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God’s Dividend from His Deposit in YouBy: Joseph H. MurrayMark 7:24–30 – What would you do if God healed you? John 5:1–16 – What dividend would God reap from His deposit in you? Would you go and sin no more? Would you go and tell who healed you? Mr. Webster gives us this definition of the word dividend: “interest payable on money invested in the public funds.” May I ask you a few questions? First of all, to those who are sick, why do you want to be healed? You, no doubt, could answer to this question many things. One answer could be that you want to be well and have your health restored. What would you do with your life if God restored your health? Would you live it for God, or would you spend it in riotous living, as the prodigal Son did with his life? Should God make a deposit into your holding, what would you do for Him in return, or what dividend would He reap from His investment in you? In your confrontation with Him (that is, God), He would want this issue of sin operating in your life halted and continued no more, for the apostle Paul wrote these words to Timothy: “Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2Tim. 2:19). This all means to me that a person claiming and practicing a sinning religion would have to change banks. He or she would have to accept this sinless religion, which we advocate and support, to become a true follower of Christ, for He was without sin while here on earth and certainly has never become sinful since He left this earth. So, the key question to be asked in this series is, “Would you go and sin no more?” as Jesus commanded the impotent man after he was healed at the pool. “Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14). May I have permission to ask you one more question? Would you go and tell the enemies of the Lord that it was Him who healed you of your infirmity? That’s what the man, who was healed at the pool did. He went out and proclaimed to the worst enemies the Lord had in His earthly ministry (that was the disobedient Jews). “The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole” (John 5:16). The worst enemies that we, as the Lord’s people, have to face are those which do not believe in healing, and the miraculous manifestation of the power of God, which is proclaimed by Paul in his writings to the Romans to be the gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:16), of which he said, “I am not ashamed”. God makes a deposit in man through the Holy Ghost and its gifts of operation according to every one’s ability. The scripture gives it to us in these words: “For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so, he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 25:14–30). The Lord never delivers less than one talent to any one servant. It, however, isn’t how many talents or how much deposit the Lord has given us to hold that counts, but what we do with that, that He has given us. If God blesses us with the gift or talent of speaking a message of deliverance to His people and we withhold it, we are hiding our talent, but if we deliver it to His people, they will exchange it one with the other, and into our vessels we receive twice as much blessing as we gave out. God reaps His dividend as we distribute to one another what has been given us of God. “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation [or hypocritical]. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; not slothful in business; fervent in Spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality” (Rom. 12:5–13). (Read the remaining 8 verses, chapter 12:14–21.) |
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