Jesus is the sweetest name I know, and He's just the name that is love within, and that's the reason why I love Him so. Lord Jesus is the sweetest name I know, You have the strength and I know For the one world that we know There's no one who can be wrong They are weak but he is strong Yet He does love me, yet He does love me, yet He does love me, the Bible tells me so. We love you and me. Oh, how we love you and me. We need one, one more good thing here. Oh, how we love you. Oh, how we love you. You and me. We appreciate the kids singing first this morning and participating in ministry in that way and all the hard work they put into that on Sunday night and appreciate that. All right, the little ones can go with Mrs. Shore to your class. It's 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. You can go to your class while the rest of us, you guys can go to your class with Mrs. Shore too. The rest of us take out our Bibles and open up to the book of Matthew, chapter 25, and I think They have a function maybe going on and we're going to need to close this door. So, Logan, or Ann, appreciate that. Thank you, Ann. Alright. And go ahead and be finding Matthew chapter 25 in your Bible. If you do have a church Bible, I did write the page number down. It is page 1022 in the church Bible. If you've got a black church Bible, it's page 1022. Alright, Matthew chapter 25. Verses 14 through 30. Alright, I do want to again say thank you to those that helped with the youth activity. Appreciate your help. We had a good activity and really thank the Lord for his grace to us this past Friday. What we're going to look at this morning is a parable. And a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. And so Jesus often would use that as he was teaching. He was very effective as a teacher and would illustrate things in a way that people could relate to and could understand as they looked at it. And so, for instance, he told the story about a sower, soil, and seed. Remember that story, the parable of the sower? And there he was teaching that the gospel is the seed. The soil is the different hearts of people. There could be people that are hard-hearted, and so as the seed comes, it appears to take, but then they've got rocky soil there, and there's no benefit. It doesn't grow, anything lasting. Or that the soil is good soil. And that's somebody that's ready to receive the gospel. They take it in to their heart. It's real. And it brings forth the truth. And that person gets saved. So that's an example of a parable that Jesus told. Jesus told a story about a harvest. Then lift up your eyes, look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest." And he was telling his disciples, look, the time is now for reaping. Don't say it's going to come in the future, say it's here now. That there's a harvest that God's going to give right now. Or Jesus told a story about a treasure in a field that somebody came across. That treasure is there and they go and they sell everything that they have so that they can take that money and purchase that heel So that they could access that treasure and it's teaching that you know, it's worth giving up everything Everything to find the one thing that's real and is valuable and that is the gospel It'd be worth it for somebody If riches was keeping somebody from getting saved, it'd be worth it to have the word Jesus say to that person, like you said, the rich young ruler, you know, go sell all that you have, give to the poor, and then come and follow me. I mean, if that's it, if that's what's keeping you from coming to Christ, by all means, get rid of it. And so that parable teaches that. And so this morning, we're coming to a parable. It's a parable, as we've read it already, it's a parable of a master that has, in this story, three servants. that he gives some of his treasure to count his money. And he said, I'm going on a long journey. I want you to take this that I'm entrusting to you. Use it so that when I come back you can give a good account of how you used it. And he's teaching here that we must be good stewards of his goods. See, Jesus is the one, we'll talk about it, he's the one on a long journey. But each one of us have been entrusted with something that God wants us to use for Him. And actually, we've each one been entrusted with many things that God wants us to use for His glory. And so what have we done with God's good, the things that He's given to us? And so I hope it'll be a challenge to you this morning as we look at it. We need God's help, so let's ask Him to help in our service now. Let's pray. Father, we're thankful for the help that you've already given in our service today. We thank you for the children singing and reminding us about your love for us. Father, it is true this morning, it's true every morning that we could wake up and think, you know, God loves me today. And father you care about us and you know what our need is today And father we need to think about eternity. There's so many go at your life. They never think about eternity never think about What they're really doing with their life. I spoke to those 12 or so young people last night And pointing at one of them that was high, I said, is this what your life's all about? Is this it? Does nobody have the grace to be ashamed at this kind of behavior? And it wasn't just that he was high, it was that he was being ashamed of the things that he was saying. Father, we stand in a generation that has no fear of God. Yet how easy it is, even as believers, for us to just get caught up with the days, and the weeks, and the months, and the years, and to forget that we're to be laying up treasure in heaven. We're supposed to be living for another world. We're supposed to be using what we have, God, for you now and for eternity. And so I pray, Father, as we come to this passage, I just ask that the Spirit of God would open it up to our hearts. I pray it'd be something that we could take in, that everybody would benefit from. And Lord, give us grace to pay attention to the Word of God. We pray that you give us ears to hear, and that we wouldn't just be hearers of the Word, but that we'd be doers. And I pray for your help as I preach. