Old Testament reading comes from 1 Chronicles 17, 1-20. 1 Chronicles 17, 1-20. New Testament reading, Luke 19, 11-27. That is our sermon text. Here in 1 Chronicles 17, 1-20, we find A covenant that God made with King David. It is a very important covenant found in the Holy Scriptures. A promise was made to David that he would have a son that would sit on his eternal throne. We have heard a passage like this before. There's a very similar one in 2 Samuel. Here we are reading 1 Chronicles 17, starting in verse 1. Here now the reading of God's Holy Word. Now when David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent. And Nathan said to David, Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you. But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, Go and tell David my servant, that thus says the Lord, It is not you who will build me a house to dwell in. For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent, and from dwelling to dwelling, in all places where I have moved with all Israel. Did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall waste them no more, as formerly from the time that I appointed judges over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house, when your days are fulfilled, to walk with your fathers. I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you. But I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever." In accordance with all these words and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, Who am I, O God, O Lord God? And what is my house that you have brought me thus far? And this was a small thing in your eyes, O God. You have also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come, and have shown me future generations, O Lord God. And what more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant. For your servant's sake, O Lord, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness in making known all these great things. There is none like you, O Lord, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears." Let's go now to the New Testament reading, Psalm 19, verses 11 through 27. Those promises that were given to David had immediate fulfillment in Solomon, who did build the Temple in Jerusalem. They had ultimate fulfillment in Christ Jesus the Lord. It is His throne that lasts forever. He sits on the throne of David. And I do believe that this parable has something to do with all of that, as Jesus is here signified by the noblemen of the parable. Luke 19 verse 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. He said, therefore, A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, Engage in business until I come. But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, We do not want this man to reign over us. 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. The first came before him, saying, Lord, your minna has made ten minnas more. 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. And the second came, saying, Lord, your minna has made five minnas. And he said to him, And you are to be over five cities. Then another came, saying, Lord, here is your minna, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief. 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. 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. Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest? And he said to those who stood by, Take the minna from him, and give it to the one who has ten minnas. And they said to him, Lord, he has ten minnas. I tell you, that everyone who has, more will be given. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here, and slaughter them before me." This is now the reading of God's Holy Word. May He add His blessing to the preaching of the Word of God this morning. I've said this before, I'll say it again. Expectations are very powerful. To have expectations that are right and true brings stability and peace, even in the midst of great difficulty. But to hold to false expectations in the mind and heart will certainly result in instability and conflict within. A person who holds to false expectations will eventually be confronted with this pesky little thing called reality and truth. And when that happens, they'll be shaken. But a person who holds expectations that are right and true will not easily be shaken, even when great difficulties come. I could pile up a hundred illustrations or examples of this to prove the point. A child who falsely expects to go to Disneyland tomorrow will be shaken when he wakes up in the morning to find that it is not true. A woman who enters marriage expecting that it will be just like the romance movies will be shaken when she is faced with reality. A person who professes faith in Christ, believing that everything in life will now be easier, now that Jesus is on their side, will be shaken when they face the trials and tribulations of many kinds of which the Scriptures so clearly speak, see 1 Peter 4.12. Here in our text for today we see Jesus confronting false expectations. Luke tells us that this was the reason Jesus told this parable. He told this parable to correct false expectations. In Luke 19.11, Luke says, as they heard these things, He proceeded, proceeded to tell a parable. What things did they hear? They heard that salvation had come to the house of Zacchaeus, and that Christ, the Son of Man, came to seek and save the lost." That is Luke 19.10. No doubt this stirred up questions in the minds of those who followed Jesus concerning how things would go in the future. How would the Son of Man seek and save the lost? What would He do? When would He do it? Luke goes on to tell us that Christ told this parable because He was near to Jerusalem. And I trust that you know that Jerusalem was the center of Old Covenant Israel's religion. The Temple was there, the leaders of Israel were there, and as Jesus journeyed toward Jerusalem with this very large crowd following after Him, the excitement was certainly growing. So, too, did the false hopes and expectations of many. It's not as if Christ had not told them what would happen in Jerusalem. Three times in Luke's Gospel, Luke reports that Jesus told His disciples that He would suffer and die there. He also informed His followers that on the third day He would rise. Even so, many false expectations remained. Luke tells us that the people, even His own disciples, did not understand these things and so false expectations remained. Many, as you probably know, did expect Christ to establish immediately a worldly kingdom. You and I can look back and see what has transpired in the 2,000 years