OCCUPY TILL JESUS COMES – PART TWO

OCCUPY TILL JESUS COMES – PART TWO

 

Hello friends! Once again I am pleased to be with you on air. I am bringing you the Word of GOD today. We thank GOD that the Word of GOD has continued to make impart in our lives.

We will continue with the topic of Occupy Till JESUS Comes.

OCCUPY TILL JESUS COMES

We will be reading from 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.’

13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

This is in King James Version – Luke 19:11-13

Occupy Till I Come

Let us Pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly FATHER The FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST we continue to bless YOUR Name; we continue to give YOU all the glory. We know we live for YOU. YOU created us, and YOUR plan and instruction is that we should occupy till YOU come.

We pray, O GOD our FATHER, that today’s Word will make impart in the lives of my readers to the glory of YOUR holy Name…in JESUS Mighty Name I pray. AMEN!

Occupy till JESUS comes. Friends, I want to remind you of what we said last time that, to occupy is to take hold of a territory. And we did say that 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. It’s one of the things we said last time. And bear in mind that occupiers strive to mold the land they occupy into the image of their mother country. And that’s what happened to Nigeria: to us in Nigeria when Britain occupied us. We became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. And that’s why we dress the way they dress at times.

Recall that we said that we should be occupied practically. We should be occupied practically. And we did say that the Master of the servants gave them something to do to, and gave them instruction, Occupy or do business for me. The business is for The LORD. It is not our business neither is it your business – it is the business of The LORD.

Some of us are going about the Kingdom Business as if it is ours and it is only for our belly; but it is for The LORD. Work till HE comes.

And we did remind ourselves of what is written in 1 Corinthians 9:7, that

Who ever goes to war at his own expense? In other words we came to a point to note that GOD has provided us the resources required for us to occupy: the provisions for occupying. GOD has provided them.

Let me remind you of what we said as the provisions:

  1. Number one was opportunity or time – that GOD creates opportunities. GOD creates times for us to occupy in soul winning in occupying for The Master. And like Apostle Paul we should be determined to know anything among people except JESUS CHRIST and HIM crucified. We should be focused.
  2. We did say that everyone of us has a measure of influence. Every Christian, every child of GOD, has a sphere of influence. We recognize that some people may have more influence than others but you have an area. You have an area: something you are occupying where you should be influential. And we did ask a question: Do you influence those in your sphere to hate or to love or to help or to hinder or to build or to tear down? Are you influencing them to unite or to divide? Do you influence them for CHRIST or against CHRIST?
  3. Remember that we said also that another provision GOD has made is money. The Master has given us a measure of affluence to do business for HIM. What are you doing with the resources GOD has given you? Are you using your money to influence the Gospel? Or are you part of those who keep arguing whether it is right to give to the church, to tithe and all that? The issue is that we have been given resources – money – to occupy for The Master.
  4. Recall also that we said that you have spiritual: prayer and power. If any one of us can pray then that is a resource with which you can occupy till the Master comes.

Today we will be looking at, the issue of occupying for The Master expectantly.

The Master expects us to occupy for HIM expectantly because HE said to the servants; “‘Do business till I come.’ That’s The New King James Version. And The King James Version says, Occupy till I come. That phrase”…till I come,” indicates that HE was going away and would be back. As the servants did business for their master, they did so with expectancy. They expected the return of the master some day.

The Lord JESUS CHRIST who has commanded us to occupy and thus be occupied, will return some day. The certainty of HIS return is there. HE said, “Till I Come”. That’s not subject to any argument. The certainty of the return of our LORD JESUS CHRIST can also be found in this passage. HE has received for HIMSELF a Kingdom and will be back any time from now. The realization of this fact should be a source of comfort, not consternation for us.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, and let me read what The LORD said,

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Some Christians behave as if they have the last word in the things that pertain to life and godliness. They forget that The LORD says, that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Believers who are occupied for The Master; believers who do business for HIM must do so expectantly, by living a holy life.

1 John 3:1-3: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him 2 Beloved now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Purity of heart, inward holiness, is an important prerequisite for all who would be occupied for the Master. Some Christians place so much emphasis on external holiness, which many a time is nothing but self-righteousness. GOD judges how holy a person is based on what HE sees in the heart which flows out as the righteousness that people see.

The Lord says in (Matthew. 15:19, 20): “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies 20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man” “Unwashed hands,” an element of external holiness.

We also will be reading in Matthew 5:8: “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.”

In Hebrews 12:14 the Bible says: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:”

As we are occupied for the Master, let us examine the state of our hearts, what we are where no one sees us. It’s important. The sins of the heart are the most dangerous because we are comfortable with them because we are sure we can never be caught. But the Lord examines the heart everyday. Everyday The LORD examines the heart.

In 1 Samuel 16:7 God said to Samuel at house Jesse the father of David, the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

In Acts 1:24 the bible says: “And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen…”

The state of the heart is God’s primary consideration in choosing those who would serve Him.

It is a key. In our ministry the bible tells us if any man purges himself of these things he becomes a vessel that is useful to The Master, available for The Master to use. Purity of heart is a key for effective use by GOD.

Let me begin to conclude.

CONCLUSION

How occupied are you for The Master; What is occupying you presently? The Master has provided all of us what is required to keep us occupied till HE returns. HIS return is imminent: any time HE can come. There is no such thing as standing still in the Christian life. We either get more or lose what we have. We either advance to greater heights or slip backward. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT). (Luke 19:24-26). It’s what the bible tells us.

So I want to plead with the people of GOD, Occupy Till HE Comes.

 

Let us pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly FATHER the FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOU have given us a command. And we do not have options than to obey YOU. We pray, O GOD, that out Helper The HOLY SPIRIT will help YOUR people to occupy till YOU come. There’s so much to be done. There’s so much ground to be won, so much people to reach. Help YOUR people to occupy till YOU come…in JESUS Mighty Name I pray. Amen!

I remain your servant, Pastor Amara Uwaeziozi.  

 

 

Comment(1)

  1. Reply
    Miri Alpha Ndam says:

    You are a blessing to this generation,I like your message sir.May he increase you in every aspect of life bin Jesus name Amen

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