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The Gospel of Matthew in the
25th chapter this morning. Sometimes when you worship, worship
is visible. Worship is vocal. Worship can
be loud. Worship can be quiet. And sometimes
when you worship the Lord, it exhibits itself or it demonstrates
itself in, well, a shout or a hallelujah or the lifting of a hand or tears
running down your face. A lot of ways that it touches
the emotions. And I love that. but only if it begins in the
heart. That's where it starts right there. I've seen a lot
of emotions that was just flesh, but when the Lord touches your
heart, and the thing about worship is you don't have to have strobe
lights and dark auditoriums and guy raiding girls on the platform
and dance and rock bands and all of that. Not trying to stir
anything up, just trying to worship Him. You don't have to have a
lot of props. You don't have to have a lot
of things like that. Just thinking about how good
he is. That's pretty much all you need
right there for your heart to worship him. Well, Matthew 25
and verse number 14, if you would. Matthew 25 and verse number 13,
verse 14, I'm sorry. I'm one day gonna break down
and get glasses. But right now I'm too vain to
do it, but one day. Verse 14. 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. 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
deliverest unto me five talents. Behold, I have gained besides
them five talents more. And 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 deliverest 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 has been faithful over a
few things. I will make thee ruler over many things, enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord. And he which had received the
one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that art an hard
man, reaping where thou hast not sown, gathering where thou
hast not straw. 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, and gather where I am not straw. Thou modest
therefore to have put my money to the exchangers. And then at
my coming I should have received my own with usury. The word usury
means interest. Take therefore the talent from
him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. From every
one 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 ye the unprofitable
servant into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. The Lord Jesus tells two parables
in this story. Both of them have as the theme
of watchfulness. The parable in the first 13 verses
we looked at last week is called the parable of the 10 virgins. Ten virgins are waiting for the
bridegroom to come, and five have brought oil for their lamps,
five have not, and in time find themselves unprepared for the
coming of the bridegroom. In the second parable, the man
has prepared to take a long journey. He leaves his possessions in
the hands of certain servants. These servants are expected to
invest or to work that money that he has entrusted with them.
And so there is an expectation, an unwritten expectation that
there is to be a return or a profit when he comes back. The first
two servants put the money to work and they do earn interest. The third servant, he simply
buries the money. And the story ends with the master
coming back and he rewards the faithful servants and he punishes
the unfaithful servants. If the story sounds familiar,
it's because it's actually the second time that the Lord has
told a very similar story like this. In Luke chapter 19, there's
a very similar story. There's a lot of similarities
for us to make us to believe the Lord is using the same illustration,
but he does change some of the details. The one in Luke is told
outside of Jerusalem before the triumphal entry. The one in Matthew
is told after the triumphal entry. In the one in Luke, there are
10 servants. In this story, there are three
servants. In the gospel of Luke, each servant
gets an equal amount of talents, or in that case, it's pounds.
In this account, they are given different accounts according
to their ability. And so we wanna be careful not
to confuse the details and deal only with the details of this
account. And as we approach this parable,
just like with last week, there are doctrinal interpretations
that really is the most challenging part of these parables. Parables
are not meant primarily to teach doctrine, but they certainly
do illustrate doctrine. They have doctrinal aspects.
And the doctrinal part of this parable is that it teaches us
something about the kingdom of heaven. You find that in verse
number 14, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man. So it's a mistake to automatically
force everything in this story to fit into our current church
doctrine. That is a mistake. I believe
that the doctrinal application is how the Lord Jesus will determine
how Jewish saints will reign with Him during the millennium.
The kingdom of heaven is a physical kingdom that Christ will establish
when he descends back from heaven. The man who travels into a far
country is the Lord Jesus, who has gone back to heaven during
this time. He is away for a long time. You find that in verse
number 19. After a long time, the Lord of those servants cometh.
He's been away for over 2,000 years since he spoke this parable.
And when he returns, he rewards the faithful servants, and he
punishes the unfaithful servant. And that is the gist of what
is happening here. And just like in the parable
of the ten virgins, there's a lot of questions that are very hard
to answer, and we would have to take some time to go into
that. But we've spent seven or eight weeks already in Matthew
24 and 25, and every week we've talked about the second coming
or some aspect of the second coming. Next week we'll finish
chapter 25 and we'll look at the judgment of the nations.
