Equip 3 - Participant Notes
Peter vanderWal 11th Dec 2011
Matthew 25 –Parable of Talents.
We live our lives to hear the words ‘well done good and faithful servant’. We must live in such a way that we pursue ‘greatness’ or reward in the ages to come. Luke 19, the servants are rewarded with cities, or greater responsibility and honour in the age to come.
We can be shortsighted in living our life. There is something beyond our time on earth. This life really is preparation for the age and ages to come. Life on earth is an internship, which prepares us for ruling and reigning with Christ during the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth, and into eternity, which is when our ‘main ministry’ begins.
The way we live, our choices, our obedience to Christ, our relationship to Christ, our degree of Christlikeness; determines where and how we will function in the millennial kingdom and eternity. It determines our place in the heavenlies, and our relationship with the Lord in the Millennial kingdom in ruling and reigning with Him. It is proportionate to the quality and kind of our labour and service in this life. This is not a salvation issue, but a reward issue. The fact that some will rule over two cities, some over five, some over ten and some will not rule over any, shows that there are degrees of reward.
1 Cor 3:12-15, Matt 25, Luke 19, Rev 20.
The parables are about faithfulness with what we are given, and diligence to use it to the fullest possible extent. A desire to be productive in the kingdom. God expects ‘profit’ from his investment in us. It is about being fruitful for His kingdom/business. He holds us accountable for what we have done with what He has entrusted to us.
Fruitfulness is about what you have done in this life by the grace of God that is given. Not every work is God’s work. Just because it is spiritual, or religious , or because we are fulfilling a need, does not mean that the work will earn for us honour, reward, or distinction. The works of God are those that have their inception in Him, and are performed by the power of His life, by motives that are pure, and that seek His purposes only, and His glory.
John Wesley, “My desire is to be on full stretch for God”
Mission and purpose must be at the centre of our soul. Moving beyond our own concerns and interests. Consider Christ’s redemptive ministry. Jesus was completely given to it. He was single-minded in pursuit of his objective. He avoided unproductive effort. He was neither encouraged or discouraged by man’s opinions and reactions to Him. And he was not deterred by the ongoing satanic onslaught. He channelled his effort in one direction: the Cross.
Why do we bury our talent?
· Feel like we can’t meet the high expectations of God? 3rd servant had the view that his master was unreasonable, there was no way to please him, so he decided to not even try. All too hard.
· Sense of lack of grace and gifting?
· Unbelief or ignorance? Lack of eternal/kingdom perspective and purposes of God.
· Living under judgement instead of freedom.
· Too busy? Parable of soils – type 3
· Own agenda –parable of soils –type 2. Enjoy life as we know it.
Do I really want to run the race that has been set before me?
You must be convinced that you want to run the race that the Father has set before you. The one that was ordained for you. The life of sonship set before you, predestined for you.
If we don’t embrace Galatians 2:20, and give our lives fully to the race that God has set before us, then our best intentioned Christian life will come up with a very good plan B, good but just not God’s plan. A ‘shadow’ of what could have been. And then there is the spirit of the age, the agenda of the world, constantly enticing us to carnality, to live by the flesh, and to live according to the world’s system, and to live a life that is acceptable, and in fact, honoured by man.
We must get rid of double mindedness. It leads to lukewarmness. We try to live for two kingdoms. We try to mix the way of life demanded by the world with the way of Christ and the kingdom of God. We try to mix love for things, people, places, and principles of the world, with love for God.
And we end up lukewarm - no passion or strength to move into what God has for us.
1 Cor 9:24-27
Paul disciplined himself to fulfil his mission. He ran with a clear goal ahead of him.
Run –to run, to strive to advance, exert effort, make progress. Every runner could run in vain potentially, not accomplishing the will of God. Do not run aimlessly. We must endure. Prepared to run.
Striving – to strive, contend, to enter a contest. Lay down your life for the prize. There is a continual struggle that must take place if one is to enter the kingdom of God by the narrow door. Great personal discipline and self control is necessary to accomplish one’s goal.
Prize-reward awaits believers for overcoming life’s challenges. God gives crowns to the faithful for reward. The crown demonstrates Christ’s approval and His acceptance of our work.
Obtain/Get – take over, seize, obtain, grasp firmly, comprehend, understand, perceive, catch. Reaching out and taking by force if necessary to overtake your opponent. Reach out and seize God’s purpose for you. There will be opposition. People oppose you. There will be satanic attacks. Harassment will appear. You do not give in or give up. Must live with a warfare mentality.
Discerning Your Calling
1.We must grow in discernment. Discernment of calling grows out of:
· walking close with God. Experiential knowledge of God. Getting first-hand or hands-on experience with God. We grow and learn through handling the things of God for ourselves. And there can be no substitute for growth in personal devotion to the person of Jesus. He is the One who feeds through our intimate devotion.
· hunger for the Kingdom of God. Eyes opened that we may grow in understanding of the purposes and ways of God –wisdom. hunger to be used by Him
· live out of general will of God, and the specifics will become clear. E.g. Apostle Paul-Bondservant –special calling –specific calling
· usually bit by bit. Discernment through putting pieces of the puzzle together.
· Revelation knowledge-dreams, visions, voice of God, prophetic ministry, etc
2. We must keep our spirits alive and active so that we discern properly. Discernment is key to living life in the offensive mode. Lack of discernment leads to apathy and lukewarmness.
3. Recognise the grace on your life. Discerning or distinguishing the will of God for our lives. Romans 12 ‘we have different gifts according to the grace given us.’ And ‘As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain’. 2 Cor 6:1. When a person is reconciled with His eternal script, a natural affinity and connection takes place because the script was made for you and you were made for the script. Our tailor made script activates passion, strength, vision, and resource.
