What's Next?

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

When you think about heaven, what excites you?

Experience life without sin. To dwell in God’s presence with no desire for other things

Breathe through my nose fully

Talk to saints from years past

See my grandfather

Context

Jesus is giving some of his final teachings before he is delivered to be crucified

on the Mount of Olives, he gives this incredible dissertation regarding the coming of a new kingdom: his eternal kingdom

He begins to speak of a day and time in which he is going to return and all will be asked “what’d you do with what I gave you?”

this parable is preceded by the parable of the 10 virgins and is followed by Christ telling the audience what to expect when He returns

Christ’s Return is something for us to look forward to

When we think of the final days or the end times, often it can inspire different feelings in us

Sadness that we didn’t get to experience certain things in this life

Fear of what will accompany it

Fear of whether we did enough to join in heaven

Confusion about what eternity means and looks like

Yet when we take a look at what scripture says about the return of Christ, we see something far more beautiful

It will be the purest Joy you and I will have ever felt (Rev 21:4)

It will carry the relief of the stress and tension that we’ve spent our lives feeling (2 Thess 1:7-10)

Everything will be restored to the perfection it was intended to be.… This time eternally (1saiah 65:7)

We won’t miss Earth

While we wait, we have a Kingdom to Build and to take part in

Matt 15:14-30

The master comes home and comes to the first two servants and says “What have you done with what I’ve given you?”

The first two servants stood before the master with great anticipation

They'd done what he had asked. They had taken what he had given them to invest and they had gone and made more

Notice that it doesn't say how. It doesn’t let us know that there is only one way to use our gifts or through one avenue in which we are use to them for the glory of the Lord

Rather what’s important is that we take what God has given us and use it to spread the gospel and make disciples

Application: How are you using the gifts that God has given you to build the kingdom? The gifts you have, the wealth you’ve been given, the relationships you have, the mission field you’ve been placed on. What will you tell Christ upon his return you did with what was given to you?

We must be careful to not squander our gifts at the pursuit of the unholy things

The final servant arrives and tells his master that he’s just buried the talent. It didn’t get lost but it didn't grow.

The master is enraged. The man didn’t even go put it in the bank to do the most bare minimum action. Rather he just kept it to himself.

When we take the grace and blessings of God and use them for our own glory or fail to use them, it would be better for us to do nothing with them.

Notice that the manager is not indifferent towards the man who did nothing. Rather he takes his gift from him and casts him out

Whether we want to talk about it or not, there will come a day in which Christ asks us what we did with what he has given us.

When that day comes, what will you and I say?