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Alright, and so we're going to look at this idea of stewardship and what God has given to us. And I want to start by reminding us that you have been given a measure of God's good. It doesn't matter who you are. In fact, anybody could walk into our service this morning and I could make the same statement. You have been given a measure of God's goods. Verse 14 and 15 says, 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 pounds, to another two, and to another one, and to every man according to his several ability and straightway he took his journey. The story takes place between the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ up into heaven and his return. He's coming back. He's going to rapture the church. He's going to come and call us to himself. The tribulation's going to come. God's going to hold this world accountable. Then he's going to come as judge, and he's going to set up his great white throne judgment, and everybody's going to give an account. But the thing is, we've all been given something from God. It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter whether you're born again or not in this sense, because everybody has received something from God. You've been given a stewardship by your master. It says, who called his own servants and delivered unto them. It's a puzzling parable, and you might come to a different conclusion than I come to as I study it. But you'll find that it does say he calls his own servants unto him. And you might think, well, that's born-again people, that's saved people. Well, the problem is, as we'll find out, one of these people is going to go to hell. And it's pretty clear, as you get into the passage, that that's the case. So you could say, well, he's a counterfeit servant. He just looked like a servant he wasn't. But you know, as I think about it, and as we think about it this morning, have unbelievers, even people that you say, well, they're not truly the servants of God, but in a sense, they are because God created everybody. I had these young people last night ask me, where do we all come from? Do you really think we all go back to Adam and Eve? How's that possible? All these races come from Adam and Eve. And I said, well, genetics and, you know, genetics in their purest form have all these things. You know, and I spoke to them about that. But we all go back to Adam and Eve. We all go back to Noah. And you think, you know, there is an accountability that mankind as God's creation, not just as those that are born again, not just as those that are saved, there's an accountability that man has to God. You think about unbelievers, what they've received from God. They've been given life and everything that goes with it. This could be an atheist. This could be somebody that never thinks about God. I used to not believe people when they tell me that. They say, well, I never think about that. Because I'll ask them, you know, if you died today, where would you go? And they look at you like you're from another planet almost. I never think about that. You know, but they too are a child in the sense of humankind of God. He created, He designed, He gave them life. You know what the Word of God says about mankind, and it says it to all mankind, whether they're saved or not? It says in Psalm 150, verse 6, let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise you, Lord. You know, if you've got breath today, you've got to praise the Lord. Who gave you that breath? God. If He takes it away, what's going to happen? You'll die. You know, the Word of God said, God formed man, it says, and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. And I could be the greatest unbeliever, the greatest hater of God, the greatest atheist, the greatest evolutionist, the greatest one that says, there is no God, but the breath that I'm breathing is the gift of God. You'd think that person ought to stop and say, you know, I've been given my breath by God. Let everything that has breath praise God. You know, they've been given natural revelation. That means that natural revelation is not this. This is specific revelation. This is the Word of God. This is God revealing to mankind His Word. But you know, there's natural revelation too. Natural revelation is us looking at creation. It's like an astronomer looking at the heavens and saying, wow. You ever walk out at night and you look up at the stars or the harvest moon that we've had recently this month, and you look at that and you say, wow. That's incredible. And anybody that has any sense, you'd think they'd stop and go, God must be great. God must be great. The Bible says the heavens declare the glory of God. That means the heavens are crying out, saying, to God's creation, there is a God, there is a designer, and all mankind has that. Whether they're saved or whether they're not. Whether they're born again, whether or not. They have that testimony of the fact that there is God. In fact, the Word of God says in Romans 1, 20 and 21, for the invisible things of Him, God can't be seen, the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Nobody is going to stand up for God someday and say, I'm sorry God, I was an atheist. I was listening to John Jett's preach this past week, and he says, whenever he meets an atheist, he says to them, God doesn't believe