When I hear that harp music, I feel like I'm transported to heaven until I swallow and
realize I'm not in the glorified body yet.
I've got a sore throat this morning.
I asked Herb to go get me a cup of hot water, which he kindly did, and took my first sip,
and I think my tongue is somewhere between medium rare and well done.
With a fiery tongue like I've got right now, this is going to be a great example of oratory
or babbling this morning.
I'm not sure which.
Would you take your Bible, please, and turn to Matthew chapter 25.
Thank you for praying for grace campus worship.
We had a larger attendance this morning than last week, and a number of new people there,
so we're very excited about what God is doing for our ministry to collegiates and high schoolers
at Ramsey High School Auditorium.
That's at 9 o'clock each Sunday morning.
I preach there and finish the sermon, and walk out and come over and come into the service
here, so I come in late, but it's not because I overslept.
Normally.
We are stewards of all that we are given in this world.
Nothing ever really belongs to us.
It is entrusted to our care by our creator.
That perspective on life will affect the way that we live and how we make our decisions.
This parable that we're going to read helps us understand the importance of making the
most of what we are giving, and that is the title of my message today, making the most
of what we're given.
We're going to begin reading in verse 14.
For it is just like a man about to go on a journey who called his own slaves and entrusted
his possessions to them, and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one,
each according to his own ability, and he went on his journey.
Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them and gained
five more talents.
In the same manner, the one who had received two talents gained two more, but he who received
the one talent went away and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.
But after a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them,
and the one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying,
Master, you entrusted me with five talents.
I have gained five more talents.
His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave.
You were faithful with a few things.
I will put you in charge of many things.
Enter into the joy of your master.
The one also who had received the two talents came up and said, Master, you entrusted me
two talents.
See, I have gained two more talents.
His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave.
You were faithful with a few things.
I will put you in charge of many things.
Enter into the joy of your master.
And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, Master, I knew you
to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
And I was afraid and went away and hid your talent in the ground.
See, you have what is yours.
But his master answered and said to him, You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where
I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received
my money back with interest.
Therefore take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.
For to every one who has shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance.
But from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
And cast out this worthless slave into the outer darkness.
In that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
It's important, I think, to notice the context of this parable.
Chapters 24 and 25 form what is normally called the Olivet Discourse.
That is, it's a lengthy teaching, Matthew records, which Jesus gave to his disciples
while he was on the Mount of Olives.
Back in chapter 24, verse 2, we see that they asked him some particular questions in response
to what he said.
He answered and said to them, Do you not see all these things?
Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn
down.
And as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying,
Tell us, when will these things be?
And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the ages, or age rather?
You notice that there are three questions that they ask him.
Beginning in verse 4, Jesus begins to answer the last one.
What are the signs of the end of the age?
And he speaks here about the signs that will take place during the tribulation time upon
the earth.
That period of seven years, which will conclude the age in which we live now with terrible
judgments.
And then in verse 29 through verse 31, he speaks to the second of the questions.
What about the sign of your coming, Lord?
And then in verse 32, he begins to give them some illustrations and parables, dealing with
the third question, when will these things be?
And Jesus does not directly answer it.
He gives them, as I say, parables and illustrations as to the kinds of times they will be before
the end comes.
But beginning, it seems to me, in verse 45, after warning him that his coming could be
at any moment, he begins to suggest that there will be a delay in his return.
For example, in verse 48, we're going to cut into the middle of this parable, he says,
but if that evil slave says in his heart, my master is not coming for a long time.
And then down in chapter 25, verse 5, in another parable, he says, now while the bridegroom
was delaying.
And then in verse 19, which we read, now after a long time, Jesus seems to be indicating
in this section of his teaching that there will be the appearance, at least, of a delay
in his return.
And then he concludes by saying, beginning in verse 31, that when he does come, there
will be a judgment of the Gentiles and a great separation of those who are saved and lost
in that day, who are still alive upon the earth, and only those who are saved will enter
into his kingdom.
Now we're focusing our attention upon the parable that is called the parable of the
talents, verses 14 through 30.
With that kind of a background and that context, maybe you'll understand some of the emphasis
that we're going to give this morning.
I believe that there are four insights that we gain in this parable as to how to make
the most of the gifts that we receive.
Four insights.
Insight number one, what is entrusted to servants actually belongs to the master.
Do you see that in verse 14?
Jesus talks about a man about to go on a journey who called his own slaves and entrusted his
possessions to them.
