The Marketplace
Chapter 6
And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.Luke 19:13
Jesus gave us the command to occupy until He comes. We get the word occupy from the Greek word peripateo, which means, "to walk," and is sometimes used of the state in which one is living, or of that to which a person is given. What a definition. To occupy means to walk. Walk where? The same places you would usually walk. Most of us have a job, have a neighbor, or go to school. This is the definition of the marketplace; it’s where you live, where you walk, or what you’ve been given. It has every thing to do with occupying. Marketplace ministry has always been God’s means to reaching the masses, one person at a time. Imagine what would happen if all of God’s people captured this. Where you live is what you’ve been given by God. Within this sphere you have the authority to be and do what God has called you to. We don’t even have to go out of our way. Our harvest is right in our lap. Our full time ministry is all around us. This is where we are to occupy until He comes. You don’t have to be participating in a crusade to be occupying and you don’t have to get on a picnic table and preach to be occupying. You simply go wherever your course takes you. Remember that our steps are ordered by the Lord. If God leads you to go or to serve in an area by all means do it, but don’t over look those who are around you every day. You don’t have to go two thousand miles away to engage in ministry. Just go next door. You are in the place you are for a reason. The good thing about it is that generally everywhere we go there are people. The message, the mandate, the model, and the ministry all apply to people. Without people the thing doesn’t work. Our state of living is our model and the gospel is what we’ve been given.
In essence Jesus was saying to live it and preach it until He came. If we will do these things, He will do the rest. God is showing us the pattern for the gospel in our generation. It really hasn’t changed, we, on the other hand, have. As God brings us back to His pattern by defining and applying the gospel on a personal level; what then? We need to look at what God has given us in relation to the marketplace and how things look from His perspective. By seeing things from where He is, our faith will grow and we will bear much fruit.
God’s Sovereignty
For the LORD is king! He rules all the nations. Ps 22:28
God is not limited by time or space. King David understood this by declaring, “If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold you are there” (Psalm 139:8) Where is God? He is everywhere at all times. He is omnipresent; omniscient. That means that He is. As we said before, everything is in the kingdom for the kingdom. It is important to know that God doesn’t only reside within the four corners of a church building. God is compelling His people out of the building and into the marketplace. The eyes of the Lord are on every situation, whether it be in a church or a nightclub. Whether in an alley in New York or a Mosque in Iran, the Lord is there. We, His people, are the catalyst that releases His presence and power into every area of society no matter where that may be. In light of all that God has given us, it is for the purpose of serving our generation. It is simple to understand our purpose when we see that God is in pursuit of people. Imagine if you can the pursuing power of God. He pursued you and me, and He intends to do the same for those who don’t know Him through you and me. It may be a little seed or a little water, or maybe even a harvest, but nevertheless, we are a necessary component in His purpose. When we understand the sovereignty of God we will be more prone to minister to those around us.
God is not a limited ruler in the earth as some may be prone to think. God is one hundred percent in control. Everything that happens in the nations today is because He has ultimately allowed it. God’s sovereignty extends over the natural as well as the spiritual. If we want to walk out of fear and walk in faith, we have to believe this. It is important that we trust God whole-heartedly with our lives. Circumstances can be pretty scary sometimes, but God is in control. Jesus said, do not fear man who can only kill the body, but rather fear Him who can destroy both the body and the soul forever. (Matthew 10:28) Man is limited; God is not. The words, “do not fear” are mentioned in the Bible 365 times and for good reason. We all have the tendency to be afraid. When we understand who God is we will not be thwarted by the intimidation of the enemy, but we will continue forward in the work and purposes of God. Consider yourself immortal in the will of God. If you can believe it, until your time is up in the earth you will be around so don’t be moved by circumstances and difficulties that stand in your way. You are way more important than that.
Dominion
Then God said, "Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life--the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals." 27 So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals." Gen 1:26-28
God said to be fruitful and multiply. This was His plan for man from the beginning. Everything was fine up until the time we gave up our rights by sinning. Sin took away what God had intended and replaced the blessing with a curse. Death and destruction had now become our inheritance. The dominion we were intended to have was given to another, the serpent. Satan dominated and ruled over man up until the time that Jesus came to buy us back. As my Pastor says so often, we were sold into slavery. There had to be a ransom to buy us back. In the book of Hosea we see a picture of redemption. God led the Prophet Hosea to buy back his wife, given the fact that she had been unfaithful. This was a prototype of the Christ to come who would buy back the human race with His own blood. Jesus, the spotless lamb, would become the curse on our behalf. (Galatians 3:13) The cross not only accomplished our salvation, it also accomplished our redemption. In other words, Jesus reinstated us to our former state. He gave us back the dominion that was once lost due to our disobedience.
