MEMORISE:

And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. Luke 19:13

READ: Joshua 13:1-6.

1 Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.

2 This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri,

3 From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites:

4 From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that is beside the Sidonians unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites:

5 And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.

6 All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephothmaim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.

MESSAGE: 

Jesus’ parable in the memory verse of today was directed to the disciples who He was preparing for the Great Commission in Mark 16:15-16. They were to ‘occupy’ means ‘to keep busy’ alone; it is more than that. We must not keep ourselves ‘busy’ doing nothing substantial. To understand the import of Christ’s command in Luke 19:13, we must look at the Bible reading of toady. The Lord assessed the occupation of the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership as below His expectation. This should be food for thought for the Church today. Joshua 13:1 says:

“1Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.”

Joshua became old and did not have the required energy to lead the battle against the inhabitants of the land which God had given to the children of Israel. In the same vein, when Jesus Christ said that we should go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he was actually saying that we should occupy the land so as to establish His reign on earth. It is beyond keeping ourselves busy just for the sake of it. The questions now are, “Are we really occupying while awaiting Jesus’ second coming?” “Can we say we are occupying both the geographical and spiritual landscape and atmosphere of the world?” “What can we show for all the millions we are spending on missions and evangelistic efforts?” “Have we paused our efforts to occupy the nooks and crannies of the kingdoms of this world like the disciples of old?” We must always remember that our mandate is to make disciples of all nations.

Beloved, we must not lose ground any more. As a matter of fact, we must recover the grounds we have lost. We must summon courage to go after the enemy and recover the kingdoms that once belonged to the Church and the cathedrals that have been turned to dens of sin. Christian nations that have become secular must be revived and brought back to the light of the gospel of the Son of the Living God. May the Lord help us.

ACTION POINT:

You must be active in spreading the gospel to the whole world and win back institutions and nations for the Lord our God.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 13.

HYMN 8:   HO, MY COMRADES! SEE THE SIGNAL.

1. Ho, my comrades, see the signal, waving in the sky!

Reinforcements now appearing, victory is nigh.

o Refrain:

“Hold the fort, for I am coming,” Jesus signals still;

Wave the answer back to Heaven, “By Thy grace we will.”

2. See the mighty host advancing, Satan leading on;

Mighty ones around us falling, courage almost gone!

3. See the glorious banner waving! Hear the trumpet blow!

In our Leader’s Name we triumph over every foe.

4. Fierce and long the battle rages, but our help is near;

Onward comes our great Commander, cheer, my comrades, cheer!