That is a very, very prophetical passage. But there's a devotional
application that can be made out of this story. And so this
morning, I want to set aside as much of the prophecy as I
can, and I want to be as more practical than I am prophetical
this morning. And I want to try to bring this
into our situation and see if I can pull some principles out
of it that are eternal principles. It doesn't matter what dispensation
you're in, principles that apply to your situation. I believe
that verse number 13 is really the hinge of the entire chapter. Look at verse 13. Watch therefore
for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of Man cometh. Now in some of your Bibles you
may notice in verse number 14 there was a little squiggly mark
right before the text. That's a paragraph marking. And
as somebody who's decided or suggesting that this is the beginning
of a new paragraph, those are very helpful. They're not necessarily
inspired like the text, but they help us in breaking down the
chapter. But the more that I look at it,
I really believe that verse 13 belongs to the story in front
of it. And I really believe that it belongs to the story after
it. I believe that it is the hint. I'm teaching hermeneutics
on Thursday night in our Bible Institute, and here in the next
week or two, I'm gonna talk about certain words, connecting words
that you look at. And when you look at verse number
13, watch therefore, therefore. When you see a therefore in the
Bible, you ask, what is it therefore? It's pointing to something that's
already been said. So because of the parable of the 10 virgins,
that story that we looked at last week, then the moral of
that is to watch, watch, because you don't know the day or the
hour that the Son of Man comes. But then it says, watch therefore
for, for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son
of Man cometh for the kingdom of heaven. And that points to
the story after it. Watch therefore because one,
the story in front of it talks about watchfulness. The story
after it, it talks about watchfulness. You don't know when the master
is coming back. And so verse 13, really I believe
can belong to either story. To me, it's the hinge that connects
the two stories. It has been a constant theme
for two chapters that no one knows when the Lord is coming
back, and so be watchful, be ready, and that message comes
to us in these two parables. It's interesting to me that in
these two parables that there are two different emphases. On
the parable of the 10 virgins, there is an emphasis on waiting. The 10 virgins are simply waiting
for the bridegroom to come. They're not doing anything. They're
not working. They're not busy. In fact, when he comes, they're
sleeping. and they're not rebuked for that,
it's just in the normal course of life, they're sleeping, but
the emphasis is on them waiting. But the parable of the talents,
the emphasis is on working. The servants are not just to
sit by idly by, they are to be busy, get to work, get what I've
given you, and put it to work, and so that I can have a return,
a profit when I get back. And by the way, that strikes
the balance of what our life should consist of, waiting and
working. We don't sit around doing nothing.
We don't use waiting as an excuse for laziness or for idleness,
nor do we get so involved in this world that we don't ever
look up hoping that the day is the day that the Lord comes back.
We are waiting and we are watching and we are working. There are
some people who are simply waiting and they're not doing anything.
There are some people that go out every day and they're building
their own empire and they're not watching, they're not waiting.
I think the church at Thessalonica had some saints that were in
that first category. They were so spiritual that they
were looking for the second coming, but they weren't doing anything
else. So they've neglected their families, they've quit their
jobs, they're not working, and Paul has to rebuke them and say,
hey, you need to get to work. And if you don't provide for
your family, you're worse than an infidel. Your busy bodies is what you
are. It seems like that Peter knew some folks in 2 Peter, I
think chapter three, that were in that second category because
they've given up looking and they've said, where is the coming
of the Lord? We're just gonna get busy with life. We're just
gonna build our empire. And we don't believe that it's
coming. Hey, listen, it's not all waiting and no working. It's
not all working and no waiting. It is waiting and working. And
that's the emphasis of these two passages. There was a great
preacher of days gone by. His name was Donald Gray Barnhouse.
Got a lot of his commentaries in my library. Donald Barnhouse
would often walk up to a Christian and he would ask that person,
if you knew that this were the last day before Jesus returned,
what would you do different today? And he'd get a multitude of answers.
And somebody said, oh, if I knew that today was the day that he's
coming back, boy, I'd start passing out, boy, I'd start witnessing.