in you. God doesn't believe in you. They go, I don't believe in God. And he says, God doesn't believe in you. Why? Because of this verse. The invisible things of heaven from the creation of the world are clearly seen so that they're without excuse. They're not going to stand before God someday and say, I'm sorry God, I didn't believe in you. God's going to say, for the invisible things of being from the creation of the world were clearly seen. There's no such thing as a true atheist. They've not only been given revelation that makes them see that there has to be a God, but they've been given God's law in their hearts. Isn't that interesting? Why is it in every civilization that you go to murder is wrong? Why is it every civilization that you go to stealing is wrong? Every single one that you go to there are certain foundational things that are wrong It's the same in every culture in the same in every place. You know, the Bible has a reason for that It says in Romans 2 14 and 15 for when the Gentiles which have not the law They're not the ones that received God's Word Do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. You know what's sad is that in every culture, every people, that there is something that we have in our heart, you know, we have a word for it, we call it a conscience, don't we? A conscience. And it says to me, that's right, that's wrong. Who put that there? The Word of God says God did. You know, evolution can't explain that. If you witness somebody that's an evolutionist, ask them, why is it then that we have this thing in our hearts that says this is right and this is wrong? Because evolution can't explain that. If evolution is true, you ought to be able to do what the humanists want to do. And they say, as long as it doesn't hurt anybody else, be your own god, do your own thing. But they still have a conscience that convicts them. See, somebody can be a great unbeliever, and they can say, I don't believe in God, and I don't believe those things, but they still lay their head on their pillow at night, and their heart says, shame on you. That's what's wrong. What is that? A conscience. Who gave that to them? God. See God has given them a lot of things and it doesn't stop there does it? He's given them life. He's given them natural revelation He's given them a conscience that tells them right or wrong But can I not say this morning that the vast majority of them have been given the Word of God? They have specific revelation see this Bible has been printed over three billion times and There's enough Bibles in the world that every other person could have their own copy of it. We're blessed. I mean, there have been generations, you know, goes back 600 years. I mean, they didn't have the Word of God like we did. They didn't have the printing press. They had to share scripture. In some of the communist countries, I remember my aunt and uncle speaking about it. I remember reading about it as well. They would just love to get their hands on a single chapter from the Word of God. Just a single page from the Word of God. And they would pour over that, and they would share that, and they would cherish that. I mean, the Word of God was very dear to them, but the average person in Scotland doesn't care about this book. But they have it. And they ought to stop and say, you know what? God has given me something. Hasn't He? Think what God's given to us right there with His Word. Psalm 119, 130 says, The entrance of thy word giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple. See, if I want to know today what God thinks about my sin, or what God says about forgiveness, or what God says about a relationship with Him that's right, if I can read, I can do that. Anybody can. And that's what mankind has been given by God. So I think this morning we could say, you know what, everybody's been entrusted with goods, whether unbeliever or believer. But let's speak about believers. Certainly believers have received all those things that we just looked at from God, but you know, they've also received salvation and life. They've received salvation and life. The Word of God says in Romans 6.3, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. None of that saved has been brought back by God. How did he do that? He took his son, Jesus Christ, and he put him on a cross, Calvary, and he was crucified. He paid an enormous price for my life. Now, do you think God values His Son? Yes. And so, what God bought me with as a believer, He bought me with something that was priceless. God spared no expense. God didn't think in heaven, how much can I pull back? God looked at it and said, what can I give? He gave something of immense value to us. It's the gift of God. It's the gift of everlasting life. If you've been saved, then you have received that gift. That gift is worth more than anything. We talked about that already as we talked about that parable. That gift is worth getting rid of everything in our life to obtain. So if you're saved this morning, God's given that gift to you. Besides that, our salvation, God's also given us different gifts and abilities. He's going to tell us, not in the sense of money, tell us in the sense of ways that we can serve and ways that we can use our time and effort and energy to serve God. The Word of God says that there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. It's in 1 Corinthians, I don't have the chapter here. Diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. When you got saved, somebody that's born again, somebody that's saved, God, by His Spirit, gave you a spiritual gift to be exercised in the body of Christ. He gave that to you to use for Him. Aside from that, we've got many other gifts and abilities that God's given to us. And so, as we stop in this