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Sermon Notes

Last Days Parables of Jesus
Pt. 3
“The Talents: Be Ready in Your Accountability”

Matt 25:14-29 “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.’”
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This parable is about–making the most of what God has given you!

As we’ll see…
the servant given 5 talents earns 5 more,
the one given 2 earns two more,
and the servant given one does nothing with his talent, but buries it–more on him later.

Now, lets put this parable in context.

In the parable of the ten virgins (or bridesmaids) that precedes this parable, the focus is on the INWARD condition of the bridesmaids–they were either saved or lost, symbolized by having oil for their lamps or not.

In this parable of the talents the focus is on the OUTWARD–the works done by the 3 men entrusted with talents.

It’s about whether or not they’re making use of the Master’s investment in them, symbolized by what they do with the talents.
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Now, it’s a well-known fact that in a typical church, 20% of the people do 80% of the work.

While it’s a noble thing that some people are willing to invest so much time into the Lord’s service–the truth is the Lord has given each of us talents to use in the service of the Kingdom!

This parable makes it plain that Christianity is not a SPECTATOR sport, it is for PARTICIPATORS, all taking part in the joy and responsibility of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ!
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So first, the Bible teaches that:

I. Every believer has a gift from God by which to glorify Him and edify others…

The talents are NOT about the way we think of that word, like the talent to sing, speak, athleticism, and so on.

The talents in the parable represent spiritual gifts given at the moment of salvation by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus has given to the church gifts that he expects us to use to:

1) Multiply the Kingdom
2) Edify others, and
3) Grow Individually
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Listen to these powerful passages:

1 Cor 12:6-7;11 “God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other…11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.”

He then lists the spiritual gifts of–

wisdom, knowledge,
faith, healing,
miracles, prophecy,
discernment, tongues,
interpretation of tongues…

Notice the words, “a spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other!”
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–Then in Romans 12:6-8 there’s another list:

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well”…

prophesying, serving,
teaching, encouraging,
giving, leadership, and mercy.
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And just to be sure we understand this applies to every born again child of God, Peter writes:

–1 Pet 4:10 “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.”

And that’s what the parable of the talents is all about:

faithfully stewarding the gifts God has given you,
making use of them so that they bring a return to the Master upon his return!
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The parable next shows that:

II. God’s gifts are not our own, they are a loan

There is a huge difference between stewarding and owning!

The gifts of the Spirit are a trust for us to steward,
not a possession for us to own.

The one who gave the gift will one day expect fruit from his investment!

Notice what Jesus says later to the unfaithful servant, “So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own…”
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And finally, stewarding your gift well depends on:

III. How you view the Master of the house

When we come to the third servant we see a totally different outcome.

Jesus says that, rather than producing fruit, the third servant BURIED his gift, and has nothing to show for it when the master returns!

And Jesus tells us what motivated him to do this:

1) He didn’t VALUE what had been given to him–he buried God’s gift in the dirt!
2) He was LAZY–he squandered away all the time the Master had given him to use his gift, doing nothing while the other two servants worked!
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And most important of all:

3) He had a terrible opinion of his Master!

He says to the Master, “Sir, I knew you were a hard man, and I was afraid you would rob me of what I earned, so I hid your money in the earth and here it is!’”–vs. 24-25

This unfaithful servant accuses the Master of the house of being impossible to serve, unfair, and unethical.

This parable tells us that–It matters greatly what you believe about God!

The world today either doesn’t think of God at all, or they think badly of him.

We’ve all seen people on the news following a great tragedy, launching into accusations against God:

Where was he?

Why did he let this happen?

Why didn’t he stop it?

How can he be a God of love?

This proves he can’t be real!

And on it goes…

And all this from a world that wants nothing to do with him in good times, yet expects him to show up when in trouble!
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No–to serve God well we must believe well of Him!

The Bible teaches the opposite of what the unfaithful servant believed about God!

Heb 11:6 “Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

1 Cor 15:58 “Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.”

Gal 6:9 “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

God is good, he is a rewarder, and he is faithful to keep his word!
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So the first two servants were winners–making great use of their gifts, and doubling what they were given.

But the third servant was the loser…

the one talent he had was taken away,
and he was cast into outer darkness.

The point of the parable is: Make the most of what God has given you, for the blessing of others and for the glory of God!