Matthew 25, 1 Corinthians 12. Well, we've been talking about the coming of Christ. We've spent a few weeks in Luke chapter 17, and we're dealing with the hope of the church. And as believers, we do have a hope. I mean, the hope of the return of Christ is what enables us to be able to endure life in this world. And so we don't become entangled with the affairs of this life, and we're able to maintain a heavenly perspective, an eternal perspective. Even in the midst of the trials of this life, we're able to handle the disappointments, we're able to handle trials, we're able to handle even the blasphemy and the godlessness of the culture. Because we know this is not all there is, and it will not be like this forever. And so we said that all of earthly history is moving in one direction, and that's towards the coming of Christ. The Bible says, as I'm pointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment. That is, human history is linear. Human history is fixed. Human history is all going to culminate at one specific point, which is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who then ushers in eternity. So we have a hope. That hope keeps us going, keeps us laboring, keeps us waiting, as we're going to see. And so we looked at that under a few categories, or a few headings. We said that the coming of Christ is going to be a global spectacle. Every eye will see Him. There'll be no question as to who He is or what's happening. It's not going to happen in a corner. The whole world will know what's happening. And it'll be a glorious unveiling when Christ comes again. He's not the meek Messiah. He's the conquering King. We will know Him in all of His glory. And so those who have rejected Christ, we'll see Him for who He is. We're not gonna be operating by faith anymore, as we sang that song, because Christ will be apparent for all to see. It'll be a glorious unveiling, not only of His glory, but ours, as we who have been cast off from society, those who will be the persecuted of that time, will have their glory revealed as they meet Christ in the air and will rule and reign with Him. It'll be a global spectacle. It'll be a glorious unveiling. We also said it'll be greatly delayed. And we're going to see that again today. It'll be a great delay before it's coming. And it'll be a grand reversal. as those who are rebels against God will be judged. Those who are the persecuted of the world will be exalted. There'll be a grand reversal. So now, I want to kind of close the loop on this, and we're going to be done with this topic for a while, and just simply ask the question, well, what are we then to do as we wait? What are we to do as we wait? And so Christ has told us, the nature of his kingdom and kind of the events that precede his kingdom. He's told us here in our passage today, really what we are to do or how we're to conduct ourselves as we await. And so Matthew 25, we're not going to read verse one through 13, but I want to summarize it for you because look in verse one. Oh, this is the other announcement I wanted to give. Wednesday nights. We're studying 1 Thessalonians. We're going through it systematically. We're asking observation questions. We're making application questions. We're discussing it. We're going through it bit by bit so that we have a thorough understanding of the book, chapter by chapter. And so I think it's an invaluable practice for us to take part in as a church to understand the clarity and the applicability of Scripture. And so if you can make it Wednesday night, let's do that. 1 Thessalonians, I'm going to work our way really probably use that pattern throughout the Scriptures, starting 1 Thessalonians and then 2, and then we'll probably get into 1 Timothy and so on. So come Wednesday nights if you can, and it's a little bit different feel than obviously a Sunday morning, and we're digging in as a Bible study. I say that, and it reminded me of it, because we want to understand Matthew 25, verse 14. Well, we're going to start in verse 1. the kingdom of heaven will be like. That's the context. Jesus is telling us what the kingdom of heaven will be like. And then he gives a parable of what we could say the 10 virgins or the 10 bridesmaids, I guess you could say. And so the parable in verse 1 through 13 is about 10 bridesmaids. who are told to wait for the bridegroom to come. And so the tradition or the cultural tradition of the day was the bridegroom would kind of announce, you know, they would become engaged and a kind of a date would be set or a date wouldn't be set for the wedding, but the wedding was going to happen and he would go and prepare his home for his bride. And then at some time in the future, unannounced, he would return again for his bride and then take her to be with himself and the wedding would take place and so on. The picture here is of 10 bridesmaids who are waiting for the bridegroom to come back. They don't know when it's going to occur. Obviously a picture of the return of Christ and how we're to operate until His return. And so you have 10 bridesmaids. There's five that have lamps with oil in them. You have five that have lamps with no oil in them. And the picture is that five of these 10 are prepared for the coming of the bridegroom, five of them are not. So when the bridegroom comes and the announcement is there, he's here, let's go, it's time. Only five are ready. And the other five ask the five who are ready, well, I don't have any oil for my lamp. I can't go out to meet him. It's dark. Give me some of your oil. And they say no, and so on. And only five are prepared. So the application is pretty clear. It's just be ready. Be anticipating. Watchfulness. Expect his return. And we don't just kind of dilly-dally and kind of twiddle