Jesus Expects Us To Obey

JESUS IS ENOUGH  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Intro

Where did this all begin?
I went back and listened to the very first sermon in this series, which was in January of this year.
Do you remember why we began this journey of discovering who Jesus is?
God gave Glen the vision for us to simplify. To simply know Him and by doing so we would discover that JESUS IS ENOUGH.
This series started in

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

How long? How long until we know Him? We were given three things to do this year. ABC - Abide, Bless, and Commit to Community.
Now, We need to be careful today. I think Glen ask me to preach when the text if difficult. Thanks bro.
If you are only half paying attention you are going to leave here thinking that I preached on works today. Let me be very clear from the outset.
Today is about obedience. This is part of the abiding cycle. It is how we learn about who God really is. It is a critical step in the way we experience Him. In fact, it is the only step in the cycle that we have any control over.
Remember that God doesn’t just want us to know about Him, He wants us to know him by experience.
We are going to address this a little later, but for now, let’s move on.
To learn about who Jesus is, we are looking at how He interacts with people, how he reacts to the circumstances that God puts Him in.
Today, we are going picking up where Glen left off last Sunday. This story immediately follows Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus. It is obvious from the outset that Jesus is telling this parable for a specific purpose.
The goal today is to break this parable down into chew-able chunks and determine what Jesus is wanting to communicate to the disciples and to us so we can learn about who He is.

11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’ ”

OK, my initial reaction this week was, “Wait, What?!”.
My first look at this passage made me ask a ton of questions. I had lunch with Kyle this week and I was like, man, I don’t what to do with this passage. It seems like Jesus is saying those that work the hardest get the most.
I knew this didn’t line up with what we have already discovered about who Jesus is. So, I dug in and asked Jesus to show me what he was up too.
What we are going to talk about today is why Jesus tells the parable and what is he trying to communicate to the hearers.
It’s important to point out that in this parable the King is addressing two groups of people. Ones that choose to be servants and those that rebel against the King. The major portion of what we will talk about today is dealing with those that choose to serve the King.
Remeber that there is diverse group of people

The disciples thought it was about to go down.

Going back to the story from last week. Zacchaeus experiences Jesus and it completely changes his life.
I think it would be safe to say that this blew everyone’s minds.

9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The Parable of the Ten Minas

11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The Parable of the Ten Minas
11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Going back to the story from last week. Zacchaeus experiences Jesus and it completely changes his life.
I think it would be safe to say that this blew everyone’s minds.
As the disciples experience this, knowing that they are on the way to Jerusalem, they think it’s time. Jesus is about usher in His kingdom.
It is time, but he’s not doing what they think and Jesus is aware of what they are thinking. Philip -they still don’t get it. They think Jesus is about to concur the Romans and set up a physical kingdom.
We still don’t get it.
We find ourselves in a similar place this morning. God has been speaking his desire for us as a church, but I think we are still blind to it.
We still don’t get it. Paul, in the book of Colossians, was trying to help the church understand this responsibility, this call, that we as believers share.

11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The Parable of the Ten Minas

11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

We still don’t get it.

12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’

At this point in his life, Paul got it. God chooses us, his followers to tell the world about who He really is.
But still, the disciples were consumed with this idea that Jesus was about to smack down the establishment.
They were so blinded by what they wanted that they had missed, for 3 years, who Jesus was and what he was about to do.
They were so blinded by what they wanted that they had missed, for 3 years, who Jesus was and what he was about to do.
I know what you’re thinking, because i think it too. Stupid disciples, how are they missing this!
Ironically, it has been just 3 years since we moved to McKeithen Dr, to fulfill the call of God to show our community who Jesus really is…
What have we missed because we’ve been blinded by our own desires?

12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’

What do you do with money? You take it and make more money. That’s exactly what the King wanted.

We have been given a task. God has called us to the ABC’s.
I think that Jesus is using the example of business because of the audience that is around him. Tax collectors.
What do you do with that? You take it, do it, and show your community who God really is.