passage, it says that He gave His goods. We all have been given goods to a certain extent. Now, it's going to be different. And that's what the Word of God says here. You've been given goods according to your ability. It says, He gave goods to every man according to his several abilities. God didn't say, well, you know, in this story, he calls his servants good, and he says, here, you get five talents, here, you get five talents, here, you get five talents, and now go use them. You'll notice in the story, there's different amounts. It's five, it's two, it's one. But the master knows what's best to give his servants, and he gives them what they can handle, and so he gives to the one five, and to the other two, and to the other one, based upon their ability to handle those things. You know, I had a teen in my youth group. When we came to Scotland the first time, we came to England and Scotland. We took a group of six teens from our church in Michigan, and we took them, we flew out of New York City, flew to England, spent a week there, came up here for a week. But as I was telling the team their instructions before we came, and they're just teenagers, But I said, you're going to have your passport. Everybody's got to have a passport holder. And we have these ones that go around your neck. You know, your passport goes in the neck. You just keep that. And I said, you're going to be responsible for your passport. Well, I had a dad that was concerned. He came to me and he said, but you don't know my son. He loses all these things. He got these new shoes. He lost those shoes. And please keep his passport. And I said, well, look. I said, if they're old enough to go on this trip, they're old enough to be accountable for their passport. I don't want the responsibility of their passports and losing them. So anyway, that was the decision. I probably should have made a different decision. Because what this young man proceeded to do as we got to England is he lost his passport. And so we're coming up from England to Scotland and lo and behold his passport's gone. Well back then there wasn't a US embassy in Edinburgh, there is now. We had to put him on an overnight trip down to London with a sponsor to get an emergency passport so that he could leave the country and go back to the United States. But you know that father, as he looked at his son, He knew his abilities. Now that son should have been responsible. He should have been ready to take that responsibility of watching his passport, but his father knew he wasn't ready for that. You know, as God looks at us today, God knows what you can handle as far as his goods. And until we show ourselves faithful with the goods that he's given to us, he's not going to increase them. He's not wise. And you notice it proves itself in the story, doesn't it? The person that is entrusted much, did he fail? No. The person that was entrusted another significant amount, did he fail? No. But the person that was just given very little by the Master failed and shows the Master is wise. He understood who would be faithful with his goods and who wouldn't be. And so, if we want to have greater goods that God gives to us, we need to use the abilities wisely that God has entrusted to us. But we're giving goods according to what we can handle. So, we've all been given goods. You have time in which to invest God's goods. We have time in which to invest God's goods. It says in the story, he was traveling to a far country and he straightaway took his journey. He's not there. Can you imagine? I mean, he's just coming, giving the goods to the man and they're looking at the things that he's entrusted to him, but then he leaves. He's not there. And they know he's gone on a long journey. How are they going to handle the responsibility that the master has given to them in his absence? If we, in our kids' classes, if we hooked up a CCTV and took a video of when the teacher is present versus when the teacher is absent, there might be a little bit of difference, wouldn't there be? It's only going to be the wise student, it's only going to be the child that really desires to do well, that's going to be applying themselves in the absence of that authority. And so here, the master is away. And what are the stewards going to do, the servants going to do while the master is gone? During this time of this absence, you can do business for the master. It says in verse 16 and 17, Then he that received the five talents went and traded with the same and made them other five talents. And likewise, he that received two, he also gained other two. And so we're not told about the effort that's involved already. I mean, we don't really see the work, but you don't just take the five talents or that money that's been given and easily make five others. You don't easily take the two and make other two. And so there's been effort, there's been investment, there's been concern, a little anxiousness maybe in the hearts of the servants saying, was that a wise investment, was it not? And really thinking about using those resources. It takes planning. When I was at Bob Jones in school, The dorms that the men's dorms face is some of the academic buildings that are at the university. And LICO is at 655. And so every morning the LICO would go on. And you had to turn your light on in your room. You had to get your feet on the floor. Couldn't stay in bed back in the day when I was going to college. And so when that bell would ring, what I'd do on a certain morning, I forget what day it was, but there was a leadership class. And on this one morning, what I'd do, I'd go over to my window after I got out of bed, and I'd look out there, because at 7 o'clock, the leadership class would meet. And without fail, every time the class met, The two minutes