The word “dominion” implies the realm or rule of a kingdom. The realm of the kingdom exists in the lives of every believer. It is a position to be recognized by all who are kingdom citizens. Jesus called us to pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10) We see an example of this in the life of Peter. Jesus gave Peter the keys of the kingdom. (Matthew 18:18) He told Peter that whatever he bound on earth would be bound in heaven and whatever he loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven. In essence, Jesus was giving Peter dominion in the earth as it related to the purposes of God. God has given us this same dominion today. How is this applied in a practical sense? The answer is very simple. When you go to work - take dominion, when you go to school - take dominion, when at home - take dominion! The realm of the kingdom is where you are! When we take dominion it releases God’s realm into the situation. The knowledge of God begins to permeate in and around those you are associated with.
Jesus never had to announce Himself. As a matter of fact, when Jesus showed up on the scene His mere presence provoked and drove of the powers of darkness. We have to exercise our dominion. Exercise implies action. We exercise our dominion by first understanding the word of God and then by releasing our faith. God wants to show up at your work place. He wants to show up at your school and in your neighborhood. You have been given dominion so use it. Don’t just put it in your back pocket, but pull it out and use it.
Believers have the power to exercise their dominion on a personal level as well as on a national level. I once heard a man from Malaysia speaking on the subject of dominion. He talked about how the work of God had been flourishing in their country when all of the sudden the freedom they had been experiencing was threatened due to a change in presidency. The current leader began to persecute the work of God. Disheartened, the pastor began to pray and ask God what he should do. The Lord prompted Him to take dominion. He began to study and realized the power that God had given him to exercise. He got all the believers in the area together to pray. Within several months the new president was brought down from power and the work of God continued. Is that awesome or what!
Begin to take dominion over the obstacles that stand in your way. Command the circumstances around you to line up so that the purposes of God can be accomplished. God has done it for others and He will do it for you. Nothing is too hard for God! It doesn’t matter how impossible your situation looks like at work. God can change it. God is pursuing men and He will bring down the obstacles that stand in the way of reaching them. If your desire has become God’s desire, you can ask and He will move on your behalf to reach those around you. God will be merciful to them on your behalf. God will touch your family on your behalf. We are in covenant with God and God is faithful to His Word. Stand on His Word and believe and you will see something awesome happen in your life.
Our generation is about to see the impossible happen in the nations of the earth. Where doors have been shut to the Gospel, we are about to see them swing wide open. The nations are under His control. It is time for believers to rise up all over the earth and take dominion over illegitimate rulers. We need to bind hell and loose heaven. God will move on our behalf. We are His body in the earth. If we ask Him He will give us the nations of the earth as our inheritance. (Psalm 2)
Abraham’s Example
There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
Then the LORD appeared to him and said:” Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." Gen 26:1-5
Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. In Romans we read that the new way of being made right with God is by believing. (Romans 4:16-17) Abraham was our example. It is interesting to note that the promise of God made to Abraham by faith preceded the giving of the law through Moses. The law was never intended to make men right with God. It was ultimately intended to bring men to Christ. (Galatians 3:24) Faith on the other hand as seen in the life of Abraham would be the new way of receiving from God.
God promised to multiply Abraham’s descendents and what happened? Abraham believed God and his descendants were multiplied. God promised to give Abraham a son in his old age and what happened? Abraham believed God and a son came. God promised to bless all the nations through Abraham’s seed and what happened? Abraham believed God and all the nations of the earth were blessed; Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of the seed of Abraham through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Abraham was the prototype of one who lived in the kingdom.
Today this generational blessing lives on the inside of you and me. It’s called the gospel. Our very nature is pregnant with a blessing. The only thing it knows how to do is grow and multiply. That’s what it was designed to do. There’s no need for us to live in failure wondering how the purposes of God will be fulfilled in our lives. The seed on the inside of us is eternal and incorruptible as Peter states. (I Peter 1:23) Our faith will make it grow. Remember that the gospel is about power, fruitfulness and multiplication.
