Well, good evening and welcome to Metropolitan Baptist Church tonight. If you could please head to your seats and stand, grab your hymnal with me and turn to hymn number seven. Hymn number seven if you are able. Let's sing it out, hymn number seven on the first. Like the woman at the well I was seeking For things I could not satisfy And then I heard my Savior speaking From my well that never shall run dry Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord Come and quench this thirsting of my soul me till I want no more. Fill my cup, fill it up, and make me whole. On the second, there are millions in this world who are craving the pleasure earthly things abhor. But none can match the wondrous treasure That I find in Jesus Christ, my Lord. Hail, my cupboard! I lift it up, Lord. Come and quench this thirsting of my soul. Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole Real quick, before we sing that last, I picked this song very intentionally. As we start out in the Missions Conference, it's a time where we really want the Lord to fill our cup. And the only way we can do that is if we emptied of ourselves first. This is an opportunity as Brother Tom preaches tonight and we hear God's Word, to really dwell on it and say, how can I empty my life so the Lord can fill it? Whether it be to send us across the ocean or whether it be just across the street or whatever. It's an opportunity for us to empty of ourselves and fill with the Lord. Let's sing it out on the last. So my brother, the things this world gave you, leaves hungers that won't pass away. ♪ My blessed Lord will come and save you ♪ ♪ If you kneel to him and humbly pray ♪ ♪ Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord ♪ ♪ Come and quench this thirsting of my soul ♪ ♪ Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more ♪ Fill my cup, fill it up, and make me whole. Amen. Amen. As we were singing that, I was just remembering what it was like before the Lord entered in and quenched that thirst. Oh my, I'm just thankful for the day. Amen? The Lord came my way, dealt with me, and drew me savingly to himself. What a blessing to be able to be here tonight as the redeemed of the Lord. And there should have been, Miss Ernest said amen under her breath. You'd think the redeemed of the Lord ought to be able to say so. Amen. It's good to be here tonight and trust that the Lord will meet with us in a special way. Pray for the music, pray for everything that goes on. Might it honor and glorify the Lord. We're going to take a couple of minutes and shake each other's hands. Let's do that right now. Welcome each other. Hear ye every hour, the Savior's call. ♪ There was a man and he is a boy ♪ ♪ I hate thee, oh, I hate thee ♪ ♪ Every hour I weep thee ♪ ♪ Oh, wellspring of my Savior, I bow to thee ♪ O make me ev'ry hour God's holy bride. O make me, I beseech Thee, Thou Blessed Saint. Amen. Well, as you head back to your seats, if you could please continue standing if you are able and turning your hymnals to hymn number 177. Hymn number 177. Great is thy faithfulness. Now, as we sing this one, we can have a tendency to sing it really slow. I don't want to sing it so draggingly slow. Let's sing it a little quicker than normal and sing it out to the Lord, praising Him for His faithfulness. On the first. It is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassion they fail not. As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be. Great is Thy faithfulness Great is Thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed Thy hand hath brought As you sing this song, don't sing it to the guy next to you or us up here or down there. Just sing to the Lord. Don't worry about anybody around you. Just praise the Lord on the second. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above, join with all nature in beneful witness. to thy great faithfulness, mercy and power. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning, Read the words as you're singing out as loud as you can on the last. Pardon for sin and the peace that endureth. Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with a thousand besides. Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Amen. You may be seated. Thank you. God, she is our God. God, she is our King. ♪ Glory to our King ♪ ♪ Glory to our Lord ♪ ♪ King of everything ♪ ♪ Mighty is our God ♪ ♪ Mighty is our King ♪ ♪ Mighty is our Lord ♪ Glory to our King! ♪ I sing the mighty power of God ♪ ♪ That made the mountains rise ♪ ♪ And spread the flowing seas afar ♪ ♪ And build the lovely skies ♪ ♪ I sing the mighty power of God ♪ ♪ That made the mountains rise ♪ ♪ The stars obey ♪ ♪ We mourn the leaders in this world ♪ ♪ And then pronounce their glory evermore ♪ May water make the ground our tread, or gates upon the sky. Our key is our God. Our key is our King. Glory to our King Glory to our Lord Lord of everything Lord of everything Lord of everything We're fighting who gets to come up next. All right, if you could stand one last time, please grab your hymnal and turn with me to hymn number 357. Hymn 357. Work for the night is coming on the first. Work for the night is coming, work through the morning hours. Work while the dew is sparkling, work midst springing flowers. Work when the day grows brighter. Work in the glowing sun. Work for the night is coming. When man's work is done. On that second. Work for the night is coming. Work through the sunny noon. Fill brightest stars with flavor. Rest comes sure and soon. Give every flying minute something to keep in store. Work for the night is coming when there's work no more. On that last. Work for the night is coming Under the sunset skies While the writings are glowing Work for daylight flies Work till the last beam fadeth Fadeth to shine no more Work for the night is darkening, and man's work is small. Amen. Thank you for singing. You may be seated. All right, gentlemen, if you come and take your places for the offering tonight. If you would church family, keep Brother Curtis Graham in your prayers. His grandfather passed away this week and so be in prayer for his family. Also keep David McMullin family in your prayers as her uncle Larry Walker. He also passed away this last week and keep Miss Anderson in your prayers as well as her husband passed away this week as well. Keep them all in your prayers. Ladies Fellowship Tuesday night. They'll be meeting at 7 o'clock in pastors classroom. All ladies are invited to come and enjoy an evening together. If you have any questions about ladies fellowship, please see Miss Marsha Turner. And if you have any questions about a nursery for that night, please see Miss Alicia Little on that parents of teenagers. There will be a youth rally came in Saturday in Cleburne, TX. The teens will be leaving the church at 345 PM and returning around 930 PM. You'll need to give your student $3 for this youth rally, and if you have any questions about the youth rally there in Cleburne, please see Brother Graham or Miss Graham on that. This week begins our missions conference, amen? And the theme of our missions conference is making a difference in the world. We have Evangelist Brother Blaine that'll be here, Randy Baines that'll be here with us, being with other speakers of missionaries. So please reschedule events this week. and make it a time to be here. Very moving time. And also pray. Pray about what the Lord will have you do physically, what the Lord will have you do spiritually, and what the Lord will have you do financially. And make this a big moment in your life and for your children. and for each other and just pray for this missions conference. Let's make a difference. There'll be a baby shower on November the 9th for Miss Veronica Stevens as they celebrate the little expected Miss Fiona and so