Farsighted Living

He did not give his possessions to you. He entrusted his possessions to you. Jonathan Evans says it's important to remember everything we have is just temporarily borrowed from God. Your life is not even your own.

Your life is a life on loan. Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of The Urban Alternative. If you're careful when driving your car, how much more careful would you be driving your boss's car? Well, in a nutshell, that's the difference between ownership and stewardship. And that's what we'll hear about today in this message from Jonathan Evans.

Let's join him. Today I want to talk to you about the stewardship of the kingdom. The stewardship of the kingdom, understanding that your job as a steward of God has everything to do with your inheritance in the kingdom. Salvation is free, but your inheritance takes work. So it's important for us to understand the stewardship of the kingdom. And while Jesus is talking to his disciples in Matthew 25, starting at verse 14, he's talking in terms of a parable and he's trying to get them to understand this concept of the stewardship and the kingdom.

And the story goes like this. He said, a man was about to go on a journey and this man called his slaves and entrusted his slaves with his possessions. To one slave he gave five talents, to another slave he gave two talents, and to another slave he gave one talent.

Each one he gave according to their abilities. The first slave who had five talents he immediately went out and began to work, began to trade, began to do his thing and he gained five more. The second slave went out and he did just like the first slave, he worked, he did his thing, he traded and he gained two more. So now he has four. The last slave, he took his talent and he dug a hole and buried it in the dirt.

So he's still with one. And then the master returned from his journey to settle accounts. The first slave came up and said, master you gave me five but now I have ten. Well done, my good and faithful servant. For you have been faithful over a few things and now I'm about to make you ruler over many. Come into the joy of your master. The second slave came up, he's excited you gave me two but master now I have four. Well done, my good and faithful servant. For you have been faithful over a few things and now I'm about to make you ruler over many. The last slave came up after watching the first two and he said, I knew that you were a hard man who reaped where you do not sow and gather where you scatter no seed.

So I just chilled, I dug it up and here, have at least what you gave me. And the master said, you wicked lazy slave. If I was a man that was hard and I reaped where I do not sow and gather where I scatter no seed then why wouldn't you have at least put it in the bank?

At least there would have gained interest. Therefore take that one talent and give it to the one who has ten. Because those who have more will be given but those who don't have even what they do have will be taken away. Now cast this slave to outer darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth.

That's the story, are you with me here? This is the stewardship of the kingdom. He starts out by saying a man is about to go on a journey. Jesus talking to his disciples, that man is Jesus Christ because this is prior to his crucifixion, his resurrection and his ascension. So he's telling them through this parable, I'm about to be up out of here but before I leave let me call my slaves and entrust my slaves with my possessions. In other words, he's letting them know that even though I'm about to be gone, don't forget that you're still my slaves. It's the concept of redemption that we need to understand as a church that when Jesus Christ paid the price on the cross, he paid the price on the cross to redeem us from a slave master. Each individual in this room used to be under a slave master called sin. And when Jesus Christ died on the cross, he paid the price to redeem you from that slave master and own you for himself so that he is now your new master.

You have been redeemed by a high price. A slave is obligated to his master. A slave is not free from his master. I know who the son sets free is free indeed in Galatians 5 says it is for freedom that you have been set free but it is for freedom that you have been set free from your old slave master. It doesn't mean you're not still a slave to a new master.

You belong to Jesus Christ and therefore you are obligated to his rule. Just because he's gone physically doesn't mean that he doesn't still rule your whole life spiritually. Every now and then when I leave to go out of town and I have to go out of town because I haven't a speaking engagement or I'm traveling with the cowboys or something like that, I'll call my kids and I'll let them know, hey, daddy's about to go on a journey and I need you to do a few things, take care of your mama, don't act bad, you know, make sure you follow the rules of the house.

When I leave, by the time I get to the airport, Kanika is calling me. Jonathan, your kid's in here acting a fool. Because they think that just because daddy's gone is party time. Just because daddy is gone on a journey is time that we can do whatever we want to do because daddy's not here to see our actions.

Wrong. When mama calls, I have to get on the phone and let them kids know the fact that I'm going on a journey implies that I will be back. And when I come back, I will settle my account. Don't think that just because I'm gone, you're just free to roam and do whatever you want to do because I still rule even though I'm not present. What Jesus is saying and that he's calling his slaves prior to him going on a journey so that they don't get confused on who they are and their relationship between master and slave. But watch this in verse fourteen, he says, I'm calling my slaves and I'm entrusting to them my possessions.