12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’

Jesus is trying to show the disciples that they’ve lost sight of the goal. Jesus didn’t come to be served, but to serve. They are still thinking that they are going to be “in” with Jesus as he sets up his kingdom and they are going to enjoy this!
Jesus is reminding them that they are called to be servants. Jesus is reminding us that we are called to be servants.
vs 13 Jesus gives us all the same portion. This is critical to see. Unlike the parable of the talents, Jesus is making the distinction that when He goes away, all of us will have access to the same resources.
I have a family member who always ask me to pray for things because “God listens to me better”.
NO, NO, NO. We all have the same access to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower us, to give us the ability to fulfill the call he has given us. It is not something we are to try and do under our own power. He is the resource we were given and it is the only one we need.

14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

Our flesh fights being servants.

There is no one in this room that wakes each day thinking, “hmm, who can I serve today?”
Our flesh doesn’t want to be reigned over. Our flesh wants us to be served and do what it wants when it wants.
Guys, this is where we all start. We are born in sin and want no master. We do not want anyone to reign over us.
The people that God has called us to share the Gospel with. This is where they are.
Our call to ministry is help them see how amazing God is and how much he loves us.
Instead of obeying our call to ministry and living a life led by the Holy Spirit we are chasing our goals. We are setting the priorities of our lives. We’ve made our lives about us and not about Him.

15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’

Jesus will evaluate us. He is going to look at how we have obeyed Him.

Don’t panic.
Look at vs. 17

17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’

His evaluation of the servants wasn’t based on how hard they worked. He qualifies his compliment. He did a good job, not because of his profits, but because of his faithfulness.
the word there is PISTOS - it means to be responsible or reliable.
Jesus is saying he has done a good job because he can count on him to obey what his master says! This first servant has proven himself trustworthy.
The second servant doesn’t get a bad evaluation, he too was trustworthy and he is then given more responsibility in relation to his faithfulness.
As we obey what God is telling us to do we are going to see Him for who he is, We are going to fall deeper in love with Him, and we are going to ask him for more. What’s next God? That was amazing! Give me more.
Our natural response to seeing God is to WANT more. It won’t feel like a burden because we are so excited about seeing more of God.
If you are hearing this and thinking this sounds like a lot of work. you are seeing it from a works based mentality still. You are assuming that you will have to do it our of your own power and resources. I agree with you. That sounds terrible.
When we do it our of loving obedience it doesn’t feel like that.
Now we get to the third servant.

20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’

20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’

Jesus will not let you excuse away your disobedience.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
You know what I hear when I read this? blah, blah, blah. Excuses, their like butts...
Here is where we find ourselves in the story. Jesus is saying, hey, that thing I told you to do, how’s it going? Well, what had happened was...
Look, I get it,
You’re really busy - dramatic eye roll.
do yourself a favor this afternoon. write down all the things you’re busy with.
Then, anything that God didn’t tell you to do, mark that out.
Now, how does your schedule look?
your broke
you think you don’t have what you need
yadda, yadda, yadda, you get the point. We’re really good at making excuses.
“Mission includes our secular vocations, not just church ministry.” Tim Keller
I mentioned a few minutes ago that it’s been three years since God called us here. How have you obeyed God’s call to this body? Some of you are new here so you get a pass on this particular one. But all of us, as believers, have a call on our lives.
Let me say this, If you are here today and you are just checking us out. Or maybe you don’t have a relationship with Jesus and you were thinking about it. Now I’ve told you that you will be expected to obey what God tells you to do. Let me say this.
Our greatest joy is found in obedience. Let me show you how.
Abiding Cycle
I heard Tim Keller say this week, “When we choose not to obey, we have bought into the lie that Satan told in the garden, that disobedience will bring us more joy than God can.”
Church, I’m telling you from personal experience, if you obey God, get ready to have your socks blown off!
Choosing to obey: Joshua and Ami
choosing to obey: Youth Ministry at West
Choosing to obey: Working at Petron
ok, let’s deal with these last few verses and then we’ll close out.

24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’ ”

Again, thanks Glen...

If you won’t obey, God will find someone who will.

