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kingdom, and to return" (Lukc
19:11-12). That is, J esus himself
was going to heaven to receive for
himself the kingdom of God, and
to return to earth. Now contin–
ue:
"And he called his ten servants,
and delivered them ten pounds, and
said unto them, Occupy till 1 come.
But his citizens hated him, and sent
a message after him, saying, We
will not have this man to reign over
us" (verses 13-14). J esus had come
"to his own," the Jews- the rem–
nant of the kingdom of J uoAH–
and they "received him not" (John
1:11), so Jesus turned to "the lost
sheep of the house of Israel,"
(Matt. 15:24), and sent his twelve
apostles to them (Matt. 10:6). That
is, to the so-called lost 1
O
tribes of
Israel. They were then, most of
them, in northwestern Europe and
the British lsles (see free booklct,
The United States and Britain in
Prophecy).
But continue Jesus' parable:
"And it carne to pass, that when
he was returned,"-now speaking
of what SHALL happen at Christ's
return- " having received the king–
dom, 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" (Luke
19: 15).
This is speaking of every con–
verted true Christian, to whom
God has GIVEN of his Holy Spirit,
and spiritual gifts. Every one, now
entering God's kingdom as an
INHER ITOR- as a POSSESSOR, no
Jonger j ust an HEIR-actually NOW
SA v Eo- wi 11 be called to an
accounting-JUDGED, to determine
WHAT POSITION in God's kingdom
he has qualified for. And NOTICE
that this REWARD wi ll be according
to his WORKS in this present mortal
life. Continue, verses 16-19:
"Then carne the first, sayi ng,
Lord, thy pound hath gained ten
pounds. And he said unto him,
Well, thou good servant: becausc
thou hast been faithful in a very
little,
have thou authority over ten
cities.
And the second carne, say–
ing, Lord, thy pound hath gained
five pounds. And he said likewise to
him,
Be thou also over five cit–
ies.
NOTICE CAREFULLY! They got
14
into God's kingdom by GRACE (as
numerous other scriptures make
plain). But they are
rewarded–
that is, given authority, or rule, or
position, according to their
WORKS- according to how well
t hey did with what thcy had to do
with WHILE CHRIST WAS IN HEAV–
EN-that is, during their Christian
lives.
Continue now:
Beginning verse 20- read it in
your Bible- the one who GAINED
NOTHING in this present mortal
life- the one who had no good
works- not only was not given ANY
position- but even had TAKEN
AWAY FROM HIM even the Spi ritua)
gift he had been given! In this par–
able the English pound, the basic
English unit of money, is used in
translation as a symbol of spiritual
val
ue.
This parable teaches what has
been shown by other scriptures in
this article-that the Christian
must OVERCOME; he must GROW
spiritually-grow in grace and in
the knowledgc of Christ
(Il
Pet.
3: 18) . We are being SAVED to
SERVE- and
if we do not qualify
to serve, we may have taken away
even the salvat ion we thought we
had!
The parable of the talents (Matt.
25: 14-30) shows the same thing,
showing that each is judged by
what he has todo with. But the one
who makes no SPIRITUAL PROGRESS
after his initial "conversion" is cast
as an " unprofitable servant into
outer darkness" (Matt. 25:30).
Life ls a Race
Finally, SEE WHERE ALL THIS LEADS
us. Man is MORTAL, without inher–
ent life, possessing in himself only a
transitory physical, chemical EXIS–
TENCE. ETERNAL Jife comes as
Goo's GIFT.
lt
comes through the
gift of God's Holy Spirit, GIVEN
after the prior
conditions
of real
REPENTANCE and FAITH in Christ.
But, once receiving the GIFT of
the Holy Spirit, entering upon t he
Christian life,
this Christian lije
is
pictured as A RACE in a stadium, or
in a contest. We must TURN FROM
SIN (and the Bible definition of sin
is: transgression of God's law-[
John 3:4). Notice: "Wherefore
... Jet us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which doth so easily
beset us , and Jet us
run with
patience the race
that is set befare
us" (Heb. 12:1 ).
Fu RTHER: Paul wrote: "And this 1
do for the gospel's sake, that
1
might
be partaker thereof with you. Know
ye not that
they which run in a race
run all, but ONE receiveth the prize?
So RUN, that ye may obtain. And
every man
that striveth
for the mas–
tery is temperate in all things. Now
they
[those unconverted] do it to
obtain a corruptible
crown;
but we
[Christians] an incorruptible.
1
therefore
so run,
not as uncertainly;
so FIGHT
1 ...
lest that by any
means, when
1
have preached to
others,
1
myself should be [RE–
JECTED]"
( 1
Cor. 9:23-27).
We must STRIVE to overcome.
We must
fight
temptation and sin.
The Christian life was pictured by
J esus as the hard, rutty, difficult
way- NOT the easy way that leads
to destruction.
So, SA LVATION- being BORN
JNTO God's kingdom--depends not
only on once
receiving
the Holy
Spirit, but BEING LEO BY God's
Spirit
through lije
(Rom. 8:14),
and God's Spirit DWELLlNG IN us,
at the end of /ife's race!
That is, at
the time of death, or of Christ's
coming, whichever comes first.
God's impregnating Holy Spirit
is received by GRACE, as God's
GIFT, notas a debt or compensation
earned; not by works. But, once we
receive the Holy Spirit, it does not
remain bottled up; it does not stag–
nate; it is not static-it FLOWS in
outgoing concern (LOYE) to fellow–
man, and in worship, reverence,
obedience to Goo.
lt
flows into us
from God. We can !ove God only
because he first loved us-our !ove
toward God is only a return of bis
!ove, which he gives to us.
This spiritual LOVE-the HOLY
SPIRIT- must be kept on t hat
RETURN CIRCUIT- fulfilling God's
LAw- flowing back to Goo by ful–
filling the first four command–
ments, and out to neighbor fulfill–
ing the las t six.
The parable of the sower and the
seed illustrates this. There were
four classes. The first heard the
Gospel message, but it never con–
ceived- they never were converted.
They may STILL have a chance–
later. A second class was converted,
(Continued on page 36)
The
PLAIN TRUTH