that'll be on November the 9th. Her colors for her nursery will be red, white, and blue. They're registered at Target and Walmart and see Miss Marsha Turner for more details and if you would like to buy My brother Robert had a gun. He could use that as a father of a little girl, and so he would accept that. I don't know if you can register for those things, so just see me with any questions regarding firearms, amen? But that'll be for their baby shower. Sunday School Helpers, we need help. We need two ladies to volunteer their time during Sunday school in our nursery and toddler classes during the Sunday school hour. If you'll be willing to help, please see Ms. Alicia Little. There's a new prayer letter for the Fafuinas in the back for you on the left-hand side that I encourage all the church members, if you'd stop by, pick that up, and read an update on the family and see what God is doing there. The college and career ski trip for January is scheduled. They're taking a trip from January the 4th through the 9th. They'll be skiing, snowmobiling, relaxing, but most importantly, growing together as a group in the Lord. The cost for each skier will be approximately $300. If you would like to help these young people out on sending them on their trip, just mark your envelope, ski trip, and that money will go towards them. Birthdays at the very bottom. Birthdays coming up this month is Gladys Shelton, Robert Allison and Veronica Stevens. And then anniversaries. We have the Cooper family and the Graham family. And so at this time, let's pray as we take up the offer. Heavenly Father, it's just a blessing to be able to come to church tonight. We could be in so many other places tonight, but you saw it fit through your sovereignty to have us in this house tonight. So you have something for each and every one of our hearts. So as your man of God comes to this pulpit, our hearts are open. But Lord, we need finances to run the ministries of this church and for the ministries that you want this church to be involved in. So father, bless these church members that they may give to your work and bless our church. Dear God, Lord, we love you so much. Our ears, our heart are open to the word of God tonight. So feed us in Christ's name. Amen. It's always a strange day when I'm not doing any preaching. If you haven't noticed in the past, usually when I don't get to preach a Sunday or so, and Brother Bain will be preaching next Sunday morning, so I'm just giving you a warning. Usually it gets kind of pent up. And so just look out. It's been good. It was excellent this morning. So thankful for what the Lord gave us through Brother Bruce Martin. And again, you know, Missions Conference is such a special time. It's always, say, 40 years, 40 years, Missions Conference has been a very special time in my life and in the Turner family. It seems God has done some very special things in our family through those dedicated, consecrated times to the cause of Christ's missions. Obviously, God's heart is to see the gospel taken to the uttermost parts of the earth. It's his desire. And it's a very susceptible time as well, might I say it that way. Satan does not want us to have a week that would really be something special. And if God is ordained to do something special this week, Satan will be doing everything he can to withstand that. And pray that our hearts would be in tune with him, that our hearts would be prepared, ready. that we would have such a spirit. I mean, individually and as a church, as Brother Bruce brought those two things together this morning. You know, I love my church family. I tell you that, but I can't say it enough. I love, I like sitting there and just looking at you. I'm not kidding. I like just looking at y'all. Hey, you're my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I love you. And that love should be obvious in our midst for each other. And as we are, we're here to protect each other. You know, we're here to stand with each other, encourage each other, you know, to have things, good things to say about each other and about the things of God. And so I'm praying God help us this week. Of course, we'll be meeting here seven o'clock on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night. And then Thursday and Friday morning, we'll be meeting at the chapel in the other end of the building. So just be mindful of that. Come ready for God to do something in our hearts and lives this week. Well, the good days of it. When did you all get back from Thailand? done in early March. Well, they've had an interesting time home this year. Of course, Brother Tom was in the hospital with some heart issues and and then they've had some vehicle issues and have this is this and that. Well, they finally got to take a terrific trip last few weeks and got back middle of the week. And it's exciting to hear the different things going on in the printing ministries around the country that we have a hand with. At least they've been a great help to us and our missionaries over the years. And so please, as Brother Tom comes tonight, please pray for him. Pray for him as he opens the word of God and shares his heart with us tonight. Brother Tom, you come. Thank you, Preacher. Bless you, Brother. I appreciate the opportunity tonight to be able to share the word of God with you, and I appreciate this morning, the good message this morning we heard. And I was listening to Bruce as he kind of talked about things, his involvement here at Metropolitan over the years, and you said 35 years. I got to figure it out, brother, between you and I, we got 70 years all together in missions. Looks like we know more than we do. But we're, of course, many of you know we've been in Thailand now for nine years, which is about eight years longer than we planned on being. It shows how slow we are getting anything done. But we spent the last five years in Chiang Mai. And Chiang Mai is a very unusual place. It's known in the Christian community as the Colorado Springs of Southeast Asia. That's because there are so many Christian ministries that are based in Chiang Mai. Of course, we knew that before we moved up there, but it's kind of odd because, of course, you see a lot of, in Thailand, a little short brown people, you know, and so every time you see a foreigner, they stick out quite a bit. Most of the foreigners that we meet, every other one it seems like, is a missionary from some missionary agency of some kind. And so we oftentimes get into conversations with them about different issues like this. And one of these men said to me one day, he first met me, we were waiting somewhere to go into, I don't remember where it was that we met, and he said, so who are you with? And I said, well, I'm with my wife, you know, she's here. Well, no, no, I meant what mission group, what mission board are you with? I said, well, I'm not with a mission board. My church, my local church in Fort Worth, Texas sponsors and sends me here to the mission field. And he said, well, that's kind of unusual. And he said, so you're independent. And I said, no, no, wait a minute. Let's not go on from here. Let me clarify something. I'm not independent. I am sent from my local church. That is an independent Baptist church. However, I'm not independent. In fact, I call myself, I didn't tell him this, but I always call myself a dependent Baptist. I'm not an independent Baptist at all because I'm dependent upon the the good graces of Metropolitan Baptist Church keep us on the mission field, keep us doing what we're supposed to be doing. So anyway, I told him, no, I don't want to be mistaken. I'm not independent. I know some people who are independent. I'm not. I'm sponsored through our church. And he said, well, that's a unique concept. He said, but I