our thumbs or just try to hang on until he shows up. That is, get ready for his return. So that's kind of verse 1 through 13. In verse 13 it says, Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. So it's imminent at any time. So what do we do? Well, you'd be ready all the time. That's that parable. Now verse 14 is our passage for today. For it, what's the it there? That's the kingdom of heaven. For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property." I'm just going to kind of explain the text as we go through it. Verse 15, "'To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.'" And so the picture is this. You have a master, he's somewhat wealthy, and he is going away on a journey. And so while he's gone, he needs somebody to look over his property. Well, he has servants. And so he says to his servants, I'm going away and I'm going to entrust to you some money. And this is what's called talents here. These are measures of silver. And so he gives them these measures of silver and says to them, take care of this until I get back. Not just, you know, be a caretaker of my money, but put it to good use. I'm going to be gone. I'm not going to be able to invest. I'm not going to be able to make any money here with my goods. So you do that. And so he gives money to them. His expectation is that when he comes back, he will be able to see that they have been productive or fruitful with what he has entrusted to them. And so notice there's three servants. He gives to one five talents, to one two, to another one. And what does it say in verse 15? Each according to his ability. Each according to his ability. This wasn't random. The master understood his servants. He understood that each of these three servants had differing capacities. He understood that the one that he gave the five to had the ability to do something productive with five talents. It wouldn't have been smart to give to the one who could only have the capacity to do something with two talents. It wouldn't have been smart to give him five. Nor would it have been effective to give the one who could handle five talents only two, when he could have been so much more productive. And so he gives to one five talents, to the other two, to the other one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Verse 16, he who had received the five talents went at once, look at the urgency there, right away, he knew what he was gonna do, and traded with them and he made five talents more. And so he's pretty savvy. And so he was able to buy and to sell and so on, he was able to make a profit and he doubled his money. Verse 17, so also he who had the two talents made two talents more. Now both of them doubled their money, but one has five more, the other one has two more. But now verse 18, but he who had the one, who had received the one talent, went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now, so this guy just says, I'm not even participating in this. I don't know. He's fearful that he's going to lose the money that he has. He's not honoring his master. He buries it and says, well, I'm just going to leave it there. What does that free him up to do? Well, I don't got to do anything with this money. I don't have to go buy and sell it. I don't have to worry about it. I'm just going to kind of cut my losses. And here it is. It says I'm going to bury it, leave it there. So when he comes back, I can give it to him. And meanwhile, it frees him up to live however he wants to live until his master's return. No responsibility. And he's certainly not operating as a steward. Now, verse 19. Now, after a long time, remember, we said that the coming of Christ will be greatly delayed. There it is again. Now after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And so come to me, show me what you did with what I entrusted to you. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, Master, you delivered to me five talents. Here I have made five talents more. Now these servants are urgent, or desirous, to please their master. Verse 21, his master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much, enter into the joy of your master. And he also had the, who had the two talents, came forward saying, master, you delivered to me two talents, here I made two talents more. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much, enter into the joy of your master. Same response. Exactly the same response. That's important. Verse 24, he also who had received the one talent came forward saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the grounds. Here you have what is yours. And I just think, what an attitude. He didn't even bring it. Like, he didn't even go dig it up and bring it to him. Oh, yeah, I dug a hole and I stuck it in the ground, and so if you go over there and you dig it up, there it is. And so? But his master answered him, you wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scatter no seed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers. And am I coming, I should have received what was my own with interest, at least. Just invest it so I could get interest on my money. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the 10 talents. For to everyone who has will more be given and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth, which is an obvious picture of hell and rejection. And so, If the parable of the bridesmaids, these five or ten bridesmaids who are meant to wait for the coming bridegroom, if the lesson there is to wait with watchfulness, The lesson here in this parable is to serve with steadfastness. To serve with steadfastness. This is what we are to do while we await the return of Christ. And so we don't just sit back and twiddle our thumbs, waiting for Him to come, white knuckle, just hanging on, hoping that we endure until the coming of Christ. Remember in Acts 1, verse 11, you have the disciples when Christ ascends to the Father, and the disciples are there gazing into heaven, right? I mean, this is an amazing sight. Here's Christ who is resurrected, and He meets with them for 40 days, and then that was amazing enough, but now He's being taken up into heaven, ascending to the Father. I mean, could you imagine being a witness to this? I mean, what would you do? I mean, you would sit there staring into heaven with mouth wide open, just shocked at what you're observing. And this is what they did in Acts 1, verse 11. But there's angels there, and they respond to these disciples, and what do they say? Men of Galilee, Why do you stand looking into heaven? Like, what? Why do we stand looking into heaven? Jesus just ascended, you know, floating up into heaven. And what do you mean, why are we gazing into heaven? This is an amazing sight that nobody has ever seen and will never see again until his return. What are the angels saying to these men? Why are you standing here looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven. Why would the angels respond this way when obviously they are in awe? Their point was this. He's gone. He's coming again. You get busy. We don't just gaze into heaven here. And so I think the incredible nature of the situation and the fact that the angels would respond this way really hits home that point that as amazing as that is, you've got work to do. This is after he had said in verse 8, Acts 1, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and the end of the earth. That is, I'm going to give you something. What? The Holy Spirit. What are you to do with that? Be my witnesses. You're going to be my stewards. Just like the parable that we just read. I'm entrusting you with the Spirit. You have a job to do. It's my interest. You're going to go be witnesses. And so you're going to do my work while I'm gone. And guess what? He's going to come back and he's going to settle accounts. So the point here is that while we await His return, we are to be working. And so I emphasized to you when we were doing the series in Luke 17, I used a phrase or a sentence repeatedly, and it was this. We are to accomplish as much as we can with all we have been given for the glory of the Lord while we await His return. And that's our outline for this morning. Four points. What do we do as we await the return of Christ? We are to accomplish as much as we can. That's number one. With all we have been given, that's number two. For the glory of our Lord, that's number three. While we await His return, that's number four. And so let's look at number one. What do we do as we await the return of Christ? Accomplish as much as we can. The point of this parable is that we have been given a task. Remember, Jesus said this is the nature of the kingdom. We've been given a task. We are to give ourselves to accomplish as much as we can while He is away. Why? Because we anticipate the fact that He's going to settle accounts, and we want to hear what? Well done. Well done, good and faithful servant. That's what you want to hear, and that's what I want to hear. Understand that the coming of Christ for the believer is not one of determining whether or not we end up in heaven or hell. Believers are not judged on the basis of their sin, or as sinners, they are judged as stewards. That is, Jesus Christ has already paid the penalty for our sin. He's already been judged. What no other religion has that Christianity has is a substitutionary atonement of Christ. Jesus Christ has borne on our behalf the wrath of God towards our sin. He's turned away the wrath of God for all who put their faith in Christ. So now when God sees us who have put our faith in Christ, what does He see? The righteousness of Christ. Not our sin, the righteousness of Christ. And so we understand that we're saved not because of our own merit, we're saved because of the merit of Christ. We understand that. When He returns for His people, believers, we're not going to be judged as sinners, but we will be judged as stewards. And so it's not a matter of you're in or you're out, it's a matter of what have you done with what I have entrusted you with. Understand that the language of the Christian walk, the language of the Christian life throughout the New Testament, Sounds a lot like work. It's not working for salvation. It's working from salvation. It's not working to be saved. It's working because we have been saved. 2 Timothy 2, verse 3, Paul uses some language to describe the Christian life to Timothy. And we come back to this passage often times. You're familiar with it. Most of you are. Paul says to Timothy, Timothy, a young pastor in Ephesus, and he's struggling, he's kind of fearful. There's some persecution happening, sure, and he's discouraged by those who have defected from the faith, and he's kind of wavering a little bit, not wavering theologically or anything, he's just kind of losing his boldness. And so Paul has to tell them, hey, God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, and so on. And so Paul is encouraging Timothy, and he says, share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. And so he compares the Christian life to that of a soldier. But then he gives two more comparisons. Verse 5, an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. And verse 6, it's the hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Paul is comparing the Christian life and ministry work to three different offices or three different occupations. Soldier, athlete, farmer. What do those three occupations have in common? Hard work. Discipline. The soldier is known by his steadfast submission to his