And somebody else would say, boy, if I knew that today was
the day I'd spend all day praying. I'd confess my sins or I, just
all kinds of answers. And every answer Donald Barnhouse
would say, well, that's the wrong answer. Because today might be
the day. Really, really, the answer is,
is that if I knew that today was the day that Jesus was coming
back, I wouldn't do anything different than I was going to
do anyway, because I live every day, every day, with the expectation
that this could be the day. I want to tell you, if we could
ever get that in our heart, it would absolutely revolutionize
our heart. We got up every day, every day,
and said, Lord, I'm going to work, but if you ought to interrupt
it today and come on back, that'll be fine with me. Well, look at
the story. Let me break it down in two or
three parts here. First of all, I want you to notice the responsibility
of the service. Look at verse 14. Well, the kingdom
of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country. He called
his own servants and delivered unto them his goods. And unto
one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one,
to every man, key phrase, according to his several ability, and straightway
took his journey. So the kingdom of heaven is like
a man that goes into a far country, and he leaves his goods in the
hands of his servants. These servants are capable men.
These men are trustworthy men. There's an unwritten expectation
that they are to invest that money somehow, somehow to get
a return on the money. They knew that he's coming back.
He's going to expect a stewardship. So they know what no one is expected
of them in his absence. Now, obviously, a key feature
of this is that the servants are not given the same amount
of talents. They are distributed, the Bible
says, to every man according to his several abilities. Hey,
can I tell you that not everybody has the same intellect? Even
in disputing. Not everybody has the same ability.
Not everybody has the same capability. The master knew his servants.
He knew that one was more savvy than the other. He knew that
one was more organized, had more initiative, and so he gives them
according to their ability. Now, in the passage, a talent
is a piece of money, all right? And it's a piece of money that
is measured by weight. A talent is a weight. I've read
commentaries and they vary everything from 50 to 110 pounds. So take
a pick, alright? But a talent is a weight. Let's
suppose it's 50 pounds. Let's suppose. 5 talents would be 250 pounds
of money. Now, depending on what it is
a weight of, then determines its value. Obviously, 5 talents
of gold would be more valuable than 5 talents of copper, alright?
So here's a man, he's given five talents, let's say 250 pounds
of gold coins, and you are to invest that while the master
is away. Now, since a talent was money,
then this story is often used for stewardship. This is a message
that you preach when you need to take a big offering. or right
before a missions conference or something like that, because
a talent is money. However, you understand that
money is not the only application. When you read talent, you don't
read that as ability, but that's how that we use the word. The Lord has given each one of
us a stewardship, a stewardship. You have been given a life, you
have opportunities, you have privileges, You have abilities,
you have capabilities, you have resources and you are to use
all of that to serve the Lord with. It is obvious, it is obvious
that some have more abilities than others. I don't mean to
offend anybody and I don't mean to lift anybody up with pride.
Some of you can do more and some of you can do less. However,
it is okay to be a one-talent person. It is okay if you're
not great in everything if that is how God made you. But I'm
looking at people in this building and God has given you much privilege. He's given you a great stewardship. I believe that if you were raised
in a Christian home where the Bible was taught you from an
early age, that is a great privilege. To not have a false religion
in your background and to not have to undo years of somebody
preaching a cult if you don't have false doctrine to you, if
you don't have wasted years of living in sin, if you don't have
the scars on your body and in your mind of living in sin and
tragic mistakes that you've made, and if you have been brought
to church and you've been taught the Bible and sheltered from
the world, I'm gonna tell you, that is a privilege and that
is a stewardship. Some of you are smart. Some of
you are gifted. Some of you have more abilities
than others. Sometimes I hear somebody say
to a kid, and they're trying to encourage the kid, you can
be anything you want to be. I'm not sure that it's exactly
true. Because there are some career
paths that require more education than others. Requires better
grades than others. I mean, you may want to be a
brain surgeon. That's great. You may not have
the brains to be a brain surgeon. I'm just being honest with you.
Just being honest with you. Go for it. Go for it. But get you
a backup plan, all right? learn to swing a hammer or something,
huh? I mean, there's some boy in here, you aspire to be a professional
basketball player. But I'm gonna tell you, if you're
a five, six white guy, you're probably not gonna make it. it's
probably not gonna work for you. So here's what I would say. You
can be anything you want to be within the limits of your abilities,
but you've been gifted with skills and abilities and intellect.
Maybe it's organization, maybe it's leadership, maybe it's artistic
like music or graphic design. Maybe you have a knack for making
money and investing it and others don't know what to do with their
money. Maybe you can sing, maybe you can, play an instrument,
I don't know, maybe you're good at teaching a class, but God
has given you something with which you can give Him a return
on. That's the stewardship of life.
