Amen. Tonight, we're looking at the parable of the talents. Very familiar passage. I've heard many messages on it. And tonight I want to look at three aspects of this parable. You know, a talent in this time was a measure of weight, kind of like it could be money, it could be a weight of things, and it was different for different things. A talent of silver at this time in Israel was 100 pounds of silver, and of gold it was 200 pounds. A talent of gold was 200 pounds of gold. But not only finances, I want to look at abilities tonight. It says there in verse 15, to every man according to his several ability. And I think it's unique that this weight measure is called a talent back in the Hebrew and Greek. So we're going to look at our abilities and talents. And then thirdly, I want to look at that return that God and the Lord Jesus gives to us as we look at it tonight. So the first thing I want to look at is finances. And you know, sometimes that can be a sticky subject. But you know, when it comes right down to it, When we commit our lives to the Lord, when we say, hey, I submit my life to You, I give my life over to You, I accept You as Lord and Savior, what you're saying is, Lord, I want You to take my whole life. I want You to take my body, I want You to take my family, I want You to take my finances, I want You to take my abilities, and I give it to You. We have to give it to him. So sometimes we don't like to, especially that finances, give things over to him. So first of all, I want to look at the personal aspect of our finances. Now, I'm no financial advisor, and we're not going to be talking about the stock market tonight. looking at the finances as we commit it to the Lord and what we need to do on our part and what He'll do in return. You know, the first thing is tithing. And it's a given that we give 10%. I can remember when me and Denise was first married, we were going to the young marriage class that Wayne Guerin was teaching. And he shared this with us, and I ask his permission to say this, but he shared this with us and I've never forgot it, and I've tried to live by it, and I tell you that God has blessed my family. But he said this, he says, you know that tithing is 10%. He says, when you pay your tithe every week, every month, every year, whatever, Lord, leads you to do. First of all, he says, ask the Lord what He wants you to do. But then secondly, he says, when you write that out, don't just round up that check. He says, write it to the very cent. And I've always done that, and the Lord has provided for me and my family. And then secondly, he says, if you're sitting down, if you do your bills once a month or whatever, he says, make that be the first check or the first thing that you pay. And I've never forgotten that. And then the next thing he says, on top of that, ask the Lord what else He would want you to do. So you give the church the 10%, And then ask the Lord, alright, what else do you want me to do? That sacrificial giving. Who else do you want me to help? What ministry do you want me to help? What missionary? Whatever the Lord leads you to do. That's part of that commitment to the Lord and giving it over to Him. I heard this at a young age, probably as a teenager, that You can do more with that 90% than you ever can that 100% if you don't give it to the Lord. You know, with the Lord, He's not bound by the laws of mathematics. One plus one to Him ain't always two. It could be five. It could be ten. And He's not bound by that. And He's going to honor you. I appreciate your testimony, Shirley, and I feel led to do a little testimony of my life when me and Denise first got married. You know, you're young, you're not experienced, you don't know a lot about finances, you don't, you're scared to do anything major, you know, but I can remember shortly after We committed to do that with our tithing that we needed a lawnmower. I went out and bought a lawnmower, and I got it for half the price. You know? And I'm not saying that there's been tough times. There's been tough times. There's been tough financial times. They don't know what's going to happen the next day. But I tell you, if you commit your finances to the Lord, He's going to bring that return and He's going to take care of you. You've heard the statement, you have to spend money to make money. Well, that's a poor analogy, but I wanted to say that because sometimes God wants you to spend money so that you can have a return. And that's what He did for us in my life. I can remember when We got married, we lived in a mobile home for a couple of years, and we were looking to maybe build a house, and it scared me to death that I was going to have a thousand dollar house payment. Well, I'd be nothing these days, but, you know, it scared me to death. We prayed about it, and the Lord says, I'll take care of it. And He has. I never missed a house payment. He's always provided. And the thing is, we have to commit it to the Lord, just like these servants did. They didn't just take that money that God entrusted to them, or this man entrusted to them. Well, that one did. He was scared and he went and buried it. Didn't want to spend it. Prayed he would lose it. And that brings me to my next point. As far as finances go, I've been talking about the personal things, but now I want to go into the personal part of our ministries that we work with. You know, sometimes we're in a ministry, I think about Awana, and you know, the last few years, God has blessed the Awana ministry with donations, and we've not even had to ask the church for the money. We've had a budget, but we've never used it the last few years. People just donate and do that. And we've always heard we've got to be good stewards of God's money. So if God blesses a ministry with money, are we just going to keep it and store it and save it? Think about the person that donated that money. God told them, and they probably donated that money sacrificially to do something, and if we're in that ministry and we don't use it, then we're not being a good steward of God's money. So we have to be accountable for that. And so, like I said, that analogy, you have to spend money to make money. In this case, we have to spend money to win souls. I guess that's a better saying for that. But we have to depend upon the Lord to supply our needs. And we need to seek Him in guidance in every aspect. And we need to relinquish that hold. You know, sometimes we don't like to open that wallet and do anything. We want to hang on to it. We have to relinquish that