don't, he said, you really can't do a whole lot, can you? And I said, well, I guess it depends on what you're talking about. He said, well, tell me what you do. And so I did. I just told him what we were involved in, producing materials, and how many languages we'd worked on, and up to the end, how many shipping containers we'd sent, and also a little bit about the history of the situation with the Hmong people and the church that was planted. It just kind of went down a short list. And when I got done, he said, I had no idea. He said, well, I've got a question for you. If, if in your ministry you decide to like go a different direction, for instance, you mentioned about the, the one group that you'd work with. If there's a people group that you meet some of the people and you want to go and kind of change your direction of ministry a little bit and go after working with that people group, what do you have to do? What in your mission work, how do you handle it? I said, well, I would contact my pastor and tell him of the opportunity and ask the church to pray and probably the church would pray and fast as well as we would and then make a decision and call back in a week or so and then we'd go that way. And he said, that's it? And I said, yes. And I said, why, what's the big deal? He said, well, we recently had a thing where I wanted to change direction in ministry. And he said, I made a list and I have to go through seven levels of permission before we can make any kind of change in our ministry. And he said, I wish I was like you. At first he was antagonistic because, you know, I mean, somebody sent from a local church can't really do anything. You have to have a big mission board, you know, behind you. And I'm just grateful that for 36 years now, this is all we've known. I wouldn't know what to do in an environment like that. And I do believe it's the Lord's way. And before we finished that conversation, he said, well, really, that kind of sounds like the New Testament. And so it was an education. It was a little conversation that we had that he basically was over with educating himself as we talked. But anyway, I thought I'd share that with you. It's just such a joy to have that kind of relationship And I've known missionaries who do not have this kind of relationship with their home church. In fact, one missionary I talked to, since we've been in Thailand, he got to recounting that they have over 70 supporting churches. And I said, so what about your sending church, the church that you came from? He said, well, I really don't have one. And I said, so if you have a big kind of an issue where you need prayer very quickly, who do you pick up the phone and call? And he said, I really don't have any kind of relationship like that with the church. And Bruce, I don't know about you, but that scares me to death. I told him, man, I don't know what in the world I would do if we didn't have that kind of relationship with somebody, with some church. And God's been very gracious to us. We have probably eight or 10 with that kind of relationship, but of course, Metropolitan being number one. We're grateful for it. And anything that God's ever done in our work, as Bruce mentioned to you this morning about his, it's because of Metropolitan Baptist Church. We're very grateful for you folks. Turn with me, if you would, please, to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19. And I'd like to read several verses to you of a parable that is recounted here in the book of Luke. It's actually very similar to another parable in the book of Matthew. We'll maybe make mention of that in a moment. But this parable is very interesting and has some conclusions, I believe, can come. Of course, it's not a, I'm not doing an interpretation of this. We're gonna make an application or several of them from it. But Luke chapter 19, and if with your permission, we'll begin looking at verse 11, if that's all right with you, and read down through about verse 26, 27. So beginning in verse 11, and as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable because he was nigh to Jerusalem and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. And he said, therefore, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. And he called his 10 servants and delivered them 10 pounds and said unto them, occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying, we will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, 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. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto them, well thou good servant, because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, be thou also over five cities. And another came saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin. For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man. Thou takest up, that thou layest not down. and reapest that thou dost not sow. And he said unto him, out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knowest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow. Wherefore then gavest not thou my money under the bank? that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury. And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds. For I say unto you, that unto everyone which hath shall be given, and from him that hath not, even that that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me. Father, I pray this evening, as we look at these passages, Brother Bruce spoke this morning so eloquently, showed us and took us through the scriptures to show us the responsibility that the body, the local church, has in this matter of missions. And Lord, as we look at these passages tonight, we see more of what the members Lord, the responsibility that we have. And I pray, Father, that you might take this and use it in its simplicity. Lord, mark my lips tonight. Help me not to say something I should not and not to leave unsaid. Lord, that which should be this evening, I come to you in utter dependence, Father, upon you. Please use this now, I ask in Jesus' name. Amen. I want to suggest to you, before we begin, really get into the text tonight, that very serious matter as you look at missions conference. And I want to suggest to you that you incorporate in your prayer life, even tonight before you leave here, pray something similar to what I'm going to say to you, and pray it only if you mean it. Lord, show me this week what you want me to do, and I'll do it. Just show me what you want, and I'll do it. And mean it when you say it. Mean it when you pray it and God will bless and use that in your life But I want you to I want you to notice as we look this in verse 11 They heard these things Jesus was was on his way making his way toward Jerusalem and the people had the idea that he was going to go to Jerusalem at that time set up his kingdom and That's what they were expecting. Many of them were expecting it. By the way, his own disciples were kind of looking forward maybe to a promotion of some kind, you know. They were going to be in high positions in this kingdom. But the Lord had to make sure that they understood that's not what he was doing and so he used a parable. And by the way, parables are stories that are told to stimulate us to discover truth for ourselves. Someone said parables are earthly stories told with heavenly meanings. And so this is a parable, and the Lord describes this thing to his disciples. And he told it as they began to enter into Jerusalem so that there would be no misunderstanding along the way, the expectations would be there, they'd not miss the spiritual teaching that was given there. Now by the way, don't get hung up on, you know, we have a temptation, especially those of us those of many of you do also study the Word of God very deeply and