So insight number one is this, what is entrusted to the slaves nonetheless yet belongs to the
master.
Now there are two basic principles of stewardship that I've tried to stress during this month
of January.
The first principle is that God is the divine owner of all things.
I don't care what you name, whether it's in the realm of the material or the immaterial,
God is the divine owner of everything.
Principle number two, what he gives to me becomes a sacred trust for which I am held
responsible to him.
We see that illustrated in the parable, don't we?
To each of these slaves, the master gave a certain number of talents.
These talents do not directly correspond to talents as we think of them today.
It was a sum of money.
Some commentators say that one talent was equivalent to 20 years of wages, the average
person in that day.
So a talent was not a measly sum.
It wasn't five bucks or 100 bucks.
Today it would be equivalent to tens of thousands of dollars.
And to have five talents, well you can imagine that's like 100 years of earning power.
And so these slaves were entrusted with a great deal.
Now how does this apply to us?
Well, I want to apply it in this way.
The talents represent what God gives to us.
And I'm thinking of three realms of gifts.
Number one, the realm of natural abilities.
These are abilities that God in his grace gives to all men, regardless of their relationship
to him.
As their creator, he gives to all men natural abilities.
Gifts in speaking, gifts in athletics, gifts in music, gifts of intellect, gifts of cooking,
you know, gifts, natural abilities.
You have natural abilities.
You receive those by your first birth.
And those natural abilities, which all of us possess, are given to mankind for instruction,
for entertainment, and for inspiration on the natural level.
Then there's a second realm I'm thinking of, as I think of what God gives to us.
I'm thinking of spiritual gifts.
Spiritual gifts are more exclusive than natural abilities.
Natural abilities all men possess, the common grace of God.
But in spiritual gifts we're talking about specific abilities given by God the Holy Spirit
only to Christians.
But then on the other hand, all Christians do possess them.
Whereas natural abilities come to us at our first birth, spiritual gifts come to us at
our second birth.
When we are born into God's family, God the Holy Spirit sovereignly chooses what gifts
he will bring to us in the spirit realm.
And these spiritual gifts are aimed primarily for the growth of God's people in the church.
Before Jesus ascended back to heaven, he gave to his followers a commission.
And that commission says that we're in our going throughout the world, we are to make
disciples, we're to baptize them and teach them everything that he's commanded us.
What does that mean?
It means going throughout the world, preaching the gospel to people that they might be saved
and when they trust Christ to baptize them and then to establish local churches where
they are taught all things that he has commanded, including the ordinances of baptism and Lord's
Supper.
After his ascension, when he arrived back in heaven, Jesus then sent the Holy Spirit
to equip his followers to fulfill the commission he gave.
In Ephesians 4, the apostle says, when he ascended on high, went back to heaven, he
gave gifts to men.
And he gave these spiritual gifts in order that the body might be built up, that is the
body of Christ.
You if you're a Christian today have natural abilities and you have spiritual gifts.
And now I want to think in a third realm of what God gives us and that is opportunities.
And I think really this is probably the best equivalent to what talents are in our parable
because you'll notice the talents, verse 15, were given according to ability.
And so I think opportunities relate to that.
God gives you and me natural abilities, he gives spiritual gifts to Christians, and he
gives us then opportunities to exercise those gifts and abilities.
God has given you abilities.
If you're a Christian, he's given you gifts, spiritual gifts.
If you are serving him, he gives you opportunities to use those gifts.
Now insight number two, opportunities are given equal to gifts.
Again I point to verse 15.
He says, to the one he gave five talents to another two to another one, each according
to his own ability.
The talents were given according to ability.
God gives you and me opportunities according to our abilities and our gifts.
Not all have the same opportunities.
We sometimes quote the phrase that all men are created equal.
And there is of course a sense in which that is true, but there's a sense in which it is
not true as well.
Not all men are equal.
God sovereignly sees that the opportunities that you and I have in life are equal to our
gifts.
Now that's only reasonable.
For example, if only one talent had been given to the steward here who had the capacity for
five talents, he would not have been challenged and would have been bored.
On the other hand, if five talents had been given to the one who had but one talent of
ability, he would have been more overwhelmed, five times as more overwhelmed than he already
was.
And so you see, God gives us opportunities to match our abilities and our gifts.
I believe that we need to allow God to open doors of opportunity.
I don't think we should take crowbars to doors and try to pry them open.
But I do believe this, that God expects us as it were to knock on the doors to see if
they'll open.
How can we do that?
Let me just suggest.
