Loyalty Rewards

Matthew 25:14–30 NIV84

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22 “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 24 “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “ ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Loyalty is synonym of faithfulness.

Faithfulness is not something people can demand. Faithfulness is something earned. However, faithfulness does not come by being faithful one time; it comes by continual faithfulness. Faithfulness is being constant.

I will use faithful and loyal interchangeably. Hence, when we read, “Well done good and faithful servant” we can substitute loyal for faithful and understand the context.

1. Loyalty leads to a blessed life

Faithfulness: firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty, given with strong assurance, binding, true to the facts, to a standard, or to an original

Loyalty: unswerving in allegiance, faithful in allegiance to one’s lawful sovereign or government, faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is due, faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product.

Loyalty: the quality or state of being faithful, implies strict and continuing faithfulness to an obligation, trust, or duty, implies a faithfulness that is steadfast in the face of any temptation to renounce, desert, or betray.

Prov 28:20 “20 A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.”

Don’t chase riches, seek the Kingdom of God

Be loyal with your talents and God will bless you

Prov 3:3-4 “3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.”

Be loyal to God and He will bless you

Be loyal to your spouse

Be loyal to your family

Be loyal to your ministry/work/talent

Loyalty pays off

2. Loyalty leads to eternal rewards

We are loyal not only for the immediate reward but for the one to come

God will bless you in this life and the life to come

Loyalty is a choice

Lk 18:29-30 “29 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.””

Rebellion has consequences

Rebel: 1a: to oppose or disobey one in authority or control, b: to renounce and resist by force the authority of one’s government, 2a: to act in or show opposition or disobedience (rebelled against the conventions of polite society), b: to feel or exhibit anger or revulsion (rebelled at the injustice of life)

Rev 2:10 “10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Don’t let the threat of danger keep you from being loyal to God

The reward comes when you cross the finish line not when you start the race

Mt 24:12-13 “12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Be loyal until the end

2 Tim 4:7-8 “7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

3. Loyalty leads to promotions in the Kingdom of God

Lk 16:10-12 “10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”

Promotions come because of loyalty

You earn raises because of loyalty

You have to learn to be loyal with other people’s vision and God will promote you

1 Cor 15:51-58 “51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Stand firm

Give yourself fully to the work of the Lord

Your labor is not in vain

4. Loyalty confirms that we are Authentic Believers

Gal 5:22-23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Faithfulness comes from intimacy with the Holy Spirit

Commitment: the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled, an agreement or pledge to do something in the future; especially: an engagement to assume a financial obligation at a future date.

Agreement to do something in the future regardless of obstacles