The return of Jesus is perhaps one of the most talked about things by Jesus and subject of many parables, not just these in the these two chapter of Matthew 24-25. Jesus talked about the signs of His second coming in Chapter 24, which we covered over the past few weeks. The last three parables over the last two weeks dealt with the timing of Jesus’ return. We don’t know when it will be and when it does happen, it will be unexpected and quick. There will be a time that it will be too late for repentance and turning to Him. The parable we are looking at today, we will see that until Jesus does comes, what we do or what we fail to do really does matter
Is it enough to just say I believe in Jesus? Herein is the spiritual problem of many people today. They claim salvation, but there is no evidence, no fruit, no true repentance. Listen to me carefully, I am not preaching that you must have good works to be saved. No, we are saved by the grace of God and the saving work of Jesus alone. But if by that grace if we are in fact saved, then we ought to be producing evidence or fruit coming out of that salvation and that faith we have in Jesus. James tells us that faith without works is dead (James 2:17). To say you are saved because you merely believe, yet live no different from the rest of the world, something is dreadfully wrong. Jesus Himself ask the question:
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
It does matter what we do. When Jesus comes, what will we have to show Him that we were faithful servants? This parable will examine the true and false servants, or slaves of Jesus.
Matthew 25:14–30
There is a very similar parable recorded in Luke 19:11-27. I preached on this parable from Luke a year ago, and the message was titled “Do Business Until I Come” from Luke 19:13. That was the command given to the servants while the nobleman went away to receive the kingdom.
The message in Luke is was similar to our passage today in Matthew in the sense that we are called to be faithful servants, doing the will of the Master until he returns.
The Parable of the 10 Virgins, we covered last week (Matthew 25:1–13) stressed the need for preparedness for Christ’s return. This Parable of the Talents stressed the need to serve the King while He is away.
Matthew 25:14–15 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.
In this parable, Jesus is clearly the man who went away on a journey, and he gave his slaves talents. A talent was the largest unit of weight in the ancient world – about 60-80 pound of silver. As far as value was concern, one talent was worth about 20 years wages of a common laborer. Even one talent was a considerable amount of money.
And so the master gave talents to his slaves “each according to his own ability.” This is an important point to make here. God does not call us to do anything that He has not equipped us to do. If you have great abilities, much is expected.
Luke 12:48b From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
Remember, even the slave with one talent was given a large amount to work with.
Matthew 25:16–17 Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17 In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.
Notice the word “immediately.” The one slave with 5 talent went to work right away. Same as the slave with two Talents. These slaves were encaged. They did not mess around and went right to work for the master. They were all about doing the master's business. However, the third slave was not.
Matthew 25:18 But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
This third slave took no risks. He hid it away, no one knew he had these funds (a great deal of money). From the Greek, the word we translate as money we could translate as pieces of silver. We have many so-called christians like that today; they are members of the church and warm a pew every Sunday, but during the week, no one outside of church knows what they are or what they claim to possess.
Matthew 25:19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
This is where we are living today, between verses 18 and 19. We are in the time waiting for the Lord to return. And when he does come, he will call all of us to an account. There will be a day of reckoning, a day of judgment coming for all, saved and unsaved. For the saved, a judgment of rewards, for the unsaved, a judgment of punishment.
Romans 2:6–8 who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.
Everyone will give an account, even the righteous, the saved. There will be rewards and there will be punishments.
Now let’s look at these next 4 verses (Matthew 25:20-23) as a whole. The slave with 5 talents now has 10 talents. The slave with 2 talents now has 4 talents. They were busy and they multiplied what was entrusted to them. Here is the great thing in this story. Both were praised equally by the master. Verse 21 and 23 are the same.
Matthew 25:21 and 23 - His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
If the slave that received only the one talent came back with one more, the implication is clear, he would have received the same praise and promotion from the master.