Start by evaluating what your gifts and abilities are.
Before a door of opportunity can open to you, you have to know what you can do.
What can you do well in your opinion?
I'm not talking about some arrogant idea of what you can do, but what is an objective
– as objective as we can be – what is your objective analysis of your abilities
and gifts?
What do others tell you?
What's the feedback you get?
Others can give us insights that we can't have on ourselves sometimes.
What do you find fulfilling?
Where have you seen the blessing of God in a particular way?
Those things can be hints as to where your gifts and your abilities are.
And once you have isolated what you believe them to be, then begin to stir them up, as
the Apostle says to Timothy.
Begin to kindle them.
Begin to develop them, in other words.
For example, you may have a natural ability to sing.
Unless that is a very rare natural ability, you will probably need some training so that
that gift, that ability, can be developed.
Suppose you have the gift of teaching, the spiritual gift of teaching.
You need to develop that spiritual gift.
There are very few people who have such a natural spiritual gift of teaching that they
can enter into a classroom and just cause everyone to understand what they're saying.
We grow the gift, though it's given, of the Spirit of God grows and develops and matures.
We need to do that.
And as we do it, we need to look for places to exercise the gifts.
I remember the story about Dwight L. Moody, who shortly after his conversion was burdened
for boys and girls on the street in Chicago.
And he wanted to teach them, and so he went to his congregational church where he attended
and asked for a place that he might bring these boys and girls.
And the church was not the least bit interested in having these urchins off the street.
And he said, no.
But Moody had the gift of evangelism.
He had a natural love for boys and girls, and so he went out and started his own Sunday
school.
And it wasn't long before his Sunday school outnumbered the whole church where he had
been denied permission.
So what did Moody do?
Well, knowing what God had gifted him to do and called him to do, he exercised, developed
his gifts, he looked for a place to exercise it, God opened the door.
He knocked, you see.
And then when God opens the door, we need to be content with the direction that he gives
and the opportunities that he gives.
I remember a gentleman, now in his 70s, who's in a church where I used to pastor.
A number of years ago, this man taught a Sunday school class, or he thought he did.
He thought he had the gift of teaching, but the interesting thing was he was the only
person in the whole church who felt that way.
And when those who were in leadership wisely counseled him to give up the class, to look
for another area of responsibility, he resisted that.
Nonetheless, he was removed from the class.
He did not have the gift of teaching.
He did not belong in a classroom teaching.
Today, he still bears in his heart a grudge against those who removed him and some bitterness.
He's not content with the door that God did open for him.
We can learn from examples like that.
You see, God gives us opportunities equal to our gifts.
We need to knock on the doors, not pry them open.
When God opens the door, go through it and use it.
Part number three.
Responsibility is followed by accountability.
What is the responsibility given to these slaves?
Well, their master went on his journey, and they were to trade.
We don't do a lot of trading these days, but the idea behind trading is to exchange something
of lesser value for something of greater value.
If you do it the other way around, there's not a whole lot of profit in it.
You don't trade down, you trade up.
You exchange something of lesser value for something of greater value.
In the process of trading, these slaves fulfilled their responsibility.
Then came the day when their master came back and he called them to settle accounts with
them.
You see, the responsibility was followed by accountability.
Friends, you and I are called upon, as it were, to do trading in this life.
Let me illustrate what I mean.
You and I have something very, very precious and valuable that's called time.
I don't think there's anything more precious to any of us than time.
And yet, you and I can take some of our time and trade it for eternity.
In doing that, we are taking something that is comparatively of lesser value and trading
it for that which is of greater value, because eternity is of greater value than time.
Money is important to us and is precious.
But we can take money which is of lesser value and trade it, invest it in God's work, so
that it produces true riches and lays up for us riches in heaven.
In doing that, we are taking something of lesser value and trading for something of
greater value.
That's trading.
You and I can take an ability and service and invest that for the future privilege of
reigning with Christ.
What are we doing?
We're taking what we've been given in time to serve the Lord with, and we are trading
it for the privilege of ruling someday in eternity with Christ.
So the lesser is traded for the greater.
That's what we're to do with life.
I want you to notice that this one talent servant did not waste what he was given.
He simply didn't use it.
When the Master came back, he presented the talent.
He said, here is what is yours.
But that isn't what the Master intended for him to do.
His responsibility was to gain, and he failed.
And he was held accountable.
And we too will be held accountable.
I remind you of the words written by the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians where he says, judge
nothing before the time.
Wait until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things in the darkness
and disclose the motives of men's hearts.
