Accountability to God

Matthew 25:14-28

Introduction: We learn this morning that each of us has a personal responsibility before God to manage the resources He has given us. The resources are vast and will one day all will be over.

Jesus is teaching accountability in this passage. The talent is worth about 20 years of wages according to their ability. The amount given was considerable.

The man with much ability is given five talents, the man with average ability is given two talents, an the one with minimal ability is given one talent. This is about spiritual service. How are we serving God with what He has given us?

Please notice that it is God who chooses to give out the talents and they are given by His choice, not ours. Not only did God give the talent, but he also gave the ability to use the talents.

As we close out this stewardship series, realize that each of these were held accountable to God for their service.

There are three lessons.

I. Talents represent opportunities to use our abilities

A. The distribution

1. If five talents were given to a person with minimal ability, he would not be able to handle the responsibility-it would destroy him.

2. If one was given to the one with much ability, he would be disgraced.

3. God assigns work and opportunity according to ability.

B. We have been assigned our ministries

1. This is why we are not to compare ourselves to others.

2. Your assigned ministry is different from mine.

3. It is very easy to glamorize what we don’t have thinking it to be better than what we have.

4. Satan is an expert at trying to get us to look at other gifts rather than abilities God has given us.

5. We are accountable to God for what He has given us and not what others have been given

6. We will get comparative paralysis if we are not careful. Some won’t use theirs because they don’t have what others have.

II. God is looking for wise management of our opportunities

A. Obedient to His command

Did we serve God as he asked?

When we stand before God, what will we say when He asks did you teach that class teacher? Did you lead that group? Did you play that instrument or did you sing when you I gave you your gift?

Are we using the talent God has given us?

It is a reminder from God that we will answer for at the judgment seat of Christ. How did we use our time?

Were we obedient to God’s instructions regarding our management of His resources?

B. Increase for His ministry

1 There are two categories: faithful and unfaithful.

2. The faithful put their talents for the Lord’s work and God increased their investment-for this illustration it would be more money-the application would be an increase in more opportunities for the Lord’s work and for the expansion of the kingdom of God-souls saved, lives changed, marriages restored, teens surrendering and growing in their walk with God.

Example: You give to support a missionary and he reaches people and then the people they reached, reaches people.

3. We are asking God to use us so that our life can count and make a difference for Christ.

4. The unfaithful man hid his talent instead of using the opportunities, he buried them-he played the secret Christian-he purposely did not evil, but by doing nothing, he was committing sin and robbing his Lord of service and increase. He ignored his responsibility to discharge his duty to the master.

5. He thought his talent was for him and how to advance himself.

III. God promoted their opportunity of ministry v.21,23

A. It was not the portion but the proportion that made the difference.

They started as servants and God promoted them to rulers.

They were faithful with a few things, so they could be trusted with more things.

B. Their faithfulness gave them a capacity for greater responsibility.

Their diligence and care for managing their resources when they stand before God, He will reward them.

The unfaithful man was not rewarded because he was afraid he would fail.

Whatever we are not using for the Lord, we are in danger of losing.

This outer darkness more than likely is not hell but loss of opportunity for service.

Picture a kid with a brand new bicycle. He’s too afraid to ride it because he thinks he might fall. Instead of enjoying the thrill of freedom, he leaves it in the garage. Over time, it collects dust while his friends zoom by on theirs. This charming picture reflects Matthew 25, illustrating that fear can keep us from pursuing our calling and experiencing the rewards waiting for us.

Eternal issues hang upon the right use of what we receive from the Lord. (Ironside)