God made you with certain gifts. He expects you to take those
gifts and to give him a return. Every ability you have is a gift
from God. Every opportunity that you see
is a gift from God. Every talent that you have developed
is a gift from God. While I'm here, I might as well
say this too. Your finances are a gift from God. That's a stewardship
is what it is. And I think that it would be
an earth-shaking revelation for us to realize that we are just
stewards, that everything that we have actually belongs to God. He has entrusted it to us, and
that is the stewardship that he wants us to have. Now notice
in verse 16. He that had received the five
talents went and traded with the same and made them other
five talents. Likewise, he that had received two, he also gained
other two. But he that received one went and digged in the earth
and hid his Lord's money. Now again, this is the context
of money. And so the servants took this
money and they invested it somehow. I don't know how. Maybe they
bought some lamb, planted the vineyard and sold the produce.
I don't know. Maybe they flipped houses. I don't know what they
did with it. Maybe they put it in the stock market of some kind,
but they have invested this money. And two of them immediately,
immediately get busy with what they have been given. The idea
that the two faithful servants double their money, I think that's
indicating that they had total commitment. They made a lot with
what they had. And by the way, the one with
two didn't get frustrated because he didn't have five. He took
his two and he went to work and he made the most with what he
had been giving. An equal percentage represents
an equal faithfulness. Someone may have greater results
than you, they can't be any more faithful than you. That really
helps me as a pastor, because I know, I know that there are
men that have much greater ability than I do to preach a sermon
or to pastor a church. And I had a preacher tell me
one time, he said, Brother Floyd, he said, some men just have a
50-member congregation talent, and some men have the capability
to pastor 200 congregation, and some people have a capability
to pastor 2,000 people. I don't know how, I don't know
how much I buy that, to be honest with you. I don't know. But I
know that there are some preachers that are more gifted than others. There are more men, there are
men that do what I do, and they do it better. They're more skilled,
they're more educated, they're more organized, more everything.
However, however, I can be just as faithful in my stewardship
as the man who pastors the largest church in America can be in his
stewardship. I can be faithful to what God,
whether it's 5,000 or 2,000 or whatever it might be, I can be
faithful with that. Two men are faithful in their
stewardship. One servant, he does nothing
with what he had. At the very least, he could have
put his money in a bank and earned 1.16 or whatever it is right
now percent. He could have at least done that,
but he buries it in the backyard. And maybe he looks at the other
two and he says, what's the use? All I have is one talent. I'll never be able to keep up
with those guys, so I'm not even going to try. Maybe he was just
lazy. Maybe he wanted to spend his
days just carousing and playing video games or whatever they
did back then. But what a waste of opportunity. What a waste
of privilege. Listen, if he would have doubled
his money, he would have had the same rewards that the other
two received. He doesn't have to earn as much
as they do, but he's got a chance to do as much percentage as they
do. You find out, you find out, the
master was pleased because the two becomes four and the five
becomes ten. I think he would have been pleased
if the one became two. The servant doesn't have as much
responsibility, but he has as much a chance to please his master
and be a profitable servant. And I wanna say this morning
that being a one talent person doesn't mean that you can't be
productive. If all that you have is one talent,
you're responsible for that. And God wants a return on your
life. You are as responsible for what
you have been given as that man with five talents. In fact, I
think that there is a lesson here in the Lord being angry
at the waste of one talent. Because suppose the story is
flipped and the man with five talents buries it and wastes
it and the master comes back and he's angry because five talents
are wasted. You and I would say, of course,
it's five talents. I mean, why waste all of that
money? But no, no, it is the man with
the one talent, the least that wastes, and the Lord is displeased
at that. And the point is that if you
just have one talent, don't waste it. That's enough to displease
the master. He expects you to work as just
a heart and to be as conscious with your one talent as the man
with five talents. It's the responsibility of the
servants. But then I want you to notice
the rewards for faithfulness. Look at verse 19. After a long
time, the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them. The word reckoneth is an accounting
term. He comes back and he opens up
the books. And let's see what has happened while he has been
away. We read about the judgment seat of Christ in the Bible.
