Walking on Water Part 2 - Investing in the Kingdom
Matthew 25:14-30
1. The Gift
It was the Master’s property to give.
“To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability.”
We are given life, we are blessed with every spiritual blessing, the Holy Spirit lives inside of us and empowers us.
We don’t deserve any of it. It is all a gift.
2. The Purpose
It was the servant’s purpose to make money for their master.
“The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.”
The Great Commission has made the church’s purpose clear. Our purpose is to CHANGE THE WORLD!
3. The Investment
Talent - Your mind - Your abilities - Your spiritual gifts - Your body - Your emotions - Your money - Your will
Timing
“The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.”
The question I must ask myself is; “Am I willing to risk it all to invest in the kingdom of God?”
4. The Accounting
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.”
The Servants were accountable for what they had done with what they had been given.
The one-talent servant was motivated by fear & selfishness. He was afraid to risk failure so he did nothing.
The master had some very harsh words for this servant. - “You wicked, lazy servant!”
Many times we are short on obedience and long on excuses.
I wonder how we will respond when we stand before Jesus and he asks us; “What did you do with what I gave you?”
We really have no excuse.
2 Peter 1:3, 4 - His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 1
Everything - pa`" pas pas; incl. all the forms of declension; appar. a primary word; all, any, every, the whole:— all (manner of, means), alway (-s), any (one), × daily, + ever, every (one, way), as many as, + no (-thing), × thoroughly, whatsoever, whole, whosoever.2
5. The Reward
‘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!” 3
Luke 6:38 - Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.4
BreakPoint with Charles Colson
Commentary #010719 - 07/19/2001
In and of the World: A Culture of Conformity
At a recent presentation on Capitol Hill, researcher George Barna said, "Twenty-five years from now, historians are likely to say the year 2001 was right around the time when the era of moral and spiritual anarchy began." In his talk, Barna predicted that, of all the changes likely to occur in the next few years, moral chaos will have the most devastating impact on American culture.
It’s a bold and shocking prediction. What are we to make of it? In his prophetic new book BOILING POINT, Barna and co-author Mark Hatch report that while most Americans today claim to be Christians, this commitment is becoming less and less meaningful.
Consider the following: 85 percent of all adults claim that religious faith is very important in their lives. Also, 85 percent claim to be Christians. More than four out of five adults claim to know the basic teachings of the Bible and nine of ten own at least one Bible -- good.
Yet, just one in four adults and only one teenager in ten believes in absolute moral truth. In fact, less than half of those who call themselves "born-again" Christians believe that anything is "absolutely true."
If a majority of Americans own a Bible and value its content, if they know that Jesus says "I am . . . the truth," [John 14:6] then why do so few believe in absolute truth? The disconnect comes from what Barna and Hatch call Americans’ "evolving values." Our culture’s embrace of moral relativism has led to an abandonment of traditional values – including loyalty, morality, accountability, and sacrifice.
Many Americans, Barna says, now cling to the values that best align with relativism -- that is, independence, personal happiness, tolerance, comfort, instant gratification, the right to make ones own choices -- all of this centers on the individual.
Christ spoke to this problem long ago when He said, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" [Matthew 6:21]. When God is no longer the center of our lives and when we replace worship with our own self-interest, spiritual and moral anarchy inevitably follow. And without firm religious foundations, our society will have enormous difficulty arriving at a moral consensus to cope with the dramatic changes that lie ahead.
Most distressing, the church sometimes seems right in line with today’s evolving values. Barna and Hatch note that people’s church preferences often align precisely with their relativistic approach to life. Americans often do not join churches these days; instead, they attend churches based on how far they have to drive, the convenience of the worship schedule, the kinds of emotional experiences they can enjoy, and whether or not the sermon is upbeat and interesting.
Now none of these reasons are inherently bad, but all too often people are choosing their church without regard for doctrinal purity or reliable teaching. Convenience, comfort, and emotion tend to be the values that drive today’s spirituality.
Accordingly, Christians are increasingly indistinguishable from their non-Christian friends. A 1999 study of sixty-five common values and traits showed that the values of born-again Christians were not substantially different from any other segment of culture.
Can such a church expect to change the world? If we have any hope of renewing the culture, we’ll need to rediscover what Jesus meant when he called us to be in the world but not of it.
For further reference:
Barna, George and Hatch, Mark. Boiling Point.
Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2001.
Copyright (c) 2001 Prison Fellowship Ministries
1The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
2James Strong, New Strong’s dictionary of Hebrew and Greek words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1996.
3The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
4The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
