Occupy Till I Come (Part II)

Introduction: In the previous message, we discussed the place called hell and it's purpose. In Mark 9:43-48, we read that hell is a place of pain, torment and lamentation and that it is not the will of God for anyone to end up there. The Bible in the book of Revelations describes for us the place called heaven. It is the dwelling place of God and that is the place He desires for all mankind to live with Him in eternity.

(Matthew 25: 14 – 30)

In Revelation 21:2-4, the Bible says “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Now that we know that Heaven is a glorious place and is the place that our God wants to be, the next question should be – What should I do to get there? The answer the Bible provides is that we should occupy till The Lord comes back again. Jesus told some parables in order to answer this question. In Luke 19:12-13 the Bible says, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come”. Jesus also told a similar parable in Matthew 25:14-30. Verses 14 and 15 read as follows “For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey”. In this parable the man expected his servants to occupy themselves with the talents he gave them until his return. We know from the parable that two of the servants obeyed their master and one did not. In the parable that we read, the King there is the King of Kings Himself Jesus Christ, and the Man who gave the talents to his servants is Jesus Christ as well. The people that are to occupy till He comes are His own people – the Church. The first point we learn in this story is:          
1.​ Nobody is born empty. We all have talents that God has given to us and He expects us to use our talents to be a blessing to our world and to His kingdom.          
2. Another point is that God is going to hold us accountable for that which is deposited in us. We will give account to God on how we have used our talents.    
3. Also, if you occupy now by working hard, you are diligent in what He has committed to your hand. If you are faithful to it, you are actually working for yourself because, the man who gained one pound, the Master said he should keep it, the one who gained five talents, the Master said he should keep it.

How Should We Occupy?

There are many ways we can productively occupy ourselves until our Master and Lord comes back.

1. We can occupy ourselves with thanksgiving: Psalm 34:1 says “I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. We must offer continuous thanks and praise to our God 

   

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