The Parable of the Talents
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How will You use Your Talents?
How will You use Your Talents?
Good morning friends!
Here we are, its the middle of the month and I want to start by saying thank you for giving to the Youth Sports Camp!
The gift you gave will have an eternal impact upon the life of child that can spread across a whole family. These are kingdom investments.,
God is faithful and uses what we give to Him in powerful ways. One day in heaven, we will see just how God used our gifts and how many lives it impacted.
So again, thank you for giving.
Today we come back to Jesus here in Matthew 25 as He is teaching more and more about the Kingdom of God as he nears the cross.
In depth teaching to prepare them for the fact that He is going away… but He will return, hence we must be faithful and we must be ready for that return.
So lets take our Bibles and lets look again to Matthew 25 and lets examine verses 14-30, the Parable of the Talents....
I am going to break down this passage since it is so long and we will look at verses 14-18 to begin with
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.
Some facts we know… Jesus is preparing for the cross. He is teaching, trying to get His disciples ready for his departure, hence He teaches them to live expectantly and to live faithfully.
So three thoughts this morning my friends… lets consider this....
1. The Master’s Departure...
Now remember Jesus has just finished teaching about the Parable of the Ten Virgins and with it the call to be ready and prepared for mankind does not know the day or the hour of the Lord’s return..
And so now will build on this with the idea of the Master preparing for a trip and leaving all the work of this wealth, His kingdom in the hands of His servants.
So look at verse 14 ....
14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.
As the text begins, Jesus says “For it will be like....” He is speaking of the Kingdom of Heaven.
So the Kingdom of Heaven will be like the Master going on a journey.
The Master here refers to Jesus and he is telling them about His soon coming departure from this world back to the Father.
This is not a new teaching my friends, Jesus has been telling them about this for a whole, it wasn’t some sudden trip on a whim…no! It was the purposeful will of God as He is at work on this world.
I would remind you to consider Jesus words… 3 passages...
Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 16:21
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
We are reminded here that Jesus has been working to prepare those Disciples that His work and His Kingdom would be far different than they supposed.
But don’t forget about John 14:1-3
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
This is the night before His arrest, and it is here that Jesus says He would be leaving them, the work he was about to do would enable them to join Him in the future.
Again in the Gospel of John, Jesus told them it was for their best future that He go away… for going away would also ensure the arrival of God’s Holy Spirit.
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
And here Jesus says that when He goes away, He would send them a Comforter, the Holy Spirit.
All of these passages and our text remind us that the Master would leave and set out to conduct other business.
Jesus would go and die, rise from the dead and return to His Father’s house.. But remember the truth, He is coming again!
Now this brings us to my second thought for today...
2. The Master’s Investment...
We know from the Scriptures, the Master didn’t just leave without preparation. That wouldn’t make any sense, no one does anything without some sort of plan, without some sort of preparation.====
If we go on a trip, we make sure the house is ready, heat or air is at the right setting, the mail is taken care of, someone is gonna keep an eye on the place and so on… its just the natural part of life.
So it is with our text....
Lets go back and look at verses 14-18
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.
So with the coming journey about to take place, we know the Master of the home called several of His servants to Himself and He entrusted His wealth to them in His absence.
And as we begin to look at verses 15 to 18, we see that he gave them money to invest. the Bible calls these investments “talents.”
So what is a talent?
Now from all we can tell about a talent, we would say a talent was equal to 6000 denarii. Which tells us that it was a huge some of money, for a denarii was equal to a days wage for a person. So a talent was equal to more than 16 years wages… It was a huge sum of money.
The Master was trusting His servants to take care of His wealth in His absence until He returned....
Looking at the Scriptures, we see it goes on to say that the Master gave one person 5 talents and another 2 and finally to one servant he gave just 1 talent.
So according to the Master’s will, some servants received more talents to work with than others. It wasn’t their money, it was His funds to continue to use to increase the Master’s work and wealth in his absence from the property.
He was calling them to be faithful in His absence....
Now some might say, well this isn’t fair, why didn’t the Master give all three equal amounts.
in the Kingdom of God, not all the servants are created the same, each person has different talents and different abilities. And also understand while each are different, they are not expected to all perform to the same level.
What is expected, that each do their best according to their ability.
Friends, God is not expecting me to be a Billy Graham or a David Jeremiah, but the Lord is calling me to be who I am, work faithfully and do my best with what He has entrusted to me.
God expects the very same for you my friends?
With that expectation in mind, are we doing our best or not in front of God.....????
Now back to our text we see the as the Master went on His journey at the end of verse 15,
Verse 16 tells us that the servants went to work, well most did....
The first servant went and traded and made 5 more, so he has doubled what the Master had entrusted to him.
The second servant likewise, went and made two more, so he has doubled what the Master had entrusted to him.