And then each man's praise will come to him from God.
Friends, that's the examination that counts.
The praise that you and I may get from men now is nice.
It tickles our ears.
But God help us if we seek that and fail to understand how much more important will be
the praise that will come from the Lord when we're held accountable at the judgment seat.
In terms of our parable, we are today living between verses 18 and 19.
Is there enough space there for you?
Well, there's enough space there for a couple of thousand of years.
After a long time, the Master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
And someday our Lord is going to come and settle accounts with us too.
And at that time, he's going to be interested in what we've gained by use of our abilities,
our spiritual gifts, and our opportunities.
And then insight number four.
Reward is given to those who make the most of their gifts.
There are two categories of servants suggested here, the faithful and the unfaithful.
There were two slaves that could be considered faithful.
And there was one that is called unfaithful.
And in this congregation today, there are two kinds of God's stewards.
There are those who are faithful to make the most of the gifts God gives, and there are
those who do not do that.
To those who are faithful, there are some encouragements that I see in the parable that
Jesus gave.
Three encouragements.
First, each of these slaves received the same commendation.
And notice that they didn't gain the same thing.
To the one steward or slave was given five talents, he gained five.
To the other steward was given two talents, he only gained two.
But that tells me that the Lord gives reward based on proportion of gain, not the portion
of gain.
One gained five, one gained two, but they both got the same commendation.
My friend, God hasn't called us to be successful, He's called us to be faithful.
God doesn't demand the same results from everybody.
I have heard some people say, well, you know, when I get to heaven, I know that so-and-so,
that great servant of God is going to have such a great reward, and I'm not going to
have very much.
My friend, here's the way God looks at it.
That guy that we see up in front who seems to have a lot of opportunities, that fellow
is going to have a lot more to answer for.
His opportunities have been greater.
It may be that he has the five talents, but those who have the two talents, if they are
faithful in gaining on just their two talents, will receive exactly the same commendation
from the Lord.
And what is that commendation?
Well done, good and faithful slave.
You notice in verse 21 and verse 23, both of those men got the same commendation.
And so our Lord gives his commendation on faithfulness, not upon results.
Faithfulness.
A second encouragement I see is that they each received the same promotion.
They each began as servants, but then they became rulers.
They got the same promotion.
God does not normally begin people as rulers and leaders.
God begins us as servants, and as we are faithful in the few things, then he knows that he can
entrust to us the many things.
That's how God decides when to promote.
If he sees a servant who's faithful in few, he gives more, and then finally much.
That happened with Moses, didn't it?
Oh yes, he was born into a ruler's family, but I tell you, God took him away to shepherd
sheep for 40 years.
When he had learned to really be a servant, then God took him back to lead.
And what about Joshua, the great general of the armies during the time of conquest in
Canaan?
Well, for decades, Joshua was the errand boy of Moses.
Before David ever became the king of Israel, he was first a servant to his father, shepherding
the sheep.
And remember Gideon, before God called him to lead the armies in that miraculous fight
against the Midianites, God first saw that he was faithful at the threshing floor.
And Daniel was a faithful son in his home and a servant under the king of Babylon before
he was ever promoted to be the prime minister of Babylon.
And the Apostle Paul spent years in isolation learning what it meant to be a servant before
God called him to a public ministry as the Apostle Paul.
So you see, God's promotion runs along that line.
He sees that we're faithful in the few things, and then he gives us the many things.
And then a third encouragement I see is that they each got the same joy.
To each of them, the master said, enter into the joy of your master.
That is, enter into my own joy.
That is the satisfaction of a job well done, the satisfaction of ruling and reigning, the
satisfaction of possessing.
Enter into the joy of the Lord.
How does this apply to us?
Here I believe is the application.
As you and I are faithful right now as servants, employing what God has given to us, making
the most of our gifts, when Jesus Christ comes back and we are rewarded, we will then enter
into his kingdom and serve him there, reign with him there according to our faithfulness
and service right now.
I believe that is the application.
As you and I have learned in this life to make the most of our opportunities, that we
have proven our faithfulness, when the kingdom comes, we will reign with Jesus Christ proportionally.
But there's another category we have to look at, and that's the category of the unfaithful.
And to the unfaithful, there are harsh words spoken, and from these we have a warning.
And the warning is this, that unfaithfulness results in loss and shame.
One of the first things I notice about the one talent slave is that he really did not
know his master.
Notice that he says in verse 24, Master, I knew you to be a hard man.
