"The Unfaithful Christian" by A. Edwin Wilson
Luke 19:11-27 (The parable of the pounds)
The parable of the pounds gives us an account of our Lord’s dealings with His children according to their faithfulness during the period of His absence. In verse 22, the King James Version speaks of the wicked servant; however, the word wicked is very misleading because the majority of commentators have seized upon that word and made the servant to be a lost person. Such is not the case. This servant in the parable of the talents and kindred servants in other similar parables are comparable to the five foolish virgins who typify unprepared and unfaithful Christians. They are the ones who will forfeit their place in the coming kingdom of our Lord, though they themselves will be saved, “yet so as by fire” (I Cor. 3:15).
Now let us consider briefly this parable of the pounds. Christ was just leaving the home of Zacchaeus where in response to the criticism of His enemies He gave utterance to His mission: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The Lord connects His mission directly with His return to heaven and the commissioning of His servants to carry on His work. The disciples had a mistaken idea that the kingdom of God was to immediately appear; so this parable is spoken to correct the error in their thinking and to give a very clear picture of the task for Christians to perform during this dispensation. He describes Himself as a Nobleman who is to go away into a far country, receive a kingdom and then return. The kingdom was not established while Christ was here on earth, neither has it been established since His return to heaven; but when the time comes for the establishment of the kingdom, Christ will receive it from God the Father and will then return to the earth for its establishment.
The Nobleman of the parable is described as having called His ten servants to Him and delivered unto them the ten pounds with the command, “Occupy till I come.” A pound is a unit of monetary value, worth about $2.68 today. One must have appreciation for the significance of numbers in Scripture to understand the teaching of our Lord. Ten is the number of ordinal perfection; whereas, seven is the number of completion or perfection pertaining to spiritual things. Ten symbolizes completion as pertaining to earthly things. The significance of the ten servants is that He called ALL His servants to Him and delivered unto them all His business with the command to keep busy with His business until He returned. Now do not forget that His business was to seek and to save that which is lost.
This is a picture of the present dispensation. Christ is in heaven to receive a kingdom, and until He returns, all Christians are to be busy. The primary work of Christians is reaching the lost for the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verse 15 we learn that He is to return after He receives the kingdom. The first thing He does when He returns is to call all His servants before Him to give an account of their stewardship. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences” (II Cor. 5:10 , 11). All of this takes place at the judgment seat of Christ which occurs when we are caught up in the air to meet the Lord. This is where judgment begins, at the house of God (I Pet. 4:17). This is the Lord judging His own people (Heb. 10: 30, 31). No one appears before the judgment seat of Christ except Christians. God does not mix His judgments but deals with each class separately; therefore one should realize that all three servants are called to account here or else they would not appear at this same time. The first servant who reports that his pound has gained ten pounds is rewarded by being given authority or rulership over ten cities during the millennial reign of Christ. (Ruling and reigning is one of the rewards for faithful Christians.)
The second servant reports that his pound has gained five pounds. He is rewarded by being given authority and rulership over five cities. The third servant reports that he has done nothing but keep his pound hidden in order to preserve it intact for the Lord. In effect he says: “I am saved and I know I cannot be lost; therefore I did not deem it very important to worry myself about trying to do something during Your absence.” But the Lord calls him a bad servant. He is not a bad man, but as a servant of Jesus Christ he would not do what he was supposed to do.
How like so many Christians of today: saved, and know they cannot be lost but frankly admit that all they want is to get to heaven by the skin of their teeth—no rewards, no honor, no recognition from the Lord Himself. Such a statement can be attributed only to their ignorance of God’s plans and purposes for Christians during the millennium.
This third servant is as truly a servant of Christ as the other two, but he has no reward or position of trust and honor during the millennium; and Jesus says to take the pound away from him and give it to the servant who has gained ten pounds. Now note verse 27. Those who do not receive Christ as Saviour and who will not acknowledge Him to be the King of kings (that is, those who are lost and brought before Him) are slain. This is the second death—separated from the Lord forever. Beloved Christians quit boasting of the fact that you are a one-pound or a one-talent Christian, remembering that such, if found unfaithful, will be in the group who will shed tears that will not be wiped away until the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ. Get busy witnessing for the Lord and win some of the rewards which our Lord Himself has so graciously proffered.