Losing What You Never Had
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
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.’
Introduction
Our Lord’s parable of the talents could well be called
“Don’t fool yourself,” or perhaps
“The Christian life is serious, so give it your best.”
Here are three men, all serving the same master.
The first two were rewarded with praise, promotion, and joy, while the third one lost everything and experienced loneliness, darkness, and pain.
But what does this have to do with God’s people today?
Read verse 13 and you will have the answer:
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
When Jesus returns, God’s people, alive on earth or buried in the earth, will be taken to heaven (1 Cor. 15:50–58; 1 Thess. 4:13–18) and we shall all stand before Him at His judgment seat and give an account of our works (Rom. 14:10–12; 2 Cor. 5:10).
Those who have been faithful will receive rewards; the rest will be saved “yet as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:5–17).
Each believer’s faithfulness and service today will determine the rewards and assignments he or she will receive at the judgment seat of Christ.
This parable gives us some practical principles to grasp if we are to be prepared for our Lord’s return and our appearing at His judgment seat.
What must we do since we do not know when the Son of Man is coming? “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day…” Mt. 25:13
2. At the judgement seat of Christ what must we all give? “account of our works” (Rom. 14:10–12; 2 Cor. 5:10)
Ability Leads to Opportunity
Ability Leads to Opportunity
Today we use the word “talent” to describe the skills and abilities people are born with, but in New Testament times, a talent was a measure of money.
It was equivalent to what the average day laborer could earn in one year.
The master distributed the talents according to each servant’s ability, so it was a fair assignment.
The talents represent God-given opportunities to use one’s abilities, and if the servant with one talent had earned another talent, he would have received the same reward as the other two servants.
It is not our fault if we lack the abilities that others possess.
At our conception in the womb, our abilities were given to us and at our conversion we received our spiritual gifts (Ps. 139:13–16; 1 Cor. 12).
Everyone has ability.
You and I must know our personal abilities and spiritual gifts, thank the Lord for them, and use them for doing His will and glorifying His name.
The third servant made the mistake of thinking that he was not important because he had only one talent and therefore very little ability.
What can you do with so little?
However, if he had invested that one talent and earned another one, he would have received his fair reward.
The master knew that this servant was a wicked, lazy man (v. 26), yet he graciously gave him an opportunity to earn a promotion.
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?
“The real reward,” wrote George Morrison, “is not the bigger task.
It is the capacity to do the bigger task.”
Christians who faithfully serve the Lord with a few things will grow in strength so that they can be rewarded with greater opportunities (vv. 21–23).
Young Joseph in prison was a faithful servant who ended up second ruler in Egypt (Gen. 39–41).
David began as a shepherd boy and ultimately become Israel’s greatest king.
Ruth was a poor widow and an alien gleaner who loved and cared for her mother-in-law and married one of the wealthiest men in Bethlehem.
She became an ancestress of Jesus.
Joshua began as Moses’ servant and became his successor and the conqueror of the Promised Land.
Our Father does not want us to be lazy custodians, carefully protecting what He entrusts to us.
He wants us to be faithful servants, workers, and investors who obey His will, grow strong, and become capable of doing bigger and better things.
Cultivate the abilities and gifts you have been given, put them to work for the glory of the Lord, and He will develop you—and finally reward you.
3. A talent in New Testament times was a measure of money.
4. What did the Master know about the third servant given the single talent? The master knew that this servant was a wicked, lazy man.
Responsibility Involves Relationship
Responsibility Involves Relationship
We soon ought to learn what is expected of us, and I do our best to make the boss look good.
An employee who creates problems for his or her boss may end up searching for another job.
It’s obvious that the third servant in our Lord’s parable did not have a happy relationship with his master or his job.
The servant’s heart was not in his work or controlled by love for his master.
He saw the master as a demanding man who took all the credit for the work that other people performed (v. 24).
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,
The servant worked only when the master was watching—Paul called this “eyeservice” (Eph. 6:6; Col. 3:22)—and he probably felt humiliated for receiving only one talent.
6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
But his master was treating him fairly, for the servant did not have much ability or a great desire to work.
His master was actually being very kind to him.
Our personal relationship to our Lord is the key to a faithful and fruitful Christian life.
