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GOD’s ROI
(Luke 17:7-10)
Define ROI – Return on Investment
A profitability measure that evaluates the performance of an investment and compares is to their other investments
God is in the business of profit. Here is a good one, He created man and woman, and He said,
-Genesis 1:28 – Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply
– How about the parable of the talents- you can argue that by keeping the one talent safe, he was doing good. However, God saw no return on investment and He took it and gave it to the one who did have
– On a side note, God knows our heart, how come the one who got 10, got ten and he produced the most and the one who got 1- hide it. – Your gifts MAY be an indication of where you heart is- May
God knows what He can trust you with.
We all agree that if you are not producing, that will be a huge problem
If you are not producing, you are dying.
Much is given, much is expected
Last time we spoke about what has been given to us, what has been entrusted to us.
That everything we have has been entrusted to us.
Today we are going to dig deeper and find out how we can produce the most of what God has already entrusted us with
Why would a God who created the world seek to have a relationship with us, we continue to sin? Why does God have to prove Himself to us, after all we are bought with a price.
1 Corinthians 19- 20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? 20 You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.
You are not your own property- No matter how you view it, you are OWNED!!!
Roman 6:18 And having been set free from sin, you have become the slaves of righteousness [of conformity to God’s will and purpose].
– You were a slave of sin, you are now free- but not to run around doing your own will but do to God’s will and purpose
– Purpose – the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.
Do what you have been created for.
When you become a slave to sin, the devil took you away from your purpose- He kidnapped you and made you a slave – slave to sin and to do his will.
Jesus had to come down to earth and reclaim you but the devil didn’t want to just let you go, so God had to purchase you with the Blood of His Only Son, so that you can now get back to your WORK! – your purpose.
The work you have been created for. You are not doing God a favor – you are returning to your due diligence.
Luke 17:7-10 – 7 “Which of you who has a servant plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat?’ 8 Will he not instead say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and appropriately clothe yourself [for service] and serve me while I eat and drink; then afterward you may eat and drink?’ 9 He does not thank the servant just because he did what he was ordered to do, does he?10 So you too, when you have done everything that was assigned and commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants [undeserving of praise or a reward, for we have not gone beyond our obligation]; we have merely done what we ought to do.’”
- Servant spent all day plowing or tending sheep in the hot weather – This is not a place of leisure – there is no shade- Its hard labor
- Comes home and master doesn’t say come – sit down let me serve you
- Go, prepare some food for me and by the way, put on some clean acceptable clothes and serve me “while I eat and drink”
- He doesn’t thank the servant for what he was ordered to do
What have you been commanded to do?
- Luke 10:27 And he replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
- Ephesians 5:24-25 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.
- Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave [a]you.
- 1 John 2:15-17 – 15 Do not love the world [of sin that opposes God and His precepts], nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust and sensual craving of the flesh and the lust andlonging of the eyes and the boastful pride of life [pretentious confidence in one’s resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father, but are from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and with it its lusts [the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes lives forever.
The list goes on …Congratulation you have done well on these BUT!!!
- We have not gone beyond our obligation – we have merely done what we ought to do
Merely – only as specified and nothing more
That even in our best days we are not scratching to service of going above and beyond.
Example of being and Elder and Pastor- Even when I have:
- Meet people at 6am in the morning, visited someone in the hospital, meet with a couple later for marriage advice, taken a new believer in Christ for lunch, got home and loved my wife and kids
- To the human eyes, I have done lots …but to God, even in my best effort this is just filthy rugs.
This verse is not a cap out that, well bro !!can’t please God, so am as well do nothing.
No, its about having a heart condition that says, whatever I am doing for God, its not so that I can get recognition or I can pat myself in the back as #winning. But if anything, I strive to do my purpose.
Philippians 3:13-14 – Paul says : “13 [a]Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus
I believe Paul is saying, if I look behind at the work I have done, I might brag …feel great about what I have done. I might take the glory – but I don’t think about that because I have been purchased by the blood and I am merely doing what I have been purposed for.
He strives to continue to do the work he has been called as he presses towards being with God.
Paul did and endured great things for God but he was merely doing his purpose. – He knew that.
Philippians 3:7-9 – 7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.[a] For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
If you asking this evening -how do I know what am doing is in line with my purpose-
- Seek God first and everything else will be added to you. – that does not limit to stuff, it knowledge, health and much more – like everything else
- Look at Paul’s life and if all he did was merely his purpose, start there and strive to stay in your purpose
2 Peter 1:1 – [a]Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ,
Romans 1:1 Paul, a [a]bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative), set apart for [preaching] the [b]gospel of God [the good news of salvation]
The Term Bondservant here comes from the word dulos. And is defined as:
- a slave, bondman, man of servile condition
The best definition here is “devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interests.”
Peter and Paul knew something, that they had to submit to their master first by knowing who they were and so everything else they did was not of them but directed by God. Otherwise it would be all a waste.
These guys understood the price that had been paid for them. And they embraced being slaves for Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:9- 10 For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I [at one time] fiercely oppressed and violently persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the [remarkable] grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all of the apostles, though it was not I, but the grace of God [His unmerited favor and blessing which was] with me.
Our duty is to serve God and God alone – To seek His will in our lives and Him being our dad, will assign us what he values.
The bible says that you cannot serve two masters. – You will serve one. The question is whom are you serving
The example of the fortified city – before, you are exposed, but in the fortified city, there is freedom even though you still need to submit.
1 Corinthians 7:21-23 – 21 Were you a slave when you were called? Do not worry about that [since your status as a believer is [a]equal to that of a freeborn believer]; but if you are able to gain your freedom, [b]do that. 22 For he who was a slave when he was called in the Lord is a freedman of the Lord, likewise he who was free when he was called is a slave of Christ. 23 You were bought with a price [a precious price paid by Christ]; do not become slaves to men [but to Christ].
A slave that has found freedom treasures it more, because he knowns how it feels to be without freedom.
But Lord why use a slave – I still don’t understand.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 – But God has selected [for His purpose] the foolish things of the world to shame the wise [revealing their ignorance], and God has selected [for His purpose] the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong [revealing their frailty]. 28 God has selected [for His purpose] the insignificant (base) things of the world, and the things that are despised and treated with contempt, [even] the things that are nothing, so that He might reduce to nothing the things that are, 29 so that no one may [be able to] boast in the presence of God.
This verse right here is why being a slave for Christ is cool – You embrace your status, you get used, and God gets all the glory.
God used slave – Joseph – A slave that saved a generation
He held to Gods promise, he did not try to remind the guy that he has saved to remember him.
At an appointed time, God showed up
Romans 6:16-18 Do you not know that when you continually offer yourselves to someone to do his will, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey, either [slaves] of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness (right standing with God)? 17 But thank God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed. 18 And having been set free from sin, you have become the slaves of righteousness [of conformity to God’s will and purpose].
We are no longer slaves, we have been adopted- We are Gods family.
Romans 8:16-17 – 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
Galatians 5:24 – 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the [a]sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.
These two verses – To share in His suffering equals to give up our freedom, and that can and will be painful. But we have to crucify those things that will try to rise against the will of God
God is looking for people he can use to grow His Kingdom. People He can send.
What kind of returns can He count to get from you?
What’s you ROI on God’s purpose in your life?
Please play video at the end. Thanks!