevolence or bills, is one of the things it takes to win people for

CHRIST and to disciple them.

Some senior bureaucrats from Southern Africa went to The United States for a short program. And it was suggested to their Pastor to organize an evangelistic program in a hotel for the bureaucrats and volunteered to

foot the bill. The program was well received, and one them, a lady who

accepted CHRIST at the program died shortly after she got home.

They made use of the resources provided. You can imagine that that without that program the sister would have died without knowing CHRIST.

d. Number four provision is Spiritual Resources: Spiritual Resource in terms of Prayer and Power. Prayer and power. GOD does nothing except in answer to prayer for the HOLY SPIRIT, the Executive of GOD to do work.

What are you doing with this resource: the spiritual resource in prayer? Is your voice being heard in heaven for GOD to act? Are you occupied in bringing this spiritual resource of prayer and power to the work of the kingdom?

This is where we will stop today. Next time we will be taking the second part of this topic. And it is my prayer and desire that we will heed our Master’s command: Occupy Till HE comes.

Hello friends, as you consider this topic may the LORD help you to have a change of mind; and may the LORD help you to have a rethink. Occupy till the Master comes. Occupy effectively.

Let us pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly FATHER the FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, may the entrance of YOUR Word challenge your people to occupy till YOU come. Rescue us from idleness; and rescue us from doing the wrong thing. Rescue us from not being watchful so that YOU will not come and meet us in a time when we are not ready…in JESUS Mighty Name I pray. Amen!

I remain your brother Pastor Amara Uwaeziozi