We really don't know how it is going to be. I don't know if
the Lord's gonna play anything on big screen. I don't know if
he's gonna open up a physical, I honestly don't know. But I
have read enough in the Bible to know that there is a judgment
day coming. And one day I will stand before God and I will give
an account of my life. There is a reckoning coming. For the past 25 years, I've pastored
this church. This is where the Lord has put
me. I've tried to preach his word to whoever would come and
listen. I've tried to develop the abilities that he's given
me. I've tried to grow and be better at what I do and do the
best that I can. I've stayed in the place that he planted
me and tried to build a church just like you've tried to do
ministry. And I know there's a lot of men, this is not self-deprecation,
but I know there's a lot of men that could take this church a
lot farther than I could. I'm not responsible for what
they could do. I'm responsible for what I can
do. We have in this room this morning
a man that for 35 years, 35 years, just went back there and printed
Bibles, Just for 35 years, he's just done the same thing. That's
where God put him. We have a man in this room that
for probably close to over 50 years, he's pastored churches,
been in evangelism, built a printing ministry, half of a century. That's where God put him. Others
have been in the service. Brother Squire has been in the
service ministry for many, many years. Brother Tony Stark has
been in Africa for many, many years. And I don't have a perfect
record. And sometimes I wish I could
start over with what I know now. And sometimes I get discouraged,
and sometimes I wonder if I'm doing any good, but I know, I
know that there is a reckoning coming, and I wanna be found
faithful in my stewardship. Notice when he comes back in
verse 20. He that received five talents came and brought other
five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliverest unto me five talents.
Behold, I've gained beside them five talents more, as the Lord
said unto him, well done. Thou good and faithful servant,
thou hast been faithful over a few things. I'll make thee ruler
over many things. Enter thou into the joy of the
Lord. How excited do you think that servant would be to see
his master? He's done well. He knows the
return. Boy, there would be no dread
of the master coming, would there? I mean, if I had done as well
as he's done, I'd want the master to come back. If I had doubled
my return, I would want the master to come so I could give back
to him, I could show him what I've done with what he has entrusted
me with. And when we think of the judgment, it ought not to
be with fear and with trembling and with dread. No, John said,
John said in 1 John, he said that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment. Can you imagine that? To stand
there before the God of the universe with boldness, not arrogance,
but with boldness in the day of judgment. To be able to stand
there like Paul, writing to 2 Timothy chapter four, at the end of his
life, I fought a good fight and I have kept the faith. I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith. There is therefore,
henceforth, laid up for me a crown of righteousness. What a thing to do to be able
to stand there in boldness. Paul knew what he had done with
his stewardship. He's excited about facing the
Lord. And here's the reward. Well done,
thou good and faithful servant. He commends him for his character.
He commends him for his hard work. Just think about it. To hear the Lord of the universe
to say to you, good job. You know, every child wants his
daddy to be proud of him. When that two-year-old or that
three-year-old hands you that paper with scribbling, that child just wants a smile,
a hug. Brag on that child, put it on
the refrigerator, right? They never grow out of that.
Never grow out of that. They want that parent just to
be proud. I promise you, there will be
no greater joy one day than to hear the Lord of the universe
say, well done, I'm good and faithful servant. Notice what
else he says, I'm hurrying, I really am. He says in verse 21, thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I'll make thee ruler
over many things. The commendation would have been
enough, but the reward goes beyond that. And obviously there's a
millennial application, he's talking about serving the Lord
in the kingdom. In the Luke parable, the master
tells the servants that there'll be rulers over cities again. I have no idea how that's gonna
work out. I'm not even gonna try to speculate. I don't know if I'm coming back
to Milton, Florida to be the mayor of the dog catcher. I don't
know, I don't know how it works. But I'm gonna serve the Lord
in some capacity in his kingdom. And it seems very clear to me
that the terms of service in the kingdom is determined by
my service here. Rewards for the believer, catch
this, rewards for the believer is more opportunities for service.
It's more opportunities for service. And I'm afraid that we can't
see that far ahead, because if we could, it would transform
our lives. If you are faithful over a little here, then he'll
give you much over there to be responsible for. You can serve
the Lord for a lifetime, which is short, and receive rewards
for a millennium, which is long. What you do in this life determines
what you get to do for the Lord in the next life. And then notice
this next phrase in verse 21, last phrase, enter thou into
the joy of the Lord. Strange phrase. I'm thinking
of Hebrews 12, where it talks about who for the joy that was
set before him, despised the cross, enduring the shame. When
our Lord Jesus hung on that cross, the Bible says he despised it.