How do we become fruitful and multiply? The first thing we do is stand on the Word of God. God said it and that settles it. The Word applies to me. Fruitfulness has every thing to do with faithfulness. If we believe God’s Word, we will be faithful in whatever capacity we serve. What about multiplication? How does it apply to me today? Multiplication comes in the form of discipleship. Jesus said to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:18) Think of this. How much more fruit can come out of twelve people that you have poured your life into. Everywhere they go for the rest of their lives they are touching and multiplying the work of your hands. Jesus spent the majority of His time on earth pouring into twelve men who in turn turned the world upside down. Two men are always better than one and three and four and so on. These are not days of the one-man show. What good is it to have a move of God in your life if you leave nothing behind when you go? Again God’s idea for multiplication is in making disciples. There are people around us who are waiting to be poured into. We have a promise from God that ensures our success.
Pressing In
16 "Until John the Baptist began to preach, the laws of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and eager multitudes are forcing their way in. Luke 16:16
12 And from the time John the Baptist began preaching and baptizing until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people attack it. 13 For before John came, all the teachings of the Scriptures looked forward to this present time. Luke 16:16
If God’s kingdom gospel is advanced through us then we have to be persistent and continually press in. We won’t take no for an answer. Regardless of obstacles, disappointments, setbacks etc., we move forward, knowing that God is faithful to His Word. Jesus said in this life we will have much tribulation, but He said to be of good cheer because He had overcome the world. (John 16:33) It may not always be rosy but that is not the determining factor. The apostle Paul said that all who desire to live godly in Christ will suffer persecution. (II Timothy 3:12) I guess the most exhortive thing to say in relation to persecution would be to, “Get over it.” If it happened to Jesus it will happen to us. The good news is that it does not disqualify us. Opposition and hardship does not spell failure. Peter said that if we suffer for doing the will of God that the very Spirit of God rests upon us! (I Peter 4:14) That sure sounds like a contradiction. Regardless of our circumstances, God is there and He will carry us through. So remember not to be discouraged through difficulty. There are many all around the world that are going through the same thing.
Pressing in is about priorities. If we want to do the will of God then the will of God has to be our number one priority. Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33) Our persistence is not in vain. There is an eternal as well as a natural account of reward that is being stored up on our behalf. Jesus said that no one who gives up mothers, brothers, homes, possessions, etc, for My sake and the kingdom’s sake will be without reward. He goes on to say that we will receive a huge return in this life as well as the next. (Matthew 19:29) Is that good news or what? Remember that it may look one way, but God is keeping score. He will repay you fully for your labor. The kingdom is advanced forcefully. We have to grab ahold of it like a bull dog grabs a piece of meat and not let go. The best things in life are worth fighting for. Don’t quit and don’t get discouraged in well doing. God is on your side. There is too much at stake for us to turn back when the going gets tough. As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.”
Stewards of the Pearl
The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away. 12 He said, "A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. 13 Before he left, he called together ten servants and gave them ten pounds of silver to invest for him while he was gone. 14 But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say they did not want him to be their king. 15 "When he returned, the king called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what they had done with the money and what their profits were. 16 The first servant reported a tremendous gain--ten times as much as the original amount! 17'Well done!' the king exclaimed. 'You are a trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.' 18 "The next servant also reported a good gain--five times the original amount. 19'Well done!' the king said. 'You can be governor over five cities.' 20 "But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, 'I hid it and kept it safe. 21 I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn't yours and harvesting crops you didn't plant.' 22 " 'You wicked servant!' the king roared. 'Hard, am I? If you knew so much about me and how tough I am, 23 why didn't you deposit the money in the bank so I could at least get some interest on it?' 24 Then turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, 'Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who earned the most.' Luke 19:11-24
The Gospel is like a pearl in our possession. It can’t be stolen because it’s freely given, but still there are few who ever find it. The gospel pearl is the greatest treasure in the world. Treasures weren’t meant to be hidden, they were meant to be displayed. What good is it if we hide it? It’s sad when so many have the pearl but never show it to those around them. God has given you the pearl, so it belongs to you. If we have been given the power to possess it, we also have the power to give it away. This is how we occupy. We give it away so that we can make a return for the Master when He comes.
