Some Reject God’s Authority Over Them

Next Part Not “Once Saved, Always Saved”

Christ spoke a very important parable to the end that Christians would understand the coming reign of the kingdom of God and their responsibility to QUALIFY to be part of it. Take time to read it.

In Luke 19:11-27, Christ compared Himself to a Nobleman who went to a “far country” (depicts returning to heaven for almost 2,000 years) until His Return. The disciples believed that the kingdom of God would “appear immediately” and Christ wanted to illustrate that much time would pass before it did. The “Nobleman” of the parable “called” his “ten servants” (a type of Christians being called out of this world by God) and instructed them to increase the worth of a “pound” (money) He gave to each of them for investment.

The pound symbolized a unit of basic spiritual worth or value. Remember this is a parable, so Christ was not referring to literal money. He told His servants to “Occupy till I come”—or to “grow” the pound into more money. While the Nobleman was gone, it says, speaking of His servants, “But His citizens hated Him, and sent a message after Him, saying, We will not have this man to REIGN over us.” It is important to understand the intent of this statement!

Some brief history is needed to better understand the setting of this parable. Christ was a Jew preaching this parable in the land of Judah. Judah was merely one of twelve tribes in ancient Israel. Ten of those tribes had become lost over 700 years earlier because they had rebelled against Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. They had been taken into captivity by the ancient Assyrians (the modern-day Germans) and had later migrated into North-western Europe.

They became the democratic, primarily English-speaking peoples of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and certain other Western European nations. Also, some of the tribes of Benjamin and Levi remained with the Jews, whose capital was Jerusalem.

When this parable speaks of the Nobleman’s citizens “hating Him” and stating, “We will not have this Man to reign over us,” it is a reference to the Jews, who history records rejected the authority of Christ. This is what John 1:11 means when it states that “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” The “ten servants” (those Christians called today) are a spiritual type of the LOST TEN TRIBES of Israel. Christ sent His disciples (Matt. 10:6) “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). He offered these tribes an opportunity to rule because the Jews rejected His authority over them.

Many do not want Christ telling them what to do. They do not want Him ruling them. They DO want salvation, but with no strings attached.

These “citizens” understood that the Nobleman (Christ) was coming to “reign” on earth. They demonstrated that they wanted no part of this and rejected His government (reign) over them—and thus their future part in it (Luke 19:27). They recognized that the kingdom of God would be a ruling government. Understand! The parable had begun with the Nobleman (Christ) going to heaven to “receive for Himself a kingdom and to return.”

Upon the Nobleman’s return, He called each servant into His presence to give an accounting of how each had increased the pound that he had been given. Christ wanted to know how “every man had gained” (Lk 19:15) while He had been away. Some had gained five pounds, others ten, etc., but one servant had buried his pound in the ground and produced nothing with it.

Now this is vitally important. Get this, because it clarifies how your works now impact your degree of reward later. Do not misunderstand!

The first servant gained ten pounds. Christ explained his reward, saying, “You good servant: because you have been faithful in a very little, have you AUTHORITY OVER ten cities” (Lk 19:17). His works brought him this reward.

The servant who had gained five pounds was put “OVER five cities.” Because the second servant produced half as much, his reward was half as great. So, these men were given AUTHORITY—they were given positions of great rulership over cities. Their reward was to REIGN with Christ in His world-ruling kingdom. And it was directly connected to their works in this life!

The servant who buried his pound in a napkin had wasted a great opportunity to qualify for rulership in the kingdom of God. He produced nothing during his lifetime. Lk 19:22 states, “And He [the Nobleman, Jesus] said unto him, Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant.” This servant had not grown and, thus, had not qualified for rulership over cities.

Christ gave the wicked servant’s reward to the one who had gained ten pounds—so that the latter had even more than his own reward. The wicked servant may have thought he had salvation, but he had deceived himself. He was an “unprofitable servant” and was “cast…into outer darkness” (Matt. 25:30).

No one will be given rulership before he has proven he can be ruled! No one can be part of God’s government unless he has learned to submit to the government of God—to be ruled by God and Christ in this life. This is the all-important lesson of this parable! Christians must “grow in grace and…knowledge” (II Pet. 3:18). Even grace does not come all at once.

When Christ called His servants into account, He was showing that all people would one day stand and give an account before the judgment seat of Christ. Like the reward of the apostles who will “sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”(Matt. 19:27-28), some will be given great AUTHORITY to rule over cities with Christ “in the throne of His glory.”

Remember, the “citizens” said, “We will not have this Man to reign over us.” Only you can determine if you will let Jesus Christ reign over you now, and if you will prepare yourself to reign over others later!

What Does “Saved” Mean?

Some review is important in explaining when a Christian is saved. This is a subject of great confusion. Understanding it is critical to the salvation process.

One is actually saved in three distinct ways. Recall that Romans 6:23 explained that the wages of sin is death. At repentance, baptism and conversion, a Christian is forgiven by the blood of Christ and immediately saved from the penalty of PAST sins. So, in one sense, the person has been “saved,” at that moment, from death. By now you realize that this is not the whole story.

There are two more applications of when and how a person is saved. The word salvation is derived from the word saved. So, the second way is the most obvious—salvation at the resurrection upon Christ’s Return (I Cor. 15:50-55; I Thes. 4:13-18).

But no one receives salvation without first undergoing a life of trial, testing, learning, growing and overcoming. The third way one is saved is that he is “being saved”—an ongoing process—throughout his lifetime. Many verses show that nothing is automatic after conversion. To believe it is mocks God. We have already seen many verses state certain pre-conditions before baptism, and further requirements, after baptism, of those who receive salvation.