Why do We exist and What is our purpose

Matthew 25:14–30 KJV 1900

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[a] and entrusted to them his property.

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[a] and entrusted to them his property.

15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.

17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.

18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’

21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.[c] You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’

23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,

25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’

26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?

27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.

29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Why Do We exist and What is Our Purpose?

I know that “almost” if not everyone in this room has wondered; :why do I exist and what is my purpose”.

I myself included

I want us explore what the bible teaches us about this

I believe that when we have this knowledge

When we know “why we exist and what our purpose is”; we will operate in a different manner.

We will live our lives different than we do currently;

I want us to look tonight at the parable of the talents

vs 14 tells us;

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property…………………..

You and I exist as “servants” of the Lord who have been entrusted with His property………………..

Knowing that “we have been entrusted with His Property” helps us to understand that we all have a purpose..

In this story; We see how each of the servants were giving different talents

One was entrusted with 5

One was entrusted with 2

And the other one was entrusted with 1

The bible tells us in vs 14 that these talents were giving according to each of their ability.

If I can let me just stop here for a minute.

God is the one who gives the talents

So two things we can draw from this,

1. is that we don’t need to be jealous of what someone else is doing for the Kingdom of God.

2. not one person in this room has any right to boast in anything you do.

Because what you can do is because the Lord allows you to do it for His purpose…………..

But nevertheless we all have different gifts and abilities.

and I want us to look at 5 lessons found in this parable that I believe will help each of us

1. Success is a product of our work

In the book of Genesis we see that God placed Adam in the garden to work it and take care of it.

You and I were made to work.

As Christians we have “a mission” that our Lord expects us to accomplish in the here and now.

Far too many Christians today see their salvation as simply a “bus ticket to heaven.”

And they believe it doesn’t matter what they do while they “wait for the bus.”

But the reality is that it does matter what we do while we wait for heaven.

The Parable of the Talents teaches us what we are supposed to do while we await the return of our King.

We are to work,

using our talents to glorify God, serve the common good, and further God’s kingdom.

Biblical success is working diligently in the here and now using all the talents God has given us to produce the return expected by the Master.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

In all work there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

First lesson in this parable is that work is required of us and that:

Success is a product of work.

2. God always gives us what we need to do what He has called us to do.

In the New Testament a talent indicates a large sum of money, maybe even as much as a million dollars in today’s currency.

We are tempted to feel sorry for the servant who received only one talent,

but in reality he received as much as a million dollars from the master and buried it in his back yard.

He was given more than enough to meet the master’s expectations.

Just as the master expected his servants to do more than just bury what had been entrusted to them,

so God expects us to generate a return by using our talents for His Kingdom.

The servants were given enough to produce more – it is the same with the gifts God has given us.

Whether it’s one talent or five

It is valuable

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

God gives us everything we need to do what He has called us to do.

3. We are not all created the same

The most overlooked part of this parable is the second half of verse fifteen: the master gives to each servant talents, “…each according to his ability.”

Diversity is woven into the fabric of creation.

But even though we’re not created equal in regard to the talents we’re given, there is equality found in the Parable of the Talents.

It comes from the fact that it takes just as much work for the five-talent servant to produce five more talents as it does the two-talent servant to produce two more talents.

This is why the reward given by the master is the same.

The master measures success by degrees of effort, ……..

You alone created my inner being. You knitted me together inside my mother. I will give thanks to you because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made.

Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts.

Use them well to serve one another.

Do you have the gift of speaking?

Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you.

Do you have the gift of helping others?

Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies.

Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.

All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

4. We work for the Master not our own selfish purposes.

The money that is given to the servants is not their own.

The money they earn with the capital is not theirs to keep.

The servants are only stewards of the master’s investment,

and it is the quality of their stewardship that the master seeks to measure.

We should maximize the use of our talents not for our own selfish purposes, but to honor God.

We know that we work in a fallen world. Because of the curse of sin, our work will be difficult.

But we should feel satisfaction and joy from doing our best with what God has given us in the place where his providence puts us, seeking to succeed in order to honor him.

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Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain

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In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven .

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Let all that you do be done in love

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Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ

5. We will be held accountable

The Parable of the Talents is not about salvation or works of righteousness,

but about how “we use” our work to fulfill our earthly callings.

The unfaithful steward in this parable didn’t “so much waste the master’s money” – “he wasted an opportunity”.

As a result, he was judged wicked and lazy.

We are responsible for what we do for God with what we have been given, and one day we will be held responsible.

What we hear from the Master on that day is up to us.

“So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”

Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire;

“For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”

“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

Success is Product of Our work

2. God always gives us what we need to do what He has called us to do.

3. We are not all created the same

4. We work for the Master not our own selfish purposes.

5. We will be held accountable