Parable of the Talents

Introduction

I hope each of you had a great day yesterday celebrating the independence of our country. The independence of our country was earned through the spilling of blood. My uncle posted yesterday about several of my ancestors that fought, bled, and died to see this country formed.

Today, we remember and preach about the one who shed his blood to free us from the tyranny of sin and the sentence of death upon humanity. He was the only one to live a perfect, sinless life. Therefore, Jesus was the only one that could redeem us from sin and death.

While living our His life on earth, Jesus, the Son of God, carried out a three fold ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing. He often used parables to teach. Last week, we looked at the parable of the Ten Virgins.

Today, we are looking at the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. If you have your copy of God’s Word with you, I invite you to turn there and stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

Matthew 25:14–30 NKJV

14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ‘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. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Pray

As we look at this parable, we need to remember that it is a story that is used to teach truth. We will find that are several things in this story that can be applied to us today. This parable should cause each of us to consider our attitudes towards the Lord’s gifts that He has given to us. Let me start by explaining a little about

The Kingdom of Heaven

The kingdom of heaven in this passage and the one before it refers to those who profess to be saved. As we read, all three men referenced here were servants of the Lord. Yet, one of them was not a true servant.

I have no doubt that there are people who have had an experience, were baptized, and joined a church, but have never been saved. If you take the number from last weeks parable, we could consider that half of people that profess Christ are lost. If you look at the number from today’s passage, 1/3 of people that profess Christ are lost.

Regardless of whether it is 1/3 or 1/2 or anywhere between. It pains me to consider that a good portion of the church are lost and have been deceived into believing they are saved when they are just as lost as they can be.

The Talents

Basically a talent, was an amount of money. The word money in verse 18 means silver money. A talent weighed between 60 and 80 pounds.

If we consider that 1 talent equals 80 pounds and if we consider that the coins were sterling silver, 1 talent would be about $20,000.00. So, the master is giving all three of his servants great sums of money.

So, as we consider this story, we can’t say that the third servant wasn’t given much to work with. He was given a lot to work with. I realize that the other servants were given substantially more. However, the amount that was given to each servant does not matter. What truly matters is what was done with the talents.

Before we look at what the servants did with their talents, I want us to consider how we can apply the talents in this passage. There are several things that I have read and considered.

First, the talents could be applied to natural abilities given to each of us by God, and we definitely should use our natural abilities in the Lord’s service.

Second, the talents could refer to material blessings that God has given us, and we should definitely bless the Lord by being generous to the local church.

Finally, the talents could also refer to the gospel and our reception of it.

As we continue to consider what the servants did with their talents, let’s consider it in light of God’s offer of salvation by grace through faith.

The faithful servants:

While the faithful servants recieved different quantities of talents, the difference of amount is not crucial to the application of the story. What was done with the talents is what matters. In our consideration of this passage this morning, we are considering the gospel as that talents given to the servants.

Notice what the faithful servants did with their talents: They put them to work. In consideration of the gospel, we put the gospel to work as we know God more and make Him known. It is a fruit that is produced in the individual’s life and in the lives of those that are led to the Lord through their life.

I stated earlier that the amount given to the servants does not matter. Why is that? It is because the gospel is priceless. No amount of worth can be assigned to that which saves. Gospel simply means “good news.” Once you have truly received the gospel and in faith believe it, you will understand that it is not merely “good news,” but the Greatest News!

It is the news that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

It is the news that Jesus came to help the helpless.

It is the news that Jesus came to save sinners.

It is the news that Jesus brings a new birth!

It is the news that Jesus makes us a new creation!

It is the news that Jesus gives us a new Father!

It is the news that Jesus gives us a new country!

It is the news that Jesus makes us heirs of the King!

It is the news that the tyranny of sin and death are over!

It is the news that eternal life is available to all who believe!

It is the news that Jesus is the way, the Truth, and the Life!

Do you believe it?

The Third Servant

The third servant thought he believed, but he didn’t. He had a misconception of his master.

Matthew 25:24–26 NKJV

24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.

So, we see the servants misconception of his master in verses 24 and 25. Now, we do not need to misread verse 26. Verse 26 and is not necessarily confirmation of what the servant said. Rather, it is a statement that confronts and nullifies the servant’s excuse as we see in verse 27.

Let us consider this unfaithful servant for a moment.

He saw the master as a hard man.

He saw the master as unfair.

He saw the master as one that is to be feared.

A lost person sees God in the much the same way. Even church members that are not saved can look at God in this way. Also, backslidden Christians can have a skewed view of God.

There is a tendency to go to one extreme or another between grace and judgment, love and wrath, forgiveness and justice, so on and so forth.

The unfaithful servant misunderstood the master and failed to use what God had given him. For our consideration today, he failed to understand the gospel and act upon it. He set it aside and said, “One Day I’ll do something with it.” He might have even said, “I don’t think my master is coming back, so I’ll just hide it and do my own thing.”

Whatever he said, there are many people who have been given the priceless gift of hearing that Jesus saves. Yet they have rejected it and have done nothing with it. There is no doubt that we are not saved by our works and we are only saved by faith. However, we must understand what it means if there is no spiritual fruit in our lives and if we constantly put everything else before Christ. We must understand that

Faith without works is DEAD

James 2:17–18 NKJV

17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

If you have not grown in Christ, if the gospel has not produced fruit in you and through you, then you need to evaluate where you stand with God. The faithless servant was told something much different than what the master told the faithful servants.

The faithful servants were both told:

Matthew 25:21 NKJV

21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

It was said of the unfaithful servant:

Matthew 25:30 NKJV

30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Decision

Folks, we are living in uncertain times and it is definitely not the time to be unsure of where you stand with God. We are going to sing a song after I pray. This is the time for you to come to the altar and pray. It is also the time to get rid of the uncertainty and to leave here knowing where you stand with the Lord. If you need to be saved or unsure of your salvation, I’ll be here to receive you and share more with you about the Greatest news that has ever been given.