intensely, study it. Don't get hung up on a parable though. Don't try to figure out, I mean, don't get real hung up about the money, you know, one pound each and all this business. By the way, it wasn't a pound, it was, that's the English interpretation of what it was. in the margin of my Bible down off of verse 16, I believe it is, off on the margin where it says, then came first saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained 10 pounds. Off there in the margin, it's talking about the pound business. And it says, Mina, here translated pound is 12 ounces and a half, which according to five shillings, the ounce is three pounds and two shillings and six pence. So if you're ever concerned, there's the answer, amen. You know all about that now. Now all we have to do is have somebody interpret English pounds and then add to it the interest or the rising of the dollar. I ain't got time for that. And that's not what this is about anyway. It's not even about how many servants the Lord was using this parable to teach a lesson. So don't get hung up that it wasn't 12 servants or it wasn't 11. It was 10. Don't get hung up about the money because the fact is it wasn't a single coin. It was some money that he gave to each one of them. However much money that was, it was not just a simple drop it in their hand. It was several coins worth of money that was given. But I want us to focus just for a few moments on the nobleman that was mentioned here in this parable. First, this nobleman, it says in verse 12, he went to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and he planned to return. Now, whether this was to protect his wealth or just so that there was not a break in his his normal routine of making increase with the riches that he had. He called his servants to him and put into their care his riches, whether it was all of it, we don't know, or it was just part of it, or he was just testing them, we don't know that. But we do know that a certain amount of money was given to each one of them. And he said, he said, and this is what I really want to focus on tonight in Luke chapter 19, he said in verse 13, he called his ten servants and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come." Occupy. He said occupy. That's an interesting word because, well, you know, the word that this was translated from literally means to busy oneself with. or to trade. We've got a different meaning in our minds when we think of occupy. I'll talk about that in a minute. But Webster's 1828 Dictionary shows that this now obsolete English word, obscure English word in the meaning that we're used to it simply means to negotiate to do business with the resources entrusted. So when he said occupy, what he said to those men was go and do business with this. Take it and make increase for me. Very simply, Oxford English Dictionary gives two definitions which fit this very well. Number one is to be busy or employed in some capacity, to exercise one's craft or function to practice, to do business, to work. Number two, to employ in trading, to lay out, invest, put out to interest, trade with, to deal in. And so my observation about this, and one thing that we want to see is this word, when the Lord said, occupy until I come, what he was saying is, you be busy, you busy yourself with the things that I give you to do. And particularly with this money so that you make an increase of it. You know, the picture that comes to mind when we first read this is because of the common usage of the word occupied today is different. And we say occupied so maybe of a strong force, a military force going into and securing an area or a people and then staying there. Okay, that's what mean Occupy. One too many months ago or a year or so ago, when the big movement was Occupy Wall Street, you know, and there's a bunch of Freakos that went down and, you know, they were trying to take over and they were gonna sit there until something happened that I don't think any of them had any idea what they were even looking for, but they were gonna go and Occupy Wall Street. We don't take the gospel to foreign lands so that we can take over and occupy in the way that you and I think when we think of that word. We don't force the message of the gospel on people. However, we should be busy with telling everyone. And so occupy, be busy about the things that are closest to the heart of God. Think of a word still in use today that's closely related to this obscure word, and that is occupation. And occupation, of course, is what somebody does, their vocation. That's a word that's still very valid and still tells something very much. But this word occupies a, you say all the time, you want to take it out of the Bible? Not on your life. I don't want to take it out of the Bible. What I want to do is study the Word of God, amen? And if we take every word out of the Bible that we don't understand, we're going to be in a mess pretty soon, for sure. It causes us to study, not to revise, amen? But I want to suggest to you that this occupation or this occupy until I come that the Lord spoke of here in this parable, really if we take it over in terms of the gospel, and we consider, of course, since this is a parable, it was an earthly story that had a heavenly meaning. all there was to the story. It was given so that there might be a lesson taken out of it. It's very, very, very easy for you and I to see that what the Lord was talking about and what he was trying to say to them was, I'm not going to Jerusalem right now to set up my kingdom. That's not what I'm about. But I'm getting ready to go to a far country, amen? And I'm gonna be coming back one day and I'm gonna leave some gifts for each one of you. And with these gifts that I give you, I expect you to make increase. Amen. He was teaching them something. And I want to suggest to you that this whole business of occupying must be on a global scale. If for no other reason than the Lord commanded it, amen? Mark chapter 16, verse 15, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That's global. We can't be satisfied with having just a local ministry with the getting out of the gospel. It must be global in nature. And so I've titled my message tonight, if there is a title for it, Occupy Till I Come, a Global Imperative. And it's when he said that, he was speaking globally. You know, I can almost see a counterpart to this. You understand a counterpart is something you look at and on the other side it reminds you of something else. But this story, this parable that was spoken, of course, we understand. that the nobleman, of course, is the Lord Himself, and the servants, that would be His disciples. And one of the applications of this, very, very simply, but I can almost see a counterpart or a reflection, like we're holding up a mirror in this parable to the yet-to-occur event. that's found in Matthew chapter 28. You and I are very familiar with it. Matthew 28, 18, Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even into the end of the world." I wonder if some of the disciples didn't maybe think of that parable back when he pronounced these things in Matthew chapter 28. The text suggests that we're going to give an account to the nobleman when he returns. The servants had to. They had to give an account. What happened to that money I left you? And he came back asking that question. The question will be asked, what was gained for me by your efforts? He called the 10 servants, verse 13. He called the 10 servants and delivered to them 10 pounds and said, occupy it till I come. And of course, the message in verse 14. But it came to pass that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, that 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." He didn't just say what happened to the