and give it over to the Lord. But when we do that, we also give Him that burden. And we don't have to worry about it anymore. The burden of Am I going to have enough money to buy groceries this week? He's going to take care of us. So in looking into finances, I want to transition into our abilities. Our abilities are the same way. And we have to be good stewards of our abilities. I don't really like this, but I've heard this, you're supposed to give 10% of your earnings to the Lord for tithing. I've heard people say you need to give 10% of your time to the Lord, but I don't necessarily agree with that. I think we need to give all of our time to the Lord. Day in and day out, whatever we're in, wherever we're at, work, school, wherever we're at. We've got to use our abilities to bring honor and glory to Him. We're investing in souls. We're using our abilities to get that return of souls. And we may never see that return. We may never see that return. But sometimes these things are difficult and uncertain and intimidating. You know, sometimes when God tells us to do something, it scares us. We're a little afraid. I didn't want to talk about tithing tonight, but that's what the Lord wanted to talk about. You know, when you start talking about people's pocketbooks, they probably turn you off. That's what the Lord had me talk about tonight. Transitioning a little bit. If you would, turn over the chapter to Matthew 26. Now I wasn't going to read this, I was just going to refer to it, but after I read the story, I said, I can't not read this. And I'll tell you about that in just a minute. But in chapter 26, verse 6, It says, Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper. Let me tell you this. In Sunday school the past few weeks, we've been looking at the timeline of the week before Jesus' crucifixion. And these two chapters here is only a couple days before Jesus was crucified. So you know, as it got closer to time, what was fresh on Jesus' mind was what His mission was, what He was committed to do, that He was going to lay down His life for you and me. And that's the beginning of that return I was telling you about. In Matthew 26, Jesus was in Simon the leper, verse 7, "...there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, and he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had ignatiation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?" Say somebody donated a thousand dollars to the church. The church could just take it and put it in savings or it could go and use something that God needed or owes. You know? Sometimes we can't look at ministry things like we can our personal lives. You know, We have to be careful what we do with God's money. They said, for this ointment might have been sold much and given to the poor. Well, you know, everybody's got their opinions about what we ought to do with that thousand dollars. You know, I'm sure we'd get a hundred different opinions. What are we going to do with that? You know? But she had a mission. And that mission was to anoint Jesus. Now listen to what Jesus says to her. When Jesus understood it, He said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon Me. We might not understand why she poured that expensive ointment on Jesus, but she understood it and she knew what she was doing and Jesus received it. because he knew what he was doing and getting ready to do. "'For you have the poor always with you, but me you have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.'" Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her." And that's why I read the Scripture tonight. It convicted me. The Lord says, you need to read it as a memorial to her anointing the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, before His burial. Now, thirdly, is that return. You know, think about that man with five talents who turned it into ten, and that man with two talents who turned it into four. They sound pretty good. But you see, we're all lacking. We all have faults and failures. And that's where we need that return from the Lord Jesus. You remember I asked you, I said, are you thinking about heaven? We had two songs about heaven. It says, for the kingdom of heaven is likened unto the parable. Now we've got to bring it to the spiritual. You know? That's why we need the Lord. We have these faults and failures. I got to thinking about faults and failures. Turn back a few pages to Matthew 18. Matthew 18 verse 21. Again, looking at the talents. It says, "...then came Peter to Him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him, till seven times? Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents." You know how much ten thousand talents is? More than you can even count. I read somewhere that this is beyond what the It says it's the countless, innumerable, the highest number known in Greek arithmetic. 10,000 talents. It's innumerable. And somebody said it was the sum equal to the annual revenue of the British Empire. So something beyond what he could ever pay back. Can't we relate to that? You know, I got to thinking about the Ten Commandments. And if you start reading the Ten Commandments, you read the first one, well, you can't keep that one. Can't keep the second one. And if you're honest with yourself, you're probably going to not be able to keep any of them. If you look at your heart, you may not have killed anybody, but you may have wanted to. You may not have committed adultery, but you may have wanted to. Jesus says if you look on a woman, you've already committed adultery in your heart. So when we look at that debt, it's innumerable. We can't fix it. We can't pay it back. So, according to God, our judgment is hell. We have no hope. But we do have hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what he says here in Matthew 18. Remember the kingdom of heaven. He says, he owed him 10,000 talents. Verse 25, "...but for as much as he had not to pay, his Lord commanded it to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment be made." See, our pronouncement of judgment is, you've got to go to hell to pay for your sins. What did they tell Adam in the garden? When you sin, it brings forth death. That's what our punishment is. But look what happens when you fall on your face before God and pour your heart out to Him. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt." An innumerable debt that he has no way that he could pay back. Same with us. that we can't pay back, but He can pay back and He can take our place. And that's what we're getting ready to celebrate again is Easter and what He did for us and the victory He gives for us. In closing, I want to look at Ephesians chapter 4 I encourage you, go back and read this whole chapter, we don't have time to look at the whole chapter, but I want to look at a few verses. Talking again about our personal relationship with the Lord, our attitude, our thought process, like Brother Roy talked about this morning, where our mind needs to be when we have given Him our lives. Verse 22 says that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. We've got a new man. We're a new man when we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Verse 24, "...and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." We done read, we don't cut the muster there, but with Jesus we do. "...Wherefore putting away lying..." There's part of those Ten Commandments. "...speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." So, in committing ourselves to the Lord and turning ourselves over to Him, He's telling us we need to make a change. And that's part of that repentance. That's part of that change and bringing on the new man that we have. It's having a different way of thinking. It says, "...be ye angry, and sin not." and let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather him..." And this is where the Lord brought this Scripture in. We were talking about our abilities as those talents that the Lord has given us to use for Him and to commit to Him. We need to turn that old man around and start doing things for the Lord. Rather, let him labor, working with his hands the things which are good that he may have to give to him that need it." Yeah, we need to give to the poor, we need to supply physical needs, but we also need to supply spiritual needs. And that's where we need to share that gospel with people and share the hope that we have in us with others. Lord knows that the world needs it, and we need to make a difference. And this is just some things that we can do to make a difference. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Man, there's a lot in that. And you've been around people at work or somewhere, and they'll say a bad word, and, oh, I'm sorry. They know who you are. And you just being there when they mess up is convicted of them. It's not you that's convicted, it's the Holy Spirit that's in you that's convicted. Let not corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying..." We don't need to be tearing people down and hurting people and discouraging people. We need to be building them up. "...that it may minister grace to the hearer." We receive that grace Just like that servant received that grace, his debt had been paid, we receive that grace of eternal life as well. And now we need to use that as a minister to give grace to the hearer. And here's the key. Verse 30, "...and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." We all struggle with that. We want to do things our way. If we want to do things our way, we won't be doing what He wants us to do. But if we have the Holy Spirit in us and we're seeking that guidance from the Holy Spirit to do this or to that, to speak to this or to that, to do this ministry or that, to donate to this or that, we're going to make a difference. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. So we see here three aspects from the parable of the talents. Our finances, our abilities, and most importantly, and I kind of wanted to start with that, but you kind of have to do it backwards. Most importantly is the return that Jesus gives us. That reward that He gives us. That blessing. that He gives us, that grace that He gives us in return for our commitment to Him. So I'm hoping tonight that this has prompted you to maybe reassess your direction in whatever you do in your life, what God would have you to do, If the piano players will come and just play softly, maybe someone would like to come and just commit their lives again to the Lord. Just say, hey, I've not been doing this. I want to commit my life again to You. I want to commit my finances to You. I want to commit my abilities to You. What does He say? The harvest is ready, but the workers are few. We need workers. It seems like it's getting smaller and smaller these days. Not many people concerned about the things of God. So that harvest is getting more and more. We need to reach more and more. So you come tonight, if the Lord tells you, for whatever reason, maybe you've never committed your life to the Lord. Maybe you've never accepted Him as Lord and Savior. Maybe you've sat in church your whole life, but never said, God, I want to be a new person. I want to surrender my life to You. I want to put away that old man and receive that new man, that new blessing, that unrighteousness and truth that You can give me. and then receive that eternal life and that blessing from God. Y'all come as the Lord leads. you Bird. appreciate the goodness of God, letting us assemble our night to hear what thus saith the word of God. And then we heard it, we make application to it. And if you're like me, as he is preaching, say, forgive me, I haven't been all that ought to be. But then you get the urge from the Holy Spirit to recommit, to do better. None of us are perfect. make faults and failures, but aren't we thankful that God forgives and God honors us when we're willing to admit that we've done wrong. We live in a world that everything's right with them. You notice in the English language, one of the things that seems to be hardest to say, I am sorry. Even sometimes, used to when I'd pray, I'd say, God, if I've done wrong, well, he corrected me big time. What do you mean, if? That's no confession. You know you've done wrong. But that's what we like to do, isn't it? But thank God for his word. It helps us reevaluate our lives and come to the knowledge, understanding of what he wants us to be. None of us have arrived yet, but we have his word. We have his truth. as we pray is remember this back one Florida. It's a terrible thing to be away from home. And be that sick bad enough to be at home. Be that sick. It's it's terrible, but we know that. They're God's people. And we got so many needs in our church. Remember cold. He's got a long way to go. And then praying for him a long time with the illness. So many people we just. like to just turn them over to the Lord and say, Lord, they're yours. We're trusting you. Brother Keith Norris, would you please come and pray with us and for us as we lift up our hearts to the Lord? Thank you for the message. Thank you.