PARABLES OF THE TALENTS AND
THE POUNDS
THE PARABLE OF THE POUNDS
The problem is,
that we have taken the Cross of Christ for granted,
and left our first love (see notes
on Thy First Love).
Many Christians, as well as some Bible
teachers,
emphasize works because they think
that God is interested in what one must
do for Him
after we are saved.
Let us look at why Jesus
gave this parable.
1. Because He was near to Jerusalem.
Luke9:11a;
"And as
they heard these things,
he added and
spake a parable,
because he was
nigh to Jerusalem,...."
Jesus
knew the time of his death,
burial and resurrection, and going to
His Father,
was near as He was approaching Jerusalem
(see Luk. 9:51-53).
He must first go to the cross,
and then return to set up the Kingdom
of God.
They did not see the Cross, because their
thoughts
were only of the literal Kingdom that
is to come.
2. They thought the Kingdom,
was to appear immediately.
(Luke9:11b);
"and because
they thought that the kingdom of God,
should immediately
appear."
Jesus says to Zacchaeus,
"This day is
salvation come to this house....." (v.9).
As soon as Jesus said these words,
those around Him,
thought that the literal Kingdom,
was going to appear immediately.
After this He added and spoke this parable,
because Jesus knew their thoughts.
The Jews were only thinking
about salvation,
in the physical sense.
They were under the tyranny of the Romans,
and wanted to be free.
They did not know that they were spiritually
dead,
and in need of spiritual salvation, because
of sin.
They were looking for the Messiah,
to come and save them from the Romans,
by setting up the Kingdom for them to
rule as a nation now.
They did not see
the Cross and misunderstood the Lord.
This parable is not
about salvation,
because salvation is already come to this
house (v.9),
but of sanctification and rewards,
by letting the Lord reign in our world,
and in our lives,
through the deeper knowledge of the Cross
of Christ.
THE PARABLE OF THE POUNDS
LUKE 19:12-27
V. 12;
"He said
therefore,
A certain nobleman
went into a far country,
to receive for
himself a kingdom, and to return."
He spoke this parable
to tell them,
He must first die on the Cross and after
His resurrection,
he will set up the Kingdom.
He will leave with us, the knowledge of
His Cross,
to see whether we would let Him reign
as Lord in our lives.
V.13;
"And he called
his ten servants,
and delivered
them ten pounds,
and said unto
them, Occupy till I come."
And He called His 10
servants,
and gave 1 pound to each of them.
He told them to occupy until He comes.
Ten is the number mankind,
of the person and his way of life.
It is made up 4 (the world system),
and 6 (the number of man).
The
10 lepers were healed,
and only one came back to thank the Lord
(17:12-19).
The 10 virgins,
5 were raptured and 5 missed the it.
(Mat. 25:1-13).
The Greek word for occupy
is pramagteuomai.
It means to be busy, by trading or earning
interest,
with the pound (the Cross), He
left with them.
To progress, to be set apart.
The Gospel is given in Grace,
and all mankind (10) have
access to it.
The question may well
be asked, if this is about sanctification,
why is the one who laid the pound on the
napkin,
considered wicked and slain?
Why is he in this parable at all,
for doesn't sanctification refer to Christians
only?
The unbelievers think
that they too,
are through their own good works,
becoming closer and closer to God and
deserve rewards.
Their only reward will be death.
"Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name
have cast out devils?
and in thy name
done many wonderful works?"
"And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:
depart from me,
ye that work iniquity."
(Matt 7:22-23).
On judgment
day, all will be given an opportunity to plea their cause,
but to no avail,
since salvation is not of works, but of
grace through faith.
The Parable of the Pounds,
is about sanctification for the Christians.
The one who was labled wicked and slain,
is a lesson to all Christians,
that also lay the pound (the Cross
of Christ) on the napkin.
For it will not produce good works,
but his or her works ends in death or
dead works,
and will receive no rewards.
(1Co. 3:11:15).
Luke 19: 14;
"But his citizens
hated him,
and sent a message
after him, saying,
We will not have
this man to reign over us."
The citizens (polites;
townsman) that hated Him,
sent a message after Him saying,
we will not have this man to reign over
us.
They rejected Him, by rejecting the Apostles,
and all those who proclaim the Gospel
of God.
V.15;
"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."
At the Judgment,
all must give account,
as to what each has done with the money
(redemption),
that He left with them.
Here in this verse, the word that is used
is MONEY
(argurion, silvery, redemption).
V.16-17;
"Then came
the first, saying,
Lord thy pound
hath gained ten pounds."
"And he
said unto him, Well, thou good servant:
because thou
hast been faithful in a very little,
have thou authority
over ten cities."
The first gained 10
pounds with the 1 pound.
He relinquished his world (10) through
the Cross (pound),
and Jesus will reign in his life as Lord.
This is what the number 10 represents.....
allowing Jesus to reign in our world and
in our lives,
that is, not living by the world system
(4),
and not by the satisfying of our soul
(6),
but by faith in letting the Lord
reign in our lives,
because we understand the deeper meaning
of the Cross.
