Going into Business with GOD (Using Your Talents for GOD)
April 20
Can a Saint Falsely Accuse God?
“All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen …” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Jesus’ parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14–30 was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities. This parable has nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities, but relates to the gift of the Holy Spirit as He was first given at Pentecost. We must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or our intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, “You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do. You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me.” When it is a question of God’s Almighty Spirit, never say, “I can’t.” Never allow the limitation of your own natural ability to enter into the matter. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us.
The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, “Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me.” Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”? (Matthew 6:33). Worrying means exactly what this servant implied—“I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable.” A person who is lazy in the natural realm is always critical, saying, “I haven’t had a decent chance,” and someone who is lazy in the spiritual realm is critical of God. Lazy people always strike out at others in an independent way.
Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether or not we have received the Holy Spirit.
B. The parable of the talents [25:14–30]
1. Jesus describes a master who gives instructions to his servants before departing on a long journey (14–15)
a. A man traveling to a far country, who called his servants and delivered his goods to them: This was not a strange idea in the ancient world, where servants (slaves) were often given great responsibility. This was often the safest and smartest thing a man could do with his money.
i. “The best thing he could do with his money in his absence, dividing it among carefully selected slaves, and leaving them to do their best with it.” (Bruce)
ii. “This parable takes up the question which that of the bridesmaids left unanswered: what is ‘readiness’?” (France)
b. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one: A talent was not an ability (though this parable has application to our abilities), but a unit of money worth at least $1,200 in modern terms, and likely much more.
i. “The talent was not a coin, it was a weight; and therefore its value obviously depended on whether the coinage involved was copper, gold, or silver.” (Barclay)
ii. “The English use of ‘talent’ for a natural (or supernatural) aptitude derives from this parable … But of course the Greek talanton is simply a sum of money … it was generally regarded as equal to 6,000 denarii.” (France) “If a talent were worth six thousand denarii, then it would take a day laborer twenty years to earn so much.” (Carson)
iii. In the application of this parable it is appropriate to see these talents as life resources—such as time, money, abilities, and authority.
c. To each according to his own ability: The servants were given different amounts of money according to their ability. One servant only received one talent, yet we should see that this was not an insignificant amount. Some received more; but everyone received something and everyone received a large amount.
i. “The talent which each man has suits his own state best; and it is only pride and insanity which lead him to desire and envy the graces and talents of another. Five talents would be too much for some men: one talent would be too little.” (Clarke)
2. The servants manage the master’s money (16–18)
a. He who had received the five talents went and trade with them: Each of those who had received talents from their master did with them as they saw fit. Two of them traded with their talents and earned more talents (made another five talents … gained two more also).
i. Went and traded implies direct action. “The point is that the good servants felt the responsibility of their assignment and went to work without delay.” (Carson)
ii. We aren’t told how they traded with their talents. Perhaps they loaned the money at interest, perhaps they used the money and bought things and sold them for more money. The point is that they used what they had and gained more by using.
iii. We can say many good things about the work of the first two servants:
• They did their work promptly.
• They did their work with perseverance.
• They did their work with success.
• They were ready to give an account to their master.
b. He who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money: The third servant did almost nothing with his master’s money. He took some care that it would not be lost (by hiding it), but he did nothing positive with his master’s money, in contrast to the first two servants.
3. The first two servants are judged (19–23)
a. After a long time the lord of those servants came: The long delay would tempt the servants to think that they would never give an account for their management, yet they most certainly would.
b. You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: The reward was the same for both servants, even though one was given five talents and the other was given two talents. Each performed the same according to the resources they had received.
c. Well done, good and faithful servant: This shows that the master looked for goodness and faithfulness in His servants. Whatever financial success these servants enjoyed came because they were good and faithful. The master looked first for these character qualities, not for a specific amount of money.
i. “It is not ‘Well done, thou good and brilliant servant;’ for perhaps the man never shone at all in the eyes of those who appreciate glare and glitter. It is not, ‘Well done, thou great and distinguished servant;’ for it is possible that he was never known beyond his native village.” (Spurgeon)
ii. “It is better to be faithful in the infant-school than to be unfaithful in a noble class of young men. Better to be faithful in a hamlet over two or three score of people, than to be unfaithful in a great-city parish, with thousands perishing in consequence. Better to be faithful in a cottage meeting, speaking of Christ crucified to half-a hundred villagers, than to be unfaithful in a great building where thousands congregate.” (Spurgeon)
d. Enter into the joy of your lord: This has the echo of heaven in it. The idea is that there is a place of joy belonging to the master of these servants, and they are invited to join the master in that place. There is a sense of heaven about this destiny for the two faithful servants.
i. “This is not the servant’s portion, but the Master’s portion shared with his faithful servants … not so much that we shall have a joy of our own as that we shall enter into the joy of our Lord.” (Spurgeon)
ii. We can say of the reward for the first two servants:
• They received praise from their master.
• They received a promise of future blessing.
• They received glory, “the joy of your lord.”