leading up to that class starting invariably there'd be runners, people that were late for class. And it's a leadership class, you're not supposed to be late for it. That's why it's so early in the morning, 7 o'clock. And what I enjoyed doing was counting the runners, seeing how many people were almost late for their class. I'd look at that and think, they weren't prepared. They weren't prepared. Yes, Christ has said to us, you know, as the master, I'm coming back. A wise servant looks at it and says, you know, I'm going to invest now. There's no last minute thing. And so investing that for the Lord. So you can do business or you can waste what the master has given. But he that received, one, went and digged in the earth and hid his Lord's money. Now he's been given something valuable by his master, but he takes it and he just puts it in the earth. And I think it's a great picture of what God's given. You can just put it in the world. You just bury it. You just hide it and it's of no value to anybody. Maybe you read recently in the news about the man that had the huge pearl in his house. And I saw a picture of the pearl. The pearl was 30 centimeters wide, 1 foot wide, 67 centimeters long, 2.2 feet, weighed 75 pounds. That's incredible, isn't it? But for 10 years, this man had this pearl as a good luck charm under his bed. They say, if I remember correctly, it's worth over like $100 million. It's incredible. And that treasure benefited nobody. It didn't benefit him, it didn't benefit anybody else because he buried him. And that's like a steward. The steward takes what the master has given and he takes it and he hides it and he wastes it. This morning we've already talked about the Word of God and the treasure that God's given to us. But you know the Word of God in Psalm 19 says the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making life simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eye. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together. But then it says this, and you think about what the Word of God has just done. It's purified somebody's life, it's saved somebody's life, it's opened their eyes. Then it says, more to be desired are they than gold, yet in much fine gold, sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. If this was a bar of gold, alright? Every Bible in Britain became a bar of gold sitting in somebody's house. Do you think they're going to get it out? It would be incomprehensible to think that they know that that Bible has turned to gold and that they just leave it there. But the Word of God says about this book, it's more to be desired than much fine gold. But it's a buried treasure. A lot of people have it just sitting away. And that's like this story. He wastes it. You know, the problem with that is we're all going to give an account for our use of God's goods, what He's given to us. In our story, the Master does come back and says in verse 19, after a long time, the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them. It's a day of reckoning, isn't it? It's the day that he didn't, you know, phone them and say, well, by the way, you know, I'm coming back pretty soon, so you need to get ready for my return, did he? So he comes back, unexpectedly. You know, I found out a couple weeks ago that I had the same birthday as Spirit. So if you see Spirit around, she's got a great birthday, July 2nd. Same one. And if I asked you today, I said, what is your birthday? Everybody here, I hope, is old enough to tell me and say, you know, my birthday is such and such a date. And I don't want to be morbid this morning, but let me ask you this. Do you know your death date? Does anybody here know the day that they're gonna die? See, I was born July 2nd, 1976. But do you know that I'm gonna die on a certain day and God knows what day that is? Is that the day I'm one day closer to than I was yesterday? And tomorrow I'm one day closer to it than today. And I'm not trying to be morbid. The point is that that day is coming. And it's going to come before we're ready for it. I can't believe I'm 40 years old. I still struggle with that in my head. It just doesn't seem possible. But you know, 40 means if I get the average lifespan of 70, I'm over halfway through my life. And Christ is coming. The Bible says, Hebrews 9.7, As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. You know, are you ready to stand before the Master and give an account today and say, God, this is how I've used my life. This is how I've used the revelation that you've given to me. This is how I've used the abilities that you've given to me. And so this day of reckoning comes in our story, and with it, it tells us that we're going to give an account to the one who gave us the gift. No substitute on that day. It's not going to be somebody standing there that isn't aware of what they give to us. It's the Master. I mean, the Master is the one that went, 5, 2, 1. And as He comes back to those servants that He knows, He's going to look at them, understanding, I gave you 5, I gave you 2, I gave you 1. And there's not going to be a substitute there. You know, we can't fool God and say, well, you didn't really give me that. You didn't really give me all those opportunities to think about God. I prayed for those young people last night as I talked to them, thinking, you know, when they stand before God someday, if they don't get saved, God's going to save them. Remember that man that spoke to you at that bridge on that day and said, what are you doing with your life? What's your life all about? And you're going to give an account even for that opportunity that you had to hear about God when you received that gospel tract that gave you a website that had the gospel on it. You're going to give an account for