money. He wanted to know how much was gained. Amen? That was a natural assumption. Well, he delivered his assets to the servants, told them to occupy and be busy trading. Can I suggest to you that all of this presupposes, if I could use that word, it's a natural thing that in this passage of scripture, I'll go ahead and say it, that these men whom he delivered that money to, these ten men knew how to occupy. They knew how to be busy. They knew how to make increase with that money. That just makes sense to me. If the Lord told them to do it, He didn't tell us to do, He didn't tell them and the Lord Himself does not tell us to do something that's impossible to do, amen? When He said go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, He didn't do that to mock us. He's not sitting up in heaven looking over the portals of heaven laughing at us as we stumble around and try to figure out how to obey that command. That's not the issue at all. The issue is He gave us something that is possible to do if we depend upon Him. Amen? And so I want to suggest to you that when he gave the money to each one of these men and said, occupy until I come, or stay busy, or go on and use this to trade with it, they knew how to do that. That's interesting to me, when I consider that, because there was some training, no doubt. Somewhere along the way there was training so that these men knew how to make increase with that money. In the case of the servants and the master, They watched him as he traded, as he negotiated, and he made increase, and whatever else there might have been there before he deposited the money in their hands. I don't know, but I don't think that the master would have just simply walked up to these men and given them the money and said, go help yourself. I think there was some education went on there somewhere along the way. And as we consider the application of this passage, with our Lord and the disciples. The disciples watched him as he daily ministered, okay? They were, you understand, there's not a person in this room tonight that was discipled personally by the Lord Jesus Christ. These men were, amen? And so, as we consider just for a moment what I said, that there had to be some training somewhere along the way, They watched the Lord. They could not perform miracles like the Lord Jesus did. They might not be able to heal the sick as Jesus did, or even preach as He did, but they knew one thing. They knew about His methods of discipleship. That's one thing they did know, because they were the products of it. The discipleship modeled by our Lord was sufficient. that if it was followed, it would penetrate into every country, every people group on the face of the earth, if it was just perpetuated by those men, amen? And so I want to suggest to you that again, the target of this passage of scripture, so that we would understand what he's wanting here, Just follow the discipleship. Discipleship was a strategy that he used for every ministry. His evangelism strategy, the Lord Jesus evangelism strategy revolved around discipleship. His church planting strategy revolved around discipleship. It's what he modeled in his life, amen. And by the way, the Lord Jesus knew full well who it was that he was leaving when he left the disciples. He knew that these were men that had frailties, that weren't quite ready for prime time, amen, in some of our thinking. They're very much human. He did train them, he did teach them, but he knew that they were He knew who they were and still put all the hopes of propagating the gospel throughout all the world, tended to those 12 men when he left. My, what a responsibility. I'd like to talk for a few moments to you about this servant. We're going to skip past these that made an increase and kind of get down to verse 20. verse 20, I think, where it is, the servant who had nothing to show for his efforts. And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin. For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man, and takest up that thou layest not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. And he saith unto him, out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. How'd you like to have the Lord say that to you? Amen. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I had laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow. Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury, at least got interest money out of it? And he said unto them, and stood back, take from him the pound. You know the story. But this servant, and I call him the servant that would not try, the servant that would not try, He ended up earning nothing because he did not try. Out of fear of failure or laziness, it's never described exactly what it is, he hid the pound. He put it in a napkin. You must remember that this money that the Lord gave unto these ten servants, it was not their money. It was his money. So when the nobleman gave that money to those servants, it wasn't their money. It belonged to him, okay? And he was gonna be coming back one day for it. It was, can I say it this way? It was perfectly within the master's right to ask how much was gained because it was his money. And by the way, he's left you and I Amen? He's left you in ice and things. And they're not ours. They're His. And he expects us to bring increase. I'm not talking as Bruce did this morning. And I was joking with Bruce when I left. I said, same message, different text, you know, tonight. But it's really not. He spoke about the body and the responsibility of the church. And I'm talking to you about the members, amen, the members of the church. And by the way, no member can operate very well long not being part of the body, amen. It's perfectly within the master's right to ask how much was gained as it was his. It was nothing to be kept by the servant. But here's this servant who would not try. He laid it up, he laid up that money in a napkin. It seemed that somehow or other that he kept it nearby. I don't know if he was planning to do something with it. Or he just wanted to make sure it was safe? I don't know. It's never said exactly. But he planned to do something with it one day. He just never did. He was probably busy doing other good things that a servant should do that he thought a servant ought to be doing. He's doing all those good things. He just wasn't doing the thing that was the most useful in this situation. Have you ever found yourself... Boy, how do you say this and make it... so it's not too harsh. Have you ever found yourself primped up and made up like a Christian and trying to make sure that everybody knows that you're a Christian by the things that you do and the way you look and the way you smell or don't smell, amen? And yet, somewhere in the recesses of your heart, you know, you just know you're not doing that one thing that the Lord wants you to do. God help us. God help us. He's doing what the nobleman wanted him to do was simply not all that important to him. That's why he did nothing. From the nobleman's perspective, the greatest loss was a loss of profit by an unfaithful servant. By the way, also the loss of trust in one that he put confidence in. And friend, that's the way it is with you and I. When the Lord comes back and He says, what have you done with that which I gave you? And all you can do is pull out a napkin that has that treasure in it. Where's the loss? The loss is on the Lord. Amen? You and I didn't make increase. And by the way, a loss of confidence that he put in us by giving it to us to start with. Oh God help us. He pretended to look like a servant. He acted like, tried to act like a servant, but there was simply nothing of a servant in him because he did not obey his master. His master said, occupy till I come. And here is that which to do it with. You see, the word occupy is not an inactive word. It's a very, very active word. Occupy, take this and go and trade with it and make an increase because I'm not gonna be here to do it, so you go do it. It's the way it is with the Lord Jesus with us, friend. He wants an increase. He wants an increase. From the nobleman's perspective, it was a great loss. Putting the money, I hope I can say this the way I want to, and I hope you're understanding that I'm interchanging the nobleman and the servants with the Lord and his disciples because that's what the story is all about. Putting the money to usury, as he said, at least you should have put it in a bank where I could get an increase in interest. So what's the matter with that, Brother Tom? That's an increase, but that's not the kind of increase the nobleman was looking for. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but the bank don't pay much right now. It's an increase, but boy, it sure isn't much of one. Putting the money to usury sort of reminds me of what we call winning somebody to the Lord. Let me explain that. Winning somebody to the Lord certainly has value, especially for the one that gets saved, amen? It certainly has value. And it certainly is profitable and is a gain. But it's not the multiplying kind of profit that it could be. You see, To have the multiplying kind of profit, we must not only win somebody, but disciple them, where they in turn can go and win and disciple somebody else, amen? That's the kind that just carries from generation to generation to generation of Christian. Simply to win somebody is kind of, when I look at it and consider it, it's kind of like putting the money to usury. You're gonna get an increase. But let me say, the devil is not real concerned over somebody that was, quote, one to the Lord, if they've not been discipled. You don't get too real anxious until that person's been discipled, amen, and can make an impact. I hope you understand what I'm saying. Some will think, as I have in the past, if I can't do a big thing, I'm not going to do anything. Don't, you know, come to the pastor and say, Brother Turner, I want to do something to church, and all that's at hand right then is a broom. And I've seen folks put the broom down and go on, amen? This is not something that I'm interested in doing. He thought, as some Christians do, maybe I've not multiplied for Christ, but at least I didn't do evil. It was his thought, and down in verse 21, he said, I feared thee, because thou art an austere man, thou takest up, that thou layest not down, and reapest, and that thou, so he thought that the master was unfair to even demand that he do something with that coin. How dare he come? I'm already a servant. How dare he come and ask me to make increase for him? He ought to be happy with me just carrying the water glass to him or serving him his food. To come and ask me this is too much. Well, obviously this one who did not try Was not someone that the Lord was looking for that wasn't what he was after. In fact, he had called him He called him a name. He said The wicked servant And if we're gonna We're gonna use the passage the way that it's the way that the Lord intended it. I wonder if Ever the Lord is gonna look at us and say You didn't make increase. I Don't know that he ever called us wicked It wouldn't surprise me, brother, if we don't do what he says. Amen? Then we consider the others. Not only this one that did not make an increase, but the others. The others, there were two of them. He gave one pound to each of ten servants. The passage only reports what was done with three of them. Now, we could take and look at a kind of a sister verse to this over in Matthew chapter 25 verse 14. Not gonna do that, but it records the parable of the talents. Many details are similar, but in the one in Matthew, the Lord gives to every servant different amounts according to their several ability. So, but the truth is still there, the focus is still the same, still the same idea. Notice though that the master did not ask the two that made profit. He did not ask them how they made increase. That's very interesting to me. In this passage, you might have asked him later, so what did you do to trade? That was a pretty good return, you know, ten for one, you know. But at this point, he did not, and certainly would have been brought into the passage, he did not ask them how they made the increase. In fact, the methods were not even mentioned until and except when the master rebuked the servant who did not even try. And there he talked about rebuking him for not at least putting the money in the loan where he could have made interest. One traded in one way, another in another way, by the way, according to their several ability. One might have made crafts and sold them. Another might have traded horses. Another might have changed money. But the point is, they were occupying, amen, they were actively trading with it and they made increase. And of course, we have a standard to go by as we make application here. The Lord is interested in how we do things, not only that we do them, but how we do them with a standard in the word of God. But we're prone, you and I are prone, it's human nature, but we're prone to want every other Christian to do things the way that we do them. God help us. We're prone to put people in pigeonholes and boxes that, you know, you must do it the way I do it. You must do things the way the Metropolitan Baptist Church says to do them. You understand, I'm speaking within the confines of the Word of God and that we're not, you know, somebody's not committing outright blasphemy of the word of God or something of that nature. But we're oftentimes prone to want every other Christian to do things that we want them. And you know, let me say this, that's the devil's tool to distract us. our own human nature in these ways and to insist that methods are the same among Christians. Among independent fundamental Baptist people we get in workshops and we get in conferences and we want to share these methods and we wonder why folks are doing things different than we do. It's like Brother Bruce said this morning, everybody is different. Amen and praise God for that praise God for that liberty, but I want you to see also that they knew These men who were successful they knew the source of the success look at verse 16 Then came the first saying Lord look at that little word thy pound hath gained ten pounds This this servant did not say well. I want you to see I I want you to see what I did. By my own efforts, look what I did. I was able to gain with you ten pounds for the one pound you left me. No, no, no. He knew where the source came from. He said, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. You see, it's the Lord's pound. It's not, look what I've done with my labors. And when you and I take that which the Lord has given each one of us and has left each one of us, and when we take that and simply are obedient with it, God can make the increase. And when He does, friend, it's nothing that we can pat ourselves on the back nor take credit for. It's just simply when we have been faithful to the Lord and obedient to Him with that which He has given us, He makes the increase, amen. It's just a matter of obedience. That which He's delivered to each one of us is to be used to accomplish His will. No one else has this fear of influence that you have. By the way, I'm speaking to every Christian in here, every single one of us, whether you've been saved a month or 40 years, it doesn't matter. And you say, I don't know that much, Brother Tom. I don't know the Bible that well. I can't quote all these things. I can't do what these other people do. It doesn't matter. No one else has the