A Bible Study About 
"The Parable of the Pounds"

THE PARABLE OF THE POUNDS
By Evangelist Diana Gray
Copyright (c) 2001 All Rights Reserved

     This is an expounded upon Bible Study about the Parable of the Pounds.  It is one of the many Bible Studies of Diana Gray Ministries and you can see more at:  http://dianagrayministries.net/bible/index.html or click here.... Bible Studies

     Luke 19:11-12 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.  He said therefore, 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.
     But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 
     Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.  And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 
     And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:  For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.  And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? 
      And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.  (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds..  For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.  But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.

    This ‘Parable of Jesus, about the Pounds’ has some pretty significant meanings that are far deeper than it appears than on the surface.  This is not just a cute child's story but a well planned orchestrated Word of wisdom pertaining to Jesus at the time of His return during the Rapture. 
     Jesus died on the cross, arose again on the third day and now sites at the right hand side of our Father God.  This parable is about Jesus’ Kingdom to come and His unique wonderful return, at which time we will be made to give an accounting of the talents (or gifts) that the Lord gave us to use for His purpose and glory.
     Those who faithfully serve unselfishly, will be rewarded and those who deny the proper use of their talents will loose what they have.  Jesus went away into Heaven but He will soon be coming back to judge the world.  How will each one of us receives rewards then will determine what we do with our lives on earth now.
     The third servant didn't have any interest  in the Kingdom of God nor did he want to use wonderful opportunity to win an award.   What he had was taken away and give to another
     We must always be patiently awaiting the Lord's arrival.  It's nothing we can hurry up or even stop from happening.  When it says to ‘occupy’ it means that we are to keep busy serving the Lord with everything we have to serve the Lord with.  All of our talents and God given skills should be used for the Lord to win souls for His Kingdom until He comes.  Edifying and building up of the Christian  body is what we should be doing.  If we only focused upon Heaven looking for His  return many souls would be left wanting and needing someone to share the Good news of Jesus Christ with them. 
     We are expected of the Lord to use our time wisely for His sake.  Our talents and skills will multiply the more that we use them for His sake.  The more we work at developing the gifts of the Lord the more our abilities seem to expand.  When we die we will be asked of the Lord what we did with the talents that He gave us.  Like the talent of music fore instance. 
     If God gave us the ability and talent to be able to play the guitar or piano and we were able to use it to help do the Lord's work by blessing others in His name, but instead we only used that talent to make money for our own selfish worldly reasons, then we didn't use our talent wisely for His glory.  If we forget that all things come from God and even this special talents need to be given back to the Lord in service to Him for his glory and purpose.
     The man who didn't increase the use of his talents didn't really share any interest in helping his master be succeed.  The man only had thoughts for himself and his own needs.  This isn't seeing people through the eyes of the Lord.  He should have strive to please his master instead of himself.  His selfish stopped him from doing what he had been given ability to do and was right in the sight of the Lord. 
    Another reason the man didn't increase the use of his talents was that he didn't trust the intentions of his master to do right by him.  Surely he would have known that his master would have rewarded good behavior over bad selfish ones?  What person working today would not know that if one applies oneself to their assigned work at a job that they would get some kind of reward?  It’s to be expected that at the very least a pat on the back and the words, "Well done good and faithful servant."
     This was no accident that the man didn’t even try to please his master.  How many people today have that kind of attitude toward serving the Lord God.  Many of them will sit week after week and listen to Spirit Filled Sermons that move their souls and stir their emotions yet right after church is over they resort immediately back into their carnal worldly flesh.  Their speech, actions, attitudes and emotions reflect the same kinds of things that unbelievers of the world have. 
     It comes down to this, how much do they really desire the Word of the Lord in their lives or others that they ‘could’ be reaching out to?  They need to fully trust upon the name of the Lord to save their and others that they know.  People need to be fully willing to put others before themselves and strive to win them to the Kingdom of God.
     Just as the master in this "Parable of the Pounds," (quoted from the King James Version Bible,)  rewarded the two servants who made well use of what He gave them to use, we in turn will also be expected by the Lord to give an accounting of our lives.  The productivity in a positive, righteous way that we act in our lives will also be examined as well as the negative, destructive, selfish thing will also be examined.  Where does our faithfulness lie?  Are we striving to do the will of the Father who asks us to follow Him or are we found sadly lacking?  The free choice is up to each one of us!

KJV Bible Used

    PLEASE NOTE: These Bible Studies may be printed out and used for "personal use only." They are "not" for profit in commercial  or public publication.  All Copyrights are reserved.  Please don't take them for other web sites.  This ministry retains the exclusive use of them.  If you desire to publish the material, please "ask for permission" by contacting this writer by e-mail address.  Permission to use these "bible study's" for  individual Church group bible study "is granted as long as you "acknowledge the authorship"and do not sell, donate or distribute.
     "WE DO ASK THAT YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THE AUTHORSHIP OF THIS WRITER "DIANA GRAY MINISTRIES."  MAY IT BE A BLESSING AND ENCOURAGE YOU INTO A DEEPER SPIRITUAL GROWTH.