He is the vine and we are the branches, and we must draw our strength from Him (John 15:1–8).
Our Lord makes it very clear in John 15:5 that without Him we can do nothing.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
No matter how much we have been trained or how experienced we may be in service, it is the blessing of God that makes our work fruitful.
Unless we fellowship with Him daily in the word of God and prayer (Acts 6:4), we cannot know His will and do it for His glory.
4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
The third servant despised his master and cheated him out of the service owed to him.
Instead of being rewarded, the servant was rebuked and rejected.
I have known people who were angry with the Lord because He did not answer their prayers as they desired.
They forgot Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
It is a privilege to serve the Lord and we should give Him our best.
A servant’s heart must be in his or her work or the work will become drudgery.
5. What did Paul call it when a servant only worked when the Master was watching in Eph. 6:6? eye-service and people pleasing
6. Our Lord makes it very clear in John 15:5 that without Him we can do nothing.
Stewardship Is Not Ownership
Stewardship Is Not Ownership
Not only did the third servant have the wrong attitude toward his master, but he also had a wrong attitude toward the talent the master had given him.
He thought it was his and that he could do with it whatever he pleased.
But we must remember that everything we possess—from our mind, body, and will (Rom. 12:1–2) to our dwelling and its furnishings, our financial resources, and even our daily schedule—all comes from the Lord and belongs to the Lord.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We are stewards and must use what the Lord gives us to serve and honor Him.
We are stewards and must use what the Lord gives us to serve and honor Him.
“The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those that dwell therein” (Ps. 24:1).
“Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2).
2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
The servant thought the talent was his so he buried it to protect it until the master claimed it, but he ended up giving it to the servant with the ten talents!
“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” (Matt. 25:29).
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.
The Phillips Translation reads, “Even his nothing will be taken away.”
There is a paradox for you!
Several people in the Bible thought they had something but really had nothing, and their “nothing” was taken from them.
Consider King Herod (Acts 12:20–23),
Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1–11),
the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17–22),
Queen Jezebel (2 Kings 9:30–37),
Haman (Esther 5:11; 7:1–10),
and Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15–20).
“For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Gal. 6:3).
3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
What a contrast to our Lord Jesus Christ who became poor that we might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9).
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
7. We are stewards and must use what the Lord gives us to serve and honor Him.
8. From him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
Faith Conquers Fear and Leads to Obedience and Blessing
Faith Conquers Fear and Leads to Obedience and Blessing
Because the unprofitable servant thought his master was a hard man to work for, he was controlled by fear and not faith (Matt. 25:24–25).
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.’
He may have thought, “If I invest this money, suppose my investment fails or my talent is stolen?
What will my master do to me?”
Instead of being lazy on the job, if this careless servant had worked hard with the two other servants, he would have learned how to be successful.
But now it was too late.
What he wanted was protection, so he hid his single talent in the ground.
He was afraid of his master and afraid of failure, yet he did everything he could to experience both.
“The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly” (Prov. 26:16).
Instead of admitting his own faults and changing his ways, the unprofitable servant blamed his master.
It has well been said that the person who is good at excuses is rarely good at anything else.
Of itself, fear is not necessarily an enemy.
Children must be taught to fear fire, heights, electric currents, poisons, sharp instruments, and the friendship of strangers.
But fear that hides the face of God or turns us from prayer and the Scriptures is definitely an enemy.
Fear paralyzes, but faith energizes.
Fear paralyzes, but faith energizes.
The safest place in the world is in the will of God, for when we are in His will, we have no reason to be afraid.
Like some people in the word of God, we may be crossing the Red Sea, or in a storm on the sea, or about to be thrown into a deadly fiery furnace.
But if we are motivated by a love for our Master and are obedient to His will, we are safe and the Lord will see us through.
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will not be afraid” (Isa. 12:2).
2 “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27:1).
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
“I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Ps. 34:4).
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7).
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
There is work to be done before we meet the Lord, and He has equipped each of His children to do their part in the spread of the gospel.
Faith conquers fear and leads to obedience and blessing. “And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4).
4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
9. The unprofitable servant thought his master was a hard man to work for, he was controlled by fear and not faith.
10. Fear paralyzes, but faith energizes.