following Christ's death, burial and resurrection. We benefit from that 2020 hindsight and we must not forget it. Furthermore, we have the New Testament Scriptures. These people did not have the New Testament Scriptures. They had not yet been written. They were listening to Jesus' teaching. They were observing His deeds. They were trying to understand what He was doing and how He would do what He said He came to do, that is to say, to seek and save the lost. and they were struggling. They had false expectations, at least many of them did. And what were these false expectations? Luke tells us very plainly, before we even get to the parable, that they supposed that the Kingdom of God was to appear immediately. This is what they supposed. They supposed that the Kingdom of God was to appear immediately. And Jesus told this parable to correct this false expectation. They supposed, they assumed, they imagined that the Kingdom of God was to appear immediately. Before we dive into the parable that Jesus told, I think it would be good for us to look more closely at the word appear. Here is how one Greek dictionary defines the word translated as appear. It means to come to a point of being visible. with focus upon the process of becoming seen. This word means to come to be seen and to appear in that sense, to come into view. And so I think understanding the definition of this Greek word helps us to understand a little bit more about what these people who were following Jesus were assuming, or supposing, or expecting. They supposed that the Kingdom of God was to appear, that is to say, appear in a visible way immediately. In other words, the false expectation was not that Christ would begin to receive His Kingdom immediately, but that He would appear or become visible immediately with His Kingdom. This was the false expectation that Christ intended to correct by telling this parable. And dear friends, this was not the first time that Christ taught on this issue. It was back in Luke 17 20 that we read these words, being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus answered them, ìThe kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed.î Nor will they say, ìLook, here it isî or ìThere, for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.î So then, Christ has already instructed people, saying that the kingdom of God is present now, even in the days of His earthly ministry. But it did not and would not soon come in ways that can be observed. The parable of the Ten Minas, as it is called, is meant to teach us something about the arrival of the visible Kingdom of God. When will the Kingdom come visibly? How will it come? And what are followers of Christ the King to do until it comes? We can now consider the parable. It begins with these words, A noble man, went into a far country to receive a kingdom, and then to return." He went into a far country to receive a kingdom for himself and then to return. A nobleman is one who has descended from good or noble family, and clearly this nobleman in this parable represents Jesus Christ. He is the man who, according to the flesh, has descended from such nobility as King David himself, to whom it was promised that he would have a son who would sit on his throne, whose kingdom would have no end. The noble man of our parable represents Jesus, and the far-off country that the noble man traveled to must represent heaven. Jesus Christ, the Son of David and the Son of God, would be killed in Jerusalem. On the third day He would rise, and then 40 days later He would go into a far-off country. That is to say, He would ascend into the heavenly realm. Notice that the noble man of our parable went into a far country to do what? Specifically, he went there to receive for himself a kingdom And this agrees with what Jesus Christ has done. He ascended to heaven to receive for Himself a kingdom. Once in heaven, the scriptures tell us that the man Jesus Christ sat down at the right hand of the Father. Hebrews 1.3 says, ìAfter making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.î Hebrews 10.12 says, ìBut when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.î When did the nobleman of our parable receive his kingdom? He received it when he went into a far-off country. And I am saying that this agrees perfectly with the experience of Christ. When did Christ receive His kingdom? He received it when He lived, died, rose again, and ascended to the far-off country of heaven. Once in heaven He sat down, on what? He sat down on His eternal throne. He began to rule then, and He rules and reigns there to this present day. When did Christ receive His kingdom? In other words, when did His kingdom, His rule and reign begin? Answer, when He journeyed to the far-off country of heaven and sat down on His eternal throne. And this is why John the Baptist and Jesus came preaching, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That is to say, it is very near. But let me ask you, brothers and sisters, when will Christ's Kingdom appear? That is to say, when will Christ's Kingdom, and the throne on which He sits, be made visible? The answer is, not until His Second Coming. I want you to listen again to Hebrews 10-12. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. Verse 13 then says, "...waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet." And so he has the kingdom now, he has received it, he rules and reigns from heaven, but he is waiting there until his enemy should be made a footstool for his feet. That means there is something in process. All of the enemies of Christ are progressively being conquered, and they will one day be judged. And so then, Christ has received His eternal kingdom. He rules and reigns now. We are not waiting for that. But His kingdom has not yet come in ways that can be observed. Luke 17, 20-21 is the reference there. When will the kingdom of Christ appear? When will Christ the King and His throne be made visible on earth? The answer is simple. It is when He returns. To use Paul the Apostle's words, then comes the end, that is to say, when Christ returns, then comes the end, when Christ delivers the Kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed, the Apostle says, is death, death itself. And so Christ rules and reigns now. His kingdom is not visible though. It will become visible when He returns, after He puts all of His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. In this parable, Christ tells us that a nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then to return. And again, I say to you, this was to correct