Question: who was the greatest among them? Jesus was, He didn’t come to be served but to serve. There are many in the church today that seem to be content warming the pews. There are many that have never won a soul for Christ. There are many that don’t pay tithes. And I don’t know how many have never witnessed or been in any kind of ministry.
The Bible says that we are not saved by works, but it does say in Ephesians 2: verses 8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
It is very important that we realize that we could do nothing to obtain our salvation except repent and confess our sins and choose to receive Jesus into our lives. But if we are a believer God has prepared good works for us to do before we were ever believers and we need to be about our Father’s business.
Think about your money, which some are having a real struggle with. There are many people losing their jobs and their finances are not what they used to be. But it is very important that we put the Lord first in all things. In Malachi 3:8 it says “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘ In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.”
God loves every believer and promises to provide for them. In Psalm’s 37:25 it says “I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.” It also says in the Word to “seek God’s kingdom first and all these things will be added unto you.” Don’t lean on your own understanding, trust the Lord to provide. You reach up as high as you can and He will reach down the rest of the way, trust Him.
As far as works is concerned the Bible has various things to say and one of them is in James 2: 14, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” In verse 18 it says “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your[ works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” It comes down to verse 26, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
Jesus, in Matthew, told a story about a man and his 3 servants. He gave each of them a certain amount of money according to his own ability. To the first one he gave five talents, to the second he gave two talents and to the third he gave one talent. Then he went on a trip and was gone a long time. When he came back he wanted to settle up with them. He was very pleased with the first and second servants but not so with the third servant. The third servant was afraid of his master and hid his talent in the ground, in other words he did nothing with what he was given, unlike the other two servants who put their talents to work. The master said to the third servant “you wicked and lazy servant,” then he took the talent that he had and gave it to the one that had ten talents, and said to cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Let me explain where they get weeping and gnashing of teeth from. There was a big wall around Jerusalem
I realize that a talent was a sum of money but the main point of this parable is that being ready for Christ’s coming involves more than playing it safe and doing little or nothing. It demands the kind of service that produces results.
This is a very serious situation that we shouldn’t take lightly. Paul said to “examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.” So if you have not been involved in ministry, or the Lord’s work, I hope this lesson will encourage you to get busy. There are many things that need to be done so step out in faith and further God’s kingdom in some way. As you do, you will be blessed?
God bless you and have a great day.
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