4. The third servant gives account (24–30)
a. Then he who had received the one talent came: The master judged each of the servants individually. If they were taken as a group, they did very well: 8 talents given and 15 talents returned. Yet each one was judged on their individual faithfulness and effort.
i. “Remember, my hearer, that in the day of judgment thy account must be personal; God will not ask you what your church did—he will ask you what you did yourself.” (Spurgeon)
b. I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown: The servant who merely buried his talent tried to excuse himself because of his master’s great power. In fact, he believed his master to be in some sense omnipotent: reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
i. A hard man: “Grasping, ungenerous, taking all to himself, offering no inducements to his servants.” (Bruce)
ii. F.B. Meyer expressed the thinking of this servant: “I can do very little; it will not make much difference if I do nothing: I shall not be missed; my tiny push is not needed to turn the scale.”
iii. “It is the genius of wicked men to lay the blame of their miscarriages upon others, oftentimes upon God himself.” (Poole)
c. Look, there you have what is yours: The third servant seemed proud of himself. Because the master was so powerful and (in the mind of the servant) didn’t need his help, the third servant thought that the master would be pleased that he did nothing and could say, “Look, there you have what is yours.” He seemed to have no idea how much he had displeased his master.
i. We can say in the third servant’s favor that at least he still understood that what he had been given belonged to his master. He said, “you have what is yours.” Many modern servants of God think that when God gives them something, it no longer belongs to God; it belongs to them and they can do with it as they please.
ii. Yet “albeit this man was doing nothing for his master, he did not think himself an unprofitable servant. He exhibited no self-depreciation, no humbling, no contrition. He was as bold as brass, and said unblushingly, ‘Lo, there thou hast that is thine.’ ” (Spurgeon)
iii. We can say of the work of the third servant:
• He didn’t think.
• He didn’t work.
• He didn’t even try.
• He made excuses.
5. The third servant is judged (26–30)
a. You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown: The condemnation of this third servant—here called a wicked and lazy servant—was strong. The sovereignty of the master never excused the laziness of the servant. It condemned that laziness all the more.
i. Those who don’t work for the Lord, or pray, or don’t evangelize because God is sovereign condemn themselves by their laziness. By their actions (or lack of action) they show that they are like the wicked servant in the parable. They do not know their Master’s heart at all. “The lord of the unprofitable servant tells him, that the fault lay in his own sloth and wickedness, and his dread of his lord’s security was but a mere frivolous pretence and unreasonable excuse.” (Poole)
ii. The charge against this servant who merely buried his talent was that he was wicked and lazy. We rarely see laziness as a real sin, something that must be repented of before the Lord. If laziness were a calling or a spiritual gift, this man would have been excellent.
iii. “Not dishonest—the master had not misjudged as to that—but indolent, unenterprising, timid … Slothful, a poor creature altogether: suspicious, timid, heartless, spiritless, idle.” (Bruce)
iv. We might say that this servant did not have a proper fear of his master, but an unfitting fear of risk and failure.
b. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest: This man could have done something with what he had. Even if it had not doubled, it would have gained some interest for the master’s money.
i. “If we cannot trade directly and personally on our Lord’s account, if we have not the skill nor the tact to manage a society or an enterprise for him, we may at least contribute to what others are doing, and join our capital to theirs, so that, by some means, our Master may have the interest to which he is entitled.” (Spurgeon)
ii. “The Old Testament forbade Israelites from charging interest against one another (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35–37; Deuteronomy 23:19; cf. Psalm 15:5 …); but interest on money loaned to Gentiles was permitted (Deuteronomy 23:20) … By New Testament times Jewish scholars had already distinguished between ‘lending at interest’ and ‘usury’ (in the modern sense).” (Carson)
c. For to everyone who has, more will be given … but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away: There are those who have things (like the servant with one talent), but hold them in such a way that it is as if they have nothing. These ones will find what they had taken away. Those who hold what they have received as faithful men and women, to them more will be given.
i. “See that ye receive not any grace of God in vain; neither envy those that have much; a proportion is expected.” (Trapp)
ii. “We need not wait for the great future, to obtain this multiplication or withdrawal of our talents. They are already waxing or waning in our hands.” (Meyer)
d. Cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness: Because he was wicked and lazy, the third servant demonstrated that he was not a true servant of his master at all. It is fitting that he (and those who show the same heart) was cast forever out of the master’s presence.
i. Just as there was a sense of heaven in the destiny for the two faithful servants, there is a strong sense of hell in the destiny for the wicked and lazy servant.
ii. In the larger context of Matthew 25, the main point of this parable is clear: our readiness for Jesus’ return is determined by our stewardship of the resources that He has given us.
iii. Some think that readiness for Jesus’ return is a very spiritual and abstract thing. It really isn’t—it is a matter of being about our business for the Lord. In light of this parable, we must ask ourselves: What have we done with our knowledge? Our time? Our money? Our abilities? The sins of omission [what we don’t do] may ultimately be more dangerous than the sins of commission [what we do].
