Matthew 25:14-30

Open up your bibles to the book of Matthew 25:14-30

Matthew 25:14–30 ESV

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 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? 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. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 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. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

So we are listening to the preaching of Jesus. He is preaching his own sermon on his second coming.

He has given signs but has been extremely clear that no one knows the hour at which he comes.

Last week we studied the parable to the wise and the foolish virgins. What a missed opportunity it was.

And to be clear, Jesus was talking to his church! To those of whom professed to be Christians.

This wasn’t to the world.

Following the lesson just given, this parable enforces the work of the Christian

Now let me be clear as I move forward, it’s not our works that save us. Those of you who have been going through our Bible study in the book of James knows that.

Our work is the evidence of a life that has been changed

And in this parable, we will see man’s accountability to God for what he has been given.

Hopefully, you’re there, read with me, please

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants 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. 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.’

PRAY

Here in the parable of the talents the big idea is illustrated through the tragedy of wasted opportunity.

Wasted opportunity, just like in the previous parable.

I. THE MASTER AND HIS SERVANTS.

1. The Master’s departure.

So just like I mentioned, This parable is the complement of the last.

The two together cover both sides of the Christian life—the contemplative and the active.

The lighted lamps represents the life of faith and worship kindled by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The trading represents the outward life of active work for Christ.

These two must be combined.

A living faith cannot exist in the heart without manifesting itself in outward work;

The two elements must coexist in all Christians;

Sure there might be different proportions,

some are mainly men of action, others men of contemplation.

In large measure we must be both.

We must keep the torch of zeal and faith burning, and we must work for Christ.

Here in the parable it was Christ himself travelling into a far country.

The Master was about to depart.

He called his own servants.

Here’s where it’s good to point out a difference that we might read into the text

We must remember that those servants were not like servants now, these aren’t free people as though they are getting paid or something.

They were slaves, bought with their master’s money; they belonged to him; their time, strength, ability, all were his.

And b/c of this, they were placed in charge of...

2. The Master’s goods.

He delivered his goods to his servants; they were to turn a profit with what they were given.

Slaves often earned money for their masters in various trades or professions.

He entrusted large sums to them—five talents to one, three to another, one to a third.

Now, if we looked at the parable in Luke 19:12–27 we can see a difference.

Though similar, they do supplement each other.

This parable with talents, the other with pounds.

Luke teaches that the necessary means of grace are given in like measure to all the servants of the King.

The parable of the talents teaches a somewhat different lesson. “There are diversities of gifts”

The talents represent first spiritual gifts, such as those first granted on the great Day of Pentecost,

It was given for the apostles and in various degrees for those who have been called to continue their work.

Those gifts are not given to all God’s servants alike.

The gifts of the Spirit differ; there are differences in energy, zeal, strength of character, eloquence.

Paul said in 1 Cor. 12:11

1 Corinthians 12:11 ESV

All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

“11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

according to the needs of the Church, according to the capacity of the individual servant.

But, secondarily, the talents also signify all the good gifts of God—health, time, intellect, earthly riches, influence; these and such-like are his gifts, entrusted to us for a while, to be used, not for our own enjoyment, but for his service.

So as we consider this passage, let’s consider...

3. How they used their talents.

Immediately he who had received five talents went and traded with them.

He lost no time;

he felt the greatness of his trust,

He went to work at once to do his best for his master.

And He was successful; he doubled his investment

He got another five talents. 100% return on his investment. That’s fantastic.

The second servant went to work as well. Now, he didn’t have as much to work with, but that which he had he used

and in proportion he was equally successful;

each gained cent. per cent.;

each did his master’s work faithfully.

Each brought about 100% return.

The third went immediately as well, but not to work.

He dug a hole and dumped his lord’s money in it and walked away.

He despised that which was given to him.

He didn’t care about doing anything for his master

He dropped it and went off doing his own thing.

He represents those who neglect spiritual gifts,

who do not stir up the gift of God that is in them,

who quench the Spirit;

He represents those who have been given and simply focus on themselves. They don’t do things for the glory of God but for self satisfiying things.

The talent was hidden in the earth;

It was buried amid worldly cares and worldly amusements.

This man had received the grace of God in vain; he had wasted his earthly means upon his own selfish pleasures.

So after a time we see...

II. THE RECKONING.

1. The first servant.

The lord came after a long time

-How about this subltle hint, he came when they were not expecting.

and when he came he settled up with his servants.

The first, to whom five talents had been given, had gained other five talents.

You can imagine his excited ness. He had done what he had been asked to do.

Just like little kids want to please their parents and are super excited to tell us of their faithfulness and accomplishments, so were the servants here in the story.