Now, wait a minute. Now, there's something that I see that we all need to understand if we're going to be good stewards. It's his slaves. And then what he gives them belong to him to everything in verse fourteen is possessive to the master. Nothing in this chapter is possessive to the slave. Jesus owns everything. Psalms twenty four is clear that he owns the whole earth and the fullness thereof.

He owns absolutely everything. The worst thing a slave could do is take something from a master and start to think that is theirs. Your life is not even your own. Your life is a life on loan. You are a slave and the master entrusted his possessions to you.

Watch this. He did not give his possessions to you. He entrusted his possessions to you. If I'm entrusting something to an institution like a bank, I will entrust my money to them. But I'm not entrusting my money to them for them to think that it's theirs. I'm entrusting my money to them so that they will protect it and expand it. There's two reasons why I'm giving the bank my money. I want them to protect my money and then I want them to expand my money with an interest rate. In other words, I'm entrusting them with something that I want them to do something for me in return.

I am not entrusting the bank for the bank's benefit, but rather my benefit because it's mine. The question is, as you take all the talents, the time, the gifts, the treasures that God has given you, are you protecting it for his kingdom? And then are you expanding it for his kingdom?

The sad reality today is most people have taken what God has entrusted them with and have used it to expand the kingdom of the slave, not the kingdom of the master. That's bad stewardship. Stewardship implies that you don't own nothing. You don't own the patent on anything in your life, your house, your car, your clothes, your job. All of those different things are possessive to the master. They are not possessive to the slave.

So we need to skew our thinking that everything that I am and everything that I have and everything that I have possessed from the master, I need to protect it for his kingdom and then I need to be focused on using it for his kingdom because he is the master and I am the slave. My life is not my own. My life is simply a life on loan. And every now and then when I travel, I'm reminded because I'll have to go ahead and get a loaner car and I'll roll up to Enterprise and they'll pull out all the terms and conditions that I never read through and then I put my initials down and then they walk around the car to make sure there's no scratches. They check the gas and by the time I get in the car, I'm keenly aware that that's not mine. I don't own that car.

I drive a loaner car or a rental car like I've never driven a car before. I mean, if you see me swinging and banging what I think I own is a whole lot different than that rental car. I mean, I'm checking my mirrors. I'm looking in my blind spot. Somebody want to cut in, go ahead, cut in.

We know that don't normally happen. Normally I'm competitive on the road. Back up. I'm getting in my spot. But I'm driving that rental car like I've never driven it before. I'm very careful. I'm checking the speed limit.

I'm driving this. I'm doing it just right because I understand that I only have this car for a limited time and what really reminds me that it's a loaner and not mine is that I have to return it. You've got to understand that our life is not our own. It is a life on loan. And it came with terms and conditions on how to live it and how to use it and not abuse it.

And guess what? You're only here for a limited time and you're going to have to return it. And when I return my car, it never fails that I have to settle my account because it wasn't mine.

I'm either getting reward points for doing a good job or I'm having to pay out of pocket for doing a bad job. Either way, I'm going to have to settle my account on something that doesn't belong to me. In a moment, more about what God expects when our accounts are settled up. But first, I wanted to let you know that Dr. Evans will be back with us on the broadcast beginning June 22nd. And in the meantime, we're presenting a special series of messages from his son and co-laborer in ministry, author, speaker, and chaplain Jonathan Evans. As we've been hearing, each one of us is a manager over part of God's kingdom.

And that's why he holds something special for us and has given us a purpose for this life and beyond. If you find yourself wondering what that could be, then get a copy of Jonathan's challenging audio series called Forever Starts Now. It's a collection of messages that can give you the tools and motivation for getting off the sidelines and into the game where you can do big things as you fulfill your God-given purpose. We'd love to send you all nine full-length messages from this audio series on both CD and digital download as our way of saying thanks when you make a donation toward the Urban Alternatives ministry on radio and TV and to pastors, churches, and people just like you around the world. And as an added bonus, we'll also send you a copy of Jonathan Evans' brand-new book on the same subject entitled Your Time is Now.