Paul says ;
"always bearing about in the body,
the dying of
the Lord Jesus,
that the life
also of Jesus,
might be made
manifest in our body"
(2Cor. 4:10).
The Lord rewarded him with authority over
10 cities.
Luke19: 18-19;
"And the
second came, saying,
Lord, thy pound
hath gained five pounds."
"And he
said likewise to him,
Be thou also
over five cities."
The
second gained 5 pounds,
and given authority over 5 cities..
The number 5 is the number of division
or separation.
He lived a life of separation as a believer,
and was rewarded with authority over 5
cities.
He had produced a separated life.
There are those that have a good testimony,
but do not know the fulness of the Grace
of God.
Thus he is not commended as the one who
produced 10.
There are degrees in growth,
as we can see from the Parable of the
Sower.
(Mat. 13:18-23).
We need to grow to the fullness of the
resurrected life.
and this can be only done through knowledge
of,
the Grace of God.
(2Co. 3:18; 4:6;
2Pet. 3:18).
Not that we have already attained it,
but to pursue for fullness of the resurrected
life,
that Christ,
be more and more magnified in our lives
through faith.
Here in
this parable, the numbers 10 and 5,
are not mentioned together in any other
place in the Scriptures,
as the numbers 5 and 2.
Here the numbers 10 and 5 represent different
individuals,
or different stages of growth and different
degrees,
in yielding their lives to the Lord.
The person who produced 10,
allowed Jesus to reign in his life wholly,
in every area of his life, as the number
10 denotes,
his world system, the way he lives,
and his soul, the way he feels.
All these were given to the Lord,
as he produced the 10 pounds.
and knows the reality of the abundant
life.
This is also a picture of the tithes given,
in the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament, they were under
the law,
and were to give one tenth of all that
they produced.
In the New Testament, producing
the 10 pounds.
It is giving our all (our soul and the
way we live),
to God..
The person who produced
the 5,
lived a separated life, but not totally
yielded to Jesus as Lord.
He has not acknowledged,
nor understood fully the deeper meaning
of the Cross.
There are Christians today who are vigorously
working for the Lord,
but not understand the full meaning of
Grace.
In Rev. 2:1-6,
this church was living a separated life.
They were vigorously working for the Lord
and fainted not.
They hated evil and liars and doctrines
of the Nicolaitanes.
Yet the Lord said to repent,
for they have fallen from their first
love.
They did not understand the fullness of
the Cross.
(see notes on Thy First Love).
V. 20;
"And another
came, saying,
Lord, behold,
here is thy pound,
which I have
kept laid up in a napkin:"
The unbeliever who did
not produce anything,
but kept,( laid up) the pound in a napkin
is labeled wicked (v. 22).
In the Parable of the Talents,
the unbeliever hid the talent in the earth,
and here in this parable, he kept (laid
up) in a napkin.
These words kept (sckeo,
to hold)
and laid (to lie, outstretched),
means it is holding and resting on the
napkin.
The Greek word for napkin is soudarion,
cloth.
It is used only 4 times in the New Testament,
and each has reference to the world (the
number 4):
All these 4 verses,
have reference to things that are dead,
in itself and to the world.
1. Lazarus and the grave:
In John 11:44, the
napkin was wrapped around Lazarus' face,
as he came out of the grave.
The Lord said:
"loose him and
let him go."
The napkin cannot be associated with the
new life.
The things of this world will keep you
bound to the earth,
to material things and to this world.
It must be loosen.
2. Jesus and the sepulchre:
In John 20:7, after
the Lord resurrected from the sepulchre,
it says,
"and the cloth
that was about his head,
not lying with
the linen clothes, but
wrapped
together in a place by itself."
There
is an important significance, why this is mentioned at all,
in connection with His resurrection, and
in such a way:
"The napkin that was about His head,
not lying with the linen clothes, but
wrapped together by itself."
When the Lord was
buried in the Sepulchre,
the people wrapped His head with the napkin,
as it was the custom of that day,
and the napkin is associated with His
death and burial.
When the Lord resurrected from the dead,
it is precisely mentioned in such a way,
to tell us that the napkin is associated
with death,
and with things that are of the old world.
It was not to be together with God's righteousness
and the new life.
The linen cloth is symbolic
of the spotless,
sinless character and life of the Lord
Jesus Christ,
so the napkin was separated from the linen
clothes.
This was the Lord's doing when He resurrected.
The people wrapped His head with the napkin,
when they buried Him, and after He resurrected,
it was separated, the napkin from the
linen cloth,
and wrapped together by itself.
The things of this world,
have no place with the resurrected life.
The old things of this world, should be
entwined and bound up,
and separated from the resurrected life.
Lazarus
was
loosened from the grave clothes (napkin),
Jesus left the napkin separated from the
linen cloth in the sepulchre,
and Paul used the napkin with the sick.
The napkin does not have any good connotations,
to those who are alive and regenerated.
It is associated with negative things,
death, disease and evil spirits, with
the unbeliever and the old world.
From these two accounts,
we can see that the napkin is associated
with the past,
this old world, and not with the resurrected
life.