the false expectations of many who supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. The kingdom of God will appear only after Christ the King returns, after going away to heaven to receive an eternal kingdom for Himself. Secondly, we must consider the servants of this parable. We have given attention to the nobleman and his journey to a far country, his eventual return. Let us consider the servants in this parable. The servants must represent all who are disciples of Jesus. Look at verse 12 again, this time we'll read through verse 13. He said, therefore, a nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and then returned, calling ten of his servants. He gave them ten minnas and said to them, Engage in business until I come. A minna was a sum of money. It was a pretty large sum of money. As this nobleman went away, he left these ten servants of his behind, each with a large sum of money, a minna each. And what were they to do? They were to engage in business, the business of their master. They were to further his kingdom, if we may use that term, that he went away to obtain. And this corresponds to what Christ has done. Before ascending to the Father's right hand, Christ gave His servants, His disciples, work to do, saying, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age." Matthew 28, 18-20. This is the business that Christ has given His servants, His disciples, to do. And when Christ ascended to heaven, He did not leave His servants without provision or supply to accomplish their work. Wherefore He saith, when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. before Christ ascended, He supplied His servants with all that they would need to do the work or the business that He has called them to do. Go and make disciples of all nations. Well, He did not leave them without provision. He gave them gifts, all the gifts that they would need to accomplish this work. He gave them spiritual gifts. He gave some men spiritual gifts so that they might hold office within Christ's church. At first there were apostles and prophets and some evangelists. Now there are pastors and teachers. The church has all she needs to do the business or work that Christ has given her to do as He is away in this far-off country from whence He will soon return. This parable teaches servants of Christ to use whatever gifts or resources Christ has given to them for the furtherance of His Kingdom, which is present now but not yet visible. For when Christ returns, please hear me, He will judge His servants. This judgment that I speak of here will not be a judgment unto condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, but it will be a judgment nonetheless. It will be a judgment unto reward, or the lack thereof. It will be a judgment either involving commendation or rebuke. It's in 2 Corinthians 5.10 that Paul the Apostle speaks of this judgment, saying, �For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.� Did you hear what the Apostle said? For we, church, myself included, the Apostle speaking, must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Again, I say this is not a judgment unto condemnation. but it is a judgment unto commendation or rebuke. It is a judgment that we must be aware of. We, as servants of Jesus Christ, must be found faithful to do the work He has called us to do, and to use the gifts that He has given to us, spiritual and otherwise, for the furtherance of His eternal kingdom. You know, this thought just occurred to me. We should not forget that we just witnessed the conversion of a very wealthy man Zacchaeus, who vowed to give away half of his wealth to the poor. Also, he vowed to restore what he had stolen from many by fraud. I do believe that we must remember that story as we consider this one. The minnas of this parable, a minna was a sum of money, I have already told you that. Certainly it symbolizes spiritual gifts, spiritual treasures, spiritual resources. But it does not neglect the fact that the Lord has also entrusted us with physical resources too, actual money to be used for the furtherance of Christ's Kingdom. Whatever gifts, whatever graces the Lord has given to His people must be used for the master's business, for the nobleman's business. The nobleman who is now king, we must serve him with what he has entrusted to us. This lesson is taught to us in verses 15 through 22 of the parable. I'll read it to you one more time. It doesn't require much comment. When he, the nobleman and now king, returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered the servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him. Can you see here that this does refer to that judgment of which I just spoke? Not judgment unto condemnation, but a judgment nonetheless. He will call his servants to him when he returns, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. The first came before him, saying, Lord, your minute has made ten minutes. And he said to him, Well done, good servant. Because you have been faithful in very little, you shall have authority over ten cities." Isn't that interesting? Don't you want to hear those words from Christ when He returns? Well done, good servant. And then here Christ speaks of eternal rewards in these terms. You've been faithful over a little. Here in this life and in this world you will have authority over ten cities in the now visible Kingdom of Christ. And the second came saying, Lord, your minna has made five minnas. He said to him, and you are to be over five cities. I think we're to assume that this one also will receive a commendation too. He's rewarded. You've been faithful. And here, you will be over five cities. But then there is this one servant. who came to the Lord, and said, Lord, here is your minnow, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief." I hid it away. I buried it. I didn't do anything with it. "'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.' He said to you, 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. Why then did you not at least," I just added those words, "'put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest.' And he said to those who stood by, Take the minna from him, and give it to the one who has ten minnas.' And they said to him, Lord, he has ten minnas. 