This special double offer is only available for a limited time, so don't miss out. Visit us today at tonyevans.org or call our resource request line at 1-800-800-3222. I'll have our contact information for you again after Part 2 of today's lesson and this.

It was my first time meeting Jesus in the Bible. That's what one student is saying after studying bibliology through the Tony Evans Training Center, taught by renowned theologian, Dr. Tony Evans. These online courses feature compelling and exclusive video and audio teaching, plus an interactive scripture-based curriculum you can access online or through the mobile app. Sign up now at tonyevanstraining.org. Take a course with Dr. Evans and explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere.

tonyevanstraining.org. It is Jesus Christ who is the master and he's about to go on a journey and he entrusted his slaves with his stuff. Our life is not our own, it's a life on loan and then watch this, he says, to one slave he gave five talents, to another slave he gave two talents and to another slave he gave one talent and he gave each according to the ability that the slave had. In other words, the master knew how much responsibility and stewardship responsibilities to give each slave. He didn't give each slave the same thing because he knew the slaves that he was giving to. Don't spend your time looking at everybody else's talents because God knew you when you were in your mother's womb. He knew exactly how much to give you, exactly how much you could handle as it relates to stewardship and his kingdom and he didn't want to give you too much.

He loves you too much to give you too much. That's a concept that we need to understand and if we really understand our master and how he knows us then we can even praise God when God tells us no. Because if God always told us yes, some people would be married to the wrong folk. If God always told you yes, you would have started a business that would have crumbled in three seconds and your family would have been broken apart because of it. If God always told you yes, you could have put yourself in some broken situations. As a matter of fact, there are some people in here who have a testimony that they can praise God because he told them no, because when he told them no, it got them to the place where they needed to be. God gave each slave according to their abilities to handle it.

Now you got to understand the talent that we're talking about. We're talking about those big mining blocks that we're talking about. It was worth a whole lot of money and they had a whole lot of weight to them and it's amazing how the master knew his slaves enough to know how much weight of responsibility that they have the ability to carry. Your master knows exactly how much weight that you can carry and sometimes our wants are a little bit too weighty than what we can handle and the master has to tell us no because he knows exactly how much you can carry on your person. It's amazing how the master says he called his slaves and trusted them with his stuff and then he portioned to them based on their ability to be good stewards right where you are.

Don't look at where you're going. Look where you are and be a good steward of where he's placed you now in verse 19 after a long time the master returned. So now we're talking about the future kingdom the return of Christ. So right now you're in the in between where you can expand what God has entrusted to you before he comes back to settle his account. He's letting you know that this is your window, this is your time, this is your opportunity but I want you to understand loud and clear that the master will return and when he returns he will settle his account.

Now what are we talking about now? We're talking about the judgment seat of Christ in the Greek it's called the bima when you get judged and we all will be judged for our good and our bad. The last slave he took his talent and he dug a hole and buried it in the dirt. I ain't really do nothing but at least I'm giving you what you gave me the response from the bima seed you wicked lazy slave. If I gather where I do not spread any seeds and reap where I do not sow then at least you would have put my money in the bank.

If you were scared to lose it just put it in the bank at least there would have collected interest so you take what you have that you're trying to give me right here and give it to the one who has ten because those who have more will be transferred to them but those who do not have even what they do have will be stripped away. Why was the slave wicked and lazy? Because I'm thinking well at least Jesus he didn't lose it at least he gave you back what you gave him I mean we didn't we didn't lose we came out even. First of all why would I do when he worked the slave perspective why would I do when he worked when I'm not the one reaping the benefit? I knew you were a man who reaped where you don't even sow.

You gather where you don't even scatter any seed. So from my perspective why would I go out on my job and do all that work and then put something in the offering plate for you? You didn't do nothing you didn't do any work I'm out here doing all this work and you want me to hand it all over to you. I'm not interested in that perspective of the slave. And then you have a slave the last slave who's riding the fence he's playing the end against the middle because he gave it away when he said well why didn't you at least put it in the bank suspicion from the beamer?

Why didn't you at least put my money in the bank? You see the bank keeps a record and a log and the slave didn't want to be accountable to the record he wanted to put it in a hole just in case the master didn't return. Just in case the master didn't return he would be able to go retrieve it without being accountable. He would be able to go retrieve it without being accountable and take his talent for himself just in case this whole Jesus returning stuff is hodgepodge.