There is no indication here at all that this man was a hard man, a severe man.
In fact, we see him sharing generously with his servants who are faithful.
So this servant really did not know his master, but what he did know should have motivated
him to obedience, but rather we find him paralyzed by fear.
This slave was not immoral, he was immobile because of laziness.
He's the kind of a servant who had a defensive mentality.
He said, well, I'm responsible for this, I'm going to bury it and protect it, and when
the master comes back, I'll give it to him.
The only problem with that mentality is that that isn't what his master wanted him to do.
He didn't obey.
He was to gain.
There are some Christians who have that kind of a mentality, defensive mentality.
Circle the wagons.
The enemy's coming, and they're great at defending the faith, but we have more of a responsibility
than that.
We are to take the faith to the world.
We have a commission to obey, and that's where this steward failed.
As I said before, he didn't lose the talent, he kept it, but he didn't gain on it.
He knew his master would return, but he did not live in the light of it.
Consequently, when the examination came, he faced reprimand and loss and shame.
When it says in verse 30, cast out the worthless slave and out of darkness, Jesus is not a
saying that those Christians who are unfaithful are going to be cast into hell.
Hell is not pictured in verse 30.
The out of darkness refers to the outer perimeter of where he is, so to speak.
Throw him out of the castle.
He says that's a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The idea of that is that those who are unfaithful when they stand before Jesus Christ will receive
rebuke when they're exposed, and then will have no part of reigning with Christ in the
kingdom.
They will not have the joy and satisfaction of reigning with Christ and the purpose of
extending His rule and maintaining His rule in the kingdom, but rather for that time they
will be without a job.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, in other words, regret, because they have
gained no place of honor.
Warren Wearsby says the greater reward for obedient service is the capacity for greater
service, and we see that of the faithful servants.
But on the other hand, the tragedy of the unfaithful servant is that he lost the privilege
of even serving.
I believe that's why John says in his second epistle, watch yourselves that you might not
lose what we've accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.
Watch yourselves, he says.
And Jesus Himself said in Revelation 22-12, Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward
is with me to render to every man according to what he has done.
Friends, our Lord is coming back too.
Are we ready to meet Him?
Which of the two words would describe your stewardship today, faithful or unfaithful?
Are you making the most of what you've been given?
The natural abilities you have, the spiritual gifts that you've been given, the opportunities
of service, are you making the most of those or are you neglecting them, as it were, burying
them, hiding them?
Don't think any longer that just hiding them is good enough.
Our Lord wants gain.
Are we saying Jesus is coming again?
But are we really living in the light of that truth?
Is it impacting our lives?
I think that what I'm talking about today has been pushed into my heart harder by two
young boys than by anybody I've ever heard preach.
Their names are Butch and Steve, and some of you may have seen them.
Butch and Steve, by now I would guess, are in their early 20s.
They are residents at Shepherd's Home near Milwaukee, a home for children who are mentally
handicapped.
Butch and Steve have minds equivalent to four and five-year-olds.
They travel with the director of Shepherd's Home and put on concerts.
Those two young boys with their limited abilities have had unusual opportunities.
They have literally been able to minister to thousands of people.
When they minister, these two boys have the minds of four and five-year-olds, quote, chapters
from the Bible.
Not a verse, chapters at a time.
And they sing songs and choruses, and they answer simple theological questions that they've
understood from their training there.
And they always conclude their concerts by singing this song.
And you can imagine these two young men singing it.
Sometimes the days seem long.
Our burden is hard to bear.
We're tempted to complain, to murmur, to despair.
But Christ will soon appear to catch his lambs away.
All tears will then be ended in God's eternal day.
It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.
How will you feel when you see Jesus?
Will you have made the most of your capacities?
Let's pray.
Lord, as I think about Butch and Steve, I thank you for what they have taught me.
How shamed I am that I have capacities of an adult and opportunities which I have wasted.
Forgive me of those.
Lord, I really want to make the most of all that you give me.
And I know there are many here today who would share that deep desire.
I pray that we may be faithful servants of yours so that whether we have five talents
or two talents, when we stand before you, we may be called good and faithful.
And have promotion and enter into your joy.
Father, if there be some child of yours here today who is quite honestly evaluating himself
and finding unfaithfulness, may there be today a deep repentance and a turning to you.
May there be a new beginning that will be making the most out of what you have given.
Lord, deal with us and speak to us and don't let us escape the point that the Holy Spirit
is making right now to our lives.
And I pray this in Jesus' name.