God will always give more to those who use what they have already been given. On the other hand, if we don’t use what we’ve been given, it will be given to someone else who will. I look around the church today to see many with incredible gifts and talents; gifts and talents meant for the purpose of glorifying God and reaching the lost. I have seen people wait for hours in a prophesy line to receive a Word from God and then perch up in a church pew waiting for God to bring it to pass. If we believe the Word of the Lord over our lives, we will do something about it! Faith translates to action. God has called us to be good stewards with what He has given us. If we use what He has given, He will give us more. Jesus said to give and it will come back to you pressed down, shaken together and running over. (Luke 6:38) Don’t just sit around and wait for something to happen, do something with what God has given you. All of creation is waiting for God’s Sons and Daughters to be revealed. (Romans 8:19)
Inheritance
Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession. Psalm 2:8
What a promise! If we will only ask, the Lord will give us the nations as our inheritance. What are nations? Nations are people. We talk a lot about going to the nations in the church today. I just wanted to clarify that what we are really saying is that we are going to the peoples of the world. I have to say it again. God is after people. God is not on a power trip, He’s on a people trip. He is already in control of everything. Everything is in the kingdom for the kingdom. Well, everything except the free will He gave to man. God gave us a free will, but in His mercy He can bring our circumstances to the place to help change our mind. As I said earlier, it was the mercy of God that moved my circumstances to the place that I was bankrupt and had nowhere else to turn. We should be praising God when all hell breaks loose in our lives and we are drawn closer to Him. A lot of people spend there whole lives complaining about the lot they had been given in life. Some were molested, others wrongfully imprisoned, others beaten and so on. These people don’t understand the Gospel. They fail to understand that those who embrace the good news will receive full compensation for each and every traumatic experience. Wow! God’s justice is incredible. To those who were last; they will be first. Remember He promised to fully compensate us for our troubles on earth.
When we look back on our own lives it is usually obvious that someone somewhere was praying for us, or blessing us, or planting a seed in us, or taking dominion on our behalf. Somebody was standing in the gap on our behalf. They were telling the Devil to get his filthy hands off. And then one day it happened, we saw the light. Someone paid a price for us. God is asking us to do the same in return on someone else’s behalf. We were once blinded by the Devil, just as multitudes of people are blinded today. Fight for those around you. Take authority, take dominion, bless, pray, and preach. God will intervene for others the same way He intervened for you.
As I shared earlier, I had a mother who was persistent when it came to my salvation. She wouldn’t give up on me even when I gave up on myself. I remember people telling me that it would be a miracle if I lived to be twenty-five years old. Well, I can say that today I’m thirty, married with a child, loving and serving God with everything in me. My mother used what God had given her to take back the son that was stolen from her, and it worked. It will work for you too! Don’t give up on those around you. You may not see it, but God is working. Our mere presence turns the world upside down for those we’re believing God for. It may be one day or it may be twenty years, but we can be assured that it will happen if we don’t quit. The apostle Paul said that he planted, Apollo’s watered, but God gave the increase.
We have to give God something tangible to work with. And what are those tangibles? Praying, blessing, witnessing, and taking dominion and authority in the lives of those around us. These things work. There can be no harvest if there has been no seed put in the ground, and this has been the real issue for lack of harvest. The eyes of the Lord look to and fro in the earth to show Himself strong on behalf of him whose heart is perfect towards Him. (II Chronicles 16:9) God is waiting to show Himself strong on our behalf. To have a kingdom motive and to have a kingdom heart for the lost is to have a perfect heart that God will respond to. God is calling us to stand in the gap and believe Him for our generation; our inheritance.
What is our inheritance? Jesus said don’t store up treasure here on earth where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But rather store up treasure in heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21) Our treasure is the gospel and our inheritance is people. There is nothing else in the earth of eternal value. Our buildings, programs, cars, and money can’t be taken with us when we go. The one thing we can take with us are those we have touched with the gospel. People are of greater value than all the possessions of the earth. There must be great value in people considering the fact that God is preparing a city and a whole new world for them that believe. (II Peter 3:13) Priorities are one thing and values are another. We have to remember that the reason for our possessions, our gifts, our talents, our buildings is for reaching others. When we become willing to give of our time and our money to either indirectly or directly reach the lost in the earth, we are building up a reward in heaven that is beyond anything we could ever imagine. The Lord promises that eye has not seen nor has ear heard what He is storing up for those who love Him. If we love Him, we will reach the lost. The time has come for God’s church to properly appropriate what she has been given, and announce to a lost and dying world that the kingdom of heaven is at hand!