sphere of influence, know the people that you know, or have the talents or ability that you have. There's no, can I say it this way? There's no second choice if the Lord gives you something to do. He doesn't have someone else waiting in the wings to come forward and to take over if you leave it off. That's not the way it works. Look, keep your hand there in Luke, because I'm gonna come back to it. But look at 1 Chronicles chapter 29. Love these passages of scripture, but 1 Chronicles chapter 29. David is standing in front of the congregation. And he's getting now near the end of his kingship, and he's actually put now, and had Solomon put in place as king. And he's turning over to him, not only the kingdom, but he's also turning over to him a few unfinished tasks, like the building of the temple. And in chapter 29, verse one, speaking publicly with Solomon and him standing there in front of the whole congregation. He says, David the king said unto all the congregation, here's the quote, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen is yet young and tender. And the work is great for the palaces, not for man, but for the Lord God. You see, David says in verse two, I prepared with all of my might for the house of my God. The gold for things to be made of gold. The silver for things of silver. The brass for things of brass. The iron for things of iron. And wood for things of wood. Onyx stones and stones to be set. Glistering stones and of diverse colors. And all manner of precious stones and marble stones in abundance. He's already made these preparations. Verse 3, Moreover, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have of my own proper good. In other words, David's talking about... I'm not talking about the kingdom now. I'm talking about what's in... what belongs to me. I have of my own proper good of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I prepared for thy holy house, even 3,000 talents of gold, the gold of Ophir, 7,000 talents of refined silver, overlaid the walls and the houses thereof, the gold for things of gold, the silver for things of silver, and all matter of work to be made by the hands of the artificers, and who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord? So at that point, he asked for a show of who's willing to help with this thing. But in chapter 29, verse one, he says to Solomon, Solomon, my son, whom alone God hath chosen. You see, David felt that it was his purpose was to build this temple. But the Lord said, no, you've been a man of blood. You've been a man of war. Not gonna do it. It's gonna be Solomon, your son. So all of these things were prepared now. And now Solomon is becoming the king. And in front of everybody, he says, Solomon, my son, whom alone God hath chosen. I wanna suggest to you tonight that whatever it is that the Lord has for each one of us to do, it's not gonna be the same. Whatever it is that He's given you to do, there's no one else alive on the face of the earth that can do what it is that He's given you to do. Don't expect, well, Brother Tom, I'm not going to be obedient, I'm not going to do that, I'm just going to ignore what the Lord wants. Don't expect somebody else to step in and do it. And if they do, it won't be done the same way that it could be if you were simply to be obedient. Why? Because God provided that. David said of Solomon, Solomon my son, whom God hath chosen, God alone hath chosen. Not David. Not someone else. We must understand this is the way God leads. He prompts you to do work for Him and you do not do it, it may never get done. God doesn't create a job for you to do when you get saved. He creates you for a job. Amen? He has something He wants to be done and He creates you for that job. Brother Tom, you don't understand. I'm not a missionary. I'm not a pastor. I'm not even a choir director. It doesn't matter. Every single one of us, if we're born again children of God, God has given each one of us certain gifts, certain talents, certain pounds to say, with which he says, occupy till I come. We're to busy ourselves with this great business so that the end result will be souls. Amen? To do nothing or to do little about the souls of men is disobedient and dishonest. And we'll hear from the Lord about it. You don't need to turn there, but Psalm 107, verse 23 and 24 says, They that go down to the sea and ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep." I want to suggest to you that we must begin to do business in great waters. Church, let's not be fearful to go out into the deep for the Lord, because that's exactly what He wants done. Go out in ships into the great waters. Amen? And that's what kind of confidence you and I need to have as Metropolitan Baptist Church and as individuals, as members of the church. That if we're simply obedient to the Lord with what He wants us to do, we can go do business in the great waters. Amen? The task, you know, some of us think this way. The task is so great. This matter of world evangelization, this world, this matter of the great commission. By the way, I love words. I don't know many of them, but I love words. Commission, C-O hyphen mission, co-mission. Why is it co-mission? Because, well, for number one, you and I do it together, amen? But more importantly, the Lord does it with us, amen? Someone said the great commission is so great that it takes the great commandment to perform it. Powerful. We must do business in great waters. But here's what we think. The task before us is so great, we don't even consider what we're able to do as being all that important. Brother Tom, all I can do is, or Brother Tom, I'm just this, or I'm just that. No, you don't understand things biblically. If you understood that the Lord gave each one of us something to do and something to do it with, amen? And that's what that passage is about. Be careful. Between that which we will not do because it's beneath us and that which we cannot do because we don't feel adequate, we run the risk of doing nothing at all. And I want to say to you this morning, it just dovetails and fits so wonderfully what Brother Bruce preached this morning because the body is made up of members, amen? And each one of us are members. And he read the passage this morning. We can't all be eyes. We can't all be ears. In some cases, we're all heels, amen? It has to be members working together. Fitly joined together, as the scriptures say. But be careful so that we don't run the risk of doing nothing. We look at one task as being too small to mess with, and the other too big to tackle. And so therefore, we do nothing. God help us, but in churches all across this country, there's a small handful of people that are really doing something in the church. And everybody, someone said there's, someone said it's about, in the normal church, it's about 10% of the church is pillars of the church. The rest are caterpillars, they just crawl in and out every Sunday. That might be an exaggeration, certainly a pull at humor, but how true it is in many places. A few people do the work, and everybody else observes and watches. Thank God it's not that way here, amen? But it's also not everything it could or should be here. And I think you'd have to agree with that. How is it possible that we, that you and I, and by the way, I'm speaking to every single person that's a born again child of God in this auditorium. How is it possible that we can make a difference in the world? How is it possible? How is it possible? Left to ourselves, friend, it's not. But by obedience, when the Lord said, occupy till I come. Use that which he's given you, amen. Hey, listen, I don't have the answer for you. I don't know what it is that God's given you to do. I'm barely able to know what it is that God's given me to