that someday. If you think about it, it's going to be to the one that gave it to us. What's interesting as well is you're going to have to display your good. In the story you'll find that even the servant that buried his good, that talent, he digs it up, he brings it to the master and goes, here is what you gave me. And the others go, hey, here is five, here is five. It's not just them standing before God and saying, here, verbally, I'm going to tell you what I did. It's showing God, displaying to God. You know, when I was in elementary school, I remember in second grade, we had a thing called show and tell. Do they do show and tell over here? Ever hear anything like that? They called it show-and-tell because you bring something in to show, and you tell about it. So I brought in my x-ray that showed my three kidneys. I said, see, I'm not lying. It's true. I've got three kidneys, and here's the proof, right? I suppose it was show-and-tell because if you didn't have show-and-tell, somebody could come in and just tell and make it up. But it's show-and-tell. Do you know what you find about this? servant is that he says a lot, the one that wastes his good, he has a lot to say but doesn't have a lot to show. You know, someday when you stand before God, as you display what you've done with God's good, what's going to be there? What's going to be there to show to God? Revelation 20 verse 12 says, I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. See, it doesn't, again, matter who somebody is this morning, whether they're an unbeliever or a believer, they're all going to stand before God and say, And God's going to judge them based on what they did in their life. There's going to be an accountability according to their works. And it's going to be a verbal account of our stewardship. The wise steward says in verse 20 and verse 22, the two stewards that use the goods wisely, It says, And so he that received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliverest unto me five talents. Behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. He also that received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliverest unto me two talents. Behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. Do you see any hesitation? I don't. I mean, the story, the master says, coming, time to show him that those two guys are right there. And they said, master, you gave me five, I got five more. You gave me two, I've got two more. And it's like a man that's been given a raise. I mean, it's no problem to go home to his wife and say, honey, you know, I got joyful news. I've been given a raise. But if he got fired, There's gonna be hesitation there and unwillingness to go and say I lost my job today It's when it's good news. It's great. It's so refreshing to be able to to be able to share that and you know the Bible says In 1 John 2 28 now little children abiding him that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him that is coming and It's a great thing today if you and your heart know if Christ came back right now, my life is right with God. I don't have to be afraid because I have a heart that is absolutely right with God. And that's what these two men were. But the foolish Stewart, again, he begins to make excuses. In verse 24 or 25, he says, which have received the one talent, came and said, Lord, I knew thee, that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, gathering where thou hast not strawed. And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth. Lo, there thou hast set it thine. You know what the steward does? He blames God. He said, to the master, I know you're a hard man. You're so hard, you made me afraid. Because I was afraid, that's why he starts to make excuses. But he's dealing with, in this case, in our story, the guy that knows the heart, isn't he? You know, if you find in your heart this morning excuses for not using what God's given to you, that God's not going to accept those excuses? God's not going to say, oh, OK. God's going to do what he does to this man. He judges him out of his own mouth, as we'll find. But he's making an excuse. But here's the thing. This is the key to what we're looking at this morning. That is, your future happiness is dependent upon your use of God's good. Our future of happiness is dependent upon our use of what God's given to us. I talk to a lot of people about the Lord and they'll say stuff like that. I never think about it as long as I'm happy. As long as this life, I just take what I get when I get to eternity. You know, if somebody was walking into a burning building, and they're walking along, and they say, well, as long as I'm here. Or they say, I'll just take what I get. Somebody would take that person and say, you're going to an insane asylum. Something's not right. How can you walk at a choir and not care? How can somebody walk towards hell and not care about it? Walk towards eternity in heaven and rewards that God's promised and not care about how They're living their life. There's something wrong in that case. Why because the way we live our life Has a lot to do with our eternity And I don't mean by this and it's certainly not what the Word of God teaches that by your Goodness, you know, you get to God and God said God say well, there's your good works that way your bad works That's not what it's speaking about It's thinking about when God gave you the gospel, did you respond? Did you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior? Did you obey that command to repent and trust Jesus Christ? If you did, that's good. That's being a good steward of what I gave you. I gave you the gospel. Did you share that with anybody? Did you talk to anybody about the Lord? Did you witness to anybody? Did you live a holy life so that you're