Seeking for the truth
© 2004 -
(The parable of the talents
and the three servants)
"Again, it will be like a man
going on a journey,
who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.
To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability.
Then he went on his journey.
The man who had received
the five talents went at once
and put his money to work
and gained five more.
So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.
But the man who had received
the one talent went off,
dug a hole in the ground
and hid his master's money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
The man who had received
the five talents
brought the other five.
'Master,' he said,
'you entrusted me with five talents. See,
I have gained five more.'
"His master replied,
'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things;
I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
"The man with the two talents
also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant!
You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
"Then the man who had received the one talent came.
'Master,' he said,
'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.
See, here is what belongs to you.'
"His master replied,
'You wicked, lazy servant!
So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?
Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
Take the talent from him
and give it to the one who
has the ten talents.
For everyone who has
will be given more, and he will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness,
where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.'
Matthew 25:14-
Ready to give an account?
Jesus goes immediately into the parable of the talents.
In this He warns us; to be ready to give an account of our actions to Him.
God gave to each one.
All that we have is from God, except sin.
Peter wrote:
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received
to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace
in it’s various forms.” (1Peter 4)
He gives to some more, to others less.
That is not a problem.
The first two servants went at once, and put their money to work.
We need to be diligent in our usefulness to the Lord.
And to have the attitude of laying our lives down, for the glory of God.
The more we do for God, the more thankful we are to Him, for making use of us.
It is good for us to bear in mind what God has given us, so that we will know more of what is expected from us.
And here lies a danger.
We can say that we haven’t got the opportunities of serving God that others have got.
Or we find that we are limited in what we can do for God, and we can end up doing nothing of the little that we should have done.
Notice the servant with the one talent didn’t misuse it in gross sins.
He probably seemed a clean living sort of person.
We will be in huge trouble, if we don’t use what God has given us for good purposes.
And, if we pursue our own interests, and pleasures.
We cannot rely on giving back what we were given.
Perhaps the servant thought, that if he gave back less than what he was given, he would not be accepted, but if he gave back what had been given him, then he would narrowly be accepted by God.
OK no great rewards, but he thought he would be accepted.
Do any of us think like that?
How many people will rely on their plea:
“I didn’t waste my money, I didn’t use my time in bad and evil things, I didn’t ridicule the Bible, I didn’t persecute anybody”, etc, etc.
We speak often about salvation is by faith, and that is correct.
But there is no such thing as an armchair Christian.
James takes up this point further by saying:
“What good is it, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds. Can such faith save them?" (James 2:14)
James also wrote:
“Faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.”
and: “A person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”
So when this servant was sentenced to hell, what was he convicted of?
Laziness.
Lazy servants are wicked servants.
A failure to do what we should, and could have done, is lazy and wicked.
We tend to think that it is the bad things that we do, that deserves the punishment of hell.
But here Jesus is saying that it is the good things that we don't do, that deserves the fires of hell.
Let’s return to the two servants who were faithful.
Jesus called them faithful.
And that’s a key word: faithful.
How Christ will view us will be according to our faithfulness, and not our potential usefulness.
Christ will see our sincerity, and not our success.
If we trust in Christ to save us, then we will give delight to God, by being diligent in our labours for Him.
The lazy servant was called ‘unprofitable’ and in one sense we are all unprofitable (Luke 17:10).
We cannot profit God.
But we can be fruitful, and therefore God will be glorified in what we do.
Jesus commended the two servants.
What music in our ears!
“Well done, good and faithful servant!”
Jesus Christ has honour in store for those who honour Him.
He has a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8)
He has a kingdom for us to inherit. (Matthew 25:34)
And He will grant the one who overcomes to sit with Him on His throne. (Revelation 3:21)
Notice the disproportion between; the work done and the huge reward.
Are we ready to give an account of our actions to Him?
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TV image: thanks to GSP 100,000 clipart CD.
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