He endured the cross. He didn't enjoy that. The hammers,
the nails, there was no joy. The shame, he despised it. Then
why did he do it? I'll tell you why. Because he
saw beyond the shame and there was a joy that was set before
him. But you've got to get through
the cross to get to the joy. And because of the joy that was
set before him, he endured the cross despising the shame. And
here's what he says, that we may enter into the joy of the
Lord. You think of the joy of the Lord
in seeing redemption accomplished, and Satan abolished, and sin
defeated, and sinners saved, and a kingdom established, that's
the joy. And you and I get to enter into
that joy. Now you may have to despise some
things, you may have to endure some things, but to go into the
kingdom with Christ and to share in His satisfaction, of sharing
his joy, the rewards for faithfulness. Let me give you the third part
I've done. There's retribution for unfaithfulness. Verse 24. He which received the
one talent came and said, Lord, I knew that thou art a hard man.
reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast
not strawed. I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the
earth. Lo, there thou hast that is thine."
Now, here's where a lot of questions enter into this story. Here's
the first question, who is the man? Is he a saved man or is
he a lost man? Is this a man that gets saved
in the tribulation and loses it at the end of the tribulation?
He's a servant, but he doesn't get to enter into the kingdom.
So this is where a lot of questions come in. There's two things I
want you to notice. I want you to notice his actions,
what he does. He doesn't waste the master's
goods like the unjust steward in Luke chapter 19 or chapter
16. He doesn't spend it all on righteous
living like the prodigal son. He doesn't embezzle it like that
servant in Matthew 18, I believe it is. He doesn't do anything. He wastes every opportunity,
every privilege, He says that he serves the master, but he
doesn't. That's his actions. Here's the second thing to notice about
him. That's his attitude. You see, instead of saying, I'm
lazy, I'm unprofitable, here's what he does. He attacks the
master with accusations. I read one commentator and I
laughed. But I read one commentator who actually took the side of
the servant. And he took the angle that the
story represents a harsh master. And I thought, what a horrible
misinterpretation. He accuses the master of being
hard and unreasonable and kind, and basically he says, I knew
that I would never please you. I knew I could never do enough
for you. I knew you'd never be satisfied, so I didn't do anything,
and it is your fault. When he says the master was a
hard man, it reminds me of how Exodus describes Pharaoh, says
he was a harsh taskmaster. He was the man that demanded
that they make bricks, but he didn't give them straw. So he's
making them make something out of nothing. And he's a harsh
taskmaster. And basically what this servant
is saying is that you're kind of like that Pharaoh in the book
of Exodus. That's what he's accusing him
of. That's not true. It's not true of this master.
It's certainly not true of your master. Matthew 11 says, take my yoke
upon me and learn of me for I am meek and lowly and hard and you
should find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden
is light. Romans 12, and I will teach you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your
body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. And I tell you that we have a
good God, a good God who gives us delight in service. He's not
hard, he's not a taskmaster, he's not a slave driver. We get
weary in the work, but we do not get weary of the work. And
if you have some service to give back, if you have some ministry
that you can give to him, I'll tell you that's not a wearisome
thing, that's a delightful thing. He's accusing the master unjustly,
Here's what he says about him. He says, you reap where you have
not sown and gather where you have not strawed. He's accusing
him of being dishonest. You're the kind of man that would
steal another man's crops. So I didn't bother. I didn't
bother trying to make any money. I knew that you were just going
to take it anyway. You're unkind, you're ungracious, you're dishonest. Look if you would in verse 26. The Lord answered and said unto
him, Thou wicked and soft of servant, thou, thou newest that
I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not straw. Now let me tell you what I believe.