He brings not only his original talents, but because of his faithfulness to work

Now remember, it was his master who had enabled him to work.

He was able to show a return on his investment.

This serpent represents those of whom God has intrusted much.

I immediately think of Paul, the apostles, church fathers.

Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:10

1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

The Lord recognized his diligence: “Well done,”

those precious words thrill the Christian’s heart,

We all want to hear that

“Well done, good and faithful servants.”

It is that highest praise, the praise of God, which we desire

For us to hear that, more than likely we need to not heed the praise of men.

who ever regards himself as the Lord’s servant, we should set to work for God;

Whatever we are given, whatever ability, whatever blessing, to be used in the Lords service.

For those who are faithful

For those who endure

They shall sit with him in his throne; for he has given them the glory which was given him of the Father.

And then we have...

2. The second servant.

He too had done his best.

His gains were less than those of the first servant, but he was not so richly endowed.

Not everyone will be given equally. However, we all have the chance to be equally faithful

And that’s what this man had done, he had been equally faithful with what he had been given.

He had made the best use of that which was given him.

I want you to notice that

He is welcomed with the same high praise;

he receives the same reward.

See guys, It is faithfulness, not gifts, which will be considered in the great day.

That’s why we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others in a sense of blame

We should operate faithfully and the God who judges will bless according to our faith.

And then we have...

3. The third servant.

I imagine he wasn’t too excited in getting to share his news.

He lingered to the last;

his conscience was uneasy.

But he could not escape his master’s eye; he must render his account.

And so He comes, but not in humility, confessing his sinful negligence;

he comes with false excuses,

trying to shift the blame from himself to his lord.

He knew, he said, that his master was a hard man, harsh and exacting;

he required from his servants more than they could render,

In fact, more than he had enabled them to render.

His master, he implied, had no right to ask for more.

Men argue today, put off today b/c they focus on self.

They will not work for the glory of God.

Selfishness; they will work only for themselves.

But, like the slothful servant, they have their excuses;

There’s no equality here!

God’s demands are so large, so deep-reaching; he requires more than weak human nature can give, more than ought to be expected of them.

Let me stop right now and point out that God didn’t give this servant five put 1. You can’t say that it was too much

This man, like others, was shrinking from his work.

He did nothing.

He owns that he went and hid the talent that was given him.

Now consider this, here’s a man who didn’t spend what was given on rioteous living like the lost son.

He didn’t lose it in trade.

From all accounts his life had been decent and respectable.

His offense was he just did nothing.

negative obedience is not sufficient.

If we are Christians then we are God’s servants;

We belong to him; our time, health, strength, money, intellect, are not our own; all these things are God’s gifts, lent to us for a while;

We must give an account of our use of them at the great day of reckoning.

And in the story...

4. The judgment.

“You wicked and slothful servant.”

Those most awful words

The slothful servant was wicked, for he had defrauded his lord;

he had not given him that service which was his bound duty;

he had lived as if he were his own master, and had only himself to please.

He was wicked, too, because he made these miserable excuses;

instead of confessing his sin, he slandered his master.

His master wasn’t these things he was being accused him, and yet he repeats the servant’s words in righteous indignation;

he judges him out of his own mouth.

Even If he had been like the servant said, it should have been fear, not love, that urged him to do his duty.

If he had feared the risks of trading, at least he should have put his masters money to the exchangers.

The returns would have been small compared with the gains of the faithful servants; but even those small returns would have shown that the servant had taken some care, some interest

The reply seems to imply that those small returns would have been accepted.

Any real work for Christ is better than spiritual sloth.

Some do a lot, and for those we are grateful, some do little, but some even do nothing.

We must at the least show interest in our Master’s cause!

We must serve according to what God has given us.

Luke 12:48 Jesus said

Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required

This applies to any amount

Serve in accordance to what we are given!

The second servant received the same reward as the first, though his earnings were in themselves far less.

The widow’s mites were more precious in the sight of God than the offerings of the rich.

God’s gifts cannot be neglected with impunity.

God will give grace

But The grace of God cannot lie dormant in the heart.

If it is not valued, if it is not used, it will be taken away.

In our story, the loss of the talent was not the only punishment.

We hear again those dreadful words which the Lord had uttered twice already (ch. 8:12; 24:51), which he repeated, we may be sure, in mercy, to warn us

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

the parable suggests that all who are faithful will be fruitful to some degree.

The fruitless person is unmasked as a hypocrite and utterly destroyed

LESSONS.

1. We are all God’s servants; all have a work to do for him; we all must do it.

2. All that we have is his, whether external gifts, or personal endowments, or gifts of the Spirit; all must be used in his service.

3. There is condemnation for the slothful, work while there is time.