like Bethel, what you said, so that others could see that and get saved and that doubles your good? You see it? It's not a good work saved, it's that if I'm truly a good steward, I take what God's given me and I use it wisely. And so if you've been faithful, you're going to be rewarded. We find three things real quickly about the good stewards. And as they're rewarded, they're commended. Verse 21 says, whose Lord said unto him, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You know, commendation means a lot. Every one of us can remember a time perhaps where our mom or our dad pat us on the back and said, hey, that was really good. That was good. Or an authority, a boss said, hey, well done. That was great. Or somebody in society said, hey, that was good. That's commendable. That means a lot. How much more does somebody stand before God and God say, hey, that was good? That was good. You took a stand for what? That was good. I sat once in the back of the auditorium at a church I was at. I was doing my internship there in Tucson, Arizona. I sat in the back because there was a young man that was kind of a lonely kid that was sitting back there. So I sat back there to sit by him. Normally I'd sit towards the front. But who is preaching at our church on that day was Dr. Bob III. He was the president of the university that I went to, 5,000 students. And I'm sitting in the back. And I thought, well, you know, I said something to the pastor's wife, and she was a wise lady. And I said, well, because he, Dr. Bob said something about it, you know, Ben goes to our university and they're sitting in the back or something like that, you know. I said something afterwards to the pastor's wife. I said, well, I don't know if I should have sat back there or not. She said, you know, it's more important to sit back there Him than to do the other thing. The Master knows. God knows what's in our hearts, why we did what we did. Someday I think God will say, well done. And that's what she said. She said that was good. That encouraged me. Someday it's going to be good. When we took a stand for the Lord, God's going to say, hey, well done. You'll be commissioned. Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. See, before, you're a servant, but you graduated. You passed the test, you were faithful, now I give you a position of leadership. And we can talk about today what that means more specifically, because certainly that has ramifications for the millennial kingdom and the thousand-year reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there's going to be authority that's given to those that are faithful now. Those that use what God's given. You'll be commissioned. And you'll be relieved. It says, enter thou into the joy of the Lord. See, is Christ enjoying heaven right now? He is. At this point, he's come back and so it's time for us to go with him and he goes, enter thou into the joy of the Lord. If we're going to understand the blessing, it's kind of like this. Right now you may think, I don't fully understand why I should do these things that God said, but in eternity we'll completely understand. And we'll know. The Bible says, the heart of man I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. We don't understand right now what it is that God has for us, but in the future we'll understand and receive that blessing from the Lord. So the faithful will be rewarded. If you've been unfaithful, you'll be punished. You'll be punished and you'll be judged by your own mouth. Verses 26 and 27, His Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knowest 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 my own with usury." What did he say? He said at the very least you should have put it in the bank. You didn't invest it, you didn't trade it, but at the very least you should have put it in the bank that could gain a little interest. And I don't, again, fully understand this passage because it's not a parable that the Lord explains, but I believe it might be this. At the very least, that person should have gotten saved. At the very least, they should have put what God gave them into the bank of their heart, so at the very least, there would be a little bit of benefit. Because it is possible for some to be saved and not have much benefit beyond that, sadly. So what the Word of God speaks about in 1 Corinthians 3.15, if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so is by fire. And it's the same idea of stewardship. They're saved, but everything that they did in life burned up when the judgment came. They didn't have any gold, silver, or precious things that withstood the fire of God's judgment when it came. And so, they don't have anything, but they're saved. Now, I don't know about you, but that's not what I want for my life. It's not what I desire for your life either, that someday Christ comes back and all we've got is the fact that we're saved. Praise God that you're saved. But you know there's so much more that you could do with what God's given to you. But this man, he didn't even get saved. He had God's goods and he didn't even do the very least with them. So what's going to happen? Well, that person is going to lose everything they thought they had verse 28 29 It says 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 Okay, what did he have when he came to the master on that day? She won't tell time One talent. When he left that time, what did he have? Nothing. See, the other guys came with five. They made five. Do you know what they left with? Ten. The Master didn't take it. But he takes it from the person that wasted what he'd given. You know, when I toured a Hyundai plant in Montgomery, Alabama. There's one area of the plant we didn't tour. It was an incredible tour. We were in Basically