Just in case this whole Jesus coming back stuff is not real I want to be able to say that I can use my talent for myself. So he didn't want to be accountable to the bank he wanted to have the ability to retrieve it for himself just in case. But I also don't want to work because I want to retrieve the benefit. But if the master does return are y'all still with me?

If the master does return at least I can go retrieve it without there being any record of my intentions and give him back what he gave me. Oh you wicked lazy slave. Sitting in the middle trying to play the end against the middle. And we've got people in the church of Jesus Christ today who are wicked lazy slaves.

They've taken the talent from the master everything that they own and they're sitting trying to play the end against the middle. If Jesus returns if all that stuff is true at least I'll be able to say that I went to church on Sunday. At least I'll be able to say that I put a dollar in the offering plate. At least I'll be able to say that I prayed for Aunt Shirley that Sunday. At least I'll be able to say that I gave him the minimum.

But if he doesn't return at least I can say I enjoyed my talent. And you've got Christians who are taking what God has given them and playing the fence but they got to show up to the beamer. And then it ends like this.

Throw him to outer darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Or in other words profound regret. There will be people in the kingdom, the kingdom of God which is a thousand year reign comes prior to eternity. So you with me here? We're talking about the reign of Christ, the wedding party prior to the new heaven and the new earth. The kingdom of God that party will have some Christians who he'll have to say based on their attire, I'm gonna need you to step outside while we have this party and then I'll holla at you when the thousand years is over. And when you step outside there's gonna be profound regret.

In other words weeping and gnashing of teeth. People who realize I had 50 years and I did nothing for the kingdom. You're improperly dressed I'm gonna need you to step outside. Oh man. I had 80 years and did nothing for the kingdom.

Well the wedding has just started and you're improperly dressed I'm gonna need you to step outside. It's one of those things where an athlete gets suspended for the season. He's still on the team but he's not able to participate in the game.

So there's extreme regret based on whatever he did to get suspended. Are you following me now? So there are some Christians even though you're going to heaven that will enter the kingdom by the skin of their teeth. And then there will be those who are good stewards that can enjoy the party. In Revelation 20 he says, and we will reign with him.

In 2 Corinthians 5, 10, 4 we all will go before the judgment seat of Christ based on our stewardship and be judged good inheritance, lack of inheritance. Jonathan Evans will come back in a moment with a story that will give you a new perspective on weighing today's decisions when he wraps up our teaching in just a moment. First though the title of today's lesson is Far-Sided Living and you can request a full-length copy which includes material we didn't have time to present on the air when you visit tonyevans.org. Better yet take advantage of that special double offer I mentioned earlier and receive today's message as a part of the complete nine-part audio collection Forever Starts Now. Along with the messages that you'll receive on CD and digital download, you'll also get a copy of Jonathan's life-changing new book, Your Time is Now, Get What God Has Given You. These resources can help transform you from a complacent spectator to someone who understands God's plan and moves to accomplish His divine destiny. The package is yours as our thank you gift when you make a contribution to help keep this broadcast coming your way each day. This is a limited time offer so don't put it off. Visit tonyevans.org to get all the details, make your contribution, and download full-length audio resources instantly. Or call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 to let one of our team members assist.

That's 1-800-800-3222. Dr. Evans will be returning to our broadcast on June 22nd after Jonathan Evans completes his special series called Forever Starts Now. On Monday, he'll point out that we jeopardize our future when we impulsively grab the things we want today.

Right now, though, he's back with this closing thought. I don't like carrots. If you like carrots, you differ. I don't like carrots. If I come over to your house and you invite me over for dinner, don't cook carrots because I'll make you feel bad. I'll push that to the side. Carrots is not my thing, but that's just not, you know, I won't swallow that well. But if somebody were to tell me, if you eat carrots for a year, I'm going to pay your food bill, your grocery bill, and your going out to eat bill for the rest of your life, I'm going to change my view on some carrots. Why? Because I'm viewing the inheritance of tomorrow, and it changes my taste buds today. My prayer is, as we've discovered the stewardship of the kingdom, that you're far-sighted and not near-sighted, that you live in stewardship today in light of the Bema Seat tomorrow. The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by the Urban Alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.