Rewards From Our Returning King Series

REWARDS FROM OUR RETURNING KING

Please open your Bible to Luke 19 as we conclude our series on Eternal Rewards with today’s message, “Rewards from Our Returning King.”

Jesus gave two parables of what it would be like to stand before Him at His judgment seat. Last week, in the Parable of the Talents we discovered that God has gifted every believer with at least one talent of responsibility to honor to the Name of Jesus Christ.

In this Parable of the Mina, Jesus again reveals the wonderful gift of rewards that He has reserved for those who faithfully serve Him. Every believer, including you, has been graced with special gifts from heaven. So, if you desire the great rewards of heaven that are exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we could ask or think, and if you desire to hear Jesus say to you, “Well Done, good and faithful servant,” then this message is especially for you.

Luke 19:17 ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities. NKJV

FAITHFULNESS AND REWARDS

Faithfulness is the key to great eternal rewards. Faithfulness is how Jesus describes the heart of a true servant. Faithfulness to the Lord, in all things, including the very small things, will greatly determine what you can be trusted to handle in eternity.

Faithfulness is so important that Jesus said…

Luke 16:10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, (worldly wealth) who will commit to your trust the true riches? NKJV

Faithfulness is important, which is why Jesus also said in Luke 19:17, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.

Faithfulness is very important to the Lord. Faithful living is how we hear Jesus say, well done. He is looking for those who are faithful in all things, including the small things.

THE NOBLE MASTER

Jesus begins this parable about a nobleman… Luke 19:12 A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. NKJV

Without diving into all of the details, the point is, Jesus is the nobleman, and at this moment, He is in the far country, in heaven, waiting for the moment He will return to earth and set up His eternal kingdom as the King of kings.

The actions of Jesus as our true nobleman begins in Luke 19:10 that reveals a powerful truth regarding Jesus first coming and His second coming.

Luke 19:10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. NKJV

Before Jesus could return a second time as King, He first had to come and save the lost. That means… In His first coming…

He did not come to overthrow Rome and set up an earthly kingdom.

He did not come to right all wrongs, or to fix social injustices.

He came the first time as the Lamb of God to destroy the power of sin. He came the first time to bring eternal life to all who would believe in His name. He came the first time to seek and to save the lost through His finished work at the cross. That’s why He came…

The point is, He did not come the first time to fix the world, but to save the world.

But… glory to God, He will return a second time, as the eternal King of the Ages, when He will rule with righteous judgment over the nations and nothing on earth will stand against Him for His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

Revelation 19 says, He will return as the Lord of Lords.

Philippians 2 says, every knee will bow before Him and confess He is King of kings.

At the present time, our King is away, but He is coming, and He is bringing with Him a kingdom of glory that will never end. At His coming, He will renovate the world into a paradise of unimaginable beauty like the garden of Eden. The change will be so dynamic that even all the deserts of the world will blossom like a rose garden of beauty.

At the moment, our King is away, but He will return. Now look at verse 14…

Luke 19:14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.

Verse 14 Jesus describes a true event between Rome and Israel where 3,000 Jews were killed. Jesus uses this to describe the world’s attitude toward Him at His return. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the world of today hates the name of Jesus Christ and rejects Him as King.