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." this passage that I've just re-read for you, is a warning to every Christian, and especially to those called to the ministry. to not sit idly by, neglecting the use of the gifts and resources that Christ has given to us, but to use them diligently and to the very best of our ability for the furtherance of Christ's eternal kingdom. Those who use the gifts and graces given to them by Christ to earn a return will be commended and rewarded in the eternal kingdom when it is made visible. Christ will say, well done, good servant and he will give rewards. But to those who are negligent in the use of their gifts, either because they were lazy or afraid, they will receive from Christ a rebuke, a rebuke, and they will not be rewarded. You wicked servant, Christ will say. And though the servant will be saved, though he will enter into the eternal kingdom, you can see here that he will lack reward. Paul the Apostle speaks of this dynamic in 1 Corinthians 3, 14-15, when he says, If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Here, Paul the Apostle is warning us to be very careful how we build, that we build rightly and according to the Word of God with the precious things that God has given to us. We must build in such a way that our work will count for eternity. For it will be tested on the judgment day." And he speaks of this dynamic where some, they will build in such a way that the work they have done lasts for eternity, but others, their work will be burned up. They themselves may be saved. They'll pass through that fire because they are in Christ Jesus, but only as if passing through fire. They will come out on the other end with nothing, with no real reward in the eternal state. I do believe that that is what Christ describes here with this third servant. Thirdly, in this parable, we must consider the citizens that were mentioned, and these must represent the non-believing Jews of Jesus' day. Look again at verse 13. This time we'll read through verse 14. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minutes, and said to them, Engage in business until I come. But then we find this little remark, But his citizens hated him. and sent a delegation after him, saying, We do not want this man to reign over us. And in verse 27 of our text, these rebellious citizens are mentioned again. This time the king refers to them as enemies, for that is what they are. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me. So, in their life, these people, said, ìWe do not want this man to reign over us. We do not want him as Lord.î They rebelled against this noble man who is now king. But when the noble man who is now king returns, what will he do with these enemies of his except judge them, bring them here, and slaughter them before me? This is a reference to the final judgment, not the judgment that I have just spoken of, the one that even Christians will experience, a judgment of commendation or lack thereof. This is the final judgment, the judgment of condemnation that is pictured here. Who do the citizens of verses 14 and 27 and the enemies of verse 27 represent? I do agree with John Gill who, commenting on verse 14, says that they represent every non-believer in a broad sense, but especially the non-believing Jews of Jesus' day. We cannot remember the historical situation that here Christ, a Jew, came In the line of David, as a Jew into the world, he was the Jewish Messiah, to do more than just save the Jews, of course. But the great irony is that his own people, his kinsmen according to the flesh, they rejected him. They said, in essence, we do not want this man to reign or rule over us, though he was indeed the son of David. Here is what Gil says. He says that the word citizens refers to or symbolizes not those who are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, whose citizenship is in heaven, and who are seeking the better country and heavenly city, but the Jews, who were his own people and nation, among whom he was born, to whom he was sent and came, and had undoubted right to the government of them. These hated him with a mortal hatred, and appeared by their slandering of his person in the most vitriolic manner, vilifying his doctrines false, ascribing his miracles to a diabolical influence, and by persecuting his disciples and followers, and so virtually saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. They would neither receive his gospel, nor submit to his ordinances, but put them away from them, and judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life." And this is the language of every graceless soul, that is to say every non-believer. This is what every non-believer says, we do not want this man to reign over us. And it is to be observed in their opposition to and neglect of the truths of Christ and His divine institutions, which are a yoke they don't care to take upon them, though so mild and easy, and are cords which they cast away from them." Dear friends, on the last day when Christ returns to consummate His everlasting Kingdom and to make it visible, He will judge all His enemies. He will judge all who have not bowed beneath Him to honor Him as King. This is what is meant by the words of the King in the parable, �But as for these enemies of Mine, who did not want Me to reign over them, bring them here, and slaughter them before Me.� The meaning of the parable is very clear. Though there were many who followed Jesus in the days of His earthly ministry who expected the Kingdom of God to appear immediately, their expectations were false and they needed to be straightened out. The kingdom of God was near and even in their midst, but it was not coming in ways that can be observed. Luke 17, 20, Christ the King inaugurated His kingdom by living, dying, rising, and then going away. But one day he will return bodily and visibly, and he will bring his kingdom with him, until that day his servants have work to do. Each one of us must use the gifts that God has given to us for the furtherance of Christ's eternal kingdom and the building up of the body of Christ. Let's bow together for prayer. Our Father in heaven, help us, O Lord, to be sober about these truths we have just considered. Lord, give us eyes to see. We look around us and we see the kingdoms of this world, and we are easily distracted by them. We live in these kingdoms. We are commanded by You to seek their good. Help us to do this, O Lord. But help us to never neglect the furtherance of Your eternal kingdom. We are Your disciples. We are Your servants. We have bowed the knee and we have said, Jesus, You are Lord, You are King. So make us faithful servants. May we use all of the resources that You have given to us, spiritual and earthly. for good, for the furtherance of Your kingdom, O Lord. Help us in these things, in the name of Christ we pray, Amen.