do. And it's not really that hard. I'm joking when I say that. But every child of God, everyone that claims the name of Christ, God's given you something to do. And He's given you gifts, talents, that are not yours, by the way, they're His. And here's what He says about it. Occupy. Trade with it. Negotiate. And build upon it and make increase with it. And friend, if the members aren't doing that, the church is not going to be doing what she should either. Amen. I hope you understand that. Pastor, please come. Because I want to open it up to you and go back to my suggestion concerning prayer. And that is that you pray, Lord, what would you have me to do? And when he shows you, throughout this week, whenever he shows you, just say, I'll do it. Tell him that ahead of time. Lord, you show me what you want of me. And by the way, I am looking for something from the Lord this week. I told pastor, I said, I don't know why, but I fear and I tremble every time I come to the pulpit anywhere, but especially at Metropolitan Baptist Church. I don't know why, but it's with great fear and trembling. We are brethren, amen. And I've been around, I haven't been around as long as Bruce has, but I've been around long enough to know that Metropolitan is not everything it should be. And by the way, you've been around me enough to know that Brother Tom isn't everything he should be either. But see, it doesn't depend on you and I. It depends on us simply being obedient to what God's given us to do. Pastor, you come please. Amen. Let's stand together. Church. Father, we Bible for you tonight. So grateful. So thankful for your word and message that it that it delivers to our hearts. Father, this evening is, uh, prayerfully contemplate what you've said to us tonight. I'd ask you to settle those things. Might they become more than just a passing message, a sermon, but they might be truths for our very heart of hearts. That indeed, Father, we would be ready, we would be willing to do and to go to perform whatever you'd have us to do. Father, we love you very, very much this evening. We're so grateful for your love to us and through your son and that day that you intervened in our lives. But, oh, Father, help us to be part of what you're doing today, what you will be doing tomorrow and next week and until the trump sounds. Might we be busy? Might we be performing the occupation that you've given us? In Jesus' name. Amen. As Brother Tom preached this evening, there was so much that was stirred around in my spiritual juices. It was terrific. Thank you, Brother. You know, he went to that passage in Chronicles. David had prepared and rounded up all those materials for the temple. And then Tom referred to that verse, verse 5 in 1 Chronicles 29. where David then says, and who then is willing to consecrate his service this day under the Lord? You know, uh, missions conference, we're talking about a lot of things, you know, we, the vision for the world and all this going on with it. And, and for those who may surrender that somehow some way in their lives to be part of that, but you know, things are in place here. God's been pleased to put things together here. This ministry reaches to the uttermost as things are accomplished here, as this church has teachers that are in place. As Brother Bruce mentioned even this morning, as the bathrooms are cleaned and the price is prepared for each service as we come together. Those that are in the back room taking care of counting the money and doing all that and sorting those things out. Folks, it's an entire organism, that body that's been talked about all day long. Each member doing what God's given us to do. Tom talked about how he kind of approaches with fear and trembling preaching behind this holy desk. You know, it's kind of the opposite for me. This is home to me. When I leave here is when I fear and tremble, but I feel at home here. It's where God's put me. God called me here. I believe that with all my heart. And he's put this body together as he'd be pleased. So I ask you again, as David asked, who then is willing to consecrate his service to the state of the Lord? You know they shouldn't have to beg for Sunday school teachers. Shouldn't have to beg for folks to work in the nursery or do this or do that. We should be in line. We should be in line. Lord, let me get in on this, because I want to see this work prosper. I want to see it go forward for the glory of God. And beloved, when folks enter in and they see that, and again, we've got tremendous workers here. We've got tremendous. But you know, there's always more we can be doing. Folks come in, they need to see a church that is, hey, on fire for Christ. Some years ago, a theme song in our missions conference at Victory, maybe even here once or twice, has been, Set My Soul Afire. Indeed, might God be pleased to set our souls afire this week. As we sing, may the Lord just speak to our hearts. Page 337. When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, what a glory he sheds on our way. While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way To be happy in Jesus. but to trust and obey. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but a smile quickly drives it away. Not a doubt or a fear, not a sign or a tear, can abide while we trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way. To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our toil he doth richly repay. Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown or a cross, is blessed if we trust and obey. Trust and obey For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey But we never can prove the delights of his love until all of the Bye! for the favor he shows and the joy he bestows are for them who will trust and obey. Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy us but to trust and obey then in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet or we'll walk by his side in the What he says we will do Where he says we will go Never fear only trust and obey Trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. Amen. You know we talk about the folks that we have in different areas of service right now but I do want to remind us that The shepherds are busy at preparing and putting things together in their lives. And along the way, their desire is to go to the Northwest and work with folks up there, either a small church that just needs help, or if God be pleased, allow them to start a work up in kind of, I guess, western Idaho, eastern Washington. Is that right? Just something like that. God's still putting that together, but please pray for them. And I don't want to forget that they are, they're busy preparing for that ministry that the Lord's given to them too. So remember, well, uh, you can sit down for just a minute. And she told me to see you when she got here. She said, I'm going to go to church and I'm going to get an instrument. So thank the Lord for that. And hey, it's kind of easy. It's always the right time. You've got to get used to it. Thank you. Thank you. Well, welcome home. That's great. And well, I have to do this. What? Marlene, do you know the word Jesus Christ as your Savior? Yes, I do. And you were baptized in the Church of Life, Faith, and Practices by the Father. What were you baptized in? The Holy Spirit. Oh, that's great. Well, praise the Lord. Church family, all in favor, repeat after me. into the fellowship at the moment and pray for us. Thank you. All right, 118 in your handbooks. I Need Thee Every Hour, we'll sing the first verse. ♪ I need thee every hour ♪ Most gracious Lord ♪ No tender voice like thine ♪ Can peace afford ♪ I need thee, oh I need thee Every hour I need thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior. I come to thee. Good. You're dismissed. Thank you.