golf carts that were all connected, if that makes sense, driving to this plant and seeing the different things that they were doing. It was incredible. But we couldn't go into the painting area because no defilement goes into the painting area. The guys that paint there have to go in, they have to go through special cleaners to wash their shoes. When they go in, then they have to put on special gear and then they have to put, you know, footing things over their shoes and I think they're totally covered so that no defilement goes into that place. And we know today that no defilement goes into heaven. If I ask you, does any sin go into heaven, everybody would say, no sin goes into heaven. But you know what this passage teaches us? Is that none of God's grace goes into hell? See, none of it. In life, I was talking to those kids last night, and I said to one, I said, hey, that breath that you just breathed, God gave that to you. But in hell, it's all gone. All the blessing, all the grace. There is no grace in hell. And so he takes it from them. What he had, he takes it from them. And then it says, tells us that you'll suffer the wrath of the master. It says, and cast he, the improbable servant, into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Okay, he says to his servants, take this guy, cast him out into this thing called outer dark, and since then there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Again, I read some commentaries that maybe had a different view of what was taking place with regard to whether these servants were saved or not. And one man had a view that this is just a saved servant, but he wasted what was given to him, and outer darkness is just that sorrow of not having the blessing of God. And I thought, I don't see that at all. And he didn't say anything about the weeping and gnashing of teeth. And he didn't say anything about the fact that the next parable, which we might look at next Sunday, is a parable that speaks very specifically about when the master comes, there's going to be sheep and there's goats. Summer cats go to hell, the goats and the sheep go into heaven. And that outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, that's hell. That's hell. You know, my niece, Cambry, she grinds her teeth, I've been told. by girls that are sleeping in the same room as her, that at night she has this horrible habit of grinding her teeth. And anybody that's heard of that knows it's like nails on a chalkboard. It's not something that you enjoy listening to. But you know, she's not grinding her teeth because of pain. But hell is so bad that there's going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That means that the sound that you hear in hell, and people that say this idea, I'm just going to go to hell with all my friends. It's going to be a great time. We're going to have a great party. Everybody I know is going there. Hey, that's great. Look at a burning building in space. Hey, that's great. Let's go. Let's get in there with our friends. Let's get in there and scream with those that are on fire. And I'm not trying to be rude this morning. The fact is, if you heard somebody on fire and what they would say, you never want to go to that place. It's hell. And so he says, depart from me. Cast him out into a place of lupine and national peace. You know, I think right there we ought to stop and say, I need to be the steward of what God has given to me. See? There's a lot of people in Britain that aren't saved. It's not because they don't know the Gospel. Not just in Britain, around the world. They've been giving the Gospel. I mean, it's there for everybody to see Jesus Christ crucified and risen again. It's not that they don't know what God's done. It's that they've taken His goods, and they've buried them, and they've said, I don't care. And someday the Master's going to come back, and they're going to stand and give account to the God that gave them that. You think about what a serious day that's going to be. But believer, we too have been given good. And it's not just the gospel. We've been given a mouth that we can use for war. We've been given a brain that we could use for the Lord. We've been given time that we could use for the Lord. We've been given money that we could use for the Lord. We've been given different abilities, whether preaching, teaching, singing. You know, the kids minister in music today, they use their gifts for the Lord, and there's a reward for that. You know, we need to stop and think. You know, someday the Master's coming back. Yeah, he's on a long journey, but he's coming. And to think, someday I'm going to give an account. Are you ready to give an account of what the Master has given to you? Let's pray. Father, I pray that you take the Word of God and drive it deep into our hearts. Christ, if you came back right now, many of us in this room would have to say, I wish I'd done more. I wish I'd used that more wisely. I wish I had invested that. I wish I had traded that. I wish I had shown myself worthy of greater gifts and greater goods so that I could better serve the Master. Certainly, Father, there's probably some in this room that buried it. And Father, they're going to give an account to you someday for that, but I pray they dig it up. Father, I pray they get it out. Father, I pray that they'd open it. I pray they'd receive it. I pray they'd get saved. I pray that they'd begin to live their life for you, however many years that is. And certainly, Father, that's what you desire us to do through this passage, is to be reminded that we're gonna give an account for what we've been given. God, help us to use our time and everything for you. It's in Christ, and we pray. Amen. We're gonna stand and sing, I Surrender All, 390. I Surrender All. 390.