The third servant, well he is a little different. Look again at verse 18.
18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.
So this third servant, well he makes sure the Master’s money is safe. Kind of like when people used to put money in mason jars and bury it in the ground.
So he protected it, but he made no effort to invest it and make more money, no effort to use what was entrusted to him…
My friends like these servants mentioned here, please understand the Kingdom servants are us.
Jesus has entrusted something so valuable in our lives,,, and then after doing so, He went away...
What Jesus has given us is the gospel, the message of hope and reconciliation… but while He is away… what are we doing with that message, that valuable asset?
Do we hid it, oh preacher - I’ve always heard we don’t talk about politics and religion… Nope cannot do it.
Are are you doing your best to give it away… to invest it in others multiply your gift?
You see there is a choice to make with what to do with what we have been given...
So now, just one last thought...
3. The Master’s Accounting...
Now we know the Scriptures tell us the Master went away, but He came back.
And when the Master returned, He called the servants back, the ones whom He had entrusted His wealth too...
Lets look at our text again.... let’s start with verses 19-23
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.’
So after a long time the Master returned to his property, and it was time to settle up.
Remember the parable of 10 virgins, the Bridegroom was delayed.... Jesus is pointing to the fact that it would be longer than they expect in the future...
A. First Servant.... He came forward and brought the 5 talents he was entrusted with, and 5 more. Doubling what the Master had given him.
And listen to the Master’s word… Well done good and faithful servant..
Listen the Master is not praising them because they made more wealth, No! Not at all; He is praising them for their faithfulness in utilizing their gifts and their potential, their God given abilities.
Then the Master says to him…You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much… What does that mean??
The Master is saying this… Faithful stewardship in this life will result in being given greater responsibility in the life to come....
Remember my friends, there is a day when Jesus returns to His earth to establish His kingdom, He will rule it and reign in it, and during this 1000 year reign, His children will serve with him here, and those who were faithful here, they will have more responsibility in that Kingdom.
And with this the Master says ....Enter into the joy of your master… He opening welcomes this faithful servant.....
B. The Second Servant.... He was called forward and similar to the first servant, He doubled what had been entrusted to Him by the Master.
He is praised and welcomed that servant into the Master’s kingdom, promising his greater blessings in the life to come since he has proven himself faithful here....
But here is where the story changes.... lets look at the last servant...
C. The Third Servant.... As the Master calls him forward to account for what was given him, listen to His words...
Listen to verses 24-30
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.’
Did you hear his words, Master I knew you were a hard man, I was afraid, so I hid what you entrusted to me, here it is, I have all you gave me..
There is a problem here, The servant imagines the Master to be harsh, unjust, a taskmaster who is cruel...
I really do not think He knew the Master at all.... We will talk more about this in a minute...
Now automatically we might be inclined too give this servant some credit, we might say.... well he didn’t spend it or waste it… He made sure his Master received all that had been entrusted to him.
But sadly that isn’t the right response.
Listen to the Master, He doesn’t agree with the servants characterization of him, and doesn’t take any time to dispute it..
Instead the Master says… You were lazy, disobedient…He stands judged because of his lack of work. The Master says at the very least you could have placed it with the bankers and earned interest on it.
Now the Jews were not suppose to loan money to a fellow brother or sister and charge interest on the loan. But they could loan money to those outside of the house of Israel, the Gentiles and charge interest on those loans.
The Master says at the very least you could have earned something on the money intrusted to you. But he did not...
So Judgement is pronounced…
Take his talent and give it to the one who has 10....
Cast this servant into outer darkness....
Understand to the faithful, more is given… but those who are unfaithful it is taken away and they stand judged.
Remember earlier I said earlier it appears that he didn't know the master at all...
Now lets expand this thought on talents… Don’t limit what God seeks to entrust to us to wealth only.
The most precious treasure we are given is the message of God’s salvation, receiving it and then carrying the message(talent) and work of God to others...
To take what you have and then replicate it in others lives.. there is the greatest service of all. Jesus will tell the disciples before His departure “..You shall be my witnesses.....” Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The first two servants did this, they received and in turn spread the message of God’s love...
The third, he did not truly receive it… he hid it away… did nothing with it, Jesus says by their fruit, their work you shall know them…
He had no work… listen works do not save us, but because we are saved we want to work...
How will you use the talents God has placed at your disposal?
This unfaithful servant is punished, cast into darkness, literally hell.
So in this parable, what is Jesus teaching us… Be ready… Be ready for His return, take the gifts you have a child of God and use them for His glory my friends, do all you can because time is running out.
Take your talent, your spiritual wealth and share them, multiply it and grow it for His glory
Jesus went away, but he is coming again my friends… Are you ready.
Are you ready?
If you stand before God today, do you stand as one having done your best?
If not, there is still time to change...
Lets pray