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Commentary on "Stewardship"
Day 6: Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thursday's lesson is about waiting. While we wait for Jesus to come back, the lesson makes the point—using the parable of the talents as an illustration and Ellen White as a source—that we are to balance our lives between "waiting and watching and work".
Problems
First, the parable of the talents is not about how we spend our time waiting for the second coming; rather, it teaches how we use our money as faithful servants of the Master.
Second, Paul tells us how to spend our time waiting for the Lord's return in 1 Corinthians 4:11-16:
"To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.I urge you, then, be imitators of me" (1 Corinthians 4:11-16).
In many areas of the world, Christ-followers are suffering for Jesus just as Paul did. The Bible gives no hint of the pagan teaching of balance as we wait for Jesus to come. Jesus' orders were to make disciples and baptize (Matt 28:19-20), and Paul said,
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).
Summary
- The parable of the talents does not teach us principles for waiting.
- While waiting for Jesus to come, we are to endure, entreat, admonish, and imitate Paul, our apostle to the Gentiles.
- We were created for good works which God foreordained for us.
Important Resouces
Be sure to watch this sermon: "Generous Living" by Gary Inrig. This is an excellent study on the Bible's teaching on giving. More of Gary's sermon's in the series "Dollars and Sense" are found here.
Copyright 2009 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised June 11, 2009. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
Official Adventist Resources
Standard Edition Study Guide Week 11
Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 11
Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Week 11
Search the Complete Published Ellen G. White Writings