Here is what we need to take home today. It is wrong to look down at what we have. The question is not what do we have? The real question is , what do we do with what we have been given? Large or small (at least in our eyes), what we do with what we have matters. Now we come to the third slave:
Matthew 25:24–25 “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’
Now we know what he did, he had hid the talent he was entrusted with in the ground and did nothing with it. And even before the master could say anything he was there making excuses. Not only was he making excuses, he was in essence putting the blame of his inactivity on the master.
Have you ever known someone who is an “excuser?” They are the person who has an excuse for everything. They gladly take on responsibilities, but they always have an excuse as to why they did not follow through.
When I was a flight instructor in the military, I had one student that always showed up for flights unprepared, did not know his procedures, could not fly in the prescribed manner. He always had an excuse. Many of them were good excuses, but nevertheless excuses. He could not be depended on to do anything. As the Operations Officer (or chief pilot in civilian terms) I washed this student out of pilot training.
However, I had another student who could not fly straight and level, but he was always prepared, he knew his procedures cold. He was unafraid to try, even when it resulted in failure. I gave that young man every opportunity, and he graduated pilot training and got his wings. I would fly with that pilot anytime. He was dependable and I knew he would always do his best doing the right thing. It was a privilege to fly with this student and watch him develop into a fine pilot.
So how does God see you? As a complainer or “excuser” who has every excuse for not even going or trying to witness to neighbors, or friends and family; who always have something else going on when church needs help with Sunday School of VBS? Or are you one that can be depended on in thick and thin?
So how did the master treat this “excuser,” this do-nothing slave of his?
Matthew 25:26–27 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 27 Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
The mean things the slave said about his master probably was not true, yet the master turned it around back on him and condemned the slave with his own words. Notice what he called that slave: “You wicked, lazy slave” This slave did nothing “bad” per se, but in the eyes of God, to do nothing is sin. To do nothing when God gives the opportunity is evil.
Matthew 25:28 Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
We see that those who call themselves slaves or servants of the Master, if they are not productive, what little they may have will be taken away.
Matthew 25:29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
Those who work with what they have, more will be given. Those who do nothing or very little, what little they do have they will lose.
This parable is the same as the other three parable which we have covered over the last few weeks in the sense that it was not about unbelief. Like the 10 bridesmaids (from last week, Matthew 25:1-13), this is directed to those in the church, those who claim to know Jesus. I do not want to call the non-productive slave a non-believer. Unsaved yes, but not an unbeliever. He knew who the master was and he knew that what the master required and he knew the master was to return, yet he deliberately chose to do nothing.
If we have been truly saved, possessing the Holy Spirit, all because the grace of God, then we will be motivated to serve the Lord. This is not about working for our salvation, but as Paul tells us, this is working out the salvation we possess. Paul tells us to work out our salvation.
Philippians 2:12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
So how does that work, working out our salvation? We are called to obey Jesus in all things, even when risk is involved, even when we do not see the end results. Our call is to be faithful, not successful, as the world measures success. We are to be faithful to allow the Spirit of Almighty God to work through us and the results are up to God. We do not do anything in our own power, we do all through Jesus. Jesus calls for us to abide in Him.
John 15:5–6 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
That wicked and lazy slave did not abide in his master. He did not take any risks. He did not even put his master’s money in the bank where it would get at least a little interest. So what was the fate of that wicked and lazy slave?
Matthew 25:30 Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
His actions showed he did not know his Master. His did not do the will of the Master, he had no part of the Master. There was no fruit showing he had anything to do with the Master. So his Master had no part of him and he was cast out to the place of great agony, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Several questions I want to leave with you this morning and they are quite simple.
Do you know the Master? Do you know Him intimately and personal? I’m not talking about do you know about Jesus, but have you met Him and have experienced His saving grace?
If so, then this question is, are you in His will? Are you faithfully serving Him? Are you unashamed to boldly speak the Gospel to the lost world around you?
Yes, until Jesus comes, what you do or do not do, matters a great deal.