4. Fasted and disciplined lifestyle. Focus and commitment/dedication brings discernment. Deals with double mindedness and lukewarmness.
5. Through understanding our spiritual roots, we may often discern our God given destiny. John the Baptist knew his spiritual roots. He knew he was to have serious dedication-Nazarite. John had discerned his God ordained destiny and pursued it with single minded passion. He was willing to be prepared in the wilderness. He lived in obscurity and his life was cut short.
6. When you think about everything that God has put in your heart, the dreams burning to be fulfilled, you can be tempted to rush the whole process. But we must discern our season, and let God bring us into His plans. The prodigal son took his inheritance too soon and squandered it. If we step into our purpose in our time and way, you can come into a position before the fullness of time God has set for it. Like a premature baby, you can end up weak and even die. We must get there by being lead by God. God’s timing and ways are perfect. God won’t accept even the best flesh, the best of our intentions and abilities. He doesn’t want any of it. What God wants is a people who will obey His Word and follow the leading of the Spirit.
Cultivate Calling/Preparation
1.Jesus had a journey between Bethlehem and the right hand of the Father. He was not born on a throne but in a manger, a lowly place. There was a process that carried Jesus into all authority, and we are subject to that same process. Legally, a believer begins to rule and reign in Christ at the moment of salvation; but experientially it is a process. God takes every believer through steps of maturity, building character and skill into us as we go along, and He gives us more and more ruling responsibility as we grow up in Him. We can’t ignore the outworking of scriptural principles in our lives to bring spiritual maturity. We can’t ignore these things if we want all that God has called us to do and predestined us to be.
God believes strongly in preparation. We are to be people prepared to do that which God has called us to. Allow ourselves to come into the ‘spirit of adoption’ that Christ has offered us. This is key to the favour of God resting on us and being an instrument of God.
It will take deliberate crafting and preparing of the vessel(us) for God’s script-this should be our major focus. Flaky, shallow and ill-disciplined believers will not prosper in the purposes of God regardless of their best efforts.
Prepare means to make ready or get ready, to put together, to formulate, to draft, to frame, to ready for action, to gird, to brace, to fortify, and to strengthen.
2. Prepared to move into our future. Isaiah 40 pattern. Moving from judgement to release from captivity. Is 40:2 God calls for a departure from captivity that has caused us to lose touch with our own destiny. He calls us to our future. ‘preparing the way of the Lord, making straight a highway’.
Is 57:14 ‘build up, build up, prepare the road. Remove the obstacles out of the way of My people.’
Is 62:10 ‘pass through, pass through through the gates. Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway. Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.”
3. 1 Timothy1:6 ‘fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you...for God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline.
· Faithfulness and diligence with the natural and what is before you. Serving wholeheartedly. Put your gift and calling to use.
· Protracted Infancy –just turn up year after year, remaining a consumer Christian. Spiritual maturity is living to be a producer, taking responsibility, carrying weight, pursuing spiritual growth. We cultivate carrying weight in all things we do-not just turning up to things, expecting someone else to do it all. This is a huge thing for us all, moving from infancy to maturity, because ‘Church’ has largely been designed for spectators, and to keep you all as infants.
1 John2 –process of growth that we are meant to go through.
Hebrews 6;1-3 –let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity.
· Feed the gift/calling. Study your gifting –biblical, seek Christ, study others lives.
· Taking hold of that for which Christ took hold of us. Possessing that which the Lord has for us. This is a mentality of personal and corporate(willingness to allow the Lord to knit us together in a new way) responsibility.
We need spiritual depth which comes from serious dedication. Phil 2 “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling”.
Hold onto your calling with great reverence and awe. Do not take lightly the things of God and the purposes He has placed within you. Parable of talents. Apathy and lukewarmness towards God and our purpose –from compromise-living in two kingdoms, the spirit of the world speaking way too loudly in our lives.
Jesus-moral power that came from an absolute commitment to His Father and the task before Him. He lived sinless-he knew His call. He knew His days were numbered-focussed life. Powerful determination that comes from knowledge of who He was.
4. Patience is key to preparation. As we are prepared by the Lord for moving in His purposes, we may find seasons where we are faced with bitter and painful circumstances. We may find it difficult to walk through these times not fully understanding their purpose, but these very things prepare us for moving into our destiny. God prepares and positions us to overthrow the enemies of our future.
5. Courage to stand with iron-like convictions, in the midst of rapid change, trends, uncertainty, fads, theology, popularity, acceptance.... Conviction that is based on the word of God and what God has spoken to you. Not human thoughts, culture or experiences. A conviction is obeyed whatever the cost. A conviction never changes. It allows absolutely no turning or compromise.
6. Confidence.
‘As a person thinks in his heart, so is he’. Prov 23:7
Consider the magnitude of the task for which God has chosen you. To ponder, to consider carefully. Our heart is linked not only to our mind, but also to the will-our human desires and passions, our affections and emotions.
Ponder in your heart what God has revealed to you. Hold it close. Proverbs 4. ‘listen closely to my words, do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart, for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body. Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.’
When the Lord prepares a heart, He is really getting the whole person in line with His purpose. Preparation that produces confidence.
To be prepared and ready, we must have confidence; we must remove idolatry and sin from our lives. Hebrews 12 –throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Eliminate from our lives all that is not absolutely essential. Eccl 3:6 ‘a time to keep and a time to throw away’. Our lives must be lean, ordered and simple. Allow the Lord to deal with out attachments. It is time to ‘batten down the hatches’, establish your boundaries. Simplify life.
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