The Unprofitable Servant

THE UNPROFITABLE SERVANT

Lk 19:11-27 Mt 25:14-30

Most commentators (those who comment on this passage whether scholar or preacher) make these two passages the same parable and they are not.

There are many notable differences

Mt   Kingdom of Heaven      Lk  Kingdom of God

K of H is a literal kingdom with a king sitting on a throne

My kingdom is not of this world else would my servants fight
and it wasn’t “at that time”   But he and they will fight at the 2nd advent Rev 19 When Christ comes to claim his throne and rules on earth for a 1,000 yrs      This Kingdom is promised to the Jews

The Kingdom of God on the other hand is not physical but spiritual

Lu 17:20-21 (KJV)   And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:  21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. There will be a time when they will see this kingdom

Joh 3:3 (KJV)   Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Not a contradiction    But a matter of time 

Ro 14:17 (KJV)   For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Mt gives Talents   Jewish weight Lk    Pounds    English weight

Mt deals with 3 servants Lk 10 servants   gentile #

The amount is different   Mt 5, 2, 1 Lk everyone received 1

Mt   each is given according to his several ability / not Lk all the same

Mt   made them ruler over many things    Enter into the joy of thy lord
Lk   made them gave them authority over cities

Mt   the unprofitable servant went to hell
Lk   the unprofitable servant lost reward 

I want to focus on the parable in Lk It is about the day and age we are living in today
Again just to clarify   the # 12 is a ref to the Jewish nation

the # 10 is a ref to Gentiles   10 servants and 10 pounds again a Gentile measure

Each of them receiving the same amount

For those who utilize the pound given them, received a reward of authority over cities    Undoubtably during the Millennial Reign of Christ

The pound is not a ref to talent or ability, spiritual gifts money, social status, freedom, location, intelligence, or opportunity.

Dr Ruckman posed this idea as to what the pound represented.

That being the Gospel As he put it, every Christian’s marching orders is to be a witness for Jesus Christ

Ac 1:8 (KJV)   But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature

We are told in vs 13    Occupy till I come not sit and take up space

To do business   to negotiate   to spread the Gospel

KJV defines itself Ez 27:9,16,19,22

I don’t want to limit this to the number of souls you won to Christ

but have you been faithful in putting out the Gospel

Notice the vs Lu 19:17 (KJV)   And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.

As Jesus put it, “I must be about my Father’s business”   are You?

There is reward for you, if you are about the Father’s business

and there is loss if you are not

The unprofitable servant did nothing with the pound    He hid it 

He conjured up an excuse to justify his inaction

He feared him because he saw his lord as an hard and austere man

So instead of risking the loss of what he had been given, he would hide it and give it back, when his lord returned

Some harsh words were said of that servant   called him a wicked servant uses his own words to condemn him    If you knew I was that way you could have passively done something with what I gave you

Bank   usury   like giving to missions...  The lord takes away his pound what he was given and gives it to another     And he suffers loss
This should be a sobering thought to each of us

God forbid that any of us would be called out as being a wicked servant at the Judgement Seat of Christ

Leave some tracts around   Hand some out   put a sign on your car

sign in your yard     Be unashamed of the Gospel of Christ

engage in conversation with people about the Lord and Salvation

Find out how to be a witness    Memorize scriptures about Salvation

Be ready and willing to give an answer to every man who asketh a reason of the hope that is in you

I am in no way diminishing from this application

but I want to suggest something else, that each Christian is giving in equal amount

The is the Holy Spirit

At the moment of Salvation we are given or sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise

That Spirit is given for several reasons    to identify you as God’s property   earnest of the inheritance

to lead you and guide you into all truth    To teach you    Comfort you
to bring things to your remembrance 

The Spirit inside testifies of Jesus Christ    He glorifies Jesus Christ

He also produces fruit in the yielded believer

There is the fruit of this world and the fruit of the spirit
Ga 5:19-25 (KJV)   Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,  20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,  21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

A loss of reward

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Php 1:6 (KJV)   Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

The sad thing is that we can resist the Holy Ghost   in His prompting in our lives

Ac 7:51 (KJV)   Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

There are many a Christian who resist the Holy Ghost

Consequently they don’t produce any fruit in their lives   and as a result loose reward

This past Monday I was out praying and something happened that shook me to the core of my being.

Just normal assessing my spiritual life The thought came to mind of wanting a better prayer life

I began to ask the Lord to help me have a better prayer life

When the thought came immediately to mind 

If you ask that, then the Lord is going to put some hard trial in your life
and some unpleasant things came to mind   and I didn’t want to go through those hard trials

so I stopped praying for a better prayer life

Then within my own heart   I asked    Why did I stop?

The immediate answer came back that I feared the Lord   and this passage came to mind 

Thou Wicked servant

Lu 19:21 (KJV)   For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.

Oh my    Is that really who I think my Lord is?

I know my Lord is good    And always wants the best for me

and that may be a hard trial, to produce in me what he wants me to be

or it may not 

But I prejudged God

Ps 7:1a  O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust:

Pr 3:5-6 (KJV)   Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

How many times have I said be careful what you pray for   Patience
as if that is a bad thing to avoid
With that being said:    How many Christians have been prompted to consecrate  dedicate themselves to the Lord I surrender all

I am yours Lord, do with me as you will    I want to please you and glorify you with my life    I am a living sacrifice unto you
And they held back    Because of what they thought it would cost them

They fear the Lord in a wrong way

We are to fear the Lord    But in doing so it should lead us to do right not wrong


How many Christians are prompted to be a better soul winner 

and they won’t pray and ask the Lord to help them because of all the things that go through their mind of what they will have to do

and they are afraid And they become like that wicked servant
and hide the working of the Holy Spirit in their life

and in a sense accuse the Lord of being a austere man.

There are many other examples of the Holy Spirit’s prompting and we think of all the negative things that could come from it

and hide it in a napkin

Our God is a good God   He knows what is best for us

We should trust in the Lord with all our heart   And lean not to our own understanding