The third servant choose not to obey the king. instead of following his instructions he does what he wants. nothing.
It is God’s desire that we come to know him by experience. That happens through us obeying him and then getting to see who He really is.
God calls us to things that have a huge impact on those in our community. Our call is never just about us. God is using us to show Himself.
If we choose to not obey, God will find someone else to fulfill what we refuse to do.
Sometimes that refusal is flat out, I’m not doing it.
Sometimes refusal shows it self as stagnation. We just put it off. “Yeah God, I’ll do it, just let me take care of _____ first.”
I think a lot of the dead religion that we have all experienced is due to God people refusing to obey what god has called them too.
I had a conversation with someone yesterday about this very thing. He prompted it. He asked me why the “church” has stopped doing what they are supposed to do and turned over their responsibility to the government?
He was talking specifically about the homeless and marginalized in central Louisiana.
If we look around us at our community we will see devastation that is occuring because the church isn’t being the church.
that’s also why new believers go into a church and think it feels so dead. It’s because it is. It’s dead, not because God isn’t there, but because God’s people aren’t obeying.

Separation from God will end in death.

Jesus came to earth to show us the truth about God. He spent his last 3 years loving and taking care of the needs of people as the Holy Spirit led.
It is his desire that all people would come to know Him AND if you know him you will love Him and will choose to enter into a saving relationship.
However, there will be those who rebel and will not come to know him as savior.
This verse foreshadows what is to come for those people - death.
That is not what Jesus wants, He loves all people and wants them to know him.
I’m convinced that if we will start obeying God, there will be fewer and fewer of those people.

Closing - Jesus expects us to obey what he has called us to do.

It is God’s desire that we would
So, I sit back after studying this parable and ask myself, “What is the take away?”.
God has given us a calling as a church. He has not forgotten and He expects us to obey and through our obedience we will fall deeper in love with Him.
In our culture, we have become very passive. If someone ask us to do something that we don’t want to do, we just ignore them until they quit asking.
If we continue to live in disobedience, this church will be dead too.
I think he tells this parable to show the disciples what he expects. They were God’s plan for sharing with the world what they had discovered about who God really was.
We are God’s plan for this community.
You are God’s plan for the people that he has placed in your life.
“Worshiping in Everyday Occasions. We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds something within us— it simply reveals what we are made of already. Do you find yourself saying, “If God calls me to battle, of course I will rise to the occasion”? Yet you won’t rise to the occasion unless you have done so on God’s training ground. If you are not doing the task that is closest to you now, which God has engineered into your life, when the crisis comes, instead of being fit for battle, you will be revealed as being unfit. Crises always reveal a person’s true character.
Are you saying, “But I can’t be expected to live a sanctified life in my present circumstances; I have no time for prayer or Bible study right now; besides, my opportunity for battle hasn’t come yet, but when it does, of course I will be ready”? No, you will not. If you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions, when you get involved in God’s work, you will not only be useless yourself but also a hindrance to those around you.
God’s training ground, where the missionary weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.” -Oswald

God Remembers

Daily Devotional for Sunday, September 10th, 2017
Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, "Thus says the LORD: I remember you, The kindness of your youth,The love of your betrothal,When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown."
Even when our hearts grow cold toward God and our devotion to Him weakens, His love remains steadfast. We may forget God, but He remembers us.
God was concerned because the people of Judah had allowed their hearts to drift far from Him. In a powerful moment, God shared His heart with His people, recalling what it was like when they first began loving Him. He remembered how they had loved Him, as a new bride loves her husband, with excitement and enthusiasm for the future. He recalled the kindness they had expressed as they willingly followed Him wherever He led them. God reminded them of the love they had once had for Him, so that the memory might rekindle feelings of devotion and their hearts might return to Him.
If you do not guard our heart, you will grow cold in your love for Christ. A time may come when He approaches you and reminds you what your relationship was once like. Do you recollect the joy that permeated your life when you first became a Christian? Do you recall the youthful commitments you made to Him, pledging to do anything He told you to do? Do you remember the thrill you experienced each time you came to understand a new dimension of His nature? Spiritual memory is important. You may not realize how far you have drifted from God until you contrast the love you are expressing to Him now with that of earlier days.
God has not changed. He is the same Person you gave your heart to when you became a Christian (). If your love for God is not as intense as it once was, return to Him. He will restore the intimate fellowship you once shared with Him. - Blackaby
“May God raise up a people who will consult their pleasures less and the great need more. - Tozer”
As we close today, take some time to consider what God has called you too.
If you are here today and you’ve heard me talking about God speaking and you’ve never heard of that or don’t know how to hear from God, come talk to me, Glen, or any of our elders. We would love to walk with you as you discover how to hear from God.
If you don’t know what your specific calling is, start with the ABC’s.
If you do know, but you don’t know where to start, do your ABC’s.
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