In the Parable of the Pounds,
the napkin is associated with the unbeliever,
and in the Book of Acts,
it is associated with disease and evil
spirits.
3. Paul and the diseased and evil spirits:
Acts; 19:11-12;
“And God
wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
So that from
his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs,
or aprons, and
the diseases departed from them,
nd the evil spirits
went out of them.”
God
made special miracle by the hands of Paul,
so that from his body were brought unto
the sick,
handkerchiefs or aprons, and the evil
spirit went out of them.
The Apostle Paul
used the napkin,
to draw the sickness from the people with
diseases and evil spirits.
The napkin itself did
not have any special powers.
It was Paul's faith in the Lord that healed
them.
Why did
Paul use the napkins?
The sequence that follows in Acts
19:14-19 should explain this.
There were many there
at that time,
even as there are today,
who rely on magical arts,
and use things to perform healing and
casting out evil spirits.
In v. 13, it says,
“Then
certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists,
took upon them
to call over them,
who had evil
spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus,
saying, we adjure
you by Jesus , whom Paul preached.”
They used
the name of the Lord Jesus, but to no avail.
The seven sons of Sce'va were they,
who tried to duplicate what Paul did,
but they failed.
The result is that they realized it is
not things that they used,
nor was it using the Lord's Name,
but it was Paul's faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Using the Lord's name will not amount
to anything,
if it is not done in faith,
or if one is not a believer, as was the
case with the exorcist in v.13.
Using the name of
the Lord,
really means to do it by faith in the
Authority of Jesus Christ,
because He is the one approved of God.
I see some Christians emphatically pronouncing
the name of Jesus,
when praying in His name,
as though the louder or the more emphasis
is put in His name,
it will mean more.
Never!
It is knowing and resting on the authority
of the name of Jesus.
It is not how loud you speak His name,
but how much your heart realizes and rests
in the authority of His name.
They were so wrapped
up with things, and evidence
of things that Paul used,
the napkins, to show that the napkin in
itself was nothing,
but associated with diseases and this
world.
They tried to duplicate what Paul did,
and the evil spirit leaped on them and
hurt them.
They realized this,
and thus,
V. 19, says:
"they brought
their books of magical arts together,
and burned them
before all. And the Word of God grew."
It was a special miracle
that God gave to Paul,
and not a special cloth. (Act. 19:11).
The Greek word for special in v.
11 is tugchano,
which means to effect, to light upon.
This verse should be read in this
manner.
"And God
worked an enlightening miracle by the hands of Paul"
or
"And God
worked a miracle by the hands of Paul to effect,
or to enlighten
the unbelievers, about something."
It was to make them
realize, that all the magical arts and books,
that they were using, were not of God
and they burned them (Acts 19:19)
What happens
when you bring a light into a dark room?
Things are revealed.
The Jews were in the dark, and did not
know the truth.
This miracle was to enlighten them,
and to show them that the things they
were using,
did not have any power of their own.
The
unbelievers are in the dark,
and cannot see the truth.
We as Christians are in a room that is
lit,
but there are parts of the room that are
still partially dark,
such as corners, and places that have
shadows,
because of things in the room.
This is also true in our lives.
If we have too many things or rely on
too many things,
our faith in God is dim.
Thus, the only way to
eliminate the shadows in the room,
is bring more light into the room.
A room that is full of light will have
no shadows.
We too, when we see more of Jesus,
that he has more of us.
He as the light in us, will shine brighter,
and there will be less shadow, or less
doubting,
in our lives for we will see things clearly
and walk by faith.
The Holy Spirit is
here now,
to reveal the deeper things of Christ,
to us through the Word of God.
Paul says until Christ comes,
we shall not know all things clearly,
but only in part.
The napkin then represents
something we can use,
but it is of the old world. Paul
used it to enlighten the unbelievers.
Remember it was by the hand of Paul.
We, too, can use certain things, such as
television, radio,
certain kinds of programs, money, etc.
to bring the Gospel of Christ,
to enlighten the unbelievers but in themselves,
they are nothing.
They belong
to the old world, and they are used for those who are dead,
and in themselves will not bring life
to anyone.
These things should be separated from
the gospel,
as far as power is concerned,
for they do not contribute in bringing
life to anyone.
You should not misunderstand this.
In themselves, they are not bad; however,
in bringing life to anyone, they cannot
and will not do.
Do not say the TV media,
the radio programs,
the money that you gave, have saved them,
etc.
The Word of God saves all.
Faith in Christ,
in His Word and in God saves all.
We may and can use all those things, but
we do not rely on them ever.
Keep them in their place; they are of
the old world.
This
is what the parables,
and the incident of Paul in the book of
Acts, are teaching us.
When you trust in things,
such as money,
programs,
television,
commentary books, etc.,
then you are walking by logic, and common
sense.
You are not really relying on the power
of the Lord.
Trust in the Word of God.
Trust in Christ.
Trust in God.
All these things in themselves are not
good or bad,
but relying on them,
resting on them,
putting our trust in them is not the way.
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