You sort out, you sort out whether he's saved in the tribulation,
loses, you sort all of that out. But when I look at his attitude,
here's what it tells me. He doesn't know the master. If
that's what he thinks, If that's his attitude toward the master,
he hadn't spent much time with him. He hadn't got to know him. And if you have the wrong attitude
toward the Lord, you don't know the Lord. If you think the Lord
is ungracious, unfair, unkind, hard to please, impossible to
serve, you don't have a worshiping heart. No, I tell you that the
greatest joy of our lives is serving the Lord Jesus so that
He can be praised. And by the way, if you know the
Lord, if you know the Lord, then the great desire of your life
is for my life to be counted worthy of Him. I have never met
an old man who gave his life to the Lord Jesus and got to
old age and was bitter at serving Jesus. I've never met one. I've never met one that served
God all of his life and come to the end of life and was disappointed
in how the Lord treated him. I tell you, that if you give
your heart to Jesus and if you give your life to the Lord, you'll
find that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. And even
when somebody's called to go to a dark place, even when somebody
has to serve in a difficult field, even when there is great sacrifices,
the paradox of serving the Lord is that you can do it with sacrifice
with satisfaction at the same time. In verse number 26, it
seems like that the master agrees with him. I believe that you
could summarize the master's response in verse 26 up in one
word, liar. Liar. You say, that I reap where
I sow it, gather where I have not strawed. If you knew, look
at verse 27, thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers,
and then at my coming, I should receive my own with you. If that
was the kind of man that I am, you could have at least put money
in the bank and got some interest off of it. He's not agreeing
with the wicked servant, but he's throwing his words back
at him. If that's what you thought that I was, then you could have
put it in a bank, but you didn't because you're lazy and a wicked
servant is what you are. You buried it in the ground so
you could pursue your wicked pursuits, your responsibility
got in the way or your laziness got in the way of your responsibility
and you accuse me to cover up your own wicked ways. So in verse
28, take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him
which hath ten talents. Unto everyone that has to be
given he shall have abundance, but from him that hath not shall
be taken away, even that which he hath. Cast ye the unprofitable
servant, and in the outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. The first thing that happens
is the faithful servant receives more privilege, more opportunity
to service. Some want to question, why did
he give it to the man with ten? Why didn't he give it to the man with five
talents? I don't know. It's up to the Lord. He's sovereign.
But then the unprofitable servant is cast into hell. When you read
verse number 30, there's no way verse 30 is describing anything
other than hell. And if there's any question your
mind at this point, whether the unfaithful servant is saved or
not, this ought to erase any doubt in your mind. And it doesn't
mean that you go to hell if you waste your life or if you don't
go to a mission field or something like that. But it's clear that
this wicked servant has a wicked heart. He has no love for the
master. How he acts is indicative of the evil that is in his heart. The master rewards the faithful.
He punishes the unfaithful. I have been trusted with a stewardship.
It is called life. My life has had the privilege
of growing up in a Christian home, being part of a great church,
the thousands of sermons that I've heard in my life over the
years. My stewardship is living in America, having the freedoms
and liberties that I enjoy having a good income, receiving an education,
being able to read and study and learn. My stewardship is
the call to preach. It's to call it a pastor of this
church. It's the privilege of being able to help missionaries
and try to help ministries out of our church and preaching other
churches. My stewardship is my family.
It's my finances. It's my health. It's my life. I have a stewardship. I want
to be faithful in that stewardship. I want to stand one day at the
reckoning. I want to hear him say, Well, you have a stewardship. You may think that it only weighs
one talent, but it's probably greater than what you imagine. What are you doing with that
stewardship? Will the Lord find you faithful?
Will the Lord get any return back from your life when he comes
back? And I want you to come to the
piano. We were sitting around the piano at the house last night,
singing and practicing, got the text. Some of you know, brother,
brother, buddy Blunk Hall. Little Blunk Hall's preached
here many times. He and his wife have been here many times. Little
Blunk Hall passed away last night. Fell off of a roof and had an
accident, hit his head. Life flagged him to the hospital
and didn't make it. The Lord called him home. Little Blunk
Hall was, I guess, well into his 60s, maybe 70. Been here
many times. Traveled all over the country,
all over the country, evangelist every year. I don't know if I've
ever heard anybody said a negative word about Buddy Blancall. I've never heard any scandals
on him. I've never heard anybody say anything negative about him.
I don't know if I've ever heard Buddy Blancall saying anything
negative about somebody else. He was just a good man, faithful
man. Had a lot of health problems
in the past, heart attacks, but just kept plugging on, plugging
on. No doubt in my mind, No doubt in my mind. My family got up
yesterday morning, they had no idea this is how the day's gonna
end. Only the Lord knows that. But
the Lord in His sovereignty said, buddy, you're done. I'm bringing you home. And from
everything that I know about Buddy Blanco, there's no doubt
in my mind that he heard, well done. Well done. And if you give your life to
the Lord, if you give your heart to Him, if you'll take every
opportunity, every privilege, every ability, and say, Lord,
how can I use this for you, for you? And if you'll give your
life to the Lord, whether it's a full-time ministry or secular
career, whatever it might be, but every day I'm giving it to
you, that one of these days you and I can stand in the judgment
seat and so well done. That'll be the greatest joy,
greatest joy.
115. The Parable of the Talents
Series Matthew: Gospel of the King
| Sermon ID | 111019182865963 |
| Duration | 43:58 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | Matthew 25:14-30 |
| Language | English |
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