commander. He obeys. That's his job. He obeys. And what does it say? He doesn't get entangled, verse 4, in the civilian pursuits. As a soldier has a mission, he understands that he has been given marching orders and that he is to be faithful to those things and not to deviate to the left or to the right. Civilian pursuits. Are civilian pursuits bad? No. Civilian pursuits aren't bad. So you're working your job and you're fixing up your house and you're taking care of your family and you're going to school and so on. Civilian pursuits. Is that bad? That's not bad. But you can become entangled within civilian pursuits and now they become bad. Why? Because your hands are tied and you're completely fixated on these things to the point where it prevents you from fulfilling your mandate given by your commandment. Well, now that's a problem. That's always a temptation for us because there is plenty for us to become entangled in that seem like benign or even good pursuits in this life. And so there are things that are not bad. In fact, they may very well be good. but our imbalance makes them bad. And so I would challenge you this morning, and this, because this is always a temptation for us, and it's, we tend to always kind of veer in this direction when we kind of let down our guard. Have you become entangled with civilian pursuits? And that is, maybe you started a job, and maybe you buy a new home, maybe you have new relationships, or something like this, and you've kind of lost sight. There's not a spiritual focus in your life. You're not busy in ministry. You're not busy in relationship. You're not busy seeking to advance this kingdom because you're completely entangled with just life. I'm not trying to be too hard on you. I know that I have the same tendency where we need to check ourselves occasionally, right? How am I doing fulfilling the marching orders of the master, and have I become entangled in civilian pursuits?" Well, the soldier has a steadfast submission to his commander. Not only that, but the soldier serves others. Not only that, but a soldier is willing to sacrifice for others. Being a soldier even means the potential for suffering, obviously. And so he has a single-minded devotion. But then Paul continues in 2 Timothy 2, and he compares the Christian life to an athlete. If the soldier is known for his steadfast submission, the athlete is known for his enduring discipline. The soldier needs to subdue his enemy. Who is his enemy? Well, I mean, whoever is part of the opposing army, that's his enemy. And so he needs to subdue his enemy. Well, who does the athlete need to subdue? Well, I watched a video the other day of, it was a race, and Usain Bolt was there, and Usain Bolt is pretty amazing. And so what does he do when he's running, right? The gun's fired, and he turns, and he rustles the guy next to him, and he trips the guy next to that guy, right? And he makes sure that he subdues all of his opponents, and then he runs. He'd be disqualified, wouldn't he? What is Usain Bolt's, what is his priority? He's not seeking to subdue his opponents. He needs to subdue his own body. And so what does he require? Well, he requires self-discipline. He requires knowing the rules and obeying the rules. He requires effort, labor, beating not the guy next to him, he needs to beat his best, his personal best. The athletes require enduring discipline. So what's the relationship to the Christian life? Well, get your life in order. Make sure you're controlling your body, and your body not controlling you. Self-discipline. Not only this, but the athlete competes to win a crown. So he knows that there is a reward at the end, and he's laboring for that reward. The soldier labors for victory in battle, the athlete's laboring for the trophy, the crown, whatever it may be. But then he gives another one, another comparison, the farmer. If the soldier's known for a steadfast submission, the athlete's known for his enduring discipline, the farmer's known for his long-suffering labor. And I give this illustration too much, I know, but I grew up on a farm, and so this hits home for me. And I remember I would ask, you know, maybe we want to do something as a family, and we would ask my stepfather, hey, are you available today? What are you doing today? And his response was always the same. A farmer's work is never done. A farmer's work is never done. And it's true, a farmer's work is never done, because you plant, and then you plant, and after you plant, you have to fertilize, and you plant, and you fertilize, and you have to weed, and so on, and maybe you gotta cultivate, and then you plant, and then you fertilize, and then eventually you harvest, and then what do you do? You just get ready for the next season. You just do it over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. That's long-suffering labor that doesn't have, yes, you have harvest, but I mean, you don't have the, celebration of, oh, you won the race, here's the crown, and you have the ceremony, and everybody's fawning over you. You don't have the soldier who comes back and marches victorious. You don't have that when you're a farmer. You have harvest. And what are you thinking about while you're harvesting? You've got to get ready for the next crop. Long-suffering labor. Laboring intensively with an eye on the harvest. Faithfully plodding along. So why go to 2 Timothy? Jesus gives us a parable saying that, like a master who entrusts his servant with money, God entrusts His children, that's us. We're going to see what He's entrusted us with in a moment. But having been entrusted, our responsibility is to labor. And so it sounds like work. Soldier, athlete, farmer. The biblical language of the Christian life is that of diligence, and faithfulness, and continuance, and earnest labor, and deliberate effort. Again, we're not working for salvation. We're working because we are saved. The biblical language is diligence, faithfulness, continuance, earnest labor, deliberate effort, and the biblical motivation for all of that is the coming return of Christ. 1 Corinthians 15.58 in the context of the resurrection says, Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. That's not written to preachers. That's not written to pastors. That's not written to elders. That's written simply to church members. So while we await the return of Christ, we labor. We submit and suffer and sacrifice like a soldier. We discipline and deny and devote ourselves like an athlete. And we labor with long-suffering like a farmer. So what does that look like practically? Stoke your affections for Christ. He's given you means. You don't wait around for some warm, fuzzy feeling and say, oh, I love Christ today. You use means. He's given you the Word of God. He's given you fellow believers. He's given you Christian music and so on. You use means to stoke your affections for Christ. By the way, I mentioned this in the first service. It's kind of a rabbit trail. I guess I'll do it again today. Equal opportunity. We stoke our affections for Christ. You understand that Christ in Revelation when he's really condemning some churches, he says to one, you've left your first love. That was him. I mean that fervent, zealous love that you had at the beginning where you've left your first love. To another church, he says to them, you're lukewarm. He says, you're not cold and you're not hot. You're lukewarm. And what does he say? I'm going to spew you out of my mouth. You make me sick. I mean, cold water is okay. You have a cold drink. You have a hot drink. But if it's supposed to be a cold drink and it's lukewarm, it's gross. If it's supposed to be a hot drink and it's lukewarm, it's gross. Right? Be one or the other. What does that look like? Why would Jesus say in Revelation, He says, be hot or cold, but not lukewarm? One or the other? Well, you don't really want people to be cold, do you? Like, they don't have any affection for Christ, there's no spiritual fervency there. You don't want anybody cold, do you? But He says hot or cold. He says cold is preferable to lukewarm. Why? Because lukewarm, you kind of have this appearance of Christianity, this appearance of faith, but you're lazy, you're indulgent, there's no spiritual fruit, you're misrepresenting Christ, you probably have a false assurance yourself, it's not good for you in the long run, it's not good for anybody else, and so he says, either make it plain that you're not a disciple, or be on fire for me. So what's the conclusion? Spiritual fervency is not the mark of a spiritual giant, that's just the mark of a genuine believer. be hot, or make it known that you're cold. But there's no middle ground here. And by the way, that's one of the struggles of any church, is trying to maintain that type of culture, where we don't allow that middle lukewarmness to just expand so that the culture of the church becomes so watered down, there's no fervency and there's no conviction and so on. And so we preach the word. We practice even church discipline and so on. Why? Because cold or hot. If you're lukewarm, we're going to apply some pressure. Maybe it's just the Spirit, through the Word, applying the pressure. Why? Make it known. Are you cold or are you hot? Are you in or are you out? Are you a disciple or not? There's no room for lukewarmness. It makes Christ sick. It makes churches sick. And so, what does this look like practically, to labor? Well, we stoke our affections for Christ. We abide in Him and His love. We worship. We devote ourselves to the Word, His means, and worship. Next, we make every effort to grow into spiritual maturity. 2 Peter 1.5 says, for this very reason, make every effort. Make every effort. to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." Peter's saying there's a priority. You need to be effective, you need to be fruitful in the knowledge of Christ, which means you need to do what? Make every effort. Christian life is not one for the sluggish, lazy, lethargic self-indulgence. Again, not working for salvation, but from it. But as a disciple of Christ, we labor. We want to grow. So I know I have faith, but I need to add virtue, and I need to add knowledge. I've got to add self-control, and steadfastness, and godliness, and brotherly affection, and so on. And so, I have a task. I've got to make every effort to grow into spiritual maturity. We stoke our affections for Christ. We devote ourselves to the Word and worship. We make every effort to grow into spiritual maturity. Next, we keep ourselves pure and unaffected by the sinfulness of the world. Stay pure. We don't preach rules, per se, at Calvary Baptist Church. We're not legalists. We're not authoritarian. But we do understand the Bible teaches holiness. And so 2 Peter 3.14 says, Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, It's new heavens, new earth, right? Since we're waiting for Christ. Be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish and at peace. Be pure personally. Make sure your relationships are in order and you're at peace. So we don't indulge in this world. We don't indulge in our own sinful passions. We stay pure, unaffected by the sinfulness of the world. Next of all, we share the gospel with others. I mean, that's a mandate. That's the Great Commission. preached all creatures, teaching them to observe all things that Christ has commanded, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit. And so we have a mandate to share the gospel. Next, we love and encourage and seek the spiritual growth and maturity of fellow believers. Hebrews 10.23 says, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promises is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more, as what? As you see the day drawing near. This is the coming of Christ. This is the day of the Lord. In light of the fact that the day is drawing near, what? Stir one another up to love and to good works. Meet together. Encourage one another. And so, pause. Question. How are you doing? Are you stoking your affection for Christ? seeking to love him more, seeking to know more of what he's done for you. You're devoting yourself to the Word of God. You're studying. You understand. You believe in the effectiveness of the Scripture. It's sufficient. You believe it's like a mirror showing you yourself and where you need to change. You believe it's like a sword pierces right through your heart. You believe it's that through which Christ sanctifies us and makes us more like Himself. You believe that, so you're in it. You're studying. How are you doing in making every effort to grow into spiritual maturity? Are you advancing in your spiritual life? Are you growing? How are you doing keeping yourself pure and unaffected by the simpleness of the world? Or do you indulge in the culture? How are you doing sharing the gospel with others? How are you doing loving and encouraging others in spiritual relationships? How are you doing in these areas? This is not characteristics of a super-Christian. This ought to be the mandate of a Christian. Steadfast, immovable, unwavering, diligent effort in our labor for Christ as we await His coming. So we accomplish as much as we can. We accomplish as much as we can. Next of all, we accomplish as much as we can with all we have been given. Look in verse 15 of our passage in Matthew. It says, to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Again, Jesus talking about the kingdom. Now look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Surprisingly, I'm running more behind in this service than I did in the first service. Bear with me. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 4. Paul's talking about spiritual gifts. What are we talking about when we mention spiritual gifts? If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ... Listen, during His earthly ministry, what was His promise? If I go to the Father, I will send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. And so after Christ's ascension, He sent the Holy Spirit to abide in or to dwell within those who place their faith in Christ. And that's why, frankly, believer, that's why you're different now than you were when you became a Christian, right? That's why you're different. At least you should be different if you're a genuine believer. You're different because you have the Spirit on the inside working to make you different. And what does He use? He uses the Word of God. He uses fellow believers. He uses teaching like this. He uses means to take the mind of God and to impart it to your heart. And He changes you from the inside out. And that's why Christians are frankly different from the culture and even different from what you were before you received Christ. You have the Spirit. But part of God giving us the Holy Spirit of God is for a purpose. Just like the men in our parable were given the talents and saying, be busy, God has given a measure of the Holy Spirit to us, saying, He wants to work in you and through you so that you can accomplish much for the kingdom. We're going to see that in the four minutes that we have. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 4. Now, just as a note, 1 Corinthians is an early book, and so you're going to see activities of the Holy Spirit, like healing and miracles and so on. And these things were active and working during the early years of the apostles. And when the apostles died off the scene, so too did the signs of the apostles, as they're called in Scripture. So some of these things are no longer active in the church. Verse 4, Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are varieties of service, but the same Lord. There are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all and everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Do you get that? You have been given a manifestation, you've been given the indwelling Holy Spirit, for what? For the common good. and not for some just private giftedness. People talk about a private prayer language or things like this. The Holy Spirit is given to you, yes, for your own spiritual growth, but also for the common good. Verse eight. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, To another, the interpretation of tongues, all these are empowered by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills. Now, understanding again, like I said, you're going to see some gifts there that are no longer in operation in the church. That being said, if you look at First Corinthians 12, you look at Romans 12, you look at First Peter 4, you see other lists as well of spiritual gifts that are very much alive and working in the church today. But look in verse 11, it says, all these are empowered by the one in the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills. What does that remind us of? It reminds us of the master in our parable who gives to the one five and to the one two and to the one one. What's he doing? He's apportioning to these, giving them portions according to his own will. The point is that God, through the Holy Spirit, has given to us some giftedness according to His will and based upon the capacity that He has given us, or the potential capacity. Now look at verse 12. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Jews are Greek, slaves are free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit. That is, we have a unity from diversity. The church is diverse. It should be diverse ethnically. It should be diverse demographically, age-wise, social status. The church is diverse. And what has he done? He's taken this diversity and he's fused it together in one body through the Holy Spirit. Verse 14, for the body does not consist of one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I'm not the hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. If the ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as He chose. You get the point. An eye is not an ear, but the eye is just as necessary as the ear. A hand's not a foot, but the hand's just as necessary as the foot. They have different functions, yes, but they're all important and they're all interdependent. So is the church. And so it says in verse 18, but as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as he chose. This is his work. Don't be discontented with your level of giftedness or your abilities to advance the kingdom. Don't compare yourself to others. God has granted and apportioned according to his will. Verse 19, If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty. which are more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together." The point is this, as a church, we all, what, unity from diversity, we all have different functions. In each function, diverse, yes, but indispensable. Just as one was given five measures of silver, one was given two measures of silver, and so on, so, too, God has given you some sorts of spiritual giftedness to be used for the health of the body at large. 1 Peter 4, 7. Peter says, The end of all things is at hand. So, this is an end times perspective. The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be self-controlled. Sober-minded, for the sake of your prayers, above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Now listen to what he says in 1 Peter 4, verse 10. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's very grace. Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God. Whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. And that brings us to our next point. Accomplish as much as you can with all you've been given for the glory of the Lord. And so you have been given, by God's Holy Spirit, some spiritual gift. you know, you've probably seen you've been in church for any amount of time you've seen these spiritual gift tests and so on which whatever it may be okay, but Listen God has for the most part. He's working with your natural abilities or your natural desires And he wants to use you for the advancement of his kingdom in some way by his Holy Spirit and he has a portion to you a measure of the spirit for that purpose and is a portion to be a measure of the spirit for that purpose and so my responsibility is to figure out what that is and to be busy and using the spirit that He has entrusted to me for the common good as a good steward of God's grace. And so my question for you this morning is, how are you doing? Where is it that you are serving your Savior for the advancement of His kingdom with your spiritual giftedness? Don't spend a whole lot of time figuring out what your gift is and going online and doing a quiz and so on. This is how you know. When you are growing, I mean, when your prayer life is in order, when you're in the word of God, when the Holy Spirit is neither grieved nor quenched in your life, when you are growing spiritually, what is it you want to do, right? I mean, when the Holy Spirit is kind of firing in all cylinders, neither grieved nor quenched by your lifestyle, you're in the word of God, you're using his means, what is it that you desire to do? And I'm telling you, if you can answer that question, you're a long way to determining how God would use you for the advancement of his kingdom. And so we are to do as much as we can with all that we have been given for the glory of our Lord, because we're stewards, so we work for Him, not ourselves, while we await His return. And so verse 19 of our passage says, now after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And that's what we're waiting for. Because we know that when He returns, we will be judged as stewards. What have you done with that which I have entrusted to you? At that time, all of our works, all of our motivations, our hearts will be laid bare. Christ will judge each of us in righteousness. And so we work for our Lord, using all He's given us for His glory, looking forward to the day when we stand before Him at the judgment. 1 Corinthians 4-5. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, Before the Lord comes who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart Then each one will receive his commendation from God not condemnation commendation from God speaking to two believers 2nd Corinthians 5 9 So whether you are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ So each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body whether good or evil And so we await that day. And in the meantime, we accomplish as much as we can with all we've been given for the glory of our Lord while we await His return. So in conclusion, spiritual productivity is the mark, not of the super Christian, but of the genuine Christian. This is clear in the parable. The one who did not labor for the Lord, what did he do? Did he just kind of get a terse word and say, well, you should have invested my money, but enter into the joy of the Lord? That's not what happened. The two that produced, that labored, well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord. The one who didn't, however, and just buried it in the ground, clearly represents what? The unbeliever. Represents the unbeliever. This is the one who did not produce anything, and it evidenced the fact that he was not representative of a believer, but of an unbeliever. And so verse 28, take the talent from that one, give it to him who has the ten talents. But everyone who has will be more given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Verse 30, and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And that's obviously a reference to hell. And that's the unbeliever. Now, we don't work to secure our salvation. I'm not in any way suggesting to you this morning, and if you're not familiar with Christianity, this is not to suggest that we must labor and do our best and try really hard and accomplish everything we can so that when He comes back, we'll be accepted. That's not the point here. The Bible doesn't support anything like that. This is the genuine believer who has been granted the Holy Spirit, which only comes after one expresses faith in Christ, now laboring in the power of that Holy Spirit for His glory while we await His return. 2 Peter 1, chapter 1, verse 10 says, "...therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure." That is, not labor to see if maybe you could possibly be called. Don't labor hoping that maybe as a result of your labor you will be elected. No. Be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He's saying just labor in such a way where it's abundantly clear to you and to those around you that you are His, that you are elected, you are called. Make it very plain. Make it very sure. And frankly, if you have a hard time as a believer and you doubt whether or not you're a believer, you doubt whether or not you're saved, part of that comes from the fact that you're not being diligent making your calling and election. Sure, you're not using His means, you're not growing, so naturally then doubt comes in. But your calling and election is made sure in your own life when you labor, you work, you use His Holy Spirit, you seek to expand His kingdom by His grace, and as you're doing that and you're growing in the faith, it becomes abundantly clear that you are a believer. He says for in this way, they'll be richly provided if you would entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ We await his return The confidence that we have then as we're laboring for him is that there's going to be a what there's going to be a rich and that it's gonna be richly provided for us an entrance in the eternal kingdom. No shame, no question whether or not we're in, but we understand there's gonna be full commendation, a welcomed entrance into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when He returns. Because we have accomplished as much as we can with all we have been given for the glory of our Lord while we await His return. It was a blessing after the first service because we had a couple people came up to me after, they just got it. A couple people asked me, can I do this? How would I do this? Actually, somebody came to me and asked if I would be okay with them translating our membership material into French. It's just random. What did this person do? They just kind of realized the abilities that they had that maybe others didn't have, and the Holy Spirit kind of nudged them that way, and that's what they want to do. I'm like, yes. And so much of what we find as a church is Our ministry is really directed by, and where we put an emphasis in ministry is directed by how the Holy Spirit works in your life. The Holy Spirit puts it on your heart to do this or to do that, and I'm like, okay, this is where God's working. That's the type of ministry we're going to have. And so we kind of follow the lead of the Spirit as He works in His people, as they desire to obey Him, and that's how ministry is done. And so my invitation to you is to do that heart examination and ask yourself the question, where are you? as far as using us all that you've been entrusted for his glory while you await his return. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you again for your word. And Lord, I know even in my own life and as a pastor and being busy studying and serving and seeking to be in relationships with people for their spiritual good, the temptation is still there to be lax, to be entangled with civilian pursuits. to let the guard down, to not be as watchful as I ought to be, so if you'd show me areas in my life where I can accomplish much more for the kingdom and help me to be busy about that so that I can look forward to having recently provided for me an entrance into the kingdom of Christ when he returns. Pray you convict us of areas where we have been lax, show us areas where Maybe we've been overcome with or occupied with things that in and of themselves are harmless or maybe even good. But having come out of balance, they have become detrimental. to our spiritual priorities. Show us those things, and I pray that you would help us to know where you have us to serve. And I pray you continue to develop our spiritual giftedness. Show us how we can be used the most effectively for you in the advancement of the kingdom. We thank you for that. And most of all, we pray that if there's any lukewarm, you'd help them either be cold or hot. Make it plain that they're not disciples at all. or that they would serve Christ with fervency. If there's any this morning who are not yet believers, I pray that you'd impress upon them a need to receive Christ as Savior and Lord, knowing that he said himself that no man can come to the Father except through him. There's no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. So Lord, we pray that you would impress upon these their need for Christ